MUNCIE, Ind. – Central Michigan persevered and stayed alive in the Mid-American Conference Baseball Tournament on Saturday.

 
The Chippewas fought off elimination on Saturday, first topping Toledo, 10-7, and then Ball State, 12-3, to earn a spot in the winner-take-all finale with Ball State on Sunday (noon) at the Cardinals' First Merchants Ballpark.
 
The Chippewas improved to 41-17. It is their program-record-tying third consecutive 40-win full season. The Chippewas won 40 games or more from 1986-88 and won 47 in 2019, 42 in 2021, and 41 this season. They totaled 130 wins from '86-88 and have total 130 combined in '19, '21 and '22. They were 11-6 in 2020 when the season was prematurely cancelled because of COVID.
 
Ball State is 40-18. Five of those wins have come against CMU. The Cardinals swept the Chippewas in a four-game series in Muncie in late April/early May and they knocked CMU into the elimination bracket with a 9-7 victory on Friday.
 
Solid pitching was crucial to Saturday's success as Adam Mrakitsch and Garrett Navarra each threw a standout game, Mrakitsch in relief in the victory over Toledo and Navarra against the top-seeded and regular season champion Cardinals.
 
Navarra (10-2), a junior left-hander, allowed one run on five hits, struck out nine and walked just one over six outstanding innings against the Cardinals.
 
He left with a 9-1 lead. Ryan Palmblad allowed two runs on four hits over the final three frames for his third save.
 
The Chippewas had just six hits but took full advantage of nine walks, two hit batters, and six Ball State errors. Just six of CMU's 12 runs were earned.
 
The Chippewas scored four runs in the third inning without the benefit of a hit. They used three walks, two hit batters, a wild pitch, and an RBI groundout. They added three more in the fifth to make it 7-1. The lone hit in that inning was a Nick Dardas solo homer, the second of his career. CMU's other runs came on a sacrifice fly and a wild pitch.
 
Navarra remained solid on the bump and after surrendering a solo home run in the second inning, was in complete command.
 
The Chippewas found themselves in a 6-1 hole in Saturday's first game with Toledo. It marked the third consecutive game with the Rockets that CMU has found itself down 6-1. The Chippewas have rallied to win each time, including an 11-10 victory in the tournament opener on Wednesday.
 
Mrakitsch (4-1), a freshman left-hander, came on with the bases loaded and two out in the fourth and the Chippewas trailing, 6-1.
 
He got an inning-ending groundout and went the final 5 1/3 innings. He struck out five, allowed one run on three hits, and walked none.
Meanwhile, the Chippewas went to work at the plate and got some help from a Toledo defense that committed five errors.
 
CMU got a sacrifice fly in the fourth from Mario Camilletti to make it 6-2, and then drew to 6-5 with three runs in the fifth on RBI doubles by Aidan Shepardson and Navarra and a run-scoring single by Robby Morgan.
 
They went ahead, 8-6, on Danny Wuestenfeld's three-run homer in the sixth. It was Wuestenfeld's team-leading ninth homer of the season.
 
Shepardson and Robby Morgan led the Chippewas' 13-hit attack with three hits apiece. Shepardson, Navarra and Morgan, CMU's five, six and seven hitters, finished the game a combined eight for 14 with four RBI.