Saturday’s MAC Baseball Results
Central Michigan 1, Toledo 0
Central Michigan 9, Toledo 0
Ball State 1, Miami 0
Ball State 12, Miami 2
Bowling Green 10, Northern Illinois 9
Bowling Green 7, Northern Illinois 0
Kent State 4, Eastern Michigan 3
Kent State 9, Eastern Michigan 5
Western Michigan 4, Ohio 3
Western Michigan 4, Ohio 2
Stories courtesy of MAC Sports Information Departments
Central Michigan 1, Toledo 0 -- Boxscore
Central Michigan 9, Toledo 0 – Boxscore
TOLEDO, Ohio – Two down, a championship share in hand, and one to go.
Andrew Taylor and Garrett Navarra were nothing short of magnificent on the mound on Saturday as the Central Michigan baseball team swept Toledo in a Mid-American Conference doubleheader, giving the Chippewas a piece of the league crown and putting them on the cusp of their second consecutive outright conference title and a repeat trip to the NCAA Tournament.
"Winning a MAC title is a special, special accomplishment, but obviously we want to play next week (in the NCAA Tournament) and we know that sharing the title is not going to do that for us," third-year CMU coach Jordan Bischel said. "We didn't celebrate anything (after Saturday's games).
"But no matter what happens (Sunday), 10, 15, 20 years from now, it's a championship team and that's a significant accomplishment."
Taylor, a redshirt freshman, struck out 10 in firing a one-hitter in the 1-0 opener; Navarra, a sophomore left-hander, struck out nine in tossing a two-hitter in the 9-0 nightcap.
CMU is 38-16, 29-9 MAC and can win the title outright with one victory in Sunday's noon doubleheader. The Chippewas will also claim the title as all their own if Ball State loses a game on Sunday. The Cardinals are scheduled to entertain Miami (Ohio) in a twinbill.
Jordan Patty, the Chippewas' normal Friday starter, is scheduled to start Sunday's opener. Cameron Brown is slated to start the nightcap.
Both Patty and Brown, along with several position players, played major roles in 2019 when CMU won both the regular season and MAC Tournament championships. There is no league tournament this season.
"Nothing is guaranteed (on Sunday), but we've been in this position before," Bischel said. "If we don't play well (on Sunday), it won't have anything to do with the stuff that's going on off the field, the standings and things like that. We'll come out and we'll be in a good spot mentally; we'll be excited to play.
"The biggest reason they want to win (on Sunday) is they want to have the opportunity to keep playing as a team. They care about each other, they love each other and they want to keep playing."
Taylor furthered his case as the best freshman pitcher in the MAC, if not the nation, in outdueling Toledo starter Kyle Jones. Taylor (11-3) threw just 81 pitches and struck out 10. He issued a walk in the fourth inning and surrendered a one-out double in the sixth.
His 11 wins rank as the third-highest total in program history. He has struck out 120 and should, if the Chippewas win the league title and advance to the NCAA Tournament, get at least one more start and could break Ralph Darin's program record for strikeouts in a season (123 in 1971). His earned run average is 1.21 which, if he didn't throw another pitch this season, would rank as the third lowest in CMU history.
Toledo came in hitting .290 as a team and slugging .481, ranking first and second, respectively, in the MAC in those categories.
"He had to make the pitches against a very, very good hitting team and he did," Bischel said. "He was very much in command of that game. Just did a tremendous job commanding the baseball. He was probably as sharp as he's been in several weeks. He just put together an awfully special season for us, and it's fun to watch how cool, calm and composed he is. He didn't bat an eye when we didn't score for him until the eighth inning."
The Chippewas finally broke through against Jones when Justin Simpson doubled with two out in the eighth inning and then scored on Mario Camilletti's chopper through the right side.
Navarra (5-0) threw 95 pitches in the seven-inning nightcap. Toledo got an infield hit in the fourth inning and then a single off the glove of shortstop Justin Simpson in the seventh.
"That's an outstanding performance," Bischel said. "He was really in command and he's just come on extremely strong for us after pitching pretty well out of the bullpen the first few weeks (of the season).
Navarra has allowed just seven earned runs over his last six starts comprising a combined 29 innings. He has struck out 39 over that span.
"I don't think you can qualify him as a spot starter or a No. 4 guy (in the rotation)," Bischel said. "He's proven he's a legit starting pitcher at this level."
The Chippewas collected 10 hits, four of them for extra bases. They scored six runs on three hits and two Toledo errors in the second inning, giving Navarra more than enough support.
