Central Michigan University Athletics
Sunday, March 17
Oxford, Ohio
1 p.m.
Central Michigan University
4-16, 1-5
5
at
2
Miami (Ohio)
7-10, 2-4
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Central Michigan
0
0
1
2
0
1
0
1
0
5
7
0
Miami (OH)
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
2
6
1
Bryce Hellgeth pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the ninth inning to earn his first save and preserve a 5-2 win on Sunday at Miami (Ohio).
Photo by: Oklahoma State University
Baeball Snaps Skid With Solid Start, Strong Bullpen Performance
3/17/2024 5:19:00 PM | Baseball
OXFORD, Ohio – Another solid start.
And the bullpen was up to the challenge.
Starter Evan Waters threw five shutout innings and relievers Jared Hanson and Bryce Hellgeth held the fort on Sunday as the Central Michigan baseball team held off Miami (Ohio), 5-2, in the finale of a three-game Mid-American Conference series at the RedHawks' McKie Field at Hayden Park.
The Chippewas (4-16, 1-5 MAC) snapped a 13-game losing streak as they closed their 20-game season-opening road trip.
"Our guys are pretty relieved," first-year CMU coach Jake Sabol said. "They've been working their tails off to make some changes to get us out of this funk.
"Some of the things haven't worked, but they've been close in a lot of different areas, made some great adjustments, and started to play some better baseball and we started to compete a little more the past couple of weeks. It was just fun to see them celebrate at the end of the game and know that they can do it. We take a lot of pride in playing good baseball and the winning tradition here at Central Michigan."
The Chippewas entertain Oakland in a nonconference game in their home opener on Wednesday, March 20 (3 p.m.), and then welcome Ohio next weekend for a three-game MAC series.
Waters (2-2), a sophomore left-hander, struck out four, walked six, and allowed three hits over five innings. He danced out of two bases-loaded jams and two two-on jams before turning it over to Hanson, a redshirt freshman right-hander, who allowed two runs over three innings.
Hellgeth came on in the ninth after Hanson walked the Miami leadoff man. Hellgeth hit a batter and issued a one-out walk to load the bases, but he got a strikeout and groundout to end it.
"That was exactly what we needed," Sabol said of his two relievers. "We've put ourselves in those scenarios the last couple of games and really the last couple weekends to turn it over to our bullpen and hold the lead and we haven't been super successful.
"The thing we've been trying to figure out is who's going to be that extra guy our two that we can count on on the weekend to give us quality innings out of the pen. We've used a lot of guys in a lot of different scenarios hoping something sticks.
"It was just Hanson's turn. He's a strike thrower, he's competitive. He got some quick outs and even when things didn't go his way, he made some big pitches to keep the (eighth) inning at only two runs and give us a chance to keep the lead in the ninth."
Hellgeth, who earned his first save, came in the ninth of Friday's 3-2 loss. He took the loss after starter Adam Mrakitsch pitched eight shutout innings.
"I told Bryce on Friday that I thought he actually threw the ball pretty well," Sabol said "(Miami) found a few holes. He wasn't super clean, and it was a tough one for us to drop after the way Adam threw.
"For him to bounce back (Sunday) in that scenario and make some big pitches was a big deal for our guys and hopefully that gives him some confidence moving forward."
Jacob Donahue and Ely Stuart had two hits apiece to lead the Chippewas at the plate.
CMU got a run in the third when Bryson Webb reached on a fielder's choice. He then stole second and third and scored on a Donahue single. The Chippewas added two in the fourth on RBI doubles by Jake Brill and Webb.
The Chippewas got another run in the sixth on a Stuart RBI double and then manufactured an insurance run in the eighth when Drew Stengren drew a full-count walk and pinch runner Marquis Jackson was bunted to second, took third on a fly out, and scored on a wild pitch.
The Chippewas struck out just six times, their second lowest total of the season. They had registered double-digit strikeouts in 14 of their first 19 games. Their three doubles tied their season high.
