Eastern Michigan Athletics
Friday, May 20
Oestrike Stadium
3 p.m.
Eastern Michigan University
2
vs
14
Central Michigan
Photo by: Jonathan Knight Photography
Chippewas Reclaim West Division Lead in Rout of Eagles
5/20/2011 7:13:23 PM | Baseball
The series finale will be a winner-take-all matchup to see who wins the MAC West Division title.
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YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Mid-American Conference West Division lead changed hands once again as Central Michigan University claimed a 14-2 victory and half-game lead over hosts Eastern Michigan University at Oestrike Stadium, Friday afternoon, May 20. Both teams will play in the series and regular season finale tomorrow, May 21, for the chance to claim the 2011 MAC West Division Championship.
Junior right-hander Zach Cooper played stopper for a CMU squad that let several leads get away the night before, going eight strong innings on Friday to earn his sixth victory of the season. Conversely, pitching wasn't the strong suit for the Eagles as four pitchers combined to give up 14 runs (12 earned) on 15 hits in the loss.
A one run game was broken wide open when the Chippewas scored three in the sixth and seven in the seventh to take a commanding 13-2 advantage on the way to their 12-run victory.
It was just the third time in their last 21 games that the Eagles were held without an extra-base hit. In fact, after CMU's Tyler Hall led off the game with a double, not a single player on either side was successful in recording another extra-base hit.
Hall finished the game 3-for-6 with three runs scored to boost his average to .358 on the season. Nate Theunissen also finished with a three-hit effort as six Chippewas finished with multi-hit games. Six Eagles tallied one hit apiece as Zack Leonard (Canton, Mich.-McKinley) and Ben Magsig (Okemos, Mich.-Okemos-Lansing C.C.) each finished 1-for-3 with a run scored.
With the loss, EMU falls to 34-18 overall, 16-10 in the MAC while CMU improves to 28-25 (16-9 MAC).
The Chippewas fired the opening shot, just as they did in game one on Thursday night, with a first inning run. Tyler Hall started it off with a leadoff double to left-center field and advanced to third base two batters later on a groundout to the right side. Tom Howard then chopped one over the head of Battistelli and Tucker Rubino (Scottsdale, Ariz.-Horizon-Glendale C.C.) chased it down, but Howard beat it by a half-step which allowed Hall to score to give CMU the lead.
The Eagles, who overcame deficits on four separate occasions last night, responded right away with two runs in their first at-bat to overtake the lead. Both runs came with two outs as Ken Battiston (West Milton, Ohio-Milton Union) and Brent Ohrman (Adrian, Mich.-Adrian) were retired to lead things off.
Leonard and Magsig then singled followed by a walk to Rubino to load the bases. With Sam Ott (Canton, Mich.-Salem) at the plate, a passed ball by Cooper allowed Leonard to come in and score to tie the game. Ott then gave the Eagles a 2-1 lead with a run-scoring single through the right side, scoring Magsig.
EMU starter Joe Battistelli (Allen Park, Mich.-Allen Park) shut down Central Michigan in the second and third, receiving help from his defense in the process as Leonard, Rubino and Klein combined on a pair of inning ending double plays. In the fourth, however, CMU cracked the scoring column again with two runs.
The EMU sophomore would see his day come to an end in the sixth after allowing the first five batters to reach base and six-of-seven overall before being replaced by Jordan Glover (Toronto, Ont.-Ontario Schools). A pair of errors didn't help his cause either as Battistelli went just five and two-thirds innings, allowing six runs (4 earned) on eight hits while striking out one and walking two to fall to 6-3 on the year.
Meanwhile, after those two first inning runs by the Eagles, CMU's Cooper settled down and cruised for the remainder of his start. He retired eight batters in a row into the fourth inning and put together another string of sitting down 10-of-11 hitters through the seventh inning.
Cooper received more than enough run support as his offense added a seven-run seventh inning to increase the already generous lead to a 13-2 score.
He went eight innings, allowing two runs (1 earned) on six hits while striking out eight and walking two. Reid Rooney came on for the ninth and retired the side in order.
The rubber match on Saturday, May 21, won't only secure a series victory for the winner, but will also determine a MAC West Division Champion and the beneficiary of the No. 2 seed in the MAC Tournament, which takes place May 25-28, in Chillicothe, Ohio.
