Saturday Baseball: Miami Earns Series Victory Over Kent State
Saturday's Baseball Results
Miami 5, Kent State 2
Ball State 6, Western Michigan 4
Northern Illinois 6, Eastern Michigan 3
Central Michigan 4, Ohio 2
Stories Courtesy of MAC Sports Information Departments
Miami 5, Kent State 2
Box Score
OXFORD, Ohio - The Miami baseball team clinched the No. 2 seed and a bye in next week's Mid-American Conference Tournament with a 5-2 win over Kent State on Saturday.
Senior pitcher Gus Graham was dominant, holding a potent KSU offense to two runs on three hits en route to his third complete game outing of the season.
The Golden Flashes (36-16, 19-8 MAC) got the game's first runs, scoring two in the second on a passed ball and a sacrifice fly.
Miami (33-18, 17-10 MAC) cut the deficit in half with a Landon Stephens RBI single in the bottom of the third. Adrian Texidor drew a one-out walk to get the `Hawks a baserunner and got to second on a groundout. Following a Ross Haffey walk, Hayden Senger reached on an infield single to load the bases. Stephens' base knock then drove in Texidor to make it 2-1 after three.
The MU offense exploded thanks to some two-out hitting in the fifth. After two quick flyouts, Senger kept the inning alive with a single to left and Stephens followed up with a double to put runners on second and third. Will Vogelgesang then came through clutch with a two-run single. The next batter, Kyle Winkler, answered that with a two-run homer to center, extending the lead to 5-2 after five.
Stephens finished the day going 4-for-4 one run driven in while Senger and Vogelgesang each went 2-for-4 with one run batted in.
The RedHawks will open the MAC Tournament on Thursday at 6 p.m. against a to be determined opponent.
Ball State 6, Western Michigan 4
Box Score
MUNCIE, Ind. – Pinch hitter Tim Blankenberger took the first pitch he saw in the bottom of the eighth inning and delivered it over the left center field wall for a two-run home run to give the Ball State baseball team a 6-4 victory over Western Michigan in the regular season finale Saturday afternoon at First Merchants Ballpark Complex.
Ball State (31-24, 17-10 MAC) concluded the regular season by winning 12 of its final 14 league games to secure the No. 3 seed in the upcoming Mid-American Conference Tournament. Western Michigan (23-25, 12-13) needed a win today to claim one of the final two spots in the league tourney.
"I thought the guys continued to show their resiliency," Ball State head coach Rich Maloney said. "We lost the first game and came back to win the next two. It's what they do. Lots of guys contributed today and it was very fitting for Tim Blankenberger, a guy who doesn't get many chances, to come in and hit a pinch-hit home run. It was dramatic."
The Broncos jumped out in front with three runs in the top of the first inning. From there, the Ball State bullpen held WMU to just four hits in the final eight frames. Long reliever Nick Floyd gave the Cardinals a chance at the comeback by pitching five scoreless innings and striking out five batters.
It took Ball State five innings to figure out Western Michigan starting pitcher Jacob Piechota. Three straight hits in the fifth, including back-to-back doubles from sophomore Noah Powell and junior Chase Sebby, finally put Ball State on the board with two runs.
Senior Colin Brockhouse hit a laser shot over the left field fence, his team leading 10th home run, to lead off the bottom of the sixth inning and level the score at 3-all.
After the two teams exchanged runs in the seventh, Blankenberger was summoned as a pinch hitter in the bottom of the eighth with one out and a runner on second base. The redshirt freshman went the other way with his first collegiate home run to put the Cardinals ahead for the first time in the game.
Junior reliever T.J. Baker (4-0) made sure the lead would hold as the righty shut down Western Michigan in the ninth inning.
Five seniors were honored before the start of the game for their contributions to the team – Brockhouse, Seth Freed, Justin Kirkpatrick, Jeff Riedel and Trevor Simon.
"We are excited to be a part of the tournament and compete," Maloney said. "It's going to come down to who plays the best baseball in a weekend series."
Ball State will next travel to Avon, Ohio, for the MAC Tournament. The Cardinals will play No. 6 seed Eastern Michigan in the opening round on Wednesday, May 23. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ beginning at 12:30 p.m.
Northern Illinois 6, Eastern Michigan 3
Box Score
YPSILANTI, MI – The Northern Illinois University baseball team used a three-run 11th inning to pull out a 6-3 win over host Eastern Michigan University in the season finale Saturday at Oestrike Stadium.
Although the Huskies saw their early 2-0 lead diminish and ultimately turn into a 3-2 deficit midway through the game, they responded in a big way with a game-tying run in the sixth and three in extras to earn their 20th win of the season. They end the year with a 20-36 overall record, and a 9-18 mark in the Mid-American Conference.
"Nothing better than to send our seniors out with an extra inning win," Huskies' head coach Mike Kunigonis said. "Thanks to all of them for a great career."
Hunter Bross (Scottsdale, Ariz./Mesa Community College) pushed across the go-ahead run in the 11th when he laced a single to left-center field, allowing Alex Rodriguez (Cudahy, Wis./Cudahy) – who pinch ran for Kam Smith (Colonial Beach, Va./The Steward School) – to score.
"Hunter came up with a huge hit when we needed it the most," Kunigonis said. "We had a lot of good offensive performances today."
A wild pitch to Samuel Vega (Vega Baja, Puerto Rico/Southwestern Junior College) allowed Bross to score, and Vega's RBI single up the middle plated Scooter Bynum (Fairbanks, Alaska /Arizona Western College) who reached on a single to left-center field.
"This was another character win for this group," Kunigonis said. "It could have been very easy to fold up the tents and give in but we kept battling and found a way."
