Eastern Michigan Athletics
Sunday, May 12
DeKalb, Ill.
1:05 p.m.
Eastern Michigan University
12
at
7
Northern Illinois
Offense Continues to Shine in Baseball's 12-7 Win Over NIU
5/12/2013 7:48:00 PM | Baseball
EMU collected 15 hits as the Eagles has a .336 team-batting average during the series
DEKALB, Ill. (EMUEagles.com) -- For the second straight day, the Eastern Michigan University baseball team lit up the Ralph McKinzie Field scoreboard, scoring 12 times, while three Eagle pitchers combined to strike out seven batters as EMU defeated Northern Illinois University, 12-7, on Sunday afternoon, May 12.
With the final tally, the Eagles improve to a record of 24-26 and 11-13 in Mid-American Conference play, while the West Division leading Huskies fall to 21-28 and 15-9 in league action. NIU remains two games ahead of Ball State in MAC's West Division with three conference games remaining at BSU for the division championship.
Also, with the victory, the Eagles moved back into the race for a spot in the MAC Tournament. EMU and the University of Toledo are tied with identical 11-13 marks, while the University of Akron is just percentage-points behind the duo with a 10-13 mark in the ninth position. If the season ended today, UB would be the number one seed followed by KSU (2), NIU (3), Ball State (4), Bowling Green (5), Miami (6), EMU/Toledo (7) and EMU/Toledo (8). The Eagles and Rockets close out the regular season at Oestrike Stadium, May 16-18.
The Eagles scored six times in the sixth inning and did not look back en route to the win. Eight different Eastern Michigan players had at least one hit, while six players had multi-hit games.
John Rubino led the offensive charge for the Green and White, setting a career high with five RBI off of a pair of hits. Two of Rubinos' five RBI came on a fourth inning double and two more came around on a sixth inning single.
Austin Wilson, Lee Longo, Adam Sonabend, Jamie Simpson and Nick Rotola had at least hits each. Longo drove in a trio of runs and also scored once, while Rotola added three runs scored and two RBI. Rotola was white-hot in the series, posting a .727 batting average (8-for-11) in the three-set set with six runs scored and four runs batted in. As a team, EMU collected 15 hits on they day, combining for a .336 team-batting average (39-for-116) during the series.
Northern Illinois managed 12 hits in the game, with seven different players having one hit apiece.
Paul Schaak started on the mound for EMU but did not figure in the decision, giving up four runs and striking out two in three innings of work. Brian Valente (1-4) came away with his first victory of the year after going 5.0 innings of work, allowing just two runs while striking out five. Kristian Calibuso closed out the contest, allowing a run in the ninth.
Alex Klonowski took the loss for the Huskies on the mound. Klonowski allowed nine runs on 13 hits and struck out four in 5.1 innings. Prior to the game, NIU celebrated Senior Day, honoring seniors Zach Badgley, Connor Duckhorn, Jacob Goldenberg and Jamison Wells all of whom made an impact in today's game.
EMU scored the first runs of the game in the second inning, led by a two run single up the middle by Rotola to take a 2-0 cushion.
Northern Illinois responded in the bottom half of the frame when Micah McCulloch doubled to leadoff the inning. After a walk by Duckhorn put the tying run on first, the Eagles recorded to two-straight outs, but Brian Sisler took a 2-0 pitch to the wall in right centerfield to tie the game with his bases clearing triple, 2-2.
NIU took the lead in the bottom of the fourth with two more runs to take a 4-2 lead on RBI singles by McCulloch and Ruzich, but the Eagles responded in the top of the fifth with three runs to take a 5-4 lead. As with the spirit of the weekend as a whole, NIU tied it up in the bottom of the fourth as Tommy Hook drove in Sisler on a ground ball to third base to make it 5-5.
However, Eastern Michigan took the final lead of the game in the sixth as it scored six runs in the frame, three of which came from a Lee Longo homerun over the left field fence, making it an 11-5 EMU lead.
The Huskies added runs in the the seventh and ninth, but were never able to get any closer.
EMU plays defending Big Ten Conference Champion Purdue University Tuesday, May 14, at 6 p.m. in its final non-conference affair before returning home to face off against the University of Toledo, May 16-18. The three-game Mid-American Conference set versus the Rockets will feature Thursday and Friday starts at 6 p.m. with Saturday's contest projected to start at 3 p.m.
