Wednesday, February 21
Nacogdoches, Texas
4 p.m. ET
Central Michigan University
3-3
11
at
10
Stephen F. Austin
3-3
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
R
H
E
Central Michigan
1
2
0
0
2
3
0
0
0
0
3
11
15
3
Stephen F. Austin
0
0
0
1
0
0
7
0
0
0
2
10
11
2
Jacob Donahue had three of CMU's season-high 15 hits on Wednesday in its 11-10 victory at Stephen F. Austin.
Photo by: Jack Reeber '23,M'25 - @jackreeber.raw
Baseball Hangs On, Outlasts Stephen F. Austin in 11 Innings
2/21/2024 9:52:00 PM | Baseball
NACOGDOCHES, Texas – A second wind, some patience, and a last gasp.
Central Michigan had just enough to scratch out three runs in the top of the 11th inning and then had just enough to hold off Stephen F. Austin in the home half of the frame on Wednesday as the Chippewas gutted out an 11-10 nonconference baseball victory at the Lumberjacks' Pilgrim's Park.
The win was the Chippewas' third in four games with the Lumberjacks on their season-opening trip to Texas. CMU (3-3) opens a three-game set in Dallas against Dallas Baptist (4-0) on Friday, Feb. 23.
"That's what it was, resiliency," said CMU coach Jake Sabol, who saw his team build an 8-1 lead through six innings, and then watched as SFA tied it with a seven-run seventh. "Today had all sorts of weird things. It was one of those games where you got to a point where you're like, 'Man, this one's slipping away.'
"But the guys, they didn't let that be the mindset; they battled back, they stuck to the process, and we were lucky to sneak one out."
It was, indeed, a strange game that featured a little bit of everything right from the start when CMU starter Jack Bell left with an injury after facing just one hitter. A freshman making his first appearance in a Chippewa uniform came on and went five solid innings and left with an 8-1 lead.
But that freshman, Jack Brown, was long gone by the time this one was decided.
The near four-hour marathon featured a combined 14 pitchers, 27 hits, four errors, 14 walks, nine stolen bases, 26 men left on base, and a starting pitcher coming out of the bullpen for the first time in his career to earn the save.
The Chippewas, who left 18 on base for the game – they left them loaded in the eighth and the ninth -- finally broke through in the 11th when Jacob Donahue and Danny Wuestenfeld both singled and Ely Stuart was intentionally walked with one out.
Marquis Jackson then drew a walk to give CMU a 9-8 lead, and then Jack Eichler hit a ground ball for a force at second base, bringing in another run. The Lumberjacks attempted to turn an inning-ending double play on Eichler's grounder, but the relay to first was wild, allowing another run to score to make it 11-8.
Sabol summoned starter Keegan Batka, one of the Chippewas' two aces, from the bullpen to close it.
The first two Lumberjacks in the inning reached and then, with two outs, they got a two-run single to pull to 11-10. With the tying run at first, Batka got an exhale-inducing strikeout to finally end it.
The Chippewas finished with a season-high 15 hits, three each from Bryson Webb, Donahue and Wuestenfeld, and Robby Morgan IV doubled and tripled.
Evan Waters (1-2), the fifth Chippewa pitcher, picked the victory. He struck out six over three innings before giving the ball to Batka, who was making his first career relief appearance.
"We knew today was going to be a battle of the bullpens," Sabol said. "We've seen each other now for four or five days straight and it was going to come down to which guy we ran out there was going to hold them in check and give us a chance to win.
"We went into the week knowing we had 14 healthy arms down here with us and we were going to play a lot of baseball in not a lot of time. So there were going to be guys who were going to be asked to do a little bit more than maybe we would like in the first week of the season."
Batka, who started and went seven innings in CMU's season opener on Friday, was scheduled for a bullpen day on Wednesday. Sabol and his staff scratched that, and instead made Batka's bullpen day live.
And he delivered.
"He was all for it," Sabol said. "He was a hundred percent committed to getting in the game; whatever we needed to win. I think it just shows that these guys have bought in to what we're trying to do as a coaching staff; playing for one another and doing what it takes to win."
