MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – A late push, but not the gap proved to be too wide.
The Central Michigan baseball team fell into an 8-0 deficit on Saturday and then did all of its scoring in its final two turns at the plate in succumbing to Northern Illinois, 9-6, in a Mid-American Conference game on Keilitz Field at Theunissen Stadium.
The Chippewas, who dropped the series opener, 2-1, on Friday, slipped to 14-29, 5-15 MAC. The teams play the third and final game of the series on Sunday (noon).
The Chippewas scored six runs on seven hits combined in the eighth and ninth inning. They finished with 11 hits.
“Where were we for the first seven innings?” CMU coach Jake Sabol said. “We hit a few balls hard and had a few hard outs (through seven innings), but at the end of the day, we’ve got to make something happen. We’ve got to find a way to get on base.
“We didn’t approach today with an aggressive mindset for whatever reason. I was happy with the way they battled all the way through, in the eighth, ninth inning, but at that point we’re down 8-0 and it’s hard to come back from 8-0 with two innings left. It’s just a matter of consistency. We’ve got to sprinkle that in throughout the rest of the game.”
NIU (15-27, 9-11) used a four-run fourth in building a 5-0 lead, and then scored three runs in the seventh to make it 8-0.
The Chippewas got RBI singles from Drew Loikits, Jacob Donahue and Drew Stengren in scoring four runs in the eighth, and then got a pair of RBI groundouts in the ninth.
“You’d think it would give us some momentum heading into (Sunday) – hey let’s build off what we just most recently,” Sabol said of the Chippewas’ late-game success at the plate. “And we’ve had a history this year of starting fast, and we have not done that lately.
“I just want them to take some pride in being out here and playing for themselves, playing for their teammates. For seven innings there, someone was waiting for someone else to do it. That’s going to be the message, how can we spin the eighth and ninth inning today into a quick start tomorrow and try to salvage one on the weekend.”
Elijah Henning had a season-high three hits to lead CMU at the plate, while Donahue and Ely Stuart had two hits apiece. Loikits drove in two runs.
CMU starter Trey Miller (1-5) took the loss. Jack Bell, Jack Bach, Quin Konuszewski and Jonah Milchuck pitched in relief.
Adam Brouwer (5-5) allowed three runs on six hits and struck out four over 7 1/3 innings for the win.
The Central Michigan baseball team fell into an 8-0 deficit on Saturday and then did all of its scoring in its final two turns at the plate in succumbing to Northern Illinois, 9-6, in a Mid-American Conference game on Keilitz Field at Theunissen Stadium.
The Chippewas, who dropped the series opener, 2-1, on Friday, slipped to 14-29, 5-15 MAC. The teams play the third and final game of the series on Sunday (noon).
The Chippewas scored six runs on seven hits combined in the eighth and ninth inning. They finished with 11 hits.
“Where were we for the first seven innings?” CMU coach Jake Sabol said. “We hit a few balls hard and had a few hard outs (through seven innings), but at the end of the day, we’ve got to make something happen. We’ve got to find a way to get on base.
“We didn’t approach today with an aggressive mindset for whatever reason. I was happy with the way they battled all the way through, in the eighth, ninth inning, but at that point we’re down 8-0 and it’s hard to come back from 8-0 with two innings left. It’s just a matter of consistency. We’ve got to sprinkle that in throughout the rest of the game.”
NIU (15-27, 9-11) used a four-run fourth in building a 5-0 lead, and then scored three runs in the seventh to make it 8-0.
The Chippewas got RBI singles from Drew Loikits, Jacob Donahue and Drew Stengren in scoring four runs in the eighth, and then got a pair of RBI groundouts in the ninth.
“You’d think it would give us some momentum heading into (Sunday) – hey let’s build off what we just most recently,” Sabol said of the Chippewas’ late-game success at the plate. “And we’ve had a history this year of starting fast, and we have not done that lately.
“I just want them to take some pride in being out here and playing for themselves, playing for their teammates. For seven innings there, someone was waiting for someone else to do it. That’s going to be the message, how can we spin the eighth and ninth inning today into a quick start tomorrow and try to salvage one on the weekend.”
Elijah Henning had a season-high three hits to lead CMU at the plate, while Donahue and Ely Stuart had two hits apiece. Loikits drove in two runs.
CMU starter Trey Miller (1-5) took the loss. Jack Bell, Jack Bach, Quin Konuszewski and Jonah Milchuck pitched in relief.
Adam Brouwer (5-5) allowed three runs on six hits and struck out four over 7 1/3 innings for the win.