Central Michigan Clinches No. 2 Seed Friday Night
Friday's Baseball Results
Ohio 8, Kent State 5
Central Michigan 8, Ball State 6
Elon 9, Bowling Green 2
Northern Illinois 11, Miami 7
Eastern Michigan 4, Toledo 3
Buffalo at Western Michigan, PPD
Stories courtesy of MAC Sports Information Departments
Ohio 8, Kent State 5
Boxscore
ATHENS, Ohio -- The Ohio baseball team (27-25, 13-10 MAC) exploded for seven runs on seven hits in the bottom of the fifth inning en route to an 8-5 victory over Mid-American Conference East Division rival Kent State (34-16, 17-6 MAC) that clinched the weekend series on Saturday (May 19) at Bob Wren Stadium.
The Bobcats took a MAC weekend series from the Golden Flashes at home for the first time since 1997. Ohio opened the weekend series with a 7-6 victory in the Friday (May 18) opener.
"We told ourselves coming into the weekend that even though we'd already qualified for the (MAC) tournament, this series was going to be a bench mark about where we were at," said fifth-year head coach Rob Smith. "I believe this team is good enough to win the conference tournament, but, to do that, you've got to beat teams like Kent State. You've got to beat their better arms, and we've done that now in back-to-back days. That's got to give us some confidence going into the tournament that whoever that we face at whatever juncture, we're going to be able to handle them."
Ohio has now won five league games in a row and has come away victorious in 10 of its last 14 contests. The Bobcats earned their fifth MAC series win of the 2017 season and third in a row.
The Golden Flashes took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth when redshirt junior left fielder Nick Kanavas hit a two-out single down the left field line, stole second and scored on a base hit back up the middle by senior second baseman Dom Iero.
Kent State sophomore right-handed starting pitcher Joey Murray limited Ohio to just one hit and two walks over the first four frames and got the bottom of the fifth started by tallying a pair strikeouts. The entire tide of the game changed after that, though. Senior shortstop Tyler Finkler (Olmsted Falls, Ohio) got the big inning going for the Bobcats by coaxing a walk. Senior center fielder Spencer Ibarra (Fort Collins, Colo.) moved Finkler to third with a single through the right side. Finkler then scored the tying run when senior second baseman Ty Black (Waynesville, Ohio) reached on a fielding error. Sophomore first baseman Rudy Rott (Holmen, Wis.) gave Ohio a 2-1 lead when he plated Ibarra with a single to right. Redshirt junior right-handed starting pitcher Michael Klein (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) helped his cause by belting his seventh home run of the year -- a three-run homer to left. Kent State opted to lift Murray in favor of sophomore southpaw reliever Connor Wollersheim, but the Bobcats kept coming. Senior third baseman Connor Callery (Covington, Ky.) beat out an infield single to first, then moved up to second on a passed ball. Junior right fielder Tony Giannini (Carmel, Ind.) gave Ohio runners on the corners after legging out a single to short. Junior left fielder Evan Bourn (Overland Park, Kan.) capitalized on the opportunity by driving in Callery with a base hit down the left field line. Redshirt junior catcher Nick Bredeson (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) made it 7-1 in favor of Ohio with a single up the middle that brought home Giannini.
"Momentum's a crazy thing in baseball," said Smith of his team's two-out explosion. "Sometimes, when you just get things going, each guy passes it on to the next, and, you look up, and you've got a seven-run inning. Their pitcher is outstanding. Murray, you could argue he's maybe the best in the league. Sometimes, you've just got to hang in there and stick to it, and, eventually, he'll break, and he did.
The Bobcats tacked on an eighth run in the sixth. Black drew a one-out walk, advanced to third one out later on a single up the middle by Klein and then scored by way of an infield single to second by Callery.
Kent State plated two more runs in the eighth when sophomore catcher Pete Schuler drew a leadoff walk to set up a pinch-hit, two-run home run to right center by freshman Patrick Ferguson, cutting Ohio's lead to 8-3. Senior right-hander Jake Rudnicki (Toledo, Ohio) came on to pitch for the Bobcats following the home run by the Golden Flashes, though, and proceeded to retire the side.
