Eastern Michigan Athletics
Friday, April 13
Oestrike Stadium
6 p.m.
Eastern Michigan University
15-18, 7-3
4
vs
0
Central Michigan
14-20, 5-5
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Central Michigan
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
7
2
Eastern Michigan
0
0
2
1
0
0
0
1
X
4
4
0
Eagles Win Fifth Straight in 4-0 Shutout of Chippewas
4/13/2012 9:36:00 PM | Baseball
Four hits enough in game one of weekend showdown with CMU
Re-Listen to the Game.
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com)—The Eastern Michigan University baseball team pushed its winning streak to five with a 4-0 shutout of Mid-American Conference West Division rival Central Michigan University Friday evening, April 13, at Oestrike Stadium. The Eagles earned their first shutout of the year behind solid starting pitching from Neil Butara.
Eastern Michigan (15-18; 7-3 MAC) made good use of its scoring opportunities as the team recorded only four hits on the evening, but scored a pair of runs in the third and single runs in the fourth and eighth innings to gain a two-game lead on the Chippewas (14-20; 5-5 MAC) for first place in the West Division.
On the other hand, Central Michigan stranded 14 baserunners on the evening and committed a pair of costly errors which resulted in two unearned runs for the Eagles. The Chippewas left the bases loaded twice including in the eighth inning, when they left the go-ahead run at the plate as Joe Battistelli sent William Arnold back to the dugout on a called third strike.
Butara (3-2) worked his way out of trouble in the early innings and settled down nicely before departing with a final line of 6.2 innings, no runs, four walks and four strikeouts. Battistelli's huge inning-ending strikeout in the eighth was followed up by three more to ring CMU up in order in the ninth and cap off a four-punchout showing. The Allen Park, Mich. native pitched 1.1 innings and earned his third save of the season.
EMU pitchers finished the game with 10 strikeouts to their credit to mark the eight time this season they have fanned at least that many in a game.
Despite giving up only three hits, Zach Cooper (3-3) took his first loss in MAC play this season in 7.1 innings of work for CMU. Cooper gave up a trio of runs (two earned) and struck out six while walking a pair.
Butara and company limited a potent top portion of the CMU lineup to a 3-for-16 evening with no RBI, three walks and five strikeouts. Nate Theunissen (3-for-4) was the lone bright spot for a Chippewas team which has now dropped three straight contests.
Brent Ohrman went 1-for-4 Friday to push his hitting streak to 18 games. His game-winning RBI in the third inning was also good for his team-leading 25th of the year.
The other trio of EMU hits belonged to Sam Ott (1-for-2), Bo Kinder (1-for-4) and Lee Longo (1-for-1), who belted a pinch-hit double in the eighth inning. Ben Magsig drew a pair of walks to move him into eight place all-time in EMU history with 96 free passes in his career.
The Chippewas put a pair on in the first, but Butara struck out two batters and Magsig made a nice defensive play at third to record a force for the final out. In the second, Arnold grounded out with the bases loaded to keep the contest scoreless.
Cooper struck out Russell and John Rubino to begin the third inning, but Rubino made it to first base after swinging at a wild pitch. Ohrman drove Rubino in two batters later on a sharp single up the middle. Jamie Simpson made it a 2-0 game on a sacrifice fly to left field which plated Magsig.
Kinder reached third base to lead off the fourth on a would-be single which was misplayed by CMU centerfielder Tom Lally. Daniel Russell then grounded out to second base, which was good enough to score Kinder and increase the EMU lead to 3-0.
Butara continued to cruise through the Central Michigan batting order, allowing just one base runner in innings five through seven. Ben Dartnell relieved Butara with two gone in the seventh and recorded the final out off the bat of Sam Russell.
The mood turned tense at Oestrike in the following frame, as a hit batter and a pair of walks loaded the bases with Chippewas with two down. Head Coach Jay Alexander then called for Battistelli out of the bullpen, who caught Arnold looking for the final out.
Longo's first at-bat in nearly a week was a good one as the sophomore doubled down the left field line in a pinch hitting role in the eighth. Dae Bowden was relieved of his duties as first-base coach to pinch run for Longo and came around to score on a wild pitch and a fielding error to add an insurance run and make it 4-0.
Battistelli wasted no time putting game one in the books, striking out all three batters he faced in the final inning.
The Eagles' five game winning streak is the longest since the 2011 squad won 11 in-a-row from April 17-May 4. It was also the first shutout for the Green and White since a 1-0 blanking of Northern Illinois University, May 7, 2011.
Game two is scheduled for a 3 p.m. start, but be sure to check EMUEagles.com for changes as inclement weather is expected for much of the weekend.
