MAC Bats: March 29

Ball State 9, Kent State 8 (13 innings)

Escaping with the narrow win yesterday were the Cardinals (17-9, 4-0 MAC) as they won on a walkoff hit batsman after a six-run ninth inning from the Golden Flashes (10-14, 1-3 MAC) forced extra innings. BSU held a 5-1 after the eighth inning, but a RBI-single and home runs by Kian O’Brien and Alex Ronnebaum gave KSU a 7-5 lead. Ball State rallied in the bottom of the inning to drive in a pair of RBIs with two outs to keep the game going. The scoring started back up again in the 12th inning as Kent State scored on a throwing error and the Cards responded with a RBI-single. In the bottom of the following inning, KSU had two outs and the bases loaded but Ross Messina was hit by a pitch to bring the game to a close.

Bowling Green 7, Ohio 3

The Falcons (9-12, 4-0 MAC) earned its fifth straight win as a four-run fifth inning helped power them past the Bobcats (5-17, 1-2 MAC). Dylan Dohanos scored three runs off of a double in the inning while Brad Croy and Adam Furnas each had three hits and a RBI in the game. Andrew Abrahamowicz threw a good game for BG as he went six innings with no earned runs off of eight hits and three strikeouts.

Central Michigan 6, Northern Illinois 4 (Game 1)

Central Michigan 5, Northern Illinois 2 (Game 2)

Getting a sweep in a conference doubleheader is no easy feat but the Chippewas (18-7, 4-1 MAC) did so against the Huskies (7-19, 3-2 MAC) and now find themselves a game back in the MAC standings. Game one was a fierce battle as NIU rallied from a 4-1 deficit to knot things up at 4-4 in the top of the seventh inning. In the bottom of the inning, the Chips scored on a sacrifice bunt to retake the lead and Jason Sullivan scored on a wild pitch in the following inning, while three consecutive outs for the Huskies in the ninth inning ended the game.

The second game featured some excellent pitching with CMU’s Cameron Brown tossing seven innings with four strikeouts, four walks, two hits allowed, and one earned run. NIU’s Erik Hedmark also went seven innings with seven strikeouts but allowed a two-RBI single in the third inning with two outs, a bunt RBI-single in the following inning, and a RBI-single in the seventh inning with two outs. Griffing Lockwood-Powell had a good game at the plate for the Chips with three RBIs, two hits, and a walk.

Miami 7, Eastern Michigan 6

The RedHawks (19-5, 3-1 MAC) were in a offensive battle with the Eagles (5-20-1, 0-4 MAC) as the teams combined for 25 hits in the game, but the biggest hits belonged to Miami as Jordan Stephens registered a RBI-double to tie the game up at 6-6 in the eighth inning while Landon Stephens drove in a runner in the following inning to win in walkoff fashion. Miami’s Sam Bachman (the freshman that has a mid-90s fastball) and Shane Smith had strong showings on the mound with three earned runs on 13 hits and eight strikeouts, but the three unearned runs has to be cleaned up if the ‘Hawks are going to be successful in MAC play.

Western Michigan 6, Toledo 3

The Broncos (7-17, 1-3 MAC) picked up their first MAC win of the season over the Rockets (9-14, 0-4 MAC) thanks to a three-run homer from Sean O’Keefe in the second inning as the offense generated ten hits on the day. Chris Modrzynski kept a lid on UT’s offense for the most part with two earned runs on five hits and five strikeouts in six innings of work while Dane Ambrustmacher shut the door in the last three innings with no hits allowed, two strikeouts, and a walk.