The Golden Flashes made it a three-run ballgame in the ninth when senior third baseman Sam Hurt hit a leadoff infield single to third and scored two outs later when junior first baseman Dylan Rosa homered to left center. Ohio redshirt junior right-handed closer Jake Roehn (Sandwich, Ill.) got Schuler to fly out to left, though, to end the game.
Ohio posted double-digit hits for the 23rd time this year. Klein recorded his 14th multi-hit game and eighth multi-RBI game by going 2-for-5 with three RBIs and a run scored. Bredeson finished 2-for-3 for his 10th multi-hit game of the season. Callery recorded a pair of singles for his 19th multi-hit game while Bourn tallied two base hits for his eighth multi-hit effort. Black did not record a hit but drew two walks, marking the 28th game in a row he has reached base -- a team season high.
Klein earned the win on the mound to improve to 5-2 on the season. He struck out four while allowing one earned run on five hits and two walks over five innings of work. Klein, Rudnicki, Roehn and sophomore right-hander Kenny Ogg (Indianapolis, Ind.) combined to strike out eight Kent State batters, giving Ohio's pitching staff a new program record with 425 strikeouts on the year. The previous mark of 420 was set by the 2003 squad.
Murray dropped to 6-1 on the year, He fanned nine but gave up five unearned runs on four hits and three walks. Wollersheim surrendered three runs -- one of which was earned on eight hits and two walks while striking out six.
Iero accounted Kent State's lone multi-effort of the contest, going 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI.
Ohio goes for its second-straight MAC series sweep and third of the year when it closes the 2017 regular season with a 1 p.m. ET Senior Day showdown against Kent State at The Wren. The Bobcats will send senior right-hander Tom Colletti (Wheaton, Ill.) to the mound. 'Voice of the Bobcats' Russ Eisenstein will have the call on WOUB 1340 AM and online on OhioBobcats.com via Stretch Internet.
Central Michigan 8, Ball State 6
Boxscore
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Robert Greenman delivered the biggest hit of his career when his team most needed it.
Greenman hit a three-run walk-off home run to cap a four-run ninth inning Friday as the Central Michigan baseball team came from behind for a dramatic 8-6 Mid-American Conference victory over Ball State at Theunissen Stadium.
The win evened the series at a game apiece and it gave the Chippewas the outright MAC West title. It also kept alive CMU’s hopes of an overall league title.
“Saw a fastball, put a pretty good swing on it, was lucky enough for it to go over the fence,” said Greenman, one of four seniors on the Chippewa roster who were honored in the pregame Senior Day ceremony. “I think (the pitch) was right down the middle. It’s kind of a blur.”
It was Greenman’s ninth homer of the season and, he said, the first time he had ever delivered a walk-off hit. He got the requisite water dousing from his euphoric teammates shortly after crossing home plate.
“It’s pretty chilly,” Greenman said. “Can’t really feel it though. It’s a special moment, most of my family’s here. It’s always fun to celebrate with these guys.”
The Chippewas, who are 29-25 overall, 16-7 MAC, close the regular season on Saturday (1:05 p.m.) against the Cardinals.
CMU trails Kent State, which is 17-6 in league play, by one game in the overall standings. If the Chippewas win and Kent State loses at Ohio on Saturday, CMU and Kent share the league title.
Greenman’s heroics came after pinch hitter Trent Theisen put Ball State (29-26, 13-10) up, 6-4, with an eighth-inning grand slam off Chippewa closer Colton Bradley. It was just the second home run allowed this season by Bradley (6-1), who earned the victory in relief of starter Tyler Hankins.
“One pitch that got away from Colton,” CMU coach Steve Jaksa said. “Pretty much the only pitch all year that’s gotten away from him. I said to him after, we wouldn’t even be close to where we’re at today without him, and I mean that sincerely. He’ll learn from that and he’s going to be better from that experience.”
