Eagles Inch Closer to West Division Crown with 6-4 Win

Box Score

YPSILANTI, Mich. — The Eastern Michigan University baseball team moved closer to its second consecutive Mid-American Conference West Division crown with its 6-4 win over Central Michigan here today at Theunissen Stadium. The Eagles remain a game and a half up on second place Northern Illinois and can clinch the West Division with a win tomorrow. Junior Matt Shoemaker (Trenton, Mich.-Trenton) threw his second straight complete game win, scattering four runs on seven hits while striking out two Chippewas.

With the win, EMU improves to 21-30, 15-6 MAC while Central Michigan falls to 27-25-1, 11-13 MAC.

Offensively, the Eagles were led by seniors Josh Ivan (Belleville, Mich.-Belleville) and Steve Bradshaw (Lapeer, Mich.-West) and junior Andrew Marshall (Mason, Mich.-Mason). Ivan went 3-for-5 on the day with a run scored and two RBI while Bradshaw and Marshall each had two hits and an RBI.

The Eagles struck early, taking a 1-0 lead after the top half of the first inning. Junior Kyle Rhoad (Fostoria, Ohio-Elmwood) led the game off with a walk and stole second before being driven in by senior Steve Bradshaw’s (Lapeer, Mich.-West) double to right field. Shoemaker faced just four Chippewa batters in the bottom half of the first, allowing just one to reach base, walking Matt Faiman before getting Sean Hoorelbeke to fly out to left field to end the inning.

The CMU offense came alive in the second after Noah Lankford led off with a double to left field. Billy Anderson walked to put runners on first and second with no outs before Tyler Kipke’s sacrifice bunt advanced each runner. Jeff Degati’s long sacrifice fly to left field allowed Lankford to cross the plate, knotting the game at 1-1.

Central Michigan continued to add runs, plating two more in the bottom of the third on three hits. Tyler Stovall led the inning off with a double and scored on Jeff Helps’ RBI single up the middle. A Hoorelbeke sacrifice fly to center field allowed Helps to cross the plate, increasing the lead to 3-1.

After a scoreless fourth inning by both teams, the Eagles fought back in the top half of the fifth stanza, scoring two runs on two hits to tie the game at three each. Bradshaw reached on an error by third baseman Lankford to lead off the inning. Senior Jeff Davis (Avondale, Ariz.-Westview) singled to right field and advanced to second on a fielding error by right fielder Stovall. Josh Ivan’s (Belleville, Mich.-Belleville) RBI bloop single to center field cut the Chippewa lead to 3-2. Freshman Zack Leonard (Canton, Ohio-McKinley) tied the game at three with his RBI sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Davis.

Shoemaker pitched his way out of a jam late in the fifth inning. Back-to-back singles by Dale Cornstubble and Stovall put the Chipps in scoring position with no outs. Helps’ sacrifice bunt advanced the runners to second and third. Faiman’s hard chopper to first was fielded cleanly by Bradshaw and quickly fired home, with catcher Andrew Marshall (Mason, Mich.-Mason) applying to tag on Cornstubble. With two outs, Shoemaker froze Hoorelbeke on a called strike three to end the inning and Chippewa threat.

Rhoad put the Green and White ahead 4-3 in the top of the sixth with his seventh home run of the season, a solo shot over the left-field wall.

The Eagles increased their lead to 6-3 in the seventh. Ivan’s fifth home run of the year, a solo shot over the right-field wall brought the score to 5-3 in favor of the Eagles. After Leonard reached on an error by short stop Jeff Helps, Marshall ripped an RBI single up the middle, pushing the Green and White lead to 6-3.

CMU cut the deficit to 6-4 in the bottom of the seventh when Cornstubble scored on a Shoemaker wild pitch, but that would be as close as they could get. Shoemaker was able to hold the Chippewas off in the eighth and ninth, ending the game with a 1-6-3 double play to secure the win.

Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan will be back in action tomorrow, May 16, for the second game of their series. First pitch at Theunissen Stadium is scheduled for 3 p.m.

Eastern Michigan Athletics

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