Saturday’s Baseball Results
Central Michigan 7, Bowling Green 3
Western Michigan 12, Eastern Michigan 2
Ball State 4, Northern Illinois 1
Kent State 11, Toledo 5
Ohio 4, Miami 3
Stories courtesy of MAC Sports Information Departments
Central Michigan 7, Bowling Green 3
Boxscore
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – Pat Leatherman became Central Michigan baseball's career strikeout leader on Saturday as the Chippewas posted a 7-3 Mid-American Conference victory over Bowling Green at the Falcons' Steller Field.
Leatherman (7-1) struck out nine in the game. His record-breaking strikeout came in the fourth inning, when he caught Mike Malewitz looking leading off the frame. That gave Leatherman 289 career strikeouts as he moved ahead of Josh Collmenter, who posted 288 strikeouts from 2005-07.
It was the second superb start for Leatherman, a senior right-hander from Jenison. He allowed one run on three hits over 6 2/3 innings, leaving the bullpen to protect a 7-1 lead.
The Chippewas improve to 32-12, 14-5 MAC to remain one-half game behind first-place Ball State in the conference. Bowling Green 13-28, 6-13 MAC.
The series is scheduled to conclude with a doubleheader on Sunday (noon).
The Chippewas gave Leatherman all the support he would need with a five-run second inning, highlighted by a Griffin Lockwood-Powell two-run homer and a Zach Gilles RBI double.
Leatherman did the rest before giving way to Garrett Navarra with two out in the seventh inning Navarra and Grant Frazer combined to go 2 1/3 innings and allow two runs on two hits.
Lockwood-Powell totaled three hits including a double and his homer, his MAC-leading ninth of the season. Gilles, David Cole and Jacob Crum added two hits each. CMU outhit the Falcons, 11-5.
Western Michigan 12, Eastern Michigan 2
Boxscore
Kalamazoo, Michigan - The Western Michigan Baseball team scored six runs in the bottom of the first inning and got a strong starting preformance from freshman pitcher Brady Miller in a 12-2 win against Eastern Michigan on saturday afternoon inside Robert J. Bobb stadium. "We played with great energy and enthusiasm today. Miller was outstanding and our offesnse applied pressure nearly every inning" said head coach Billy Gernon after his team picked up the MAC series win over EMU.
Freshman Brady Miller got his eighth start of the season for the Brown and Gold and did not disappoint. The right hander picked up the win and improved his record to 3-2 after throwing 6.2 innings and allowing only one run. The Plainfield, IL native struck out seven Eagles while only walking one.
Six Broncos registered multi-hit games while both Nate Grys and Andrew Stone registered a multi-RBI game. Grys on the day went 2-for-4 with 4 runs batted in and two doubles. Drew DeVine also joined in on the double party for the Brown and Gold, accounting for two doubles, a run driven in, and scoring three runs himself. The Marshall, MI native went 3-for-4 on the day.
Western Michigan jumped out to an early lead, using six hits to score six runs. The first five batters the Broncos sent up to the plate either claimed a hit or a walk. The inning was highlighted by a Nate Grys double down the left field line, barely squeaking past the bag at 3rd base and the Brown and Gold never looked back.
WMU would add five more runs in the bottom of the sixth, highlighted once again by a Grys double that scored two runs.
With the win, WMU improves to 15-26 overall and 8-10 in the MAC. The Broncos sit in 7th in the Mid-American Conference standings, with the top six teams getting an invite to Avon, Ohio for the MAC postseason tournament. Western Michigan picked up a game on Ohio yesterday, who fell to Miami yesterday. Ohio sits in 6th place with a conference record of 8-10.
The two teams will meet back up again tomorrow inside of Robert J. Bobb stadium at 1 p.m. with WMU looking for the series sweep of EMU.
Ball State 4, Northern Illinois 1
Boxscore
DeKALB, Ill. - John Baker turned in another strong start and a couple longballs lifted the Ball State baseball team to a 4-1 win at Northern Illinois on Sunday. The Cardinals moved to 14-4 in league play with 7 games left and stayed a step ahead of Central Michigan at the top of the standings.
Baker, who improved to 6-1 on the year, took a no-hitter into the 7th inning and only allowed 5 baserunners on the day. It was his 4th quality start in his last 5 outings and his 7th start of the year allowing 1 or fewer earned runs. Head coach Rich Maloney said he remembered maybe a few hard-hit balls off Baker all day.
"John was splendid," Maloney said. "He kept the Northern Illinois hitters off-balance with a 4-pitch mix. He was excellent."
Baker was backed by an early home run by Ross Messina, his team-high 7th of the year. Messina smacked a 2-2 pitch over the fence in left-center in the 1st inning to give Ball State a 1-0 lead. Freshman DH Andre Orselli homered in the 4th to make it 2-0 and that's all Ball State (30-15) would need on the day. Chase Sebby and William Baker celebrated the 2019 BSU Commencement with a sac fly and RBI single, respectively, to help clinch the game.
Another new grad, Nick Floyd, got the final 6 outs for his 3rd save of the season. Floyd retired 6 of the 7 batters he faced.
"Nick did a nice job. We got some good pitching and timely hitting and that's all we needed," Maloney said. "We played an all-around solid game. I'm very encouraged about our pitching, this is the way I thought we'd be pitching and winning."
The series finale at NIU will be Sunday at 2 p.m. ET (1 p.m. local).
