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Central Michigan 3, Concordia 2
The Chippewas (36-12, 6-5 MAC) picked up their eighth consecutive win in thrilling fashion as they used two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to get the walkoff victory. Concordia struck first in the fourth inning with a RBI-single and added another one in the seventh inning. However, the bats for CMU came alive in the bottom of the seventh inning as Evan Kratt punched in a run off of a single to get the team on the board. After a couple of strong defensive innings for Ryan Palmblad and the Chips, Jason Sullivan used some heady baserunning to tie the game off of Ty Rollin’s steal of second base and David Cole delivered a walkoff RBI-single to clinch the game in the ninth inning. CMU hits the road this weekend to take on Eastern Michigan.
Eastern Michigan 1, Michigan 10
Despite getting on the board first, the Eagles (11-37-1, 6-15 MAC) got outplayed by Michigan as the Wolverines recorded 13 hits while EMU committed a couple of errors in the contest. Zachary Owings scored off of a Taylor Hopkins RBI in the top of the first inning, but Michigan held EMU’s offense to five hits for the rest of the game. Meanwhile, the pitchers for the Eagles struggled with free bases as they issued six walks and hit a batter in the game, while only getting a pair of strikeouts. EMU hosts a red-hot CMU team this weekend in what should be a hard-fought battle between the two teams all series long.
Toledo 3, Butler 8
The Rockets’ (15-31, 3-16 MAC) skid has now reached eight games as Butler used three unearned runs to get past UT. Toledo went scoreless for the first six innings of the contest as the Bulldogs were able to build a 6-0 lead during that time, with the aforementioned unearned runs all coming in the sixth inning. Thompson willed the Rockets back into the game as he hit a solo home run in the seventh inning and delivered a two-run RBI-double in the following inning to cut the deficit to three runs. In spite of this offensive outburst, Butler added a pair of runs in the ninth inning to put the game away. UT actually managed to outhit Butler 8-7 but was unable to hold up on the defensive end as it issued 16 free bases, struck out just six batters, and committed two errors. Toledo host Northern Illinois in a weekend series that can give the Rockets some winnable games.