Friday, May 17
Mount Pleasant, Mich.
1 p.m.
Central Michigan University
17-37, 8-21
9
vs
8
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Western Michigan
28-21, 18-11
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Western Michigan
1
0
2
0
0
0
0
0
5
8
11
0
Central Michigan
1
0
6
0
1
0
0
0
1
9
13
2
Jacob Donahue (8) is greeted at home plate by excited teammates after his ninth-inning walk-off home run on Friday on Keilitz Field at Theunissen Stadium.
Photo by: Jack Reeber '23,M'25 - @jackreeber.raw
Donahue Delivers 9th-Inning Homer to Lift Chippewas Past Western Michigan
5/17/2024 5:56:00 PM | Baseball
CMU takes on Western on Saturday (noon) in season finale on CMU Baseball Alumni Day
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Senior Day and the final weekend of the season.
Tailor made for some drama.
Jacob Donahue homered with two out in the bottom of the ninth inning on Friday to lift the Central Michigan baseball team to a thrilling 9-8 victory over rival Western Michigan on Keilitz Field at Theunissen Stadium.
The win evened the three-game Mid-American Conference series at a game apiece. The rubber match, and the Chippewas' season finale, is scheduled for Saturday (noon).
CMU will recognize its baseball alumni – and it's 2004 MAC championship team in particular – in a pregame ceremony at 11:15 a.m.
And while CMU baseball will pay tribute to its past on Saturday, Friday's finish is one that will go down as a sweet memory for 16 Chippewa seniors who were recognized in a pregame ceremony.
None, perhaps, will recall it more fondly than Donahue, a senior outfielder playing in his 164th career game.
Donahue turned on a 3-1 fastball in the ninth and deposited over the wall in left field, just inside the foul pole to give the Chippewas the win, one made all the sweeter by the fact that it came against their rival.
"I'm super excited to be a part of that, whether it's a single or a home run, glad to be a part of that, a walk-off with my teammates, especially on Senior Night," said Donahue, who collected four hits including a double in the game.
"I just happened to hit it on the right spot and to the right part of the park," he said. "Not the farthest part of the park; just happened that I squeaked it out there."
Donahue was mobbed by teammates as they greeted him at home plate and he got the customary Gatorade shower as the postgame celebration continued into left field.
"We needed that," said first-year CMU coach Jake Sabol, who several times this season has seen his team come out on the opposite side of a late-inning comeback. "We haven't had too many moments like that this year and on a day like today where you had a great crowd, you had all your seniors in there, they were all making a great impact …
"It's been a tough year and every day you come to the field and you ask them to stay prepared and keep working hard, be in the moment, and today they did that. They know the end is near, but they fought their tails off today to give themselves a chance."
Donahue's blast ended a roller-coaster game that saw the Chippewas score six runs in the third inning in building what became an 8-3 lead.
They took that five-run advantage into the ninth and then saw the Broncos, who are trying to wrap up the No. 2 seed for next week's MAC Tournament, score five runs on three hits and a CMU error to tie it.
That swung momentum in Western's favor and it appeared that the Chippewas were potentially headed for a heartbreaking loss.
But Donahue changed that with one swing. It was his third homer of the season and the fourth of his career.
"I told Donnie, 'I haven't seen you hit a ball like that all year,'" Sabol said. "He waited for the right time and was able to put a good swing on it and it got out of here."
It was the first win for Sabol, a former Chippewa pitcher, over Western. The Broncos took Friday's series opener, 3-2.
"Obviously if you play in this program, you know that that logo and that school doesn't sit well with you all that much," he said. "Regardless of where we are in the standings, you've got Western in the opposing dugout – rivalries are real and there is something about taking your game up a notch a little bit when you play someone like that.
"We want to play championship-caliber baseball all the time regardless of who we play, but I think there's times, there's moments throughout the year depending on who you play where we expect you to up your game and take it to another level. I challenged the guys this weekend (that) if you've got any Chippewa in you, when you play Western, it just means a little bit more."
Jack Bach (1-0), the sixth Chippewa pitcher, picked up the victory after entering the game with one out in the ninth.
CMU collected 13 hits including seven for extra bases, six of them doubles off seven Bronco pitchers.
Marquis Jackson, Ely Stuart and Jack Eichler had two hits each for CMU. Jackson extended his hit streak to eight games and his reached-base streak to 20.
Tailor made for some drama.
Jacob Donahue homered with two out in the bottom of the ninth inning on Friday to lift the Central Michigan baseball team to a thrilling 9-8 victory over rival Western Michigan on Keilitz Field at Theunissen Stadium.
