Chippewas Outslug Eastern Michigan, 11-9, to Take Series Opener

Friday, May 9

Mount Pleasant, Mich.

3 p.m.

Central Michigan University

18-31, 10-15

Eastern Michigan

18-25, 10-15

Eastern Michigan

Central Michigan

CMU's Cole Kwiatkowski rounds third and heads for home on Friday in the Chippewas' 11-9 victory over Eastern Michigan.

Photo by: Jack Reeber '23,M'25 - @jackreeber.raw

Chippewas Outslug Eastern Michigan, 11-9, to Take Series Opener

5/9/2025 7:16:00 PM | Baseball

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CMU, Eastern tied for seventh; game two of series Saturday (2 p.m.) at Theunissen

By: Andy Sneddon

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Still a lot of season left. And a lot of fight.

The Central Michigan baseball team bounced back from an early deficit on Friday to outslug Eastern Michigan, 11-9, in the opener of a three-game Mid-American Conference baseball series on Keilitz Field at Theunissen Stadium.

The Chippewas (18-31 overall) moved into a tie for seventh place in the league with the Eagles. Both teams are 10-15 in conference play.

Game two of the three-game set is scheduled for Saturday (2 p.m.) and the finale is Sunday (1 p.m.).

The top six teams in the league make the conference tournament. Western Michigan, a 6-5 loser to Kent State on Friday, is sixth at 11-14, one game ahead of the Chippewas and EMU.

The Chippewas, who have five conference games remaining, were swept by the Broncos in a three-game series last weekend in Kalamazoo.

"I think we put a lot of pressure on ourselves knowing that we had an opponent that's competing for the same thing we are and we just didn't answer the bell," CMU coach Jake Sabol said. "We didn't play well at all."

The Chippewas dropped an 8-7 nonleaguer at Michigan on Wednesday, but they outhit the Wolverines, 12-9, and showed that they weren't ready to pack it in despite the loss.

They did the same thing on Friday against the Eagles (18-25), when EMU scored four runs in the top of the first inning. The Chippewas answered with four in the bottom of the frame and the battle was on.

"It's great to see," Sabol said. "I think we carried what we did against Michigan into today. We made some nice adjustments at practice with what we're trying to do and the guys have really bought in and it's paid off in games.

"To be down four it would have been easy to say, 'Here we go again,' but for them to fight back, I think they had a pretty good feeling about how today was going to go."

The Chippewas broke a 9-9 tie in the fifth on Brady Krzciok's two-out RBI double and then added an insurance run in the seventh on an Aaron Piasecki RBI single.

Liam Stumpf went the final four innings on the mound for the Chippewas, blanking the Eagles on three hits while striking out three. He earned his third save in his longest outing since going 4 1/3 innings on March 28 against Bowling Green.

Nate Ross made his first start as a Chippewa and surrendered six runs on seven hits over three innings. Normally a reliever, Ross' line was less than ideal, but he managed to keep the Chippewas in the game before turning it over to the bullpen.

"He wasn't super crisp, and I think he knows that," Sabol said. "Being a starter for the first time, I think a bunch of stuff goes through your head and maybe you're doing things you don't normally do. We just wanted him to be himself, treat it as a relief appearance. He battled; he kept us in there.

"We had to piece it together with four or five guys after that just to get it to (Stumpf). I think we extended (Stumpf) a little bit too much, but we're in one-game-at-a-time mentality. We've got a couple of guys rested, waiting for the next couple of days and hopefully our offense can keep playing like that and we won't have those kinds of problems."

It was hardly a thing of beauty as Chippewa pitching surrendered 12 hits, issued eight walks and hit two batters. But CMU's bats answered the call, delivering 13 hits and the Eagles committed five errors.

It was the first time the Chippewas have had back-to-back multi-hit games since April 19.

"We've got to limit our free ones, make a few plays and maybe that game would be a little bit different, but we're happy with the opening-game win," Sabol said. "That gives us a chance to take the series tomorrow, and that's important."

Mikey Murphy, Piasecki, Aydin Wright and Krzciok – the first four hitters in CMU's lineup – combined for nine hits. Cole Kwiatkowski and Cole Prout also had two hits apiece. Prout drove in three runs, breaking a streak of six consecutive games in which he failed to drive in a run.

While the win was big because it kept the Chippewas in the hunt, Sabol said the focus is simply on Saturday and the Eagles.

"(We can't) be worried about the standings," he said. "That'll take care of itself if they just play hard and play the right way. We're right in it. We've got to take it one day at a time. If we do that, we'll be ok. Not worrying about next weekend, we've got worry about tomorrow."