Central Michigan University Athletics
Nick Dardas (left) and Jake Brill are among the many returnees to Central Michigan baseball in 2024 as former CMU pitcher Jake Sabol takes over the program.
Photo by: Jack Reeber '23,M'25 - @jackreeber.raw
New and Old: Under New Leadership, Baseball Looks to Remain on Top
2/15/2024 11:16:00 AM | Baseball
Chippewas open 2024 season on Friday with two games in Texas
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – New era.
Same results?
There certainly is a foundation for it in the Central Michigan baseball program, one of the Mid-American Conference's – and Midwest's – most successful.
More than a dozen letter winners, and several starters among them, return as the Chippewas open the 2024 season with a 10-day trip to Texas, where they will play a combined nine games against Texas A&M Corpus Christi, Stephen F. Austin, and Dallas Baptist.
The opener is 3 p.m. Friday against Corpus Christi in Nacogdoches.
Jake Sabol will get a good chance to see what he has as the former CMU pitcher takes over the storied program from Jordan Bischel, who moved on to Cincinnati after five highly successful seasons.
"We're anxious to get out there and see what guys can do," said Sabol, who was named in June to lead his alma mater after successful stints at NCAA Division III Alma and then at Division II Northwood. "This group has been awesome. They've bought in from day No. 1, all the way back in the fall, and that has continued every day.
"It's been a group that has won and experienced some championships, some highs and some lows, and when you're trying to compete for a title the experience is really important."
Competing for titles is an expectation. The Chippewas have won a combined four MAC regular season and tournament crowns and made three NCAA Tournament appearances since 2019.
A good number of the veterans on Sabol's squad have played roles, some more high profile than others, in bringing home that hardware.
"I think expectations will always be high," Sabol said. "We're not going to shy away from talking about competing for championships. In the overall student-athlete experience, that's what you want, you want your guys to believe that those things are attainable and achievable, but we've also got to work our tails off each and every day, and things will pay off in the end. Our goal is to get a little bit better today than we were yesterday and keep working on the process throughout the year."
The cupboard that Sabol inherited is hardly bare. In fact, it's well stocked, relatively speaking.
Back are the top two starters, left-hander Adam Mrakitsch and righty Keegan Batka, who went a combined 16-7 a year ago and both ranked among the top 10 in the MAC in earned run average.
Among the returning starters in the field are outfielders Jacob Donahue and Jake Brill, outfielder/first baseman Robby Morgan IV, first baseman Danny Wuestenfeld, catcher/infielder Nick Dardas, and infielder/outfielder Marquis Jackson.
D1baseball.com named Mrakitsch its MAC preseason pitcher of the year and he, Batka and Morgan were named among the top 12 draft prospects in the league by the publication.
"It certainly helps to have an older group," said Sabol, whose team finished third in the preseason coaches poll. "Throughout the coaching change they've made it a little easier for us to kind of pick their brains on what worked and what didn't work and what they'd like to see the program continue on with.
"We've relied on them a lot to have some say in our culture, in our environment, and in our program. Those guys have been through a lot, they know how to win, they know what the ups and downs might look like through the course of a year, they've been through a 56-game schedule and the NCAA Tournament. Their knowledge and experience, being able to share that with our new guys, our freshmen, is so valuable."
The Chippewas' early season schedule includes a trip to Oklahoma where they will play traditionally strong Oklahoma State and Oral Roberts, which advanced to the College World Series a year ago.
CMU opens MAC play at Kent State with a three-game series March 8-10 and entertain Oakland in its home opener on March 20.
"The talent level's there; now we've got to put it together on the field as a group," Sabol said. "I knew it was going to be a great roster to take over when I got the job.
"A lot of things are going to be very similar and there'll be differences too. We're going to play with high intensity, high energy level, our dugout's going to have a lot of fun, our guys are going to be excited about game day. Just going to try to continue the winning tradition here that CMU baseball has."
Same results?
There certainly is a foundation for it in the Central Michigan baseball program, one of the Mid-American Conference's – and Midwest's – most successful.
More than a dozen letter winners, and several starters among them, return as the Chippewas open the 2024 season with a 10-day trip to Texas, where they will play a combined nine games against Texas A&M Corpus Christi, Stephen F. Austin, and Dallas Baptist.
The opener is 3 p.m. Friday against Corpus Christi in Nacogdoches.
Jake Sabol will get a good chance to see what he has as the former CMU pitcher takes over the storied program from Jordan Bischel, who moved on to Cincinnati after five highly successful seasons.
"We're anxious to get out there and see what guys can do," said Sabol, who was named in June to lead his alma mater after successful stints at NCAA Division III Alma and then at Division II Northwood. "This group has been awesome. They've bought in from day No. 1, all the way back in the fall, and that has continued every day.
"It's been a group that has won and experienced some championships, some highs and some lows, and when you're trying to compete for a title the experience is really important."
Competing for titles is an expectation. The Chippewas have won a combined four MAC regular season and tournament crowns and made three NCAA Tournament appearances since 2019.
A good number of the veterans on Sabol's squad have played roles, some more high profile than others, in bringing home that hardware.
"I think expectations will always be high," Sabol said. "We're not going to shy away from talking about competing for championships. In the overall student-athlete experience, that's what you want, you want your guys to believe that those things are attainable and achievable, but we've also got to work our tails off each and every day, and things will pay off in the end. Our goal is to get a little bit better today than we were yesterday and keep working on the process throughout the year."
The cupboard that Sabol inherited is hardly bare. In fact, it's well stocked, relatively speaking.
Back are the top two starters, left-hander Adam Mrakitsch and righty Keegan Batka, who went a combined 16-7 a year ago and both ranked among the top 10 in the MAC in earned run average.
Among the returning starters in the field are outfielders Jacob Donahue and Jake Brill, outfielder/first baseman Robby Morgan IV, first baseman Danny Wuestenfeld, catcher/infielder Nick Dardas, and infielder/outfielder Marquis Jackson.
D1baseball.com named Mrakitsch its MAC preseason pitcher of the year and he, Batka and Morgan were named among the top 12 draft prospects in the league by the publication.
"It certainly helps to have an older group," said Sabol, whose team finished third in the preseason coaches poll. "Throughout the coaching change they've made it a little easier for us to kind of pick their brains on what worked and what didn't work and what they'd like to see the program continue on with.
"We've relied on them a lot to have some say in our culture, in our environment, and in our program. Those guys have been through a lot, they know how to win, they know what the ups and downs might look like through the course of a year, they've been through a 56-game schedule and the NCAA Tournament. Their knowledge and experience, being able to share that with our new guys, our freshmen, is so valuable."
The Chippewas' early season schedule includes a trip to Oklahoma where they will play traditionally strong Oklahoma State and Oral Roberts, which advanced to the College World Series a year ago.
CMU opens MAC play at Kent State with a three-game series March 8-10 and entertain Oakland in its home opener on March 20.
"The talent level's there; now we've got to put it together on the field as a group," Sabol said. "I knew it was going to be a great roster to take over when I got the job.
"A lot of things are going to be very similar and there'll be differences too. We're going to play with high intensity, high energy level, our dugout's going to have a lot of fun, our guys are going to be excited about game day. Just going to try to continue the winning tradition here that CMU baseball has."
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