Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
Central Michigan
Baseball Downs Central Michigan, 4-3
5/6/2007 5:20:24 PM | Baseball
Eagles now move into first place in MAC-West division
YPSILANTI, Mich. – The Eastern Michigan University baseball team recorded a 4-3 victory over in-state rival Central Michigan in Mid-American action here Sunday afternoon at Oestrike Stadium. With the win, EMU (24-18, 16-3 MAC) moved into first place atop the MAC West Division based on a .842 winning percentage compared to CMU's (30-15, 17-4 MAC) .810 percentage. Eastern handed the Chippewas their first back-to-back conference losses this season. The series also marked the first time Central Michigan had lost a series to a MAC opponent this year.
For the second straight day, the Eagles jumped out to an early lead and then relied on a strong outing from their starting pitcher. Sophomore Sean Hoffman (6-0) had a solid perfomance allowing only one run and five hits while striking out six in seven innings of work. Sophomore Matt Shoemaker pitched the final two innings for the Eagles to pick up his 10th save of the season. With the save, Shoemaker moves into a tie for third on the EMU career saves list. Kurt Lauscher (6-2) recorded seven strikeouts for the Chippewas but allowed four runs on six hits over 6.1 innings.
Eastern was led by Junior Jeff Hehr going 2-for-3 at the plate with two RBI and a solo home run. Junior Josh Ivan and senior Trumaine Riley also had multiple hit games going 2-for4 and 2-for-3 respectivly at the plate.
Billy Anderson was the only Chippewa to record multiple hits going 2-for-5. Cody Allen, Sean Hoorelbeke and Bryan Mitzel each recorded an RBI for Central Michigan.
Just like Saturday’s game, the Eagles got on the board in the bottom of the first inning. With two outs and the bases loaded, senior Derek Lehrman was able to score on a wild pitch to give Eastern a 1-0 lead. EMU struck again in the bottom of the third as Hehr led off the inning with his sixth home run of the season to put the Eagles up 2-0.
The Chippewas got their first run of the game in the top of the seventh. After Eric Cannon reached base with a two-out bunt single, Mitzel drove in a run with a pinch-hit double to left field. It looked as if Central would tie the game when Allen hit a long fly ball to right field. However, a spectacular catch by Junior Steve Bradshaw allowed the Eagles to escape the inning with a 2-1 lead.
The Eagles struck back in the bottom of the seventh. Hehr picked up his second RBI of the game with a single to left field. Eastern then picked up an unearned run as Ivan scored on a passed ball to expand the lead to 4-1.
Central Michigan continued to cut into the Eagle lead in the top of the eigth. A two-out double by Hoorelbeke cut the lead to 4-2. The Chippewas scored again in the top of the ninth on a single by Allen. Central brought the go ahead run to the plate, but Shoemaker got Anderson to hit a lazy fly ball to left field to preserve the 4-3 victory.
The Eagles return to action at Oestrike Stadium on Tuesday, May 8 against the visting Golden Grizzlies of Oakland University. First pitch is at 3 p.m.
