SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Surprising power; unsurprisingly solid pitching.
And the Central Michigan baseball team is still alive in the NCAA Tournament.
Garrett Navarra and Griffin Lockwood-Powell each homered and Jordan Patty threw a strong 7 2/3 innings on Saturday as the Chippewas topped Michigan, 8-2, in an elimination game at the South Bend Regional at Notre Dame's Frank Eck Stadium.
The Chippewas (41-17) will play an elimination game on Sunday (noon) against either Notre Dame or UConn. The Fighting Irish and Huskies, both undefeated in the regional, are scheduled to play on Saturday night. CMU will face the loser of that game on Sunday.
If the Chippewas win that game, they remain alive and will play again on Sunday evening.
Navarra hit a two-run homer, a no-doubter to right field, to put CMU in front, 3-1, in the fourth inning. Lockwood-Powell's two-run blast to dead center field extended CMU's lead to 7-1 in the sixth. It was the third homer of the season for Navarra and the second for Lockwood-Powell, who missed 28 games this season with an injury.
In between, the Chippewas got two runs in the fifth in the good ol' fashioned CMU way: scratching and clawing. Lockwood-Powell started it with a two-out single and then took third on a Zach Heeke single. Lockwood-Powell scored on a balk and then back-to-back walks loaded the bases for Aidan Shepardson, who was hit by a pitch to force in a run.
Patty, CMU's Friday starter this season and a Second Team All-MAC selection, was outstanding against the Wolverines (27-19).
"Jordan Patty, biggest story of the day," CMU coach Jordan Bischel said. "You can't say enough about Jordan. Those were really good hitting conditions against a really good team, and he just went out and competed."
Patty surrendered a solo home run to the second batter of the game, but then settled in to strike out six. He allowed eight hits and pitched out of a two-on, two-out jam in the sixth inning to maintain CMU's 5-1 lead; in the seventh, he got a strikeout and a double play when the Wolverines loaded the bases with none out.
"That's the most excited I've been in a while," said the draft-eligible Patty, one of several Chippewas who, had they lost, may have played their final collegiate game on Saturday. "It was a lot of fun, just going out and attacking hitters and letting our defense work. Our defense played outstanding today, and I can't put my appreciation for that into words. Those guys battled and they battled at the plate all day."
Patty threw 118 pitches, 78 of them for strikes. Grant Frazer went the final 1 1/3 innings.
Lockwood-Powell finished with a season-high three hits to lead the Chippewas' 11-hit attack.
"We've got a lot of guys who are playing their last year in our uniform," said Bischel, whose team dropped its tournament opener on Friday to Notre Dame, 10-0. "They've been some of the most successful players in school history. I think our guys were motivated to come out and just show that we're a really quality program that can compete with anybody.
"I'm proud of the guys for that. There was no sense of panic, no sense of being intimidated or being worried about anything like that. They just wanted to play good baseball. It was fun to play what we call Chippewa baseball and it was fun to have people see it."
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June 06, 2021 at 04:57AM
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Chippewas Knock Off Michigan, Remain Alive In NCAA Tournament - Central Michigan University Chippewas
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