Bowman's 11th-Inning RBI Single Gives Baseball Walk-Off Victory, Series Win

Sunday, March 22

Mount Pleasant, Mich.

1 p.m.

Central Michigan University

9-11, 3-6

Toledo

10-11, 6-3

Toledo

Central Michigan

Central Michigan players rush to congratulate Harrison Bowman (2) after Bowman's 11th-inning single delivered a 6-5 victory on Sunday over Toledo at Theunissen Stadium.

Photo by: Sydney Kline '26 - @sydney.kline.photography

Bowman's 11th-Inning RBI Single Gives Baseball Walk-Off Victory, Series Win

3/22/2026 6:20:00 PM | Baseball

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By: Andy Sneddon

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – A turning point?

That remains to be seen, but there are certainly good feelings all around for the Central Michigan baseball team after its 6-5 11-inning victory on Sunday over Toledo in the finale of a three-game Mid-American Conference series on Keilitz Field at Theunissen Stadium.

The win, coupled with the Chippewas' 18-7 Saturday victory, gave them their first MAC series win of the season as they improved to 9-11, 3-6 league. They play host to Michigan State on Tuesday, March 24, in a nonleague game and then go to Eastern Michigan for a MAC series next weekend.

"I believe so, yes," said CMU's Harrison Bowman, when asked if the weekend could serve as a turning point. "With us bouncing back from a pretty bad (10-1) loss on Friday and coming back and take the next two. I think this is going to play a big factor in us. We were able to get over the hump."

Bowman's two-out single to center field brought home Drew Loikits with the running run, touching off a Gatorade-shower celebration as the Chippewas walked it off for the second straight day.

On Saturday, Bowman's eighth-inning grand slam put the finishing touches on the Chippewas' 18-7 run-rule victory. The junior right fielder, in his first season at CMU after transferring from Troy, had nine RBI – tying for the second most in program history – on Saturday and had a combined seven hits and 10 RBI in the final two games of the series.

His .349 batting average is best among Chippewa regulars and leads CMU in both homers (7) and RBI (25).

"I mean, RBIs don't come unless you have people on base," Bowman said. "All these guys, they really support me. Coming here, I kind of wanted to be at a place where I could be the guy. And they really back me and they believe in me and my coaching staff does as well."

The Chippewas seized a 5-3 lead on Zach Knowlton's two-out, two-run double in the eighth inning.

Toledo tied it with a two-run homer in the ninth, and then followed with a triple off the top of the wall in right field. It looked then as if fate was about to deliver another late-inning loss to the Chippewas, who have so often this season failed to hold a late lead.

But not this time. Reliever Liam Stumpf closed the top of the ninth with a groundout, stranding the potential go-ahead run at third.

Jared Hanson relieved Stumpf in the 10^th and allowed a single in both the 10^th and the 11^th, but managed to keep the Rockets off the board in both frames, setting the stage for CMU's 11^th-inning dramatics.

"We've played a lot of games like that," CMU coach Jake Sabol said. "I'm feeling good and I'm just really happy for the guys. They've been working their tails off, and I'm glad to see them grab one here that kind of usually has gone the other way for us.

"The way they keep pushing no matter what happens to them in the game, I'm just happy for them. I'm glad they got rewarded today for playing hard all the way through. It's easy to get down when you keep dropping games that you know you should win. The hard part is staying positive and seeing the good and the growth that this team has had so far through 20 games."

CMU redshirt freshman Logan Keilen blasted a monster two-run homer over the batter's eye in straight-away center field to tie it, 2-2, in the third inning. It was Keilen's second home run of the season.

Toledo (10-11, 6-3) re-took the lead, 3-2, on a fifth-inning sacrifice fly. The Chippewas leveled it in the seventh on a Loikits grounder that scored pinch runner Dominic Bouscher.

CMU starter Hayden Bailey went 6 1/3 innings, allowing three runs on seven hits. He struck out three and walked two. Max Hammond, Nate Ross and Stumpf worked in relief before Hanson (1-1) went the final two frames and picked up the win.

Bailey and Toledo starter Hayden Frey locked in what unfolded through seven innings as a pitchers dual.

"Their arms they threw today were good," Sabol said. "I thought our arms were good too. Some guys made some big pitches in some big spots and gave us length that we haven't had lately."

It was the second straight solid Sunday start for Bailey, a senior right-hander who began the season as CMU's Friday starter. He has allowed five earned runs in those two starts covering 12 1/3 innings.

"We believe in him a ton," Sabol said. "That's why he was in that (Friday) role last year and this year. But I think we wanted to kind of get them off that, let them see the game a little bit and not have to worry about setting the tone every single weekend on Friday and kind of be that guy that can clean some things up on Sunday.

"He's settled in really nicely the last couple of outings. He pitched into the seventh (inning) and that's what you need as this plays out. You need guys to give you a little bit of length out of your rotation. He's gotten some quicker outs, some quick innings. He pitched over some moments and he kept us in the game and kind of matched (Frey) inning for inning, which was good to see."