And while Brown, the freshman right-hander, was long gone by the time the game was decided, his contribution cannot be overstated. He allowed one run on five hits and struck out three over five innings. He threw 77 pitches, 46 of them for strikes with no walks.
Bell issued a walk to SFA's leadoff hitter to start the game, and then left with an injury.
"Jake Brown, he's been a guy who's been up and down in practice – he wasn't down today; he was really good and gave us a chance," Sabol said. "That's probably the toughest scenario for someone to make their debut. … To have to come out there after one hitter and take all your warmups and do all your stretching in front of the opposing team – that's not a normal setting.
"He was calm, cool, collected. He acted like he wasn't a freshman. Those moments sometimes can be a little too big for people and it takes them a couple innings to get settled in. I wouldn't say he was super crisp right away, but he did enough to get himself in the zone and as the game went on, he just got better. I give him a ton of credit. He hadn't pitched up until this point and he stayed ready and we needed that kind of performance."
The Chippewas finished with season highs in hits (15), stolen bases (9) and walks (11) one day after collecting 10 hits in an 11-3 win over the Lumberjacks.
"The first couple of days down here, we really weren't doing enough offensively," Sabol said. "We were getting a few guys on here and there, but we just weren't getting enough hard contact to force the opposing team to make plays. That's just been our mindset the last couple of days, get back to what we've been practicing all year and just finding the barrel often and get on base and force them to make tough plays.
"It's taken a little while to get the guys completely wrapped around what we're trying to do, but it's coming, and we saw glimpses of it (Tuesday) and today and I think we're close to breaking through from an offensive standpoint."
Central Michigan had just enough to scratch out three runs in the top of the 11th inning and then had just enough to hold off Stephen F. Austin in the home half of the frame on Wednesday as the Chippewas gutted out an 11-10 nonconference baseball victory at the Lumberjacks' Pilgrim's Park.
The win was the Chippewas' third in four games with the Lumberjacks on their season-opening trip to Texas. CMU (3-3) opens a three-game set in Dallas against Dallas Baptist (4-0) on Friday, Feb. 23.
"That's what it was, resiliency," said CMU coach Jake Sabol, who saw his team build an 8-1 lead through six innings, and then watched as SFA tied it with a seven-run seventh. "Today had all sorts of weird things. It was one of those games where you got to a point where you're like, 'Man, this one's slipping away.'
"But the guys, they didn't let that be the mindset; they battled back, they stuck to the process, and we were lucky to sneak one out."
It was, indeed, a strange game that featured a little bit of everything right from the start when CMU starter Jack Bell left with an injury after facing just one hitter. A freshman making his first appearance in a Chippewa uniform came on and went five solid innings and left with an 8-1 lead.
But that freshman, Jack Brown, was long gone by the time this one was decided.
The near four-hour marathon featured a combined 14 pitchers, 27 hits, four errors, 14 walks, nine stolen bases, 26 men left on base, and a starting pitcher coming out of the bullpen for the first time in his career to earn the save.
The Chippewas, who left 18 on base for the game – they left them loaded in the eighth and the ninth -- finally broke through in the 11th when Jacob Donahue and Danny Wuestenfeld both singled and Ely Stuart was intentionally walked with one out.
Marquis Jackson then drew a walk to give CMU a 9-8 lead, and then Jack Eichler hit a ground ball for a force at second base, bringing in another run. The Lumberjacks attempted to turn an inning-ending double play on Eichler's grounder, but the relay to first was wild, allowing another run to score to make it 11-8.
Sabol summoned starter Keegan Batka, one of the Chippewas' two aces, from the bullpen to close it.
The first two Lumberjacks in the inning reached and then, with two outs, they got a two-run single to pull to 11-10. With the tying run at first, Batka got an exhale-inducing strikeout to finally end it.
The Chippewas finished with a season-high 15 hits, three each from Bryson Webb, Donahue and Wuestenfeld, and Robby Morgan IV doubled and tripled.
Evan Waters (1-2), the fifth Chippewa pitcher, picked the victory. He struck out six over three innings before giving the ball to Batka, who was making his first career relief appearance.