Jason Sullivan struck out to open the bottom of the ninth, but reached base on a wild pitch by Brendan Burns (4-3), who took the loss.
Daniel Robinson and Daniel Jipping walked to load the bases and Evan Kratt hit a sacrifice fly to score Sullivan and draw the Chippewas to 6-5. Greenman hit the first pitch from Burns over the wall in right-center.
“I was so excited not only for (Greenman), but for our ball club,” Jaksa said. “We really fought hard today. Our boys hung in there and got to celebrate a little bit, at home, which is always a great feeling.”
The victory, and the way it came, was particularly gratifying, Jaksa said. The Chippewas dropped Thursday’s series opener, 5-4, in heartbreaking fashion when they squandered a 3-0 lead and left the bases loaded in the eighth inning.
Add to that the fact that they let a 4-2 lead slip away on a grand slam in the eighth on Friday, and it was enough to make even a veteran baseball man like Jaksa emotional.
“How we came back today, that’s how life is,” he said. “Don’t stay down. Fight back a little bit, come back. It’s an attitude, attitude and the heart. You got a good heart nobody can ever take that away from you. It’s a testament to our guys showing that kind of resilience after a tough loss (on Thursday), losing the lead in the eighth, and then figuring out a way to put that kind of a rally together.”
Hankins, a freshman left-hander, turned in another magnificent start for the Chippewas, allowing three runs on six hits with two walks and five strikeouts over seven innings. It marked the ninth time in his last 11 starts that Hankins has gone at least six innings.
“Hank, he just pitched tremendous,” Jaksa said. “Did a great job.”
Elon 9, Bowling Green 2
Boxscore
ELON, N.C. – The Bowling Green State University baseball team concluded its regular season with a 9-2 loss at Elon University on Friday (May 19) afternoon. The game was called with two outs in the top of the ninth due to rain. The second game of the scheduled doubleheader was cancelled due to rain.
"Yesterday was a tough loss for us, and today we just didn't get off to a good start. I thought we made some really good pitches, but things just didn't go our way, and they cashed in with five runs," said head coach Danny Schmitz. "I thought the game was pretty neck-and-neck after that."
Bowling Green took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first following a Randy Righter double, but Elon took control of the ballgame with a five-run bottom half. Elon added one in the seventh, and three in the eighth, while the Falcons concluded the scoring with a Blake Jenkins RBI single in the ninth.
Jake Wilson went 3-for-4 with a run, and finished the regular season with a team-high .305 batting average. Righter finished the regular season batting .301. Jeff Scott and Ty Suntken notched a single apiece, while Greg Basalyga, in possibly his last at-bat, smacked a single to right field in the ninth.
Bowling Green concludes the regular season with a record of 15-34 (9-15 MAC).
At the time of this posting, the Falcons are still alive for a berth in the MAC Tournament. For additional updates, stay tuned on Twitter at @WEAREBGBaseball.com.
Northern Illinois 11, Miami 7
Boxscore
OXFORD, Ohio – The NIU baseball team (16-36, 10-13 MAC) won game two of their series against Miami (Ohio) (22-33, 8-15 MAC) 11-7 in extra innings Friday night. The Huskies scored six runs in the 11th inning after the Redhawks tied the game in the 9th scoring two runs. With the win, NIU clinched a spot in the MAC tournament for the second-straight year for the first time since the 2007 and 2008 seasons.
"Two teams battling for their season met today and what came from it was a roller coaster ride of back and forth action," Head Coach Mike Kunigonissaid. "This team never quit, kept battling adversity and came up huge."
The Huskies' 11th inning was sparked by back to back infield singles from Roderick Bynum and Samuel Vega followed by an RBI double from Tommy Szczasny. Joe Jumonville added an RBI on a bases loaded walk, Alec Barger knocked a two-RBI single into left and Tommy Hook flew a ball into left field in a tough sky for a two-RBI triple.