"Our at-bats overall were the most competitive group of at-bats we've had all year," Sabol said. "We've struggled when we've had the double-digit punchout games. It's hard to win that way. We made a commitment to score as many as we can and if that meant having to bunt for a hit or move guys over or play the short game a little bit, we were going to do that.
"Proud of the guys for their execution when it came to that kind of stuff today and it was nice to see us swing it and have some aggressive at-bats. We want to be an offense that's a dual threat, that can have the extra-base hit in our pocket, but also be able to run and bunt and do all that kind of stuff too. I think we showcased a little bit of that today and it led to our first win in a long time."
Waters gave the Chippewas their third solid start of the series after Mrakitsch's gem on Friday and Keegan Batka's on Saturday, when he allowed just two runs over five frames. While Batka and Waters were overall good, they issued a combined 10 walks in their two games, which extended their respective pitch counts and limited their innings.
"Keegan and Evan, they've got an extra notch in there that we haven't quite seen yet," Sabol said. "They labored through a few innings, they kind of hurt themselves with some free passes every now and then and unfortunately that kind of limited them to be able to go only five innings.
"I know their stuff's a little bit better. We've got to be a little bit more efficient in getting some quicker outs and some quicker innings to not put so much pressure on the bullpen every single game. I'll take it this weekend. We needed some quality starts and they gave us a chance in all three games which is something we have not had in quite some time."
The Chippewas led or were tied for 23 of the 27 innings in the three-game series yet came away with just one win.
"We had the lead late in the game in all three games," Sabol said. "That's a good recipe for success. We've just got to tie it up a little bit late and anchor down some wins.
"It was good to get this one and the guys are feeling pretty good about themselves, and we'll figure out what that looks like moving forward and hopefully we can get a streak going."
And the bullpen was up to the challenge.
Starter Evan Waters threw five shutout innings and relievers Jared Hanson and Bryce Hellgeth held the fort on Sunday as the Central Michigan baseball team held off Miami (Ohio), 5-2, in the finale of a three-game Mid-American Conference series at the RedHawks' McKie Field at Hayden Park.
The Chippewas (4-16, 1-5 MAC) snapped a 13-game losing streak as they closed their 20-game season-opening road trip.
"Our guys are pretty relieved," first-year CMU coach Jake Sabol said. "They've been working their tails off to make some changes to get us out of this funk.
"Some of the things haven't worked, but they've been close in a lot of different areas, made some great adjustments, and started to play some better baseball and we started to compete a little more the past couple of weeks. It was just fun to see them celebrate at the end of the game and know that they can do it. We take a lot of pride in playing good baseball and the winning tradition here at Central Michigan."
The Chippewas entertain Oakland in a nonconference game in their home opener on Wednesday, March 20 (3 p.m.), and then welcome Ohio next weekend for a three-game MAC series.
Waters (2-2), a sophomore left-hander, struck out four, walked six, and allowed three hits over five innings. He danced out of two bases-loaded jams and two two-on jams before turning it over to Hanson, a redshirt freshman right-hander, who allowed two runs over three innings.
Hellgeth came on in the ninth after Hanson walked the Miami leadoff man. Hellgeth hit a batter and issued a one-out walk to load the bases, but he got a strikeout and groundout to end it.
"That was exactly what we needed," Sabol said of his two relievers. "We've put ourselves in those scenarios the last couple of games and really the last couple weekends to turn it over to our bullpen and hold the lead and we haven't been super successful.
"The thing we've been trying to figure out is who's going to be that extra guy our two that we can count on on the weekend to give us quality innings out of the pen. We've used a lot of guys in a lot of different scenarios hoping something sticks.
"It was just Hanson's turn. He's a strike thrower, he's competitive. He got some quick outs and even when things didn't go his way, he made some big pitches to keep the (eighth) inning at only two runs and give us a chance to keep the lead in the ninth."