"We knew today was going to be a battle of the bullpens," Sabol said. "We've seen each other now for four or five days straight and it was going to come down to which guy we ran out there was going to hold them in check and give us a chance to win.
"We went into the week knowing we had 14 healthy arms down here with us and we were going to play a lot of baseball in not a lot of time. So there were going to be guys who were going to be asked to do a little bit more than maybe we would like in the first week of the season."
Batka, who started and went seven innings in CMU's season opener on Friday, was scheduled for a bullpen day on Wednesday. Sabol and his staff scratched that, and instead made Batka's bullpen day live.
And he delivered.
"He was all for it," Sabol said. "He was a hundred percent committed to getting in the game; whatever we needed to win. I think it just shows that these guys have bought in to what we're trying to do as a coaching staff; playing for one another and doing what it takes to win."
And while Brown, the freshman right-hander, was long gone by the time the game was decided, his contribution cannot be overstated. He allowed one run on five hits and struck out three over five innings. He threw 77 pitches, 46 of them for strikes with no walks.
Bell issued a walk to SFA's leadoff hitter to start the game, and then left with an injury.
"Jake Brown, he's been a guy who's been up and down in practice – he wasn't down today; he was really good and gave us a chance," Sabol said. "That's probably the toughest scenario for someone to make their debut. … To have to come out there after one hitter and take all your warmups and do all your stretching in front of the opposing team – that's not a normal setting.
"He was calm, cool, collected. He acted like he wasn't a freshman. Those moments sometimes can be a little too big for people and it takes them a couple innings to get settled in. I wouldn't say he was super crisp right away, but he did enough to get himself in the zone and as the game went on, he just got better. I give him a ton of credit. He hadn't pitched up until this point and he stayed ready and we needed that kind of performance."
The Chippewas finished with season highs in hits (15), stolen bases (9) and walks (11) one day after collecting 10 hits in an 11-3 win over the Lumberjacks.
"The first couple of days down here, we really weren't doing enough offensively," Sabol said. "We were getting a few guys on here and there, but we just weren't getting enough hard contact to force the opposing team to make plays. That's just been our mindset the last couple of days, get back to what we've been practicing all year and just finding the barrel often and get on base and force them to make tough plays.
"It's taken a little while to get the guys completely wrapped around what we're trying to do, but it's coming, and we saw glimpses of it (Tuesday) and today and I think we're close to breaking through from an offensive standpoint."
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Waters, Evan (1-2)
L: K. Parker (0-1)
S: Batka, Keegan (1)
Batting:
2B: Webb, Bryson 1 ; Wuestenfeld, Danny 1 ; Morgan IV, Robby 1
3B: Morgan IV, Robby 1
RBI: Morgan IV, Robby 2 ; Stuart, Ely 2 ; Prout, Cole 1 ; Jackson, Marquis 1 ; Eichler, Jack 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Webb, Bryson 2 ; Donahue, Jacob 3 ; Wuestenfeld, Danny 2 ; Morgan IV, Robby 1 ; Stuart, Ely 1 ; Henning, Elijah 1 ; Dardas, Nick 1
SB: Donahue, Jacob 1 ; Wuestenfeld, Danny 1 ; Morgan IV, Robby 1 ; Stuart, Ely 2 ; Prout, Cole 1 ; Henning, Elijah 1 ; Dardas, Nick 1
HBP: Donahue, Jacob 1 ; Stuart, Ely 1 ; Jackson, Marquis 1
PO: Dardas, Nick 1
Batting:
2B: N. Brown 2
HR: N. Brown 1
RBI: C. Griffin 1 ; C. Hill 1 ; T. Biggs 2 ; N. Brown 1
Base Running:
RUNS: C. Griffin 2 ; C. Hill 2 ; C. Fleischer 1 ; N. Brown 2 ; D. Bourgeios 1 ; H. Prescher 1 ; J. Thompson 1
SB: C. Griffin 1 ; D. Bourgeios 1
HBP: C. Fleischer 1 ; B. Yosko 1 ; H. Prescher 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
6
R
2
H
3
RBI
0
AB
5
R
3
H
3
RBI
0
AB
7
R
2
H
3
RBI
0
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
RHP
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IF
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LHP
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