Eastern Michigan Athletics
Wednesday, March 30
Oestrike Stadium
4 p.m.
Eastern Michigan University
8
vs
2
Michigan
Brian Valente
Photo by: EMU Athletics/Randy Mascharka
Eastern Michigan Overwhelms Michigan with 8-2 Victory
3/30/2011 8:59:27 PM | Baseball
The Eagles had it working in all phases as they pounded out-hit Michigan, 13-5, in the win.
Box score
Re-Listen to the Game.
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – A three-run fourth inning sparked a comeback victory for the Eastern Michigan University baseball team as it defeated the University of Michigan, 8-2, in a non-conference game at Oestrike Stadium, today, March 30.
Trailing 2-0, the Eagles scored three times in the fourth, once in the fifth and twice in the sixth and eighth innings on the way to overcoming a previous loss to the Wolverines just 10 days ago.
Senior Robert Wendzicki (Brook Park, Ohio-Midpark) paced the offense with a 3-for-5 effort as the Eagles out-hit the Wolverines, 13-5. Meanwhile, EMU starter Brian Valente (Macomb, Mich.-Eisenhower-Saginaw Valley State) allowed just two runs, both unearned, as he went five innings to record his second win of the season.
The Eagles improve to 16-9 overall with the victory while the Wolverines fall to 6-16 with the loss.
Valente (2-0) allowed two unearned runs in the second inning after committing an error in which he struggled to field a sacrifice bunt attempt cleanly. But the sophomore, in his fourth start of the season, showed poise and rebounded to finish his outing with three scoreless innings.
His bullpen, consisting of Tim Combs (Dayton, Ohio-Wayne), Collin Taylor (Cincinnati, Ohio-Lakota West), Kristian Calibuso (Brandon, Fla.-Armwood-Florida StateCollege-Jacksonville), and Joe Battistelli (Allen Park, Mich.-Allen Park), then followed with a hitless inning apiece in what was one of the more complete outings by the Eagle pitching staff this season.
The Eagles finally grabbed the lead in the fourth inning on a Daniel Russell (Grandville, Mich.-Grandville) RBI groundout. Earlier in the frame, Matt Hitt (Fishers, Ind.-Fishers-Kishwaukee College) got the Eagles on the board with a successful suicide squeeze attempt which resulted in an RBI bunt single, allowing Tucker Rubino (Scottsdale, Ariz.-Horizon-Glendale C.C.) to score the team's first run. It was the second successful suicide squeeze attempt this week as Russell accomplished the task in a win over Buffalo last Saturday.
In the fifth, Wendzicki added to the lead with an RBI single up the middle to drive in Zack Leonard (Canton, Ohio-McKinley) from third base. The Eagles then added two more runs in the sixth to extend the lead to 6-2.
The Eagles put the game out of reach for good with a pair of runs in the eighth when Rubino smoke a two-run single off the glove of the Michigan third baseman, scoring Leonard and Lee Longo (Mayfield, Ohio-Mayfield) to stretch the lead to 8-2.
Rubino finished the day 2-for-3 with a runs scored and two RBI. Leonard looked to have snapped out of a 3-for-28 slump over his last nine games with his first multi-hit game since March 13, finishing 2-for-5 with two runs scored.
Despite scoring eight runs, Eastern Michigan could have added even more as they left 12 runners stranded on the base paths. Similarly, Michigan left nine men on base for the game.
The Eagles will jump back into Mid-American Conference play this weekend as they hit the road to take on Bowling Green State University, April 1-3. The series opener is slated for Friday at 3 p.m. while the final two games are each scheduled for 1 p.m. starts.
Re-Listen to the Game.
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – A three-run fourth inning sparked a comeback victory for the Eastern Michigan University baseball team as it defeated the University of Michigan, 8-2, in a non-conference game at Oestrike Stadium, today, March 30.
Trailing 2-0, the Eagles scored three times in the fourth, once in the fifth and twice in the sixth and eighth innings on the way to overcoming a previous loss to the Wolverines just 10 days ago.
Senior Robert Wendzicki (Brook Park, Ohio-Midpark) paced the offense with a 3-for-5 effort as the Eagles out-hit the Wolverines, 13-5. Meanwhile, EMU starter Brian Valente (Macomb, Mich.-Eisenhower-Saginaw Valley State) allowed just two runs, both unearned, as he went five innings to record his second win of the season.
The Eagles improve to 16-9 overall with the victory while the Wolverines fall to 6-16 with the loss.
Valente (2-0) allowed two unearned runs in the second inning after committing an error in which he struggled to field a sacrifice bunt attempt cleanly. But the sophomore, in his fourth start of the season, showed poise and rebounded to finish his outing with three scoreless innings.
His bullpen, consisting of Tim Combs (Dayton, Ohio-Wayne), Collin Taylor (Cincinnati, Ohio-Lakota West), Kristian Calibuso (Brandon, Fla.-Armwood-Florida StateCollege-Jacksonville), and Joe Battistelli (Allen Park, Mich.-Allen Park), then followed with a hitless inning apiece in what was one of the more complete outings by the Eagle pitching staff this season.
The Eagles finally grabbed the lead in the fourth inning on a Daniel Russell (Grandville, Mich.-Grandville) RBI groundout. Earlier in the frame, Matt Hitt (Fishers, Ind.-Fishers-Kishwaukee College) got the Eagles on the board with a successful suicide squeeze attempt which resulted in an RBI bunt single, allowing Tucker Rubino (Scottsdale, Ariz.-Horizon-Glendale C.C.) to score the team's first run. It was the second successful suicide squeeze attempt this week as Russell accomplished the task in a win over Buffalo last Saturday.
In the fifth, Wendzicki added to the lead with an RBI single up the middle to drive in Zack Leonard (Canton, Ohio-McKinley) from third base. The Eagles then added two more runs in the sixth to extend the lead to 6-2.
The Eagles put the game out of reach for good with a pair of runs in the eighth when Rubino smoke a two-run single off the glove of the Michigan third baseman, scoring Leonard and Lee Longo (Mayfield, Ohio-Mayfield) to stretch the lead to 8-2.
Rubino finished the day 2-for-3 with a runs scored and two RBI. Leonard looked to have snapped out of a 3-for-28 slump over his last nine games with his first multi-hit game since March 13, finishing 2-for-5 with two runs scored.
Despite scoring eight runs, Eastern Michigan could have added even more as they left 12 runners stranded on the base paths. Similarly, Michigan left nine men on base for the game.
The Eagles will jump back into Mid-American Conference play this weekend as they hit the road to take on Bowling Green State University, April 1-3. The series opener is slated for Friday at 3 p.m. while the final two games are each scheduled for 1 p.m. starts.
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