Kent State 11, Toledo 5
Boxscore
KENT, Ohio – The Kent State University baseball team (24-20, 11-7 MAC) earned its second win of the weekend, swinging past Toledo (15-29, 3-15 MAC) 11-5 on a rainy Saturday afternoon at Schoonover Stadium. Sophomore Michael Turner led the Kent State offense with four hits and four RBIs while junior John Matthews earned the win on the bump, shutting down the Rockets for 6.0 innings with a career-high 10 strikeouts.
Prior to the first pitch, the Flashes also celebrated the team's five players receiving degrees in the Class of 2019 with an on-field commencement ceremony: Josh Hollander, Chris Martin, John Schreiber, Pete Schuler and Joe Watts.
Kent State tallied 11 runs on 11 hits on the day, marking the 21st time the Flashes have clubbed 10 or more hits in a game and the 17th game scoring 10 or more runs this season. Turner accounted for six of the Flashes' runs on the day, going 4-for-5 at the plate with 4 runs driven in and two runs scored. Senior Pavin Parks recorded his 11th multi-hit game this year with a pair of hits, two RBIS and two runs. Redshirt sophomore Ben Carew extended his hitting streak to ten games and scored twice, reaching base in his 25th consecutive game.
The Flashes jumped ahead 2-0 in the bottom of the first inning, scoring on RBI-singles by both Turner and Parks.
The Rockets quickly tied the game back at 2-2 in the next frame with a two-run home run to right field.
Toledo held the Flashes scoreless in the bottom of the second and went on to take a 4-2 lead in the next inning, stringing together a single and an RBI-triple to force Kent State to bring in Matthews from the bullpen.
The Flashes responded with four runs in the bottom of the third to take command of the lead. Redshirt sophomores Alex Ronnebaum and Ben Carew led off with singles before junior Cam Touchette loaded the bases with a walk. Turner collected his second and third RBI of the day with a two-run single ripped up the middle. O'Brien grounded into a double play in the next at bat that allowed Touchette to score. Senior Pavin Parks followed with a solo home run blasted nearly to Allerton Fields beyond the right field wall, his ninth of the season.
Kent State added to its lead in the fifth inning with an RBI-single up the middle off the bat of Turner.
The Rockets scored its final run of the day in the top of the seventh inning, knocking a solo home run.
In the bottom of the seventh, Turner knocked a two-out double to center field and scored a batter later as O'Brien laced a triple off the wall in left field. Parks was intentionally walked and freshman Collin Mathews drew a walk to load the bases. Senior Pete Schuler collected an RBI, drawing a walk and Hollander followed with a two-run single clubbed through the left side to bring the final score to 11-5.
Redshirt freshman Trevor Pittman made his seventh start, tossing 2.0 innings in his 13th appearance of the season.
Matthews (5-5) dazzled in long relief retiring the first 14 batters he faced in order upon entering the game in the top of the third. He allowed just three batters to reach base on two hits and a fielder's choice in the remainder of the game, stumbling just once in the seventh inning when the Rockets knocked a solo home run. His 10 strikeouts are the most by a Kent State pitcher this season.
Freshman Max Rippl closed out the game in the top of the ninth, striking out the final two batters of the day.
The Flashes will go for its first three-game sweep of 2019 and celebrate Senior Day, wrapping up the series against Toledo at Schoonover Stadium Sunday, May 5 at 1 p.m.
Ohio 4, Miami 3
Boxscore
ATHENS, Ohio – The Ohio Baseball team (16-27, 10-10 MAC) took down Miami (33-13, 13-7 MAC), 4-3, in game two of the three at Bob Wren Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Redshirt freshman RHP Jack Liberatore (Greensburg, Pa.) picked up his sixth win of the season after pitching 6.0 innings. Liberatore struck out a career-high nine batters in the win and allowed three earned runs.
Sophomore LHP Brett Manis tossed 3.0 innings and allowed just one hit and fanned five batters for his seventh save of the season.
Four Bobcats – Sophomore INF Aaron Levy (Cincinnati, Ohio), redshirt sophomore INF Michael Richardson (Cambridge, Md.), redshirt junior C Nathan Mallott (Omaha, Neb.) and junior INF Trevor Hafner (Perrysburg, Ohio) – all had one RBI.
Levy went 2-for-4 with a double, one RBI and one run scored. Richardson also had a double and scored a run.
Ohio had nine total hits while holding Miami to just five. Eight different Bobcats had at least one hit today.
Miami was the first to score on as Kyle Winkler scored on a fielder's choice in the top of the fourth.
Ohio responded with two runs to take the lead in the bottom half of the inning. Senior INF Rudy Rott (Holmen, Wis.) started the inning with a double down the line. After Richardson was hit by a pitch, Mallott brought home Rott on a bloop single to left center field. Hafner gave Ohio a 2-1 lead when he scored Richardson on a single up the middle.
Rott ended the day 1-for-4 with a double and a run scored.
The Bobcats pushed their lead to 4-1 in the bottom of the fifth. After sophomore INF Treyben Funderburg (Beavercreek, Ohio) was hit by a pitch, Levy scored him from first with a deep double to center field. Levy came around to score when Richardson hit a line drive off the pitcher that skipped into right field for an unconventional double.
Miami got back two runs with Mackey Williams home run to right field to cut the Ohio lead to 4-3 but Manis was able to shut the door over the last three innings.
Ohio will wrap up the series against Miami with senior day tomorrow at 1 p.m.
