Morgan’s 9th-Inning Homer Lifts Baseball To 2-0 Win At Miami

OXFORD, Ohio – With great patience comes great reward.
 
Robby Morgan IV proved that statement to be true in the ninth inning on Saturday, hitting a two-run homer to lift the Central Michigan baseball team to a 2-0 victory over Miami (Ohio) in the opener of a four-game Mid-American Conference series at the RedHawks’ McKie Field.
 
CMU, 6-8, 2-1 MAC, handed the RedHawks, 7-8, 4-1, their first MAC loss.
 
The teams are slated to play a doubleheader on Sunday (1 p.m.) before closing the series with a single game on Monday (1 p.m.).
 
Senior right-hander Jordan Patty (1-2) picked up his first win of the season, striking out eight, walking one, and allowing three hits over eight frames. Two of Miami’s three hits were infield singles.
 
“(Patty’s) a fifth-year guy and he’s got tons of experience,” CMU coach Jordan Bischel said. “Although he was off to a slow start this year, he’s always performed well for us and pitched really well in tight spots. I think that just comes back to all of his preparation and his experience, and it paid off for him.”
 
Danny Wuestenfeld drew a one-out walk in the ninth inning, and Morgan, a redshirt freshman, drilled a 1-2 pitch to left for his first career homer.
 
“Robby has really worked hard to improve every day and you can tell that he’s really on the verge of doing some really positive things,” Bischel said. “That’s why he’s still in the lineup every day; he’s getting closer and closer and obviously we saw that work and preparation pay off today.”
 
Ryan Insco set down the RedHawks in order in the bottom of the ninth for his first save. He struck out the first two batters he faced and then got the final out on a fly ball. Insco, a sophomore right-hander, has yet to walk a batter in 11 innings covering seven appearances this season.
 
“The starting point is, we know (Insco) is going to throw strikes,” Bischel said. “He keeps the ball down well and keeps people off balance; it was another outstanding performance.”
 
Mario Camilletti had three of CMU’s eight hits. Camilletti had two doubles among his three hits, while Morgan finished with two hits.
 
Miami starter Jonathan Brand allowed five hits, walked one and struck out 10 over 7 1/3 innings. Nick Demonica (1-2) went the final 1 2/3 frames and took the loss.