Eastern Michigan Athletics
Saturday, May 12
Kent, Ohio
5:30 p.m.
Eastern Michigan University
20-29, 0
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Kent State
33-14, 0
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Eastern Michigan
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Kent State
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Photo by: EMU Athletics/Andrew Mascharka
Eagles Falter Late at Kent State
5/12/2018 9:27:00 PM | Baseball
EMU led into the seventh before three unearned runs scored
KENT, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University baseball team had a lead for most of the game, but faltered late in a tough 6-3 defeat to Kent State University Saturday evening, May 12, at Schoonover Stadium.
Eastern (20-29, 12-11 MAC) led 3-1 going into the seventh inning, but three unearned runs scored by Kent State (33-14, 17-6) in that inning ended up being the difference.
Senior Luke DeVenney (Des Moines, Iowa-Dowling Catholic) took a tough loss in another workmanlike start, as he went the first 6.2 innings, allowing just one earned run on six hits with four strikeouts. He used the infield to his advantage yet again, getting 13 of 20 outs on ground balls.
Offensively, sophomore Zachary Owings (Saline, Mich.-Saline) remained red hot at the plate, notching two hits and a run, while freshman Jared Kauffman (Springboro, Ohio-Bishop Fenwick) also tallied a two-hit day, including an RBI triple, his second of the season.
EMU struck first in the second inning, notching a pair of runs on two hits. Junior Kolton Schenker (Augusta, Kan.-Augusta (Labette C.C.)) led off the frame with a single, which was followed immediately by an RBI triple from Kauffman, opening the scoring. With the man on third, sophomore Devin Hager (Commerce Township, Mich.-Walled Lake Northern) grounded out to short, but the infield was deep enough to score the run, making it 2-0 early on.
DeVenney worked out of a 2nd and 3rd jam in the second with his first strikeout to keep KSU off the board, and allowing EMU to add onto the lead into the third. Owings led off with his second hit of the day, followed by a bullet single from junior John Rensel Jr. (Tallmadge, Ohio-Tallmadge) to put runners on the corners. Sophomore Nick Jones (Battle Creek, Mich.-Lakeview) then executed a perfect squeeze bunt to score Owings, and give Eastern a 3-0 advantage.
Kent got on the board in the bottom of the third, using a hit and three walks to drive one home, but DeVenney limited the damage thanks to some help from his defense, keeping it 3-1 into the fourth. The senior kept walking the tightrope in the fourth, allowing runners to reach 1st and 3rd, but he escaped the jam once again to maintain the two-run lead into the fifth.
The senior right hander continued to grind through at bats, facing the minimum in the fifth after a nice pickoff from catcher Nick Jones. In the sixth, two more KSU runners reached with two outs, but DeVenney worked out of it yet again, stranding his eighth and ninth runners of the day, to keep it 3-1.
The game unraveled in the bottom of the seventh, as three EMU errors and two Kent State hits allowed three unearned runs to cross to give Kent its first lead of the day, 4-3, with two innings left to play. The deficit got larger in the bottom of the eighth as a two-run homer opened up a 6-3 Flashes advantage into the final turn at the plate. The Eagles could not jump start the offense again, falling by the three-run tally.
The two teams will return to action tomorrow afternoon, May 12, for the rubber match of the series. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.
Eastern (20-29, 12-11 MAC) led 3-1 going into the seventh inning, but three unearned runs scored by Kent State (33-14, 17-6) in that inning ended up being the difference.
Senior Luke DeVenney (Des Moines, Iowa-Dowling Catholic) took a tough loss in another workmanlike start, as he went the first 6.2 innings, allowing just one earned run on six hits with four strikeouts. He used the infield to his advantage yet again, getting 13 of 20 outs on ground balls.
Offensively, sophomore Zachary Owings (Saline, Mich.-Saline) remained red hot at the plate, notching two hits and a run, while freshman Jared Kauffman (Springboro, Ohio-Bishop Fenwick) also tallied a two-hit day, including an RBI triple, his second of the season.
EMU struck first in the second inning, notching a pair of runs on two hits. Junior Kolton Schenker (Augusta, Kan.-Augusta (Labette C.C.)) led off the frame with a single, which was followed immediately by an RBI triple from Kauffman, opening the scoring. With the man on third, sophomore Devin Hager (Commerce Township, Mich.-Walled Lake Northern) grounded out to short, but the infield was deep enough to score the run, making it 2-0 early on.
DeVenney worked out of a 2nd and 3rd jam in the second with his first strikeout to keep KSU off the board, and allowing EMU to add onto the lead into the third. Owings led off with his second hit of the day, followed by a bullet single from junior John Rensel Jr. (Tallmadge, Ohio-Tallmadge) to put runners on the corners. Sophomore Nick Jones (Battle Creek, Mich.-Lakeview) then executed a perfect squeeze bunt to score Owings, and give Eastern a 3-0 advantage.
Kent got on the board in the bottom of the third, using a hit and three walks to drive one home, but DeVenney limited the damage thanks to some help from his defense, keeping it 3-1 into the fourth. The senior kept walking the tightrope in the fourth, allowing runners to reach 1st and 3rd, but he escaped the jam once again to maintain the two-run lead into the fifth.
The senior right hander continued to grind through at bats, facing the minimum in the fifth after a nice pickoff from catcher Nick Jones. In the sixth, two more KSU runners reached with two outs, but DeVenney worked out of it yet again, stranding his eighth and ninth runners of the day, to keep it 3-1.
The game unraveled in the bottom of the seventh, as three EMU errors and two Kent State hits allowed three unearned runs to cross to give Kent its first lead of the day, 4-3, with two innings left to play. The deficit got larger in the bottom of the eighth as a two-run homer opened up a 6-3 Flashes advantage into the final turn at the plate. The Eagles could not jump start the offense again, falling by the three-run tally.
The two teams will return to action tomorrow afternoon, May 12, for the rubber match of the series. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: WOLLERSHEIM, Connor (4-2)
L: DeVenney, Luke (6-2)
S: ROMEL, Collin (5)
Batting:
3B: Kauffman, Jared 1
RBI: Jones, Nick 1 ; Kauffman, Jared 1 ; Hager, Devin 1
SH: Jones, Nick 1 ; Hager, Devin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Owings, Zachary 1 ; Schenker, Kolton 1 ; Kauffman, Jared 1
SB: Schenker, Kolton 1
Batting:
2B: SCHULER, Pete 1
HR: HAWKINS, Reilly 1
RBI: HAWKINS, Reilly 2 ; TURNER, Michael 2 ; SCHULER, Pete 1
Base Running:
RUNS: HAWKINS, Reilly 1 ; MAMARELLA, Mason 1 ; KANAVAS, Nick 1 ; PARKS, Pavin 1 ; TURNER, Michael 1 ; HOLLANDER, Josh 1
HBP: TURNER, Michael 1
PO: TURNER, Michael 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
OF/RHP
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/ BaseballC/IF
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