Our first tournament of the year was a success! We earned the #1 seed in bracket play after going 3-0 in pool play, beating Central Michigan, Ferris State, and Michigan State. Unfortunately, we fell to Michigan State in a semifinal rematch by a score of 9-8, after coming back from 6-1 and 9-4 deficits.

This weekend provided an exciting preview of the 2019-2020 club baseball season. The new players stepped right up and provided huge contributions to the team. Brendan Hird went 3-4 with 2 RBIs in the semifinal game against Michigan State, while hitting the ball hard all weekend. Josh Dippold was 5-10 overall while playing solid defense in left field and at shortstop. Jake Fuehrmeyer pitched a gem against Ferris State, with 5 scoreless innings. Sam Sikkink went 3-8 with 4 walks and two HBP.

Other key performers during the tournament included Nolan Downey, who threw 5.2 inning with 1 earned run to get the win against Michigan State, and was also 3-6 at the plate throughout the weekend. Seniors Jens Rataczak and Joe Corcoran had OBPs over .600 during the tournament, and Jens worked hard behind the plate, catching 3 of the 4 games. Pitcher Tim Eiden was a shutdown reliever, throwing 4.1 innings overall, with 0 earned runs.

This first tournament was quite the team effort, and it shows that we have the talent and the drive to go far this year! We are off until November 9-10, allowing us a lot of time to put in work and get even better before our next series.