Central Michigan University Athletics
Wednesday, April 24
South Bend, Ind.
6:30 p.m.
Central Michigan University
14-27
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Notre Dame
20-19
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Central Michigan
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Notre Dame
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Jonah Milchuck went the final two innings to earn the save and complete CMU's one-hitter on Wednesday at Notre Dame.
Photo by: Sydney Kline '26 - @sydney.kline.photography
Sensational 7: Chippewa Pitchers Team Up on One-Hitter in Win at Notre Dame
4/24/2024 10:14:00 PM | Baseball
SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Seven Central Michigan pitchers combined on a one-hitter Wednesday as the Chippewas topped Notre Dame, 2-0, in a nonconference baseball game at the Fighting Irish's Frank Eck Stadium.
It was the Chippewas' third win – all shutouts -- over a team from a Power 5 conference this season as they defeated Notre Dame, which plays in the ACC, for the first time since 2019 and snapped the Irish's five-game win streak.
"They're pretty excited right now," said first-year CMU coach Jake Sabol of his players, who earlier this season won at Michigan State (Big Ten), 10-0, and at Central Florida (Big 12), 2-0.
"You would think that it does a lot for you heading into the weekend with a MAC series and you want to come off something really positive and it doesn't get much better than beating a quality Power 5 program during the mid-week (game)," said Sabol, whose team entertains Northern Illinois this weekend in a three-game Mid-American Conference series. "We've done that a few times now and we just want it to carry over. Our guys are pumped to play at home here for a little stretch and hopefully we can get something going."
Jack Bach started and went two innings for the Chippewas and then Jack Bell, Jared Hanson, Evan Waters, Keegan Batka and Quin Konuszewski each went an inning.
Bell (1-0) picked up the win and Jonah Milchuck went the final two frames for his first save.
Bach set the tone, striking out the side in the first inning. He allowed a walk and then one-out single in the second, Notre Dame's only hit of the game. The runners moved into scoring position on a groundout, but Bach got an inning-ending groundout, quelling Notre Dame's lone threat of the game.
The Chippewas combined to walk four and strike out five.
"I give the guys a lot of credit," Sabol said. "Hopefully this shows them that when you're in the zone, when you're in attack mode, when you stay aggressive, when you work ahead, you can have a lot of success.
"It doesn't matter that you're playing Notre Dame, Michigan, Michigan State in these mid-week games; they're playing the same game we are. If we can have that mentality and get the ball in play and work to stay ahead and stay aggressive and work back when we get behind, good things usually happen.
"Today I was proud of all those guys. Total team effort from the pitchers and we did just enough offensively to give ourselves the lead and then turn it over to Milchuck there at the end."
CMU got a run in the fourth and one in the sixth.
In the fourth, Robby Morgan IV drew a two-out bases-loaded walk, and in the sixth, Ely Stuart singled and went to third on a Marquis Jackson one-out double. Stuart scored on a Morgan groundball.
Sabol said the plan was to give each pitcher an inning with Milchuck working the eighth. The hard-throwing 6-foot-8 right-hander set down the Irish in order in the eighth, and convinced Sabol to let him work the ninth.
"We weren't going to run him back out there for the ninth, but he wanted it and he was throwing the ball well," Sabol said. "They had two lefties coming up in the ninth and he's a little bit better matchup for lefties and he said he wanted it so we said let's let him finish it.
"It goes back to some of the things we want our pitchers to do and have that mentality to want to be out there in those moments. He earned that today. In his career he's been a back-end guy; he was a JUCO All-American as a closer so he's been in that role before. It was nice to see him go and shut it down."
It was the Chippewas' third win – all shutouts -- over a team from a Power 5 conference this season as they defeated Notre Dame, which plays in the ACC, for the first time since 2019 and snapped the Irish's five-game win streak.
"They're pretty excited right now," said first-year CMU coach Jake Sabol of his players, who earlier this season won at Michigan State (Big Ten), 10-0, and at Central Florida (Big 12), 2-0.
"You would think that it does a lot for you heading into the weekend with a MAC series and you want to come off something really positive and it doesn't get much better than beating a quality Power 5 program during the mid-week (game)," said Sabol, whose team entertains Northern Illinois this weekend in a three-game Mid-American Conference series. "We've done that a few times now and we just want it to carry over. Our guys are pumped to play at home here for a little stretch and hopefully we can get something going."
Jack Bach started and went two innings for the Chippewas and then Jack Bell, Jared Hanson, Evan Waters, Keegan Batka and Quin Konuszewski each went an inning.
Bell (1-0) picked up the win and Jonah Milchuck went the final two frames for his first save.
Bach set the tone, striking out the side in the first inning. He allowed a walk and then one-out single in the second, Notre Dame's only hit of the game. The runners moved into scoring position on a groundout, but Bach got an inning-ending groundout, quelling Notre Dame's lone threat of the game.
The Chippewas combined to walk four and strike out five.
"I give the guys a lot of credit," Sabol said. "Hopefully this shows them that when you're in the zone, when you're in attack mode, when you stay aggressive, when you work ahead, you can have a lot of success.
"It doesn't matter that you're playing Notre Dame, Michigan, Michigan State in these mid-week games; they're playing the same game we are. If we can have that mentality and get the ball in play and work to stay ahead and stay aggressive and work back when we get behind, good things usually happen.
"Today I was proud of all those guys. Total team effort from the pitchers and we did just enough offensively to give ourselves the lead and then turn it over to Milchuck there at the end."
CMU got a run in the fourth and one in the sixth.
In the fourth, Robby Morgan IV drew a two-out bases-loaded walk, and in the sixth, Ely Stuart singled and went to third on a Marquis Jackson one-out double. Stuart scored on a Morgan groundball.
Sabol said the plan was to give each pitcher an inning with Milchuck working the eighth. The hard-throwing 6-foot-8 right-hander set down the Irish in order in the eighth, and convinced Sabol to let him work the ninth.
"We weren't going to run him back out there for the ninth, but he wanted it and he was throwing the ball well," Sabol said. "They had two lefties coming up in the ninth and he's a little bit better matchup for lefties and he said he wanted it so we said let's let him finish it.
"It goes back to some of the things we want our pitchers to do and have that mentality to want to be out there in those moments. He earned that today. In his career he's been a back-end guy; he was a JUCO All-American as a closer so he's been in that role before. It was nice to see him go and shut it down."
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Bell, Jack (1-0)
L: Keenan Mork (1-1)
S: Milchuck, Jonah (1)
Batting:
2B: Jackson, Marquis 1
RBI: Morgan IV, Robby 2
SH: Donahue, Jacob 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Wuestenfeld, Danny 1 ; Stuart, Ely 1
SB: Donahue, Jacob 1
CS: Brill, Jake 1
HBP: Jackson, Marquis 1
Base Running:
HBP: David Glancy 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
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LHP
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RHP
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LHP
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