Eagles Drop Two Against Gators, 15-2, 16-8

Game 1 Box score

Game 2 Box score

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Eastern Michigan University baseball team dropped its second doubleheader this week, falling to the University of Florida, 15-2 and 16-8, here today at McKethan Stadium in Gainesville, Fla. The Gators offense was able to get on the board early, accumulating nine runs in the first two innings of each game, forcing the Eagles to play from behind.

With the pair of losses, Eastern Michigan falls to 0-6 (0-0, MAC) on the year while Florida improves to 5-0 (0-0, SEC) midway through the first week of the 2008 season.

Leading the way for the Eagles on the day was junior Kyle Rhoad (Fostoria, Ohio-Elmwood), going 4-for-9 with three RBIs, one homerun and one stolen base. Sophomore Robert Wendzicki (Brook Park, Ohio-Midpark) (0-1) took the loss in the first game, recording three strikeouts in four innings of work while giving up 11 hits and nine earned runs. In game two, freshman Jordan Goldschmidt (Ft. Loramie, Ohio-Ft. Loramie) (0-1) registered three strikeouts in four innings pitched, giving up 10 hits and 11 earned runs in the losing effort.

The Gators raced out of the gates, putting up nine runs in the first two innings to take a 9-1 lead in game one. UF increased their lead with a five-run fifth inning followed by a one-run sixth inning to take a commanding 15-2 lead through six.

EMU got on the board with a run in both the second and fifth innings. In the top half of the second frame, Aaron Powell (Clarkston, Mich.-Clarkston) doubled to center and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Mike Boyd’s (Huntington Woods, Mich.-Berkley) sacrifice fly to center field knocked in Powell. In the fifth, Josh Ivan (Belleville, Mich.-Belleville) led off with a double to right field. Rhoad grounded out to the short stop, advancing Ivan to third. Jim Gulliver’s (Allen Park, Mich.-Allen Park) single to center brought in Ivan, rounding out the scoring for the Eagles in game 1.

Game two mirrored the start of the first, with Florida registering nine runs in the first two innings to jump out to a 9-1 lead. The Green and White had the bases loaded in the first, but Travis Lawler struck out senior Jeff Davis (Avondale, Ariz.-Westview) and Powell to get out of the jam unscathed. In the second, a one-out single to right field by Rhoad advanced freshman Zack Leonard (Canton, Ohio-McKinley) to second. Lawler again loaded the bases after hitting Gulliver, and surrendered a walk to senior Steve Bradshaw (Lapeer, Mich.-West), bringing in the first Eagle run of the day. With the bases still loaded, Lawler was able to get junior Andrew Marshall (Mason, Mich.-Mason) to fly out to left to end the inning.

In the third the EMU bats continued to pound out the hits, starting with a Davis bunt single. The Eagles loaded the bases for the third straight inning before sophomore Aaron Crooks (Toledo, Ohio-Ottawa Hills) sacrifice fly to right scored Powell who had reached on a fielder’s choice earlier in the inning. With Matt Skirving (Midland, Mich.-H.H. Dow) and Leonard aboard, Rhoad ripped his second homerun of the season over the left field wall, cutting the deficit to four at 9-5. Andrew Marshall’s (Mason, Mich.-Mason) infield pop out ended the Eagle rally in the third.

The Gators regained composer, tacking on two more in the bottom half of the third and fourth innings, putting the game out of reach at 13-5. EMU added two more in the fifth and one in the seventh to bring the final tally to 16-8 in favor of UF.

EMU closes out its winter break trip down south with a four-game series at Florida Atlantic University. The Eagles and Owls open their series tomorrow, Feb. 28, at FAU Stadium with first pitch scheduled for 6:30 p.m.

Eastern Michigan Athletics

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