Ball State 1, Miami 0 -- Boxscore
Ball State 12, Miami 2 – Boxscore
MUNCIE - A final home series with a lot to play for, the stands packed with scouts all while facing a future big-bonus 100 mph arm. When Ball State's best was needed, the Cardinals delivered, sweeping a doubleheader over Miami and allowing just two runs on the day. BSU moved to 36-18 on the year and 27-11 in conference play.
John Baker (9-3) earned the win in both games and Decker Scheffler hit a walk-off single in the first game for Ball State to win 1-0 over Miami fireballer Sam Bachman. The Cards then jumped all over Miami's usual Friday starter and run-ruled the visitors 12-2 in the second game.
BSU and Miami will finish the regular season Sunday with a 7-inning game and a 9-inning game beginning at 11 a.m.
GAME 1 - Ball State 1, Miami 0 (7 innings) (BOX SCORE) (PDF)
In a showdown of projected MLB Draft picks, Chayce McDermott and Bachman matched zeroes in front of a couple dozen pro scouts before the Cards got the game-winner in the 7th. Scheffler, who had two of Ball State's three hits, delivered the game-winner to left field. Ross Messina bunted his way on to start the inning and became the first Cardinal to reach 3rd base against Bachman after a sac bunt and a groundout. Scheffler then went opposite field to score Messina and to incite the celebration.
McDermott pitched into the 7th, striking out nine and allowing six baserunners. Only one runner reached 3rd base for Miami, and only three even reached 2nd base. Baker came in with no outs in the 7th and racked up three strikeouts to set the stage for the walkoff. Bachman (4-4) finished with nine strikeouts and no walks, allowing three hits.
GAME 2 - Ball State 12, Miami 2 (8 innings) (BOX SCORE (PDF))
With each team's usual Friday starter going in the second game, it appeared as another pitchers' duel would be on tap. But Ball State ended that idea quickly, pouncing for five runs in the bottom of the 2nd and run-ruling Miami in eight innings behind a gem from Baker.
In his final home start, Baker struck out 14 and allowed one earned run in his fourth complete game of the year. He exited to a round of applause from the crowd and hugs from teammates. With 27 wins and 404 career strikeouts, it was a fitting ending to one of the storied individual careers in Ball State baseball history.
The big inning included a 2-run homer from Noah Navarro and a 2-run double from Ryan Peltier. The Cards poured it on from there, leading 10-2 when Simpson led off the 8th with a double. After two walks, team batting average leader Nick Powell smacked a 2-run single to end the game.
Ball State, with 36 wins and tremendous starting pitching, is two games back of Central Michigan but is in the conversation for a spot in an NCAA Regional. As of Saturday night, the Cardinals are 49th in RPI and a non-conference RPI ranked 13th.
Bowling Green 10, Northern Illinois 9 -- Boxscore
Bowling Green 7, Northern Illinois 0 – Boxscore
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University baseball team swept Northern Illinois University on Saturday (May 29) in a Mid-American Conference doubleheader at Steller Field at Gary Haas Stadium. After completing a six-run comeback to earn a 10-9 walk-off win in the opener, the Falcons completed the sweep with a 7-0 victory in the night cap. BGSU has won five-straight games to improve to 17-21 in league play.
Prior to the games, the Falcons honored former skipper Danny Schmitz, who won 723 games at the helm of the program from 1990-2020. The pre-game ceremony took place on the diamond, recognizing the program's all-time leader in wins for 30 outstanding years of service to the entire Bowling Green community.
The Falcons overcame the big deficit in the opener with a five-run fifth inning. With two strikes and two outs, Ryan Johnston gave BGSU a 9-8 lead with a two-RBI double. Johnston's clutch hit capped the five-run fifth and allowed Bowling Green to take the lead by scoring seven unanswered runs.
NIU tied the game in the top of the seventh with a solo home run, but Nathan Rose walked the Falcons off in the bottom half with a sacrifice fly into left field. Jeremy Spezia earned the win on the mound by tossing a scoreless seventh in relief.
It was all Bowling Green in the night cap, as the Falcons scored five runs in the fourth to take a commanding 6-0 lead. The Orange and Brown tacked on a run in the fifth to cruise to the sweep. Will MacLean tossed three scoreless innings to pick up his fourth save of the season. MacLean – who took over for southpaw Rigo Ramos – struck out four. Ramos scattered five hits while blanking the Huskies over six innings. Ramos racked up three punch outs.
Kyle Gurney was the lone Falcon with multiple hits in both ballgames. Gurney is now on a 14-game hitting streak, and has also drove in at least one run in eight-straight games. After posting 12 hits in the first game of the day, the Bowling Green offense made it an even 20 hits on the day by pounding out eight more knocks in the finale.
