Central Michigan University Athletics
Wednesday, March 12
Huntington, W. Va.
5 p.m.
Central Michigan University
3-14
12
at
11
Marshall
10-7
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
CMU
2
1
0
1
1
1
0
6
0
12
14
1
Marshall
1
0
2
0
1
2
1
1
3
11
14
2
Cole Prout had three hits including a two-run triple in the Chippewas' 12-11 victory Wednesday at Marshall.
Photo by: Joe Grogan '25 - @leazier.media
Baseball Pulls Out a Wild One at Marshall to Snap Losing Skid
3/12/2025 10:31:00 PM | Baseball
Chippewas score 6 runs in the 8th inning, hang on as Marshall rallies in the 9th
HUNTINGTON, W. Va. – Twenty-three runs, 28 hits, four errors, 21 left on base, two coach ejections, 3 hours and 42 minutes.
When the dust settled, Central Michigan had wrestled away a 12-11 nonconference baseball victory over Marshall on Wednesday, ending a 10-game losing streak.
"Obviously any time you win you feel really good about it," CMU coach Jake Sabol said. "I think what's special about this one is that we've been close, we've been doing some really good things, we just haven't done enough, we haven't played clean baseball and really earned anything ourselves.
"We feel pretty good today. Our message up to today has been fairly positive, just because we've seen so many good things. Yes, the record doesn't portray that. We all know we just have to play better, cleaner baseball and we will put ourselves in more opportunities to be able to win a game late. There are things that are noticeable that our guys are trying to work through, and I thought we did a lot of that today."
The Chippewas (3-14) open Mid-American Conference play with a three-game series beginning on Friday at Ohio (4-11, 0-3 MAC).
They go into their MAC opener with a little momentum after Wednesday's win.
"We made some great plays defensively, we made some pitches when it really mattered, we came up with some big two-out hits and scored runs," Sabol said. "That's what it takes to win. We've just got to find a way to do it more often, be a little more consistent with that kind of stuff.
"We're 0-0 heading into conference play and it's exciting coming off a win. We've got to continue to keep this rolling and not just expect that because we won it's going to carry over. We've got to have that mind set to go to work and continue to get better."
Wednesday's game was a wild, back-and-forth affair. Things got really interesting, and the intensity cooked in the bottom of the sixth with the Chippewas leading, 6-4.
Marshall – which had won nine straight – scored twice to tie the game. The second run scored on a controversial force play at second base when Sabol argued with the umpiring crew that obstruction should have been called, negating the run.
It wasn't, and the run scored. Sabol and assistant coach Doug Walters were ejected arguing the point.
Marshall went ahead, 7-6, with a run in the seventh before the Chippewas exploded for six in the eighth to re-take the lead, 12-7.
Marshall scored a run in the bottom of the eighth to cut it to 12-8, and the Chippewas then white-knuckled it home in the ninth when Marshall scored three runs and put the tying run on second base with two out.
Nate Ross, the sixth Chippewa pitcher, got the final out on a line drive to second base.
Cole Prout had three hits including a triple, Cayden Wright had two doubles, and Ayden Wright homered, his first in a CMU uniform, to lead the Chippewas at the plate.
The Chippewas' big eighth inning started with a walk, a Nathan Ball double, and another walk to load the bases. After a strikeout, the Chippewas tied it, 7-7, when Zach Knowlton was hit by a pitch to force in a run.
Mikey Murphy followed with a two-run single to make it 9-7, and then Prout ripped a two-run triple and then scored on a wild pitch. The Chippewas scored all six runs after two were out.
Murphy's hit, of the 14 the Chippewas collected in the game, was the biggest. Murphy had struck out three times, popped out attempting to bunt, and flied out in his previous five at-bats in the game.
"He's had his moments in a Chippewa uniform," Sabol said of Murphy, a sophomore who batted leadoff for the first time this season. "This year they've been a little limited, he's just been a little inconsistent, but this was a turning point for him.
"He had three or four, what I would say, were below-average at-bats, and for him to wash that aside and focus on that in the biggest moment that we had in the game, for him to come through, was remarkable. I'm happy for him. I give him a lot of credit."
Jake Brown (1-0), who came on with one out in the sixth, earned the win with 1 2/3 innings of relief.
"I thought the guys answered the challenge," Sabol said. "We threatened offensively in more innings than we have all year. We constantly had guys on base, our baserunners were locked in from the get-go, ran the bases at an extremely high level.
"It was nice to see them play inspired. They were playing hard before and I give them a lot of credit to just continue to play that way and our coaching staff who took over, Justin (Sumner) and Aaron (Hilt), Ely (Stuart) and John (Vance), they made some great moves there at the end and gave us a chance."
When the dust settled, Central Michigan had wrestled away a 12-11 nonconference baseball victory over Marshall on Wednesday, ending a 10-game losing streak.
"Obviously any time you win you feel really good about it," CMU coach Jake Sabol said. "I think what's special about this one is that we've been close, we've been doing some really good things, we just haven't done enough, we haven't played clean baseball and really earned anything ourselves.
"We feel pretty good today. Our message up to today has been fairly positive, just because we've seen so many good things. Yes, the record doesn't portray that. We all know we just have to play better, cleaner baseball and we will put ourselves in more opportunities to be able to win a game late. There are things that are noticeable that our guys are trying to work through, and I thought we did a lot of that today."
