Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
13-17
Michigan
22-9
Eagles Routed on the Road to the Wolverines
4/13/2016 7:01:00 PM | Baseball
Junior John Montgomery clubbed his second home run of the season
Eastern (13-17, 5-1 MAC) was led offensively by junior catcher Jeremy Stidham (Colorado Springs, Colo.-Sand Creek (Colby C.C.)) who had a 2-for-4 day, including his third triple of the season. Junior John Montgomery (Anaheim Hills, Calif.-JSerra) also clubbed his second home run of the year.
On the mound, freshman Caleb Hester (Coloma, Mich.-Coloma) extended his scoreless streak to eight innings with 2.2 innings without yielding a run, striking out one.
The Wolverines (22-9, 3-2 Big Ten) struck first with four runs in the bottom of the first on four hits, putting Eastern in the early hole. Coming in relief in his collegiate debut was freshman Gary Clift Jr. (Brunswick, Ohio-Brunswick), who promptly sent Michigan down one-two-three in the second keeping the score as is into the third.
The rookie ran into trouble in the third though, as EMU gave up four more runs on four hits, including a bases clearing double, extending UM's lead to 8-0 after three turns at-bat. Eastern got the first two on in the fourth, but after a steal of third, Gill was caught over sliding the bag, ending any rally chance.
Michigan went for three more in the fourth, knocking Clift Jr. from the contest. Fellow freshman Hester came in relief, striking out one, and kept the score at 11-0 into the fifth. Hester kept UM's bats at bay in the fifth and sixth with a pair of scoreless frames, as the score remained 11-0 going into the seventh.
EMU finally got on the board in the seventh with a run after a leadoff triple from Stidham, his third of the season. The next batter, senior Mitchell McGeein (Calgary, Alberta-Vauxhall), scored the catcher on a sacrifice fly, making the score 11-1 into the stretch.
The Wolverines went on to snag five runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to give them a 16-1 lead going to the eighth. Eastern got a pair back in the eighth though with Montgomery's second home run of the season, a shot to deep left field, making things 16-3. Three more Michigan runs crossed in the eighth, putting the tally at 19-3 going into the final turn. EMU went down without any more runs in the ninth, sealing the defeat.
Eastern gets back into conference action this weekend when it welcomes Mid-American Conference leading Kent State University into Oestrike for a three-game weekend set. First pitch Friday, April 15 against the Golden Flashes is set for 6 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Miller, Troy (1-0)
L: Huckaby, Kyle (1-3)
Batting:
3B: Stidham, Jeremy 1
HR: Montgomery, John 1
RBI: McGeein, Mitchell 1 ; Montgomery, John 2
SF: McGeein, Mitchell 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Stidham, Jeremy 1 ; Wolanski, Alex 1 ; Montgomery, John 1
CS: Gill, Marquise 1
Batting:
2B: Wenson, Harrison 1 ; Bruder, Cody 3 ; Lugbauer, Drew 1 ; Jamett, Dominic 1
3B: Bruder, Cody 1
RBI: Wenson, Harrison 3 ; Bruder, Cody 5 ; Lugbauer, Drew 1 ; Brdar, Michael 3 ; Jamett, Dominic 3 ; Kerr, Jimmy 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Ross, Matt 1 ; Ramsay, Matt 2 ; Engelmann, Jonathan 1 ; Benedetti, Carmen 4 ; Wenson, Harrison 4 ; Bruder, Cody 4 ; Lugbauer, Drew 1 ; Brdar, Michael 1 ; Kerr, Jimmy 1
SB: Ramsay, Matt 2
HBP: Jamett, Dominic 1 ; Kerr, Jimmy 1
