MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – The Miami University baseball team fell in its regular season finale, 10-3, to Central Michigan on Saturday. The RedHawks are 36-17 overall and finish Mid-American Conference play at 15-11. The Chippewas are 43-12 and win the MAC regular season crown with a 22-5 record.

Miami struck first with a run in the top of the second. Freshman designated hitter Cole Andrews led off with a single to left field. He advanced to second base on a failed pickoff attempt by the pitcher. A sacrifice bunt by senior right fielder Mackay Williams moved Andrews up to third. That allowed junior catcher Cal Elvers to score him on an RBI groundout.

Central Michigan answered with a two-out two-run rally in the bottom of the second to take the lead. It added one more on two RedHawk errors in the bottom of the fifth to make it 3-1. In the bottom of the sixth, the Chippewas used patience at the plate and a Miami error to score five runs on only one hit and increase advantage to 8-1.

Miami chipped into the lead in the top of the eighth when junior third baseman Landon Stephens hit a two-run shot over the left field wall. It is his team-leading seventh home run of the year. CMU answered with two runs in the bottom half of the inning to complete the scoring.

Stephens finished the game 2-for-4 with two RBIs and one run scored. Sophomore center fielder Cristian Tejada was 3-for-4 on the day.

The RedHawks will be the fourth seed in next week's MAC Tournament. They will begin play on Wednesday at 6 p.m. when they face fifth seed Northern Illinois. The double elimination tournament takes place at Sprenger Stadium in Avon, Ohio.