Eastern Michigan Athletics
Thursday, May 24
Avon, Ohio
10 a.m.
Eastern Michigan University
22-34
1
vs
2
Toledo
22-32
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
R
H
E
Eastern Michigan
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
4
0
Toledo
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
2
7
0
Baseball's Season Comes to an End on Day Two of the MAC Tournament
5/24/2018 1:34:00 PM | Baseball
EMU lost to Toledo in walk off-fashion
Video Highlights.
AVON, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University baseball team's 2018 season came to an end with a tough 2-1 10-inning walk-off defeat to No. 5 seeded University of Toledo in the 2018 Mid-American Conference Tournament Thursday afternoon, May 24, at Sprenger Stadium.
In his final EMU appearance, senior Luke DeVenney (Des Moines, Iowa-Dowling Catholic) took a no decision in one of the best outings of his career, going a career-long 9.0 innings while only allowing one run on five hits and striking out three. He completed his final season in the Green and White with an astounding 2.49 earned run average. That is the lowest final ERA for an EMU starter since George Biddle finished with a 2.42 in 2007.
At the plate, freshman Shane Easter (Kalamazoo, Mich.-Comstock) had the big hit, notching an RBI double to give EMU the lead in the second inning, which they held until the eighth. Redshirt freshman Jeff Timko (Rochester Hills, Mich.-Brother Rice) drew three walks on the day and scored EMU's lone run.
EMU and UT were blanked in a quick first inning, but the Eagles opened the scoring in the second inning. Timko led off with a walk, and he was bunted into scoring position for Easter. The freshman delivered, ripping a double into the gap in left center to score Timko and make it 1-0.
Both pitchers then went to work, combining to go the next five innings without yielding much of anything offensively. For DeVenney, it was business as usual as he used a mix of weak contact and solid defense to shut out the Rockets into the eighth inning. The righty only allowed four hits with just one walk to keep it a 1-0 game into the bottom of the eighth.
There, Toledo used a leadoff single, and later a double, to tie the game at one into the ninth inning. EMU went three-up, three-down in the top half, but DeVenney responded with his first 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the ninth to send the game to extra innings.
The Eagles' offense couldn't get anything across in the top of the tenth, setting up Toledo for the walk-off sacrifice fly in the bottom of the frame, ending EMU's run in the 2018 MAC Tournament completing the season with a 22-34 mark and a 14-13 conference record.
Thursday also marked the end of the careers of EMU's three-man senior class, DeVenney, Brad Allen (Manchester, Mich.-Manchester (Jackson College)), and Justin McMurtrey (Redding, Calif.-Shasta (Butte C.C.)). The trio combined for 28 MAC wins over the last two seasons, EMU's best two-year stretch since 2011-12.
AVON, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University baseball team's 2018 season came to an end with a tough 2-1 10-inning walk-off defeat to No. 5 seeded University of Toledo in the 2018 Mid-American Conference Tournament Thursday afternoon, May 24, at Sprenger Stadium.
In his final EMU appearance, senior Luke DeVenney (Des Moines, Iowa-Dowling Catholic) took a no decision in one of the best outings of his career, going a career-long 9.0 innings while only allowing one run on five hits and striking out three. He completed his final season in the Green and White with an astounding 2.49 earned run average. That is the lowest final ERA for an EMU starter since George Biddle finished with a 2.42 in 2007.
At the plate, freshman Shane Easter (Kalamazoo, Mich.-Comstock) had the big hit, notching an RBI double to give EMU the lead in the second inning, which they held until the eighth. Redshirt freshman Jeff Timko (Rochester Hills, Mich.-Brother Rice) drew three walks on the day and scored EMU's lone run.
EMU and UT were blanked in a quick first inning, but the Eagles opened the scoring in the second inning. Timko led off with a walk, and he was bunted into scoring position for Easter. The freshman delivered, ripping a double into the gap in left center to score Timko and make it 1-0.
Both pitchers then went to work, combining to go the next five innings without yielding much of anything offensively. For DeVenney, it was business as usual as he used a mix of weak contact and solid defense to shut out the Rockets into the eighth inning. The righty only allowed four hits with just one walk to keep it a 1-0 game into the bottom of the eighth.
There, Toledo used a leadoff single, and later a double, to tie the game at one into the ninth inning. EMU went three-up, three-down in the top half, but DeVenney responded with his first 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the ninth to send the game to extra innings.
The Eagles' offense couldn't get anything across in the top of the tenth, setting up Toledo for the walk-off sacrifice fly in the bottom of the frame, ending EMU's run in the 2018 MAC Tournament completing the season with a 22-34 mark and a 14-13 conference record.
Thursday also marked the end of the careers of EMU's three-man senior class, DeVenney, Brad Allen (Manchester, Mich.-Manchester (Jackson College)), and Justin McMurtrey (Redding, Calif.-Shasta (Butte C.C.)). The trio combined for 28 MAC wins over the last two seasons, EMU's best two-year stretch since 2011-12.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: JACOB, Michael (2-8)
L: House, Thomas (0-4)
Batting:
2B: Easter, Shane 1
RBI: Easter, Shane 1
SH: Hager, Devin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Timko, Jeff 1
SB: Schenker, Kolton 1
CS: Owings, Zachary 1
Batting:
2B: SERVELLO, John 1 ; BOLLINGER, Dalton 1
RBI: SERVELLO, John 2
SH: HANSEN, Matt 3
SF: SERVELLO, John 1
Base Running:
RUNS: MEYERS, Chris 1 ; RYAN, Michael 1
CS: RYAN, Michael 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
5
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ Baseball
OF/RHP
/ BaseballIF/OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ BaseballDrew Beckner's Comments After BGSU Win in MAC Tournament
Friday, May 23
Robbie Britt's Comments After MAC Tournament Win over BGSU
Friday, May 23
EMU Stuns BGSU for First Postseason Win Since 2017
Friday, May 23
Baseball 2025 MAC Tournament Practice Day Recap
Wednesday, May 21