TOLEDO, Ohio – Two down, a championship share in hand, and one to go.
Andrew Taylor and Garrett Navarra were nothing short of magnificent on the mound on Saturday as the Central Michigan baseball team swept Toledo in a Mid-American Conference doubleheader, giving the Chippewas a piece of the league crown and putting them on the cusp of their second consecutive outright conference title and a repeat trip to the NCAA Tournament.
"Winning a MAC title is a special, special accomplishment, but obviously we want to play next week (in the NCAA Tournament) and we know that sharing the title is not going to do that for us," third-year CMU coach Jordan Bischel said. "We didn't celebrate anything (after Saturday's games).
"But no matter what happens (Sunday), 10, 15, 20 years from now, it's a championship team and that's a significant accomplishment."
Taylor, a redshirt freshman, struck out 10 in firing a one-hitter in the 1-0 opener; Navarra, a sophomore left-hander, struck out nine in tossing a two-hitter in the 9-0 nightcap.
CMU is 38-16, 29-9 MAC and can win the title outright with one victory in Sunday's noon doubleheader. The Chippewas will also claim the title as all their own if Ball State loses a game on Sunday. The Cardinals are scheduled to entertain Miami (Ohio) in a twinbill.
Jordan Patty, the Chippewas' normal Friday starter, is scheduled to start Sunday's opener. Cameron Brown is slated to start the nightcap.
Both Patty and Brown, along with several position players, played major roles in 2019 when CMU won both the regular season and MAC Tournament championships. There is no league tournament this season.
"Nothing is guaranteed (on Sunday), but we've been in this position before," Bischel said. "If we don't play well (on Sunday), it won't have anything to do with the stuff that's going on off the field, the standings and things like that. We'll come out and we'll be in a good spot mentally; we'll be excited to play.
"The biggest reason they want to win (on Sunday) is they want to have the opportunity to keep playing as a team. They care about each other, they love each other and they want to keep playing."
Taylor furthered his case as the best freshman pitcher in the MAC, if not the nation, in outdueling Toledo starter Kyle Jones. Taylor (11-3) threw just 81 pitches and struck out 10. He issued a walk in the fourth inning and surrendered a one-out double in the sixth.
His 11 wins rank as the third-highest total in program history. He has struck out 120 and should, if the Chippewas win the league title and advance to the NCAA Tournament, get at least one more start and could break Ralph Darin's program record for strikeouts in a season (123 in 1971). His earned run average is 1.21 which, if he didn't throw another pitch this season, would rank as the third lowest in CMU history.
Toledo came in hitting .290 as a team and slugging .481, ranking first and second, respectively, in the MAC in those categories.
"He had to make the pitches against a very, very good hitting team and he did," Bischel said. "He was very much in command of that game. Just did a tremendous job commanding the baseball. He was probably as sharp as he's been in several weeks. He just put together an awfully special season for us, and it's fun to watch how cool, calm and composed he is. He didn't bat an eye when we didn't score for him until the eighth inning."
The Chippewas finally broke through against Jones when Justin Simpson doubled with two out in the eighth inning and then scored on Mario Camilletti's chopper through the right side.
Navarra (5-0) threw 95 pitches in the seven-inning nightcap. Toledo got an infield hit in the fourth inning and then a single off the glove of shortstop Justin Simpson in the seventh.
"That's an outstanding performance," Bischel said. "He was really in command and he's just come on extremely strong for us after pitching pretty well out of the bullpen the first few weeks (of the season).
Navarra has allowed just seven earned runs over his last six starts comprising a combined 29 innings. He has struck out 39 over that span.
"I don't think you can qualify him as a spot starter or a No. 4 guy (in the rotation)," Bischel said. "He's proven he's a legit starting pitcher at this level."
The Chippewas collected 10 hits, four of them for extra bases. They scored six runs on three hits and two Toledo errors in the second inning, giving Navarra more than enough support.
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Baseball Sweeps To Clinch Title Share; Can Win Title Outright On Sunday - Central Michigan University Chippewas
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