Senior Corey Chaffins (New London, Ohio-New London) will take his 7-4 record into game three on Senior Day and face fellow right-hander Jake Sabol (4-3) in a 1 p.m. start at Oestrike Stadium.
Photo Gallery
Re-listen to the broadcast
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Mid-American Conference West Division lead changed hands once again as Central Michigan University claimed a 14-2 victory and half-game lead over hosts Eastern Michigan University at Oestrike Stadium, Friday afternoon, May 20. Both teams will play in the series and regular season finale tomorrow, May 21, for the chance to claim the 2011 MAC West Division Championship.
Junior right-hander Zach Cooper played stopper for a CMU squad that let several leads get away the night before, going eight strong innings on Friday to earn his sixth victory of the season. Conversely, pitching wasn't the strong suit for the Eagles as four pitchers combined to give up 14 runs (12 earned) on 15 hits in the loss.
A one run game was broken wide open when the Chippewas scored three in the sixth and seven in the seventh to take a commanding 13-2 advantage on the way to their 12-run victory.
It was just the third time in their last 21 games that the Eagles were held without an extra-base hit. In fact, after CMU's Tyler Hall led off the game with a double, not a single player on either side was successful in recording another extra-base hit.
Hall finished the game 3-for-6 with three runs scored to boost his average to .358 on the season. Nate Theunissen also finished with a three-hit effort as six Chippewas finished with multi-hit games. Six Eagles tallied one hit apiece as Zack Leonard (Canton, Mich.-McKinley) and Ben Magsig (Okemos, Mich.-Okemos-Lansing C.C.) each finished 1-for-3 with a run scored.
With the loss, EMU falls to 34-18 overall, 16-10 in the MAC while CMU improves to 28-25 (16-9 MAC).
The Chippewas fired the opening shot, just as they did in game one on Thursday night, with a first inning run. Tyler Hall started it off with a leadoff double to left-center field and advanced to third base two batters later on a groundout to the right side. Tom Howard then chopped one over the head of Battistelli and Tucker Rubino (Scottsdale, Ariz.-Horizon-Glendale C.C.) chased it down, but Howard beat it by a half-step which allowed Hall to score to give CMU the lead.
The Eagles, who overcame deficits on four separate occasions last night, responded right away with two runs in their first at-bat to overtake the lead. Both runs came with two outs as Ken Battiston (West Milton, Ohio-Milton Union) and Brent Ohrman (Adrian, Mich.-Adrian) were retired to lead things off.
Leonard and Magsig then singled followed by a walk to Rubino to load the bases. With Sam Ott (Canton, Mich.-Salem) at the plate, a passed ball by Cooper allowed Leonard to come in and score to tie the game. Ott then gave the Eagles a 2-1 lead with a run-scoring single through the right side, scoring Magsig.
EMU starter Joe Battistelli (Allen Park, Mich.-Allen Park) shut down Central Michigan in the second and third, receiving help from his defense in the process as Leonard, Rubino and Klein combined on a pair of inning ending double plays. In the fourth, however, CMU cracked the scoring column again with two runs.
The EMU sophomore would see his day come to an end in the sixth after allowing the first five batters to reach base and six-of-seven overall before being replaced by Jordan Glover (Toronto, Ont.-Ontario Schools). A pair of errors didn't help his cause either as Battistelli went just five and two-thirds innings, allowing six runs (4 earned) on eight hits while striking out one and walking two to fall to 6-3 on the year.
Meanwhile, after those two first inning runs by the Eagles, CMU's Cooper settled down and cruised for the remainder of his start. He retired eight batters in a row into the fourth inning and put together another string of sitting down 10-of-11 hitters through the seventh inning.
Cooper received more than enough run support as his offense added a seven-run seventh inning to increase the already generous lead to a 13-2 score.
He went eight innings, allowing two runs (1 earned) on six hits while striking out eight and walking two. Reid Rooney came on for the ninth and retired the side in order.
The rubber match on Saturday, May 21, won't only secure a series victory for the winner, but will also determine a MAC West Division Champion and the beneficiary of the No. 2 seed in the MAC Tournament, which takes place May 25-28, in Chillicothe, Ohio.
Senior Corey Chaffins (New London, Ohio-New London) will take his 7-4 record into game three on Senior Day and face fellow right-hander Jake Sabol (4-3) in a 1 p.m. start at Oestrike Stadium.
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