Eagles Open Regular Season With Split Against No. 25 Kansas

Game 1 Box Score

Game 2 Box Score

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University baseball team opened the 2010 season Monday night, Feb. 22, at the Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minn., as the Eagles split their doubleheader against the No. 25 ranked Kansas University Jayhawks.

Behind a stellar performance from junior pitcher Corey Chaffins (New London, Ohio-New London) and timely hitting, the Eagles (1-1) captured a 3-1 victory in game one, before dropping game two to the Jayhawks (1-1), 9-5.

Chaffins had everything working to shut down the Kansas offense in the season opener for both squads, as he went seven strong innings, yielding just one run on three hits while tallying eight strikeouts to earn the victory.

The victory in game one marks EMU's second win all-time against the Jayhawks, while Jay Alexander earns his second straight season opening victory as the Eagles' Head Coach. It marks EMU's first win over a top 25 team since the 2007 season when the team topped No. 19 Tennessee.

The Eagles out-hit the Jayhawks in both games, 8-3 in game one and 7-4 in game two, but a disastrous eighth inning in game two in which the Eagles' pitching staff allowed eight walks and a hit batsman proved too much to overcome, despite a late rally with four runs in the ninth inning to limit the deficit. The split moves the all-time series to 4-2 between the two squads, with Kansas holding on to the advantage.

Sophomore catcher Matt Skirving (Midland, Mich.-H.H. Dow) provided the fire power for EMU in the game one win, as the 2009 first-team All-Region selection recorded his first home run of the season in the victory, a solo blast off Kansas' T.J. Walz in the top of the third. Skirving finished the night 3-for-6 at the plate with two runs scored, two RBI and two walks.

In game one, senior Andrew Marshall (Mason, Mich.-Mason) recorded EMU's first hit of the season in the top of the second inning, as he singled down the third base line to lead off the inning for the Eagles. However, Walz retired the next three Eagles in order to keep the game scoreless in the early stages.

The Eagles got on the board two innings later, as Skirving belted a 1-0 Walz offering over the right field wall in the Metrodome to give EMU a 1-0 advantage. Senior Todd Graves (St. Marys, Ohio-St. Marys Memorial) followed it up with a double to the gap in left center, but would be left stranded at third base to keep the lead at 1-0.

But the Jayhawks answered in the bottom half of the inning with a Jimmy Waters RBI single to left center that plated teammate Brian Heere to knot the game at 1-1. Waters finished 1-for-3 with an RBI in game one.

After missing all of last season with a torn ACL, junior Ken Battiston (West Milton, Ohio-Milton Union) came up with his first hit since the 2008 season an inning later, as his RBI single to left field scored sophomore Brent Ohrman (Adrian, Mich.-Adrian), who led off the top of the fifth with a triple to the gap in left center, giving EMU a 2-1 lead. Battiston went 3-for-7 with an RBI and stolen base in two games.

The Jayhawks threatened in the bottom of the sixth, putting runners at first and third with two outs for Waters, whose RBI single in the second put Kansas on the board. But Chaffins managed to get Waters to line out to left field to leave the inning undamaged, preserving EMU's 2-1 advantage going into the seventh inning.

Sophomore Wally Gerbus (Fairfield, Ohio-Stephen T. Baden) helped EMU add some insurance in the top of the eighth after pinch running for Graves. Gerbus nabbed two bases to end up on third base with two outs, and would end up scoring on a passed ball by KU freshman catcher Chris Manship to increase the Eagles' lead to 3-1.

True freshman Brett Cisper (Loveland, Ohio-Moeller) came in for relief of Chaffins to pitch the eighth and ninth inning to pick up the first save of his career and help the Eagles take game one of the doubleheader.

The Kansas offense was the first to strike in game two, as Robby Price's RBI single off sophomore Kendall Lewis (Huntsville, Ohio-Indian Lake) plated teammate Casey Lytle to give the Jayhawks an early 1-0 edge. The Jayhawks tallied a run in the second and third inning to extend their lead to 3-0. Lewis lasted just two innings in his first start of the season, giving up three runs on four hits, walking three and hitting a pair of Jayhawks.

Skirving recorded EMU's first hit of the game off Cameron Selik and put his team on the board in the top of the fourth inning, as his one-out double down the right field line plated senior Aaron Crooks (Toledo, Ohio-Ottawa Hills), who reached on a Kansas error earlier in the inning, to limit the Jayhawks to a 3-1 lead. Selik went six innings in game two to earn the win, giving up just two hits and striking out five Eagles.

The Eagles threatened with two outs in the top of the seventh, as Marshall belted Brett Bollman's first offering down the left field line for a double, giving EMU momentum and its first runner in scoring position since the fourth inning. But EMU's luck would be short lived, as Bollman managed to get junior Zack Leonard (Canton, Ohio-McKinley) to line out to shortstop Brandon Macias to end the inning.

Sophomore pitcher Jordan Glover (Toronto, Ontario-Ontario Schools) performed well in relief of Lewis, pitching four innings of hitless baseball and striking out six Kansas batters in game two.

The Jayhawks extended their lead in the bottom of the eighth to all but seal the win, as eight walks coupled with a hit batsman and wild pitch by the EMU pitching staff led to six Kansas runs to make it a 9-1 game.

The Eagles attempted a late rally in the ninth, posting four runs off four hits and a Kansas error, but too many free passes in the bottom of the eighth proved to be the difference for EMU, as the Jayhawks managed to escape the Metrodome with a split.

The Eagles are back in action this weekend for the Coca-Cola Classic, Feb. 26-28, in Mobile, Ala. EMU opens play against tournament host South Alabama Friday, Feb. 26, at 6 p.m.

Eastern Michigan Athletics

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