NIU seized a 2-0 lead in the first inning when four-straight hits to start the game from Vega, Brad Wood (Orland Park, Ill./St. Laurence), Tommy Szczasny (Tinley Park, Ill./Lincoln-Way North) and Jake Dunham (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North) put the Huskies in command. Dunham's single to the shortstop plated Szczasny, and Smith's RBI groundout brought home Wood.
Eastern Michigan responded with a run in the bottom of the first, then took a 3-2 advantage in the fifth on a two-run double. It wasn't until an RBI single from Ty Jandrowski (Kenosha, Wis./Madison College), which plated Smith, that the Huskies were able to knot the score at 3-3.
Starting RHP William Anderson (Columbus, Ind./Columbus East) tossed 4 1/3 solid innings. He struck out five batters and scattered six hits before giving way to Nate Thomas (South Bend, Ind./Mishawaka Marian), who had one of his strongest outings of the year as he worked five innings and fanned a season-high six batters. Senior Andrew Frankenreider (Peoria, Ill./Dunlap) came on in the 10th and nailed down his second win of the season as he yielded only one hit and struck out two batters.
"Will gave us a great start and Nate shut things down from there," Kunigonis said. "Frank came in and got us out of a jam and ended his Huskie career with a win, which was awesome."
Vega, Wood and Bynum led the offense with two hits each, while Szczasny, Jandrowski, Bross, Dunham, Smith and Joe Jumonville (Munster, Ind./Munster) each had a hit.
"We can build on a win like this, and will do so going into the offseason," Kunigonis said.
Central Michigan 4, Ohio 2
Box Score
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - Pitching, defense and patience.
Central Michigan employed all three on Saturday in coming from behind to top Ohio, 4-2, in the regular-season finale at Keilitz Field at Theunissen Stadium. The Chippewas swept the series from the Bobcats to finish the regular season 26-28-1, 16-11.
CMU goes into the MAC Tournament as the fourth seed and will play fifth-seeded Toledo in its opener on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Sprenger Stadium in Avon, Ohio.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Daniel Robinson hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning to put the Chippewas ahead 3-2. They added an insurance run when Zach Gilles' hard smash grounder went for an error and Jacob Crum scampered home.
Zach Kohn (1-1) went three innings in relief of starter Logan Buczkowski for the win. Colton Bradley set down the Bobcats (21-32, 9-18) in order in the ninth for his first save of the season.
ON THE MOUND
Buczkowski allowed two runs - a two-run homer in the second inning by Tony Giannini - on four hits, struck out four and walked two over five innings. Kohn surrendered just one hit and struck out three.
Bradley, a senior playing his final home game, got a fly out and two strikeouts in the ninth. The trio combined to hold the Bobcats to five hits, walked two and struck out nine.
"That breaking ball, that fastball, just so crisp," CMU coach Steve Jaksa said of Bradley. "Just so proud of him as I was all the guys. That senior moment, your last time on Keilitz Field at Theunissen Stadium, and doing that, just really had to make him feel good. Made me feel good."
Jake Roehn (1-6), who came on in the ninth, took the loss. The Bobcats used eight pitchers, none going more than two innings, in their final game of the season.
AT THE PLATE
Robinson finished with three hits and his homer was his team-high fifth of the season.
The junior turned on a three-ball, one-strike fastball and drilled it to straight-away right field after Zach Heeke had led off the eighth with a double.
The Chippewas' got their first run in the sixth inning on an RBI grounder by Jacob Crum.
THE MAN TO STOP
Ohio's Rudy Rott did not have a hit in 10 at-bats in the series. The junior first baseman entered the series as the MAC's leading hitter with a .373 batting average and was tied for the league lead with 15 home runs.
"He had a couple of good swings, but overall I thought we did a really nice job," Jaksa said of the Chippewas' ability to silence Rott. "It's defensive positioning a little bit and if you can throw the ball where you want to and position yourself to where the spray chart shows you have a little better chance.
"He's a good hitter, he didn't miss a couple of those by much, but at the same time I thought we pitched it pretty good to him. You do some things because there's certain guys you don't want to have beat you, and he was a guy that we felt we didn't want to give an opportunity to beat us."
LONG BALL
Ohio entered the series with 46 home runs on the season. Their lone long ball in the three games was Giannini's two-run shot in the second inning.
Sunday's win was CMU's fourth straight, beginning with a 13-2 nonconference win last Tuesday over Michigan State. The Chippewas won the series opener on Thursday, 3-2, scoring all three of their runs in the bottom of the ninth.
"Pitching and defense put us in a position today to get those runs," Jaksa said. "When you do that it gives you a chance to win a lot of games, and we've done that all four games. These guys, they are resilient, they have been resilient. They keep trying to pick each other up.
"The thing we talked about on Monday was to play these last four games all the way through and I felt we did that and lo and behold we won two of those four coming from behind in the eighth and ninth inning. Finishing the game, finishing at-bats, it's the ability to finish."
CHIPPEWA NOTES
• The Chippewas are 24-13 in their last 37 games after a 2-15-1 start to the season.
• Robinson is hitting .437 (28 for 64) in his last 17 games.
• CMU junior Jason Sullivan drew a pair of walks in the game, marking the 17th consecutive game that has reached base.
• Heeke has reached base in 21 straight games and his on-base percentage is a MAC-best .507. He is hitting .600 (12 for 20) since moving to the leadoff spot five games ago.
• Crum, who switched from the leadoff spot to No. 6 in the order when Heeke moved to the top spot, is hitting .421 (eight for 19) in those five games
