Mount Pleasant — The MSU baseball team slugged 14 hits and forced seven pitching changes Tuesday night – usually indicators of a blowout victory.
This time, it was anything but.
MSU struggles to find big hits in demanding CMU victory
Freshman shortstop Jonathan Roof attempts to tag out Central Michigan player Rod Helsen, but it is called safe Tuesday during the bottom of the seventh inning at the game in Mount Pleasant.
Central Michigan had 15 hits and forced nine pitching changes, as they outlasted MSU, 14-6, in an offensive battle at Theunissen Stadium.
The high-scoring game featured 42 players, including 23 Spartans.
“We didn’t pitch like we should have,” MSU head coach David Grewe said. “We’ve got to put this behind us and concentrate on this weekend.”
Throughout the game, MSU (24-25 overall) struggled to find big hits. As a team, they left 13 runners on base.
“Central got some clutch hits and we just didn’t get any clutch hits,” Grewe said.
Four Spartans collected two hits each on the day, including senior second baseman Steve Gerstenberger, who opened the game with a leadoff double down the first baseline. But MSU couldn’t cash in, giving Central Michigan early momentum.
MSU starter A.J. Achter was yanked in the first inning after throwing 32 pitches and allowing a run.
Gerstenberger tied the game at one with a sacrifice fly to score freshman Jeff Holm in the second, but Central Michigan responded with three runs off southpaw Kyle Corcoran in the bottom of the inning to take a 4-1 lead.
Corcoran (1-2) was charged with the loss after allowing three runs on three hits, and throwing two costly wild pitches.
MSU cut the deficit to 4-2 in the third inning, courtesy of Holm’s RBI base hit to score freshman Brandon Eckerle.
But Central Michigan responded with two runs in the fifth and three runs in the sixth to build a 9-3 lead that seemingly put the game out of reach for MSU.
However, the Spartans showed signs of life in the seventh, scoring three runs to cut Central Michigan’s lead in half, 9-6. Juniors Kyle Day and Eric Roof had back-to-back doubles during the surge.
READ MORE
“We felt pretty good in the dugout after that inning,” Roof said. “But we couldn’t put together a good bottom of the seventh to keep it close.”
Central Michigan scored two in the seventh inning and three more in the eighth to give the Chippewas a 14-6 lead.
MSU is seventh in the Big Ten, and only the top six teams make the Big Ten Tournament. The Spartans will look to make up ground at home this weekend, when they close the season with a four game series against Indiana.
“This weekend we have to go out there and play hard and just worry about winning the first game,” Roof said.
“We’ve got to take it one game at a time.”
Support student media! Please consider donating to The State News and help fund the future of journalism.
