Bowling Green State University Athletics
Nine-Run Third Lifts Central Michigan Over EMU, 15-9
May 22, 2002 | Baseball
May 22, 2002
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - A nine-run uprising in the third inning lifted Central Michigan University to a 15-9 victory over Eastern Michigan University Wednesday (May 22). The game was the opener for each team, and the third contest of the day, at the Mid-American Conference Tournament at Bowling Green's Steller Field.
With the victory, CMU (30-23) moves on to face Kent State in Thursday's (May 23) third game, scheduled to begin at 4:00 p.m. EMU (30-27) will meet Miami in an elimination game at 10:00 a.m. Thursday.
Eastern, the second seed in the six-team tourney, got on the board first, with three runs in the second inning. Ryan Ford, who had five RBI on the day, had a one-out single up the middle to plate Chad Jenkins with the game's first run. Then, Todd Kimling, the number-nine hitter in the order, hit a line-drive, two-run homer.
Fifth-seeded Central rallied in a big way, sending 14 men to the plate in the top of the third. The Chippewas banged out eight hits in the inning, which saw the first six batters reach base safely. After Tim Bullinger's leadoff double, Tommy Grubb singled up the middle to plate the first run.
After a walk to Danny Gibbons, Mike Gates hit a three-run homer to centerfield to give the Chippewas a lead they would not relinquish. After a double and a walk, CMU got two more runs on back-to-back sacrifice flies by Scott Pickens and Tim Groves.
With two outs, David Latour singled, and Bullinger roped his second double of the inning. Gates then got his fourth and fifth RBI of the inning with a single to left, completing the nine-run frame.
It was more of the same for the Chippewas in the fourth, as back-to-back two-out doubles by Groves and Latour began a three-run inning. Bullinger and Grubb each added run-scoring singles in the frame.
The Eagles rallied, however, pulling within 12-9 after a two-run fourth and a four-run fifth. Ford hit a two-run homer in the fourth after Jenkins had reached on an error.
In the fifth, Brian Bixler led off with a single, and Tony Palazzolo drew a walk before Greg Anglin drove home Bixler with a line single through the legs of CMU starter Chad Pleiness. Ryan Goleski singled to load the bases, but Pleiness retired the next two batters. However, Palazzolo scored on a wild pitch, and Ford laced a two-run single through the right side to bring the Eagles within three runs.
But, CMU pitching would not let EMU get any closer. The Chippewas added a pair of runs on a bases-loaded single by Ryan Krueger in the sixth, then tacked on one more run in the eighth for the final margin of victory.
Reliever Joey Fahndrich got the win for CMU, improving to 2-1. Fahndrich faced just two batters, issuing a walk before retiring the final batter of the fifth. Lee Naplin pitched the final four innings, allowing only one hit, to pick up his second save. Naplin faced just one batter over the minimum.
Pleiness, the starter, allowed nine runs (eight earned) and seven hits in four-and-two-thirds innings. He walked three Eagles and struck out five.
Starter Joe Linde suffered the loss for EMU, giving up five runs and six hits in two-plus innings. Dave Pieron gave up nine runs (six earned) and 10 hits in three innings, while Dale Hayes threw four innings of one-run, three-hit relief.
Four different Chippewas -- Bullinger, Gates, Groves and Latour -- had three hits apiece to pace CMU's 19-hit attack. Gates matched EMU's Ford with five RBI on the day, while Krueger drove in three runs. Bullinger scored a game-high four runs on the afternoon/evening, while Latour crossed the plate three times.
CMU set a MAC Tournament single-game record with seven stolen bases. Grubb, Gates and Jim Geldhof had two thefts apiece.
Eastern Michigan got three hits from Ford, the lone Eagle with a multi-hit game.