The win evened the three-game Mid-American Conference series at a game apiece. The rubber match, and the Chippewas' season finale, is scheduled for Saturday (noon).
CMU will recognize its baseball alumni – and it's 2004 MAC championship team in particular – in a pregame ceremony at 11:15 a.m.
And while CMU baseball will pay tribute to its past on Saturday, Friday's finish is one that will go down as a sweet memory for 16 Chippewa seniors who were recognized in a pregame ceremony.
None, perhaps, will recall it more fondly than Donahue, a senior outfielder playing in his 164th career game.
Donahue turned on a 3-1 fastball in the ninth and deposited over the wall in left field, just inside the foul pole to give the Chippewas the win, one made all the sweeter by the fact that it came against their rival.
"I'm super excited to be a part of that, whether it's a single or a home run, glad to be a part of that, a walk-off with my teammates, especially on Senior Night," said Donahue, who collected four hits including a double in the game.
"I just happened to hit it on the right spot and to the right part of the park," he said. "Not the farthest part of the park; just happened that I squeaked it out there."
Donahue was mobbed by teammates as they greeted him at home plate and he got the customary Gatorade shower as the postgame celebration continued into left field.
"We needed that," said first-year CMU coach Jake Sabol, who several times this season has seen his team come out on the opposite side of a late-inning comeback. "We haven't had too many moments like that this year and on a day like today where you had a great crowd, you had all your seniors in there, they were all making a great impact …
"It's been a tough year and every day you come to the field and you ask them to stay prepared and keep working hard, be in the moment, and today they did that. They know the end is near, but they fought their tails off today to give themselves a chance."
Donahue's blast ended a roller-coaster game that saw the Chippewas score six runs in the third inning in building what became an 8-3 lead.
They took that five-run advantage into the ninth and then saw the Broncos, who are trying to wrap up the No. 2 seed for next week's MAC Tournament, score five runs on three hits and a CMU error to tie it.
That swung momentum in Western's favor and it appeared that the Chippewas were potentially headed for a heartbreaking loss.
But Donahue changed that with one swing. It was his third homer of the season and the fourth of his career.
"I told Donnie, 'I haven't seen you hit a ball like that all year,'" Sabol said. "He waited for the right time and was able to put a good swing on it and it got out of here."
It was the first win for Sabol, a former Chippewa pitcher, over Western. The Broncos took Friday's series opener, 3-2.
"Obviously if you play in this program, you know that that logo and that school doesn't sit well with you all that much," he said. "Regardless of where we are in the standings, you've got Western in the opposing dugout – rivalries are real and there is something about taking your game up a notch a little bit when you play someone like that.
"We want to play championship-caliber baseball all the time regardless of who we play, but I think there's times, there's moments throughout the year depending on who you play where we expect you to up your game and take it to another level. I challenged the guys this weekend (that) if you've got any Chippewa in you, when you play Western, it just means a little bit more."
Jack Bach (1-0), the sixth Chippewa pitcher, picked up the victory after entering the game with one out in the ninth.
CMU collected 13 hits including seven for extra bases, six of them doubles off seven Bronco pitchers.
Marquis Jackson, Ely Stuart and Jack Eichler had two hits each for CMU. Jackson extended his hit streak to eight games and his reached-base streak to 20.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Bach, Jack (1-0)
L: DORAN, Turner (2-3)
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Batting:
2B: RICHMOND, CJ 1
HR: NEVAR, Dylan 1 ; RICHMOND, CJ 1
RBI: NEVAR, Dylan 1 ; RICHMOND, CJ 4 ; SWINEHART, Josh 1 ; BUDIG, Greg 1 ; MALONEY, Michael 1
Base Running:
RUNS: KITCHEN, Jackson 1 ; SULLIVAN, Cade 2 ; NEVAR, Dylan 2 ; RICHMOND, CJ 2 ; SWINEHART, Josh 1
SB: SULLIVAN, Cade 1
HBP: HARRITY, Brendan 1
Batting:
2B: Jackson, Marquis 1 ; Wuestenfeld, Danny 1 ; Stuart, Ely 1 ; Donahue, Jacob 1 ; Stengren, Drew 1 ; Eichler, Jack 1
HR: Donahue, Jacob 1
RBI: Jackson, Marquis 1 ; Stuart, Ely 2 ; Donahue, Jacob 1 ; Dardas, Nick 2 ; Stengren, Drew 1 ; Eichler, Jack 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Brill, Jake 1 ; Jackson, Marquis 2 ; Stuart, Ely 1 ; Donahue, Jacob 3 ; Dardas, Nick 1 ; Stengren, Drew 1
SB: Donahue, Jacob 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
3
H
4
RBI
1
AB
5
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
OF
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