The Chippewas (3-14) open Mid-American Conference play with a three-game series beginning on Friday at Ohio (4-11, 0-3 MAC).
They go into their MAC opener with a little momentum after Wednesday's win.
"We made some great plays defensively, we made some pitches when it really mattered, we came up with some big two-out hits and scored runs," Sabol said. "That's what it takes to win. We've just got to find a way to do it more often, be a little more consistent with that kind of stuff.
"We're 0-0 heading into conference play and it's exciting coming off a win. We've got to continue to keep this rolling and not just expect that because we won it's going to carry over. We've got to have that mind set to go to work and continue to get better."
Wednesday's game was a wild, back-and-forth affair. Things got really interesting, and the intensity cooked in the bottom of the sixth with the Chippewas leading, 6-4.
Marshall – which had won nine straight – scored twice to tie the game. The second run scored on a controversial force play at second base when Sabol argued with the umpiring crew that obstruction should have been called, negating the run.
It wasn't, and the run scored. Sabol and assistant coach Doug Walters were ejected arguing the point.
Marshall went ahead, 7-6, with a run in the seventh before the Chippewas exploded for six in the eighth to re-take the lead, 12-7.
Marshall scored a run in the bottom of the eighth to cut it to 12-8, and the Chippewas then white-knuckled it home in the ninth when Marshall scored three runs and put the tying run on second base with two out.
Nate Ross, the sixth Chippewa pitcher, got the final out on a line drive to second base.
Cole Prout had three hits including a triple, Cayden Wright had two doubles, and Ayden Wright homered, his first in a CMU uniform, to lead the Chippewas at the plate.
The Chippewas' big eighth inning started with a walk, a Nathan Ball double, and another walk to load the bases. After a strikeout, the Chippewas tied it, 7-7, when Zach Knowlton was hit by a pitch to force in a run.
Mikey Murphy followed with a two-run single to make it 9-7, and then Prout ripped a two-run triple and then scored on a wild pitch. The Chippewas scored all six runs after two were out.
Murphy's hit, of the 14 the Chippewas collected in the game, was the biggest. Murphy had struck out three times, popped out attempting to bunt, and flied out in his previous five at-bats in the game.
"He's had his moments in a Chippewa uniform," Sabol said of Murphy, a sophomore who batted leadoff for the first time this season. "This year they've been a little limited, he's just been a little inconsistent, but this was a turning point for him.
"He had three or four, what I would say, were below-average at-bats, and for him to wash that aside and focus on that in the biggest moment that we had in the game, for him to come through, was remarkable. I'm happy for him. I give him a lot of credit."
Jake Brown (1-0), who came on with one out in the sixth, earned the win with 1 2/3 innings of relief.
"I thought the guys answered the challenge," Sabol said. "We threatened offensively in more innings than we have all year. We constantly had guys on base, our baserunners were locked in from the get-go, ran the bases at an extremely high level.
"It was nice to see them play inspired. They were playing hard before and I give them a lot of credit to just continue to play that way and our coaching staff who took over, Justin (Sumner) and Aaron (Hilt), Ely (Stuart) and John (Vance), they made some great moves there at the end and gave us a chance."
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Brown, Jake (1-0)
L: Nicholas Weyrich (1-2)
Batting:
2B: Smith, Cayden 2 ; Piasecki, Aaron 1 ; Ball, Nathan 1
3B: Prout, Cole 1
HR: Wright, Aydin 1
RBI: Murphy, Mikey 2 ; Prout, Cole 2 ; Piasecki, Aaron 1 ; Kutella, Jake 2 ; Ball, Nathan 1 ; Wright, Aydin 1 ; Knowlton, Zach 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Murphy, Mikey 1 ; Prout, Cole 3 ; Smith, Cayden 1 ; Piasecki, Aaron 1 ; Kwiatkowski, Cole 1 ; Ball, Nathan 1 ; Webb, Bryson 2 ; Wright, Aydin 1 ; Knowlton, Zach 1
SB: Smith, Cayden 1 ; Webb, Bryson 1 ; Knowlton, Zach 4
HBP: Smith, Cayden 1 ; Knowlton, Zach 1
Batting:
2B: Maika Niu 1 ; AJ Havrilla 1 ; Eddie Leon 1 ; Nolan Wilson 1
3B: Maika Niu 2
HR: Jackson Halter 1
RBI: Cam Harthan 2 ; Maika Niu 1 ; AJ Havrilla 1 ; Ethan Murdoch 2 ; Elijah Vogelsong 1 ; Eddie Leon 1 ; Jackson Halter 2
SH: Elijah Vogelsong 1
SF: Ethan Murdoch 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Cam Harthan 1 ; Maika Niu 3 ; AJ Havrilla 1 ; Ethan Murdoch 1 ; Eddie Leon 2 ; Jackson Halter 1 ; Will Lafferty 1 ; Nolan Wilson 1
SB: Cam Harthan 1 ; Maika Niu 1 ; AJ Havrilla 1 ; Ethan Murdoch 1 ; Eddie Leon 1
CS: Cooper Hinson 1
HBP: AJ Havrilla 1 ; Eddie Leon 1
Game Leaders
AB
5
R
3
H
3
RBI
2
ss/p
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
IF/OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
OF
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
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