The Falcons head into the final day of the season with an overall record of 19-29. Sunday's (May 30) doubleheader is set for an 11:05 a.m. first pitch.
Kent State 4, Eastern Michigan 3 -- Boxscore
Kent State 9, Eastern Michigan 5 – Boxscore
YPSILANTI, MI- A game one rally led to a hot start in game two and Kent State earned a double header sweep of Eastern Michigan on Saturday, winning 9-5 in game one and 4-3 in game two.
Collin Mathews led the offense on Saturday, collecting three hits and driving in five across the two games.
GAME ONE: Kent State 9 Eastern Michigan 5
Saturday's opener was another back-and-forth affair until the Golden Flashes erupted for five runs in the top of the seventh to win game one, 9-5.
Kent State scored first, capitalizing on a one-out triple from Ben Carew, Cam Touchette drove in his fellow senior with a sacrifice fly and gave the Flashes a 1-0 lead. It stayed that way until the third when the Eagles cashed in on a pair of Luke Albright walks with a two-run double from Daniel Warkentin to make it 2-1 Eastern Michigan.
The Flashes answered back with their second triple of the game, this time courtesy of freshman Kyle Jackson. Collin Mathews brought him in with a single, tying the game at two. The Eagles got to Albright again in the fourth with another two-run double. Albright surrendered five runs in four and a third innings while striking out three. The junior finished the season with 102 strike outs, becoming the fourth MAC pitcher to top the century mark this season.
Justin Kirby and Sam Thompson each had run-scoring doubles in the fifth to briefly tie the game at four before the Eagles took back the lead in the bottom of the inning. It stayed a 5-4 game until the seventh.
The Flashes rally started with a pair of singles. Justin Kirby followed with a bunt single, with the tying run scoring on a throwing error. Kent State continued to capitalize on Eagle miscues, beating out a force play and scoring on another error off a bunt. A Mathews' double broke the game open as five crossed the plate on four hits and two errors in the inning. Jack Zimmerman struck out two in the seventh to finish off his fourth win of the season.
GAME TWO: Kent State 4 Eastern Michigan 3
Once again, the Flashes struck early, grabbing a 1-0 lead in the first. Carew reach on an error, moved to second on a Touchette single and scored on a base hit from Kirby. Collin Mathews made it 3-0 an inning later with a two-run single and Jackson made it 4-0 in the third with a rbi single of his own. The Eagles chipped away at the lead with single tallies off of Richie Dell in the second, third and fourth. Dell went four innings in the night cap, allowing three runs on four hits and striking out two as he finishes the season at 4-3 overall.
The Kent State bullpen made the 4-3 lead stand up. Trevor Pittman worked an inning and two-thirds of shutout relief and handed it off to Aidan Longwell. The freshman earned the save after working around his own throwing error that put runners on first and third with nobody out in the seventh. The lefty got a strike out and a game-ending double play to secure the sweep and his second save of the season.
The Flashes now sit at 29-26 on the season and will go for the series win tomorrow in the regular season finale. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.
Western Michigan 4, Ohio 3 -- Boxscore
Western Michigan 4, Ohio 2 – Boxscore
KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan baseball team got a pair of stellar pitching performances out of the sophomore duo of Easton Sikorski and Dane Armbrustmacher en route to a doubleheader sweep of Ohio on Saturday inside Robert J. Bobb Stadium at Hyames Field.
The Bronco pitching staff stifled the Bobcat offense on Saturday, holding Ohio to just five runs on 13 hits. Ohio batters hit just .245 on the day and recorded 14 strikeouts. In game one Sikorski went five innings, allowing two earned runs on seven hits with five strikeouts while Armbrustmacher in game two threw 5.1 innings, allowing two earned runs on three hits with five strikeouts.
Offensively the Broncos scored eight runs on 13 hits led by junior Sean O'Keefe who went 3-for-6 on the day with one home run, three RBIs and one run scored. Sophomore Jimmy Allen led WMU with three runs scored to go along with .250 batting average.
Senior Logan Hudson was stellar at the plate on Saturday hitting .500 with one triple and one run scored. Junior Connor Charping had one RBI to go along with one walk and one stolen base against the Bobcats. Charping now has 31 stolen bases this season, tying him for the most in a single-season in school history.
With the doubleheader sweep the Broncos now have an overall record of 23-26 and 22-17 in Mid-American Conference play. Western Michigan's 22 MAC victories is the second most in a single-season in school history and the most since have 23 back in 1989.
The Broncos and Bobcats conclude the regular season on Sunday, May 30 with first pitch set for 1:05 p.m.
Game One (Western Michigan – 4, Ohio – 3)
Four runs on three hits in the first two innings was all the Western Michigan baseball team needed to secure a 4-3 victory over Ohio in game one of Saturday's doubleheader.
