Central Michigan University Athletics
Saturday, April 12
Akron, Ohio
1 p.m.
Central Michigan University
14-21, 7-7
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Akron
9-25, 3-14
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Central Michigan
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Akron
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CMU shortstop Cayden Smith makes the throw in an attempt to complete a double play on Saturday at Akron's Skeeles Field.
Prout Delivers Big Blow as Chippewas Surge Late to Beat Akron
4/12/2025 6:01:00 PM | Baseball
Stumpf strikes out 5 over final 2 frames to earn save; Chippewas go for series sweep on Sunday
AKRON, Ohio – It's not how you start, but how you finish.
The Central Michigan baseball team used a big eighth inning and Liam Stumpf continued his late season reinvention of himself on the mound as the Chippewas took an 8-6 Mid-American Conference victory on Saturday over Akron as the Zips' Skeeles Field.
It was CMU's third consecutive victory as it improved to 14-21, 7-7 MAC. The Chippewas will go for the series sweep on Sunday (1 p.m.).
The Chippewas trailed, 6-2, and then scored a run in the seventh inning to cut Akron's lead to 6-3. CMU then sent 10 batters to the plate, scoring five runs on five hits, in the eighth to pull ahead for good.
The eighth began with back-to-back singles by Aydin Wright and pinch hitter Nathan Ball, who went to a full count – and fouled off several pitches -- before pulling a single to right field.
The was end for Akron starter Jared Schaeffer, a right-hander who had held the Chippewas in check through seven innings.
"He was good," CMU coach Jake Sabol said of Schaeffer. "He was very effective, he was efficient. He was down in the zone and he gave us trouble there for three, four, five innings.
"It seemed like our guys just weren't comfortable in there and then it was noticeably different in that (eighth) inning. He started to leave the ball up a little bit, he started to miss some of the pitches that he was landing early in the game. I think that's a testament to our approach (and) seeing a few more pitches.
"Earlier in the game, we were swinging, and he had some quick innings. We needed to see a few more pitches and build up that pitch count and get to the pen."
Aaron Piasecki was hit by a pitch to load the bases and Cayden Smith delivered a one-out RBI single to bring the Chippewas to 6-4. Brady Krzciok then drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 6-5 and then Cole Prout greeted Johnny Anservitz, the third Zip pitcher of the inning, with a two-run double off the right-field fence.
It was Prout's second double of the game. His first double, which drove in a run to cut Akron's lead to 6-3 in the seventh inning, broke a 0-for-14 slump.
"I went up to him before the (eighth-inning) at-bat and just kind of gave him a little vote of confidence because he had been struggling a little bit lately in some big moments," said Sabol, who dropped Prout from his customary No. 2 spot in the lineup to No. 6. "We moved him out of the two spot today to take a little pressure off of him and get him going.
"He had a ton of opportunities the last couple weeks with runners in scoring position and when you don't get a few of them done in a row, it starts to build up in your head. … He got one and it was a big-time swing for us."
Stumpf, a redshirt junior right-hander, took over on the mound in the eighth. He allowed two hits – an eighth-inning single and a ninth-inning double – and hit a batter. Five of the six outs he recorded were strikeouts.
It marked the second consecutive game in which Stumpf converted a save opportunity after beginning the season as a starter.
A transfer from Madison (Wis.) College, Stumpf was 0-4 after five appearances as a Chippewa and in four starts never made it past five innings.
He then went to the bullpen and has been increasingly impressive with each appearance.
"He's found his spot," Sabol said. "At the beginning of the year, we wanted him to be one of those starters which is what he's always been. It just didn't work out for him, and he had his ups and downs.
He's one of our best strike throwers and his off-speed stuff has gotten much better. I think he got ahead of every hitter he faced today and that's a big deal late in the game. He works fast, he throws a lot of strikes, he can throw his off-speed, he doesn't labor through many innings out of the pen – I'm just really happy for him because there was maybe a week or two period there where we weren't sure how we were going to use him after we took him out of the rotation.
"He's just stuck with it, kept working hard, kept trying to build on his chances here and there one at a time and he's kind of found his niche."
The Central Michigan baseball team used a big eighth inning and Liam Stumpf continued his late season reinvention of himself on the mound as the Chippewas took an 8-6 Mid-American Conference victory on Saturday over Akron as the Zips' Skeeles Field.
It was CMU's third consecutive victory as it improved to 14-21, 7-7 MAC. The Chippewas will go for the series sweep on Sunday (1 p.m.).