Hellgeth, who earned his first save, came in the ninth of Friday's 3-2 loss. He took the loss after starter Adam Mrakitsch pitched eight shutout innings.
"I told Bryce on Friday that I thought he actually threw the ball pretty well," Sabol said "(Miami) found a few holes. He wasn't super clean, and it was a tough one for us to drop after the way Adam threw.
"For him to bounce back (Sunday) in that scenario and make some big pitches was a big deal for our guys and hopefully that gives him some confidence moving forward."
Jacob Donahue and Ely Stuart had two hits apiece to lead the Chippewas at the plate.
CMU got a run in the third when Bryson Webb reached on a fielder's choice. He then stole second and third and scored on a Donahue single. The Chippewas added two in the fourth on RBI doubles by Jake Brill and Webb.
The Chippewas got another run in the sixth on a Stuart RBI double and then manufactured an insurance run in the eighth when Drew Stengren drew a full-count walk and pinch runner Marquis Jackson was bunted to second, took third on a fly out, and scored on a wild pitch.
The Chippewas struck out just six times, their second lowest total of the season. They had registered double-digit strikeouts in 14 of their first 19 games. Their three doubles tied their season high.
"Our at-bats overall were the most competitive group of at-bats we've had all year," Sabol said. "We've struggled when we've had the double-digit punchout games. It's hard to win that way. We made a commitment to score as many as we can and if that meant having to bunt for a hit or move guys over or play the short game a little bit, we were going to do that.
"Proud of the guys for their execution when it came to that kind of stuff today and it was nice to see us swing it and have some aggressive at-bats. We want to be an offense that's a dual threat, that can have the extra-base hit in our pocket, but also be able to run and bunt and do all that kind of stuff too. I think we showcased a little bit of that today and it led to our first win in a long time."
Waters gave the Chippewas their third solid start of the series after Mrakitsch's gem on Friday and Keegan Batka's on Saturday, when he allowed just two runs over five frames. While Batka and Waters were overall good, they issued a combined 10 walks in their two games, which extended their respective pitch counts and limited their innings.
"Keegan and Evan, they've got an extra notch in there that we haven't quite seen yet," Sabol said. "They labored through a few innings, they kind of hurt themselves with some free passes every now and then and unfortunately that kind of limited them to be able to go only five innings.
"I know their stuff's a little bit better. We've got to be a little bit more efficient in getting some quicker outs and some quicker innings to not put so much pressure on the bullpen every single game. I'll take it this weekend. We needed some quality starts and they gave us a chance in all three games which is something we have not had in quite some time."
The Chippewas led or were tied for 23 of the 27 innings in the three-game series yet came away with just one win.
"We had the lead late in the game in all three games," Sabol said. "That's a good recipe for success. We've just got to tie it up a little bit late and anchor down some wins.
"It was good to get this one and the guys are feeling pretty good about themselves, and we'll figure out what that looks like moving forward and hopefully we can get a streak going."
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Waters, Evan (2-2)
L: Vardavas (1-1)
S: Hellgeth, Bryce (1)
Batting:
2B: Webb, Bryson 1 ; Brill, Jake 1 ; Stuart, Ely 1
RBI: Webb, Bryson 1 ; Donahue, Jacob 1 ; Brill, Jake 1 ; Stuart, Ely 1
SH: Verburg, Spencer 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Webb, Bryson 1 ; Jackson, Marquis 1 ; Verburg, Spencer 1 ; Brill, Jake 2
SB: Webb, Bryson 2
HBP: Verburg, Spencer 1
Batting:
3B: Macdonald 1
RBI: Batusich, Ty 1 ; Macdonald 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Novak, D. 1 ; Appelwick 1
SB: Macdonald 2 ; Zaborowski 1
HBP: Baker, D. 2 ; Novak, D. 1
Game Leaders
AB
5
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
AB
5
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ Baseball
OF
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RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
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IF/OF
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LHP
/ Baseball
C
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LHP
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