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com)—The Eastern Michigan University baseball team pushed its winning streak to five with a 4-0 shutout of Mid-American Conference West Division rival Central Michigan University Friday evening, April 13, at Oestrike Stadium. The Eagles earned their first shutout of the year behind solid starting pitching from Neil Butara.
Eastern Michigan (15-18; 7-3 MAC) made good use of its scoring opportunities as the team recorded only four hits on the evening, but scored a pair of runs in the third and single runs in the fourth and eighth innings to gain a two-game lead on the Chippewas (14-20; 5-5 MAC) for first place in the West Division.
On the other hand, Central Michigan stranded 14 baserunners on the evening and committed a pair of costly errors which resulted in two unearned runs for the Eagles. The Chippewas left the bases loaded twice including in the eighth inning, when they left the go-ahead run at the plate as Joe Battistelli sent William Arnold back to the dugout on a called third strike.
Butara (3-2) worked his way out of trouble in the early innings and settled down nicely before departing with a final line of 6.2 innings, no runs, four walks and four strikeouts. Battistelli's huge inning-ending strikeout in the eighth was followed up by three more to ring CMU up in order in the ninth and cap off a four-punchout showing. The Allen Park, Mich. native pitched 1.1 innings and earned his third save of the season.
EMU pitchers finished the game with 10 strikeouts to their credit to mark the eight time this season they have fanned at least that many in a game.
Despite giving up only three hits, Zach Cooper (3-3) took his first loss in MAC play this season in 7.1 innings of work for CMU. Cooper gave up a trio of runs (two earned) and struck out six while walking a pair.
Butara and company limited a potent top portion of the CMU lineup to a 3-for-16 evening with no RBI, three walks and five strikeouts. Nate Theunissen (3-for-4) was the lone bright spot for a Chippewas team which has now dropped three straight contests.
Brent Ohrman went 1-for-4 Friday to push his hitting streak to 18 games. His game-winning RBI in the third inning was also good for his team-leading 25th of the year.
The other trio of EMU hits belonged to Sam Ott (1-for-2), Bo Kinder (1-for-4) and Lee Longo (1-for-1), who belted a pinch-hit double in the eighth inning. Ben Magsig drew a pair of walks to move him into eight place all-time in EMU history with 96 free passes in his career.
The Chippewas put a pair on in the first, but Butara struck out two batters and Magsig made a nice defensive play at third to record a force for the final out. In the second, Arnold grounded out with the bases loaded to keep the contest scoreless.
Cooper struck out Russell and John Rubino to begin the third inning, but Rubino made it to first base after swinging at a wild pitch. Ohrman drove Rubino in two batters later on a sharp single up the middle. Jamie Simpson made it a 2-0 game on a sacrifice fly to left field which plated Magsig.
Kinder reached third base to lead off the fourth on a would-be single which was misplayed by CMU centerfielder Tom Lally. Daniel Russell then grounded out to second base, which was good enough to score Kinder and increase the EMU lead to 3-0.
Butara continued to cruise through the Central Michigan batting order, allowing just one base runner in innings five through seven. Ben Dartnell relieved Butara with two gone in the seventh and recorded the final out off the bat of Sam Russell.
The mood turned tense at Oestrike in the following frame, as a hit batter and a pair of walks loaded the bases with Chippewas with two down. Head Coach Jay Alexander then called for Battistelli out of the bullpen, who caught Arnold looking for the final out.
Longo's first at-bat in nearly a week was a good one as the sophomore doubled down the left field line in a pinch hitting role in the eighth. Dae Bowden was relieved of his duties as first-base coach to pinch run for Longo and came around to score on a wild pitch and a fielding error to add an insurance run and make it 4-0.
Battistelli wasted no time putting game one in the books, striking out all three batters he faced in the final inning.
The Eagles' five game winning streak is the longest since the 2011 squad won 11 in-a-row from April 17-May 4. It was also the first shutout for the Green and White since a 1-0 blanking of Northern Illinois University, May 7, 2011.
Game two is scheduled for a 3 p.m. start, but be sure to check EMUEagles.com for changes as inclement weather is expected for much of the weekend.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Butara, Neil (3-2)
L: COOPER, Zach (3-3)
S: Battistelli, Joe (3)
Base Running:
HBP: HALL, Tyler 1 ; ADAMS, Jordan 1
Batting:
2B: Longo, Lee 1
RBI: Ohrman, Brent 1 ; Simpson, Jamie 1 ; Russell, Daniel 1
SF: Simpson, Jamie 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Magsig, Ben 1 ; Bowden, Dae 1 ; Kinder, Bo 1 ; Rubino, John 1
SB: Magsig, Ben 1
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