NIU starting pitcher Joe Hawks had one of his best performances of the season, going six and two-thirds innings allowing only two hits, two runs, one earned run and striking out eight batters.
"Hawks was a warrior today, he put his team on his back early and kept us in it." Kunigonis said. "We also had huge hits from a number of different guys today."
NIU was down 2-1 going to the seventh inning when Brad Wood ripped a two-RBI triple into left center field to give NIU a 3-2 lead. The Huskies extended their lead to 4-2 on an RBI double from Jesus Tovar III down the left field line, they later extended a 4-3 lead to 5-3 when Vega knocked an RBI single into right field.
With the Huskies still up 5-3 in the ninth inning, Miami scored two runs after a leadoff hit by pitch followed by doubles from Dallas Hall and Ross Haffey. NIU freshman pitcher Nathan Thomas came in relief with one out in the ninth to finish the game through the 11th inning, going two and two-thirds innings, striking out six of 11 batters faced, allowing two runs in the 11th on a Haffey home run.
These two teams will play their series finale tomorrow at noon CT with Miami still having an opportunity to clinch a spot in the MAC tournament with a win. For score and game time updates follow NIU baseball online at niuhuskies.com and on Twitter @NIU_Baseball.
Eastern Michigan 4, Toledo 3
Boxscore
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University baseball team clinched the weekend series over the University of Toledo with a 4-3 walk-off winner off the bat of redshirt senior Jordan Peterson(Gilbert, Ariz.-Highland (Chandler-Gilbert C.C.))Saturday evening, May 19, years at Oestrike Stadium. It was the third walk-off win for EMU (23-32, 14-9 MAC) this season.
The win clinched Eastern's fifth conference series win of the season, and the Eagles have now won five straight in MAC play. The 14 conference victories are also the most for EMU since 2012.
The offense cooled down a bit in the contest, going for seven hits, including six in the last four innings. Peterson led the way, tallying his team-best 19th multi-hit game of the season with two hits and the game-winning RBI. Fellow senior John Montgomery (Anaheim Hills, Calif.-JSerra) had a two-RBI double as well, to notch his team-best 14th multi-RBI contest of 2017.
Not to be outdone, junior Brad Allen (Manchester, Mich.-Manchester (Jackson College)) had a workmanlike outing, going eight innings and only allowing two runs on five hits, while tying his career-best with seven strikeouts. He wound up taking a no decision after a late rally.
Despite good scoring chances from both sides, the scoreboard remained empty through the first two innings. UT (15-39, 8-15 MAC) broke through in the third though with a two-out, two-RBI double to make it 2-0.
The Eagle offense was only able to produce one hit through the first five, generating no run support for Allen, who pitched five of six scoreless frames with three strikeouts.
The Eagles pushed runs across in the sixth inning, doing it all with two outs. After a remarkable double play looked to have the inning dead in the water, EMU got a single from Peterson and a double from redshirt senior Mike Mioduszewski Dexter, Mich.-Dexter) to make it second and third, and then a walk loaded the bags. Montgomery came through in the clutch, doubling down the left field line to score two, tying the game.
Following another walk, the bags loaded up for redshirt senior Marquise Gill (Paw Paw, Mich.-Paw Paw), who gave EMU the lead the hard way, taking a pitch off the arm, scoring the leading runner, and putting the tally at 3-2 into the final three innings.
Allen remained a man on a mission in the seventh and eighth, striking out four over the two innings to keep the one-run lead into the ninth. The Rockets tied the game in the ninth though, sending it to the bottom of the ninth.
There, EMU got the leadoff man, freshman Nick Jones (Battle Creek, Mich.-Lakeview), on via a UT error, which was followed by a sacrifice bunt and groundout to advance him to third. That took it back to the top of the order in Peterson. The redshirt senior remained cool under pressure, singling up the middle on the first pitch to secure the walk-off winner, 4-3.
EMU will look for the series sweep tomorrow, May 20. First pitch against the Rockets is set for 1 p.m., with Senior Day festivities set to begin 30 minutes before first pitch.