The Broncos tallied four runs on just five hits in the victory as junior Blake Dunn was the lone Bronco to have a multi-hit game, going 2-for-3 with one run scored. Registering the lone multi-RBI game for WMU was fellow junior Sean O'Keefe going 1-for-3 with two RBIs, one run scored and one home run. O'Keefe blasted his eighth home run of the season in the bottom of the first.
On the mound sophomore RHP Easton Sikorski earned his fifth victory of the season going five innings, allowing two earned runs on seven hits with five strikeouts. Sikorski ends the season with a record of 5-3 and a 4.10 ERA. LHP Dane Armbrustmacher earned his second save of the season throwing two innings, allowing no runs on two hits with three strikeouts.
Western Michigan got on the board first in game one with two runs on two hits in the bottom of the first. With two outs junior Blake Dunn got WMU in the hit column with a soft single to left field. In the next at-bat fellow junior Sean O'Keefe blasted his eighth home run of the season over the left field wall to give the Brown & Gold a 2-0 lead.
Ohio gained a run back in the top of the second scoring one run on one hit while capitalizing on a Bronco error. It didn't take long for Western Michigan to extend its led scoring two runs on one hit in the bottom of the second.
With runners on second and third with one out junior Connor Charping laced an RBI single to left field to give WMU a 3-1 lead. The Broncos added another in the bottom of the second thanks to an error by the Ohio pitcher. An errant throw on a pickoff attempt at first allowed Logan Hudson to score from third and propel WMU to a 4-1 lead.
The Bobcats rallied back in the fourth and fifth innings to cut the Broncos lead down to one. Ohio scored one run on three hits in the top of the fourth followed by one run on two hits in the top of the fifth. That was it for the Bobcats in the scoring department as LHP Dane Armbrustmacher shut down the Ohio offense to secure his second save of the season and the 4-3 victory.
Game Two (Western Michigan – 4, Ohio – 2)
The Western Michigan baseball rallied late scoring two runs on three hits in the bottom of the sixth to earn a 4-2 victory over Ohio in game two of Saturday's doubleheader inside Robert J. Bobb Stadium at Hyames Field.
The Broncos scored four runs on eight hits against the Bobcats with three of the eight hits coming in the bottom of the sixth. WMU had five record a hit in game two with three multi-hit performances. Redshirt freshman Will Morrison registered the lone multi-RBI game for the Broncos going 1-for-3 with two RBIs and one run scored.
Junior Justin McIntyre went 2-for-4 with one RBI and one run scored while fellow junior Sean O'Keefe went 2-for-3 with one walk and one RBI. Sophomore Jimmy Allen had a solid day at the plate going 1-for-2 with one walk and two runs scored.
On the mound the Broncos got a stellar performance from sophomore LHP Dane Armbrustmacher who went 5.1 innings allowing two earned runs on three hits with five strikeouts. In relief senior RHP Zach Mehelich picked up his first win of the season going 1.2 innings, allowing no runs on one hit while striking out one.
For the second straight game the Broncos scored their runs in the first two innings of play to gain an early lead. In the bottom of the first junior Sean O'Keefe registered an RBI single to left field, scoring Justin McIntyre from second to give the Broncos a 1-0 lead.
Western Michigan was back at it again in the bottom of the second scoring one run on one hit. The Broncos had runners on the corners with one out after Jimmy Allen drew a walk followed by a single up the middle from Logan Hudson. In the next at-bat redshirt freshman Will Morrison grounded out to the Ohio shortstop, scoring Allen for WMU's second run of the game.
Ohio got on the scoreboard in the top of the third with one run on two hits. The Bobcats placed runners on second and third with no outs before an RBI single to centerfield trimmed the WMU lead down to one. That was it for the Bobcats in the third as WMU turned a double play to end the inning and hold on to a 2-1 lead.
WMU held its 2-1 lead until the top of the sixth when Ohio scored one run on two hits. After a fly out to begin the inning the Bobcats registered back-to-back doubles to left field to tie the game at two.
The Broncos rallied in the bottom of the sixth scoring two runs on three hits. Jimmy Allen got the inning started with a single back up the middle and then advanced to third on back-to-back passed balls. Two batters later Allen scored on a single from Morrison to give the Brown & Gold a 3-2 advantage.
Later in the inning with runners on second and third with one out, McIntyre delivered with an RBI single to left field, scoring Morrison to extend the WMU lead to 4-2. In the top of the seventh, senior RHP Zach Mehelich retired the Bobcats in order to secure his first win of the season and a doubleheader sweep for WMU.
