Golden Eagles edged by Chippewas, 12-11, in extra innings
Central Michigan eeked out a 12-11 win Friday in the opening game of a three-game series at Tennessee Tech as the Golden Eagles' potential tying run was thrown out at the plate.
| Final (10) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 17 | 0 |
|
|
1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 20 | 1 |
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. --- Tennessee Tech and Central Michigan matched each other nearly the whole way through, as the Chippewas were able to come away with the 12-11 win in 10 innings.
Friday's game featured plenty of hits and runs as the both teams combined for 23 runs on 37 hits.
Most of the excitement came in the bottom of the ninth, as Chad Hayes stepped in with the tying run on second with two gone. On the first pitch Hayes drove a single to center field to bring in pinch runner Robert Roach to knot up the score at 11.
CMU answered right back in the top of the 10th as it tallied three singles of Tech reliever Cullen Park to reclaim the lead at 12-11.
With two outs in the bottom 10th, Zach Stephens tallied a single, while Evan Frazier followed with a walk. With Seth Lucio pinch running for Stephens, Jordan Hopkins hit a sharp single to right field, but Lucio was thrown out at the plate to end the game in a very close play.
With CMU leading 4-3 after the fifth, the bats came alive for both teams as they both tallied seven runs on a combined 14 hits to bring the score to 11-10.
CMU's Eric Wrozek did the most damage as he drove in seven runs during the game, including a grand slam off Tech starter Tristan Archer in the sixth inning. Nate Thenissen drove in three runs as well, which included a two-run shot in the bottom of the first.
The Golden Eagles were led by Hayes, who drove in five runs on three hits, while Stephens drove in two runs, including a leadoff solo shot in the seventh inning.
CMU's Pat Kaminska (1-1) took the win as he went two innings, while giving up one run. TTU's Cullen Park (0-3) was saddled with the loss as he gave one run on three hits in one inning of work.
Archer gave up eight runs in 5.1 innings, while CMU starter Zach Cooper gave up nine runs in six innings.
Game two of the series is set for Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
