Baseball

CMU, BGSU Pick Up Wednesday Wins

Wednesday’s Baseball Results
Central Michigan 12, Youngstown State 2
Bowling Green 9, Canisius 3
Pittsburgh 13, Akron 2
Stories Courtesy of MAC Athletic Communication Departments

Central Michigan 12, Youngstown State 2
Box Score
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. –Bryson Webb homered to lead a 15-hit attack, and Jack Griffiths was solid in his first start as a Chippewa on Wednesday as the Central Michigan baseball team rolled to a 12-2 nonconference victory over Youngstown State on Keilitz Field at Theunissen Stadium.

The Chippewas (14-19) return to Mid-American Conference play this weekend when they entertain Ohio in a three-game series. CMU is 7-11 in MAC play and in eighth place. The Bobcats are 7-28, 4-14. The top six teams earn a spot in the MAC Tournament.

Griffiths, a sophomore right-hander in his first year at CMU after transferring from Butler, allowed one run on two hits and struck out seven.

He walked six, including the first two batters of the game, but managed to work out of any trouble he faced. He threw 108 pitches.

"I think if you told us at the beginning of the game he'd go six with one run, we're taking that 10 times out of 10," CMU coach Jake Sabol said. "So yeah, it was good. I'm happy for Jack.

"He's got a good mentality. The last two, three, four outings he's had have been competitive. And he wants the ball, he wants to stay in, he doesn't care if it's the weekend or a midweek (game), he just wants to pitch, and he's pretty competitive, and he loves being here. He's always that guy with a glove in his hand ready to be called. It was fun to see him go out there and do that today."

Webb, the Chippewas' leadoff hitter, had three hits and scored four runs. His two-run homer, his fifth home run of the season, came in the third inning and it upped CMU's lead to 7-0.

The redshirt junior third baseman has nine hits in his last four games, and he upped his batting average to a team-best .330. He has hit safely in nine of his last 11 games and is hitting .375 (18 for 48) with five multi-hit games over that span.

"He's a catalyst," Sabol said. "He can do so many things. He can run, he can bunt, he can hit for power, as you saw today.

"It's hard to take him out. He's playing high-quality defense. He does so much for us."

Harrison Bowman, CMU's No. 2 hitter, and Cole Prout, who bats third, finished with two hits apiece. Those two and Webb combined for seven hits and six RBI.

The Chippewas scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to end the game on the run rule. Bowman drilled a two-run single to make it 11-2, and then Nathan Ball doubled in the final run of the game.

Bowling Green 9, Canisius 3
Box Score
BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Bowling Green State University baseball team found their stride against Canisius Wednesday (April 15), picking up a 9-3 win. The Falcons were paced at the plate by a combined six team home runs. Andrew DiLodovico and TJ Takats both sent two balls over the fence while Carter Mottice and Lance Vickers each added one with all of BGSU's runs coming around on home runs. As for the bump, Luke Krouse got the start and tossed five innings for his first win of the season. Kade Arn followed with three shutout innings, registering a career-high seven strikeouts. The win for Bowling Green comes at the start of a five-game road swing that will continue on Friday (April 17) at UMass. 

HOW IT HAPPENED
  • Lance Vickers got the game started by being hit-by-pitch on a full count before stealing second. Carter Mottice followed with the first hit of the day, a two-run shot to center for a quick BGSU lead. Andrew DiLodovico kept it going with a long ball of his own for back-to-back home runs and a 3-0 Bowling Green lead before the first out was recorded.
  • Canisius utilized a two-run home run in the bottom of the third to narrow the BGSU lead to 3-2. 
  • In the fifth inning, DiLodovico sent another home run out of the park for his second solo shot of the day. Later in the inning with two outs, Pauly Mancino knocked a single to set up a two-run home run by TJ Takats for a 6-2 BGSU advantage.
  • Canisius added a run in the bottom of the fifth, but Lance Vickers immediately matched the tally in the top of the sixth with a solo home run to left field for a 7-3 lead.
  • In the seventh, Pauly Mancino battled back from an 0-2 count to draw a walk before stealing second. Which base Mancino occupied mattered little though as Takats belted his second home run of the game for a 9-3 score.