During the final homestand, Eastern Michigan will honor seniors Joe Battistelli, Neil Butara, Taylor Dimmerling, Brian Hill, Kendall Lewis, Daniel Russell, Jamie Simpson, Brian Valente and Austin Williams.
With the final tally, the Eagles improve to a record of 24-26 and 11-13 in Mid-American Conference play, while the West Division leading Huskies fall to 21-28 and 15-9 in league action. NIU remains two games ahead of Ball State in MAC's West Division with three conference games remaining at BSU for the division championship.
Also, with the victory, the Eagles moved back into the race for a spot in the MAC Tournament. EMU and the University of Toledo are tied with identical 11-13 marks, while the University of Akron is just percentage-points behind the duo with a 10-13 mark in the ninth position. If the season ended today, UB would be the number one seed followed by KSU (2), NIU (3), Ball State (4), Bowling Green (5), Miami (6), EMU/Toledo (7) and EMU/Toledo (8). The Eagles and Rockets close out the regular season at Oestrike Stadium, May 16-18.
The Eagles scored six times in the sixth inning and did not look back en route to the win. Eight different Eastern Michigan players had at least one hit, while six players had multi-hit games.
John Rubino led the offensive charge for the Green and White, setting a career high with five RBI off of a pair of hits. Two of Rubinos' five RBI came on a fourth inning double and two more came around on a sixth inning single.
Austin Wilson, Lee Longo, Adam Sonabend, Jamie Simpson and Nick Rotola had at least hits each. Longo drove in a trio of runs and also scored once, while Rotola added three runs scored and two RBI. Rotola was white-hot in the series, posting a .727 batting average (8-for-11) in the three-set set with six runs scored and four runs batted in. As a team, EMU collected 15 hits on they day, combining for a .336 team-batting average (39-for-116) during the series.
Northern Illinois managed 12 hits in the game, with seven different players having one hit apiece.
Paul Schaak started on the mound for EMU but did not figure in the decision, giving up four runs and striking out two in three innings of work. Brian Valente (1-4) came away with his first victory of the year after going 5.0 innings of work, allowing just two runs while striking out five. Kristian Calibuso closed out the contest, allowing a run in the ninth.
Alex Klonowski took the loss for the Huskies on the mound. Klonowski allowed nine runs on 13 hits and struck out four in 5.1 innings. Prior to the game, NIU celebrated Senior Day, honoring seniors Zach Badgley, Connor Duckhorn, Jacob Goldenberg and Jamison Wells all of whom made an impact in today's game.
EMU scored the first runs of the game in the second inning, led by a two run single up the middle by Rotola to take a 2-0 cushion.
Northern Illinois responded in the bottom half of the frame when Micah McCulloch doubled to leadoff the inning. After a walk by Duckhorn put the tying run on first, the Eagles recorded to two-straight outs, but Brian Sisler took a 2-0 pitch to the wall in right centerfield to tie the game with his bases clearing triple, 2-2.
NIU took the lead in the bottom of the fourth with two more runs to take a 4-2 lead on RBI singles by McCulloch and Ruzich, but the Eagles responded in the top of the fifth with three runs to take a 5-4 lead. As with the spirit of the weekend as a whole, NIU tied it up in the bottom of the fourth as Tommy Hook drove in Sisler on a ground ball to third base to make it 5-5.
However, Eastern Michigan took the final lead of the game in the sixth as it scored six runs in the frame, three of which came from a Lee Longo homerun over the left field fence, making it an 11-5 EMU lead.
The Huskies added runs in the the seventh and ninth, but were never able to get any closer.
EMU plays defending Big Ten Conference Champion Purdue University Tuesday, May 14, at 6 p.m. in its final non-conference affair before returning home to face off against the University of Toledo, May 16-18. The three-game Mid-American Conference set versus the Rockets will feature Thursday and Friday starts at 6 p.m. with Saturday's contest projected to start at 3 p.m.
During the final homestand, Eastern Michigan will honor seniors Joe Battistelli, Neil Butara, Taylor Dimmerling, Brian Hill, Kendall Lewis, Daniel Russell, Jamie Simpson, Brian Valente and Austin Williams.
16th Annual EMU Baseball Golf Outing
Sunday, October 05
Oestrike Stadium Turf Replacement Time lapse
Friday, October 03
Oestrike Stadium Upgrades Reveal
Thursday, October 02
Alumni Achievement Award - Anthony Tomey
Friday, September 26