Baseball Struggles in a 9-2 Setback

Box score.

TUCSON, Ariz. – The Eastern Michigan University baseball team’s struggles continued in a 9-2 setback to the University of Arizona Friday evening here at Kindall Field. After falling behind in the first inning the Eagles battled back to knot the score at 2-2, but the Wildcats would score seven unanswered runs to cruise to the decision.

With the victory Arizona pushes its record to 12-4 on the year while Eastern Michigan drops its sixth consecutive game to fall to 1-7 on the season.

The Eagles were led by junior shortstop Jeff Hehr who went 3-for-4 with a RBI. Senior Derek Lehrman drove in the Green and White’s other run, going 2-for-4 at the plate with a run scored. Junior Jeff Fisher, the Mid-American Conference’s 2006 Pitcher of the Year, had a tough afternoon on the hill giving up 11 hits and seven runs in 6.1 innings of work.

The host Wildcats jumped out to an early a 2-0 lead in the first inning on two-run double by Brad Glenn, but EMU rallied to tie the contest with a pair of runs on five hits in the top of the third. Senior Brian Blackburn led off the inning by singling to left field, but he was caught stealing to clear the base path. That would prove costly as Junior Mike Boyd would follow with a double down the left field line and then advancing to third on a fly out off the bat of junior Josh Ivan. Lehrman would then line a double to centerfield to plate Boyd to cut the margin to one, 2-1. Hehr added a single to score Lehrman from second base, advancing to second on the throw home. Jeff Davis would add an infield single to put runners on the corners, but Davis was picked off first to end the threat.

Arizona answered back in the bottom half of the frame to retake the lead 5-2 on back-to-back two-out solo homers by C.J. Ziegler and Glenn. Ziegler would tack\ on another run in the bottom of the fourth with run-scoring fielder’s choice ground out and then added his second home run of the game in the bottom of the seventh to extend Arizona’s advantage to 7-2. Robert Abel capped off the scoring for the Wildcats in the eighth with a RBI-triple to left field to plate Dwight Childs from first before coming home on a passed ball to make it 9-2.

On the mound for the Wildcats, sophomore Preston Guilmet worked around EMU’s two-run third by scattering seven hits over the next 4.1 innings to pick up his third victory of the year. Cory Burns came on it relief to toss a perfect 1.2 perfect innings the rest of the way.

The two teams continue their three-game series Saturday, March 3, at 4 p.m. EST.

Eastern Michigan Athletics

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