Mount Pleasant, Mich. – Scoring twice in the bottom of the eighth, the Central Michigan Chippewas narrowly defeated the Oakland Golden Grizzlies, 4-3, on Tuesday, May 10.
The loss drops Oakland to 25-23 (14-9 Horizon League), while Central Michigan moves to 32-15 (24-6 Mid-American Conference).
How it happened
As they have shown a tendency to do this season, the Golden Grizzlies came out swinging, scoring twice in the first.
Redshirt senior right fielder
Brenton Phillips tripled for the second time this year to score junior designated hitter
Ian Cleary for the first run, and the very next batter, graduate student left fielder
Cam Post, singled to bring Phillips home.
This 2-0 lead lasted until the third when senior catcher Adam Proctor, a Michigan State transfer, scored on a single by sophomore right fielder Jakob Marsee.
Tying the tilt at two, former Golden Grizzly Mario Camilletti, a senior and the Chippewas' second baseman, came home on a single off the bat of switch-hitting junior shortstop Justin Simpson in the seventh.
Oakland moved back ahead, 3-2, in their half of the eighth when senior second baseman
Jared Miller plated classmate
Gabe Lux with a single to left.
Central Michigan's two runs in their part of the eighth – the first coming on a Proctor double and the second on a Simpson single – proved to decide the game.
Sophomore catcher
Brandon Heidal drew a one-out walk in the ninth to put the potential tying run on base for the Golden Grizzlies and was pinch-ran for by freshman
Liam Pollock, but he was stranded on first.
Six Oakland pitchers combined to hold the Chippewas to seven hits, with the fifth of this sextet – junior right-hander
Brandon Deans – taking the loss, dropping him to 0-1.
Sophomore righty
Brandon Decker, who worked the first inning, made his second start of the season and was followed by junior southpaw
Chase Keeney and freshman right-hander
Aleksei Goldhill, who both recorded five outs.
Ryan Insco, a sophomore righty who began his collegiate career at the University of Tennessee at Martin, registered his first win of the campaign for Central Michigan, with senior Jake Jones, an ex-Murray State Racer, picking up his sixth save.
Up next
Their final games this season in Rochester, the Golden Grizzlies will begin a four-home homestand with a doubleheader against the Northern Kentucky Norse on Friday, May 13 at 1 p.m.
Friday will be followed by a Sunday, May 15 twinbill against the UIC Flames to round out the home portion of the season.
