Milto, Knowlton Homer to Lead 18-Hit Outburst as Baseball Takes Series Finale From Akron

Sunday, May 10

Mount Pleasant, Mich.

1 p.m.

Central Michigan University

22-28, 11-19

Akron

21-30, 11-19

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Akron	1	0	2	0	2	4	0	0	2	11	9	1
Central Michigan	0	3	0	6	0	1	0	2	X	12	18	0

Central Michigan Baseball vs. Akron (May 10, 2026)

Photo by: Clayton Kuiper '26

Milto, Knowlton Homer to Lead 18-Hit Outburst as Baseball Takes Series Finale From Akron

5/10/2026 6:05:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Andy Sneddon

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – At this point, it's about pride and it's about the future.

Zach Knowlton and Joey Milto homered, and Cole Prout had four hits on Sunday as the Central Michigan baseball team topped Akron, 12-11, in the finale of a three-game Mid-American Conference baseball series on Keilitz Field at Theunissen Stadium.

The Chippewas took two of three games from the Zips to win the series and improve to 22-28, 11-19 MAC.

Despite winning on Sunday and taking the series, the Chippewas are eliminated from the MAC Tournament race. They are four games out of sixth place – the last qualifying spot for the tourney – with three remaining.

The Chippewas have won five of their 10 MAC series this season.

We've won a lot of series this year, third-year CMU coach Jake Sabol said. We have had our struggles along the way, of course, like any team, but these guys have stuck together all the way through now.

The Chippewas entertain Valparaiso in a nonconference game on Tuesday, May 12 (3 p.m.) and then close the season with a three-game MAC series at UMass beginning on Thursday, May 14.

Though there will be no MAC Tournament berth, the goals remain the same, Sabol said.

How you're going to you finish, if you're an older guy, he said. If you're a returner and whatnot, what that's going to do for you riding some momentum in the next year. You just want guys to continue to play hard, take advantage of opportunities, and want to win, do what it takes to win. That's what we want.

It's the same thing because it's a chance, a chance to compete. That's your name on the line. That's our program. Everything that you do is going to dictate what your future looks like.

The Chippewas collected 18 hits on Sunday, their third-highest total of the season and their most in 19 games since a 22-hit effort in a 21-13 win at Bowling Green on April 12.

Knowlton hit his sixth homer of the season leading off the second inning and Milto hit a three-run shot in the fourth. It was Milto's sixth homer of the season.

The Chippewas scored a run in the sixth to go ahead, 10-9. Drew Loikits was hit by a pitch leading off the inning and went to second on a wild pitch and took third on groundout. He scored on a Prout double.

The Chippewas added a pair of critical insurance runs in the eighth when Jonathan Fleaka led off with an infield single. Prout was hit by a pitch, and both he and Fleaka moved into scoring position on a Bryson Webb sacrifice bunt. Spencer Verburg and Harrison Bowman then delivered back-to-back RBI singles to extend CMU's lead to 12-9.

Akron hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning to draw to 12-11, but Jack Potteiger came out of the bullpen to get a groundout and a strikeout to end the game, stranding the tying run at second base.

Nate Ross (1-0), a senior pitching for the final time in a MAC game at Theunissen Stadium, picked up the victory with 2 2/3 innings of relief. Potteiger notched his first save.

Prout, also a senior playing his final league home game, singled twice, doubled and tripled, capping a week in which he hit .625 (10 for 16).

Webb finished with three hits, while Verburg, Bowman, Milto and Fleaka had two hits apiece.

It was just fun for them to capitalize there and get a big (win) and have a couple seniors make some big-time plays today, Sabol said. Potteiger coming in (for the save), Prout's day offensively, Milto's home run, Knowlton's home run -- a lot of those guys playing their last MAC home game.

Fleaka, a redshirt freshman, continued his late-season surge. He started all four games at second base during the week and hit .583 (7 for 12) and scored eight runs with a .706 on-base percentage.

You give a guy like a Fleak an opportunity late in the year -- he's doing everything right -- and you go watch him be damn near perfect all weekend from an offensive standpoint, Sabol said. It was just really fun to see a guy take advantage of that.