Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
Kent State
Eagles Fall to Golden Flashes in MAC Tournament Semifinal
5/28/2010 10:01:49 PM | Baseball
KSU downs EMU 15-1, giving the Eagles their first loss of the MAC Tournament
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CHILLICOTHE, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University baseball team could not recover from a three-run top of the first inning Friday night, May 28, at V.A. Memorial Stadium, as the No. 7 seeded Eagles fell, 15-1, to the No. 2 seeded Golden Flashes from Kent State University in the semifinals of the 2010 Mid-American Conference Tournament.
The Eagles (27-31) and Golden Flashes (37-23) will meet again tomorrow at approximately 2:30 p.m., with the winner advancing to the MAC Tournament championship to play the winner of the 11:30 a.m. game between No. 5 Bowling Green State University and No. 1 Central Michigan University.
Sophomore Wally Gerbus (Fairfield, Ohio-Stephen T. Baden) provided EMU's only offense in the loss, as his solo blast over the scoreboard in left field off KSU's Ryan Mace plated the Eagles' lone run of the game.
Junior Zack Leonard (Canton, Ohio-McKinley) collected one hit in the loss, extending his MAC Tournament hitting streak to 11 games.
EMU freshman hurler Steve Weber (North Royalton, Ohio-North Royalton) pitched well for the Eagles, but never managed to recover from a catcher's interference call in the top of the first inning on a double play that would have limited KSU's three-run first. Weber lasted two and one-thirds innings, giving up five runs (four earned) on six hits and one walk, while striking out two batters.
Kent State starting pitcher Ryan Mace pitched well to earn the victory for the Flashes, giving up just one run on three hits in seven innings of work.
After the Golden Flashes strung together five runs in the first three innings of the game to take a 5-0 lead, Gerbus limited the deficit to four in the bottom of the third, as his solo homer over the scoreboard in left field at V.A. Memorial Stadium made it a 5-1 game.
But it was all Kent State from there, as a two-out grand slam home run in the top of the seventh by Ben Klafczynski gave the Golden Flashes a 10-1 lead, one they would not surrender down the stretch after tallying another five runs in the top of the eighth inning.