The Chippewas trailed, 6-2, and then scored a run in the seventh inning to cut Akron's lead to 6-3. CMU then sent 10 batters to the plate, scoring five runs on five hits, in the eighth to pull ahead for good.
The eighth began with back-to-back singles by Aydin Wright and pinch hitter Nathan Ball, who went to a full count – and fouled off several pitches -- before pulling a single to right field.
The was end for Akron starter Jared Schaeffer, a right-hander who had held the Chippewas in check through seven innings.
"He was good," CMU coach Jake Sabol said of Schaeffer. "He was very effective, he was efficient. He was down in the zone and he gave us trouble there for three, four, five innings.
"It seemed like our guys just weren't comfortable in there and then it was noticeably different in that (eighth) inning. He started to leave the ball up a little bit, he started to miss some of the pitches that he was landing early in the game. I think that's a testament to our approach (and) seeing a few more pitches.
"Earlier in the game, we were swinging, and he had some quick innings. We needed to see a few more pitches and build up that pitch count and get to the pen."
Aaron Piasecki was hit by a pitch to load the bases and Cayden Smith delivered a one-out RBI single to bring the Chippewas to 6-4. Brady Krzciok then drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 6-5 and then Cole Prout greeted Johnny Anservitz, the third Zip pitcher of the inning, with a two-run double off the right-field fence.
It was Prout's second double of the game. His first double, which drove in a run to cut Akron's lead to 6-3 in the seventh inning, broke a 0-for-14 slump.
"I went up to him before the (eighth-inning) at-bat and just kind of gave him a little vote of confidence because he had been struggling a little bit lately in some big moments," said Sabol, who dropped Prout from his customary No. 2 spot in the lineup to No. 6. "We moved him out of the two spot today to take a little pressure off of him and get him going.
"He had a ton of opportunities the last couple weeks with runners in scoring position and when you don't get a few of them done in a row, it starts to build up in your head. … He got one and it was a big-time swing for us."
Stumpf, a redshirt junior right-hander, took over on the mound in the eighth. He allowed two hits – an eighth-inning single and a ninth-inning double – and hit a batter. Five of the six outs he recorded were strikeouts.
It marked the second consecutive game in which Stumpf converted a save opportunity after beginning the season as a starter.
A transfer from Madison (Wis.) College, Stumpf was 0-4 after five appearances as a Chippewa and in four starts never made it past five innings.
He then went to the bullpen and has been increasingly impressive with each appearance.
"He's found his spot," Sabol said. "At the beginning of the year, we wanted him to be one of those starters which is what he's always been. It just didn't work out for him, and he had his ups and downs.
He's one of our best strike throwers and his off-speed stuff has gotten much better. I think he got ahead of every hitter he faced today and that's a big deal late in the game. He works fast, he throws a lot of strikes, he can throw his off-speed, he doesn't labor through many innings out of the pen – I'm just really happy for him because there was maybe a week or two period there where we weren't sure how we were going to use him after we took him out of the rotation.
"He's just stuck with it, kept working hard, kept trying to build on his chances here and there one at a time and he's kind of found his niche."
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Morgan, Justin (2-0)
L: D. Moore (0-2)
S: Stumpf, Liam (2)
Batting:
2B: Krzciok, Brady 1 ; Prout, Cole 2
RBI: Wright, Aydin 1 ; Smith, Cayden 1 ; Krzciok, Brady 1 ; Prout, Cole 3 ; Murphy, Mikey 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Wright, Aydin 1 ; Webb, Bryson 1 ; Piasecki, Aaron 1 ; Campanale, Rees 1 ; Smith, Cayden 2 ; Krzciok, Brady 2
CS: Murphy, Mikey 1
HBP: Piasecki, Aaron 1 ; Prout, Cole 1 ; Knowlton, Zach 1
Batting:
2B: E. Bottone 2
RBI: C. Matlon 1 ; J. Poist 3 ; A. Horvath 2
Base Running:
RUNS: E. Bottone 2 ; M. Bowman 1 ; C. Matlon 1 ; K. McConachi 1 ; N. Sackett 1
SB: C. Matlon 1 ; J. Poist 1 ; N. Sackett 1
HBP: C. Matlon 2 ; A. Horvath 1 ; K. McConachi 1 ; N. Sackett 1
Game Leaders
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
5
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
3
AB
1
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
IF/OF
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