Eastern Michigan Athletics
Thursday, May 25
Avon, Ohio
9:30 a.m.
Eastern Michigan University
24-34
8
vs
7
Northern Illinois
17-38
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Northern Illinois
0
3
0
0
0
1
0
3
0
7
11
4
Eastern Michigan
1
0
1
2
0
2
2
0
X
8
6
0
Eagles Escape With Thrilling 8-7 Win Over Northern Illinois
5/25/2017 2:02:00 PM | Baseball
Eastern advances to day three of the MAC Tournament
PHOTO GALLERY
RE-LISTEN TO GAME
AVON, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) – The No. 3 seeded Eastern Michigan University baseball team escaped day two of the Mid-American Conference Tournament with an 8-7 victory over No. 7 seeded Northern Illinois University Thursday afternoon, May 25 at Sprenger Stadium.
EMU led by four into the final two innings before NIU mounted a comeback. After getting within one in the eighth, the Huskies got two runners on with a one-run lead in the ninth, but Eastern's defense came up clutch, turning a 1-6-3 double play to end the game and seal a thrilling one-run win.
The hero of the game was sophomore Max Schuemann (Portage, Mich.-Portage Northern) who had a huge game, going 2-for-3 with a double and the first home run of his career, as well as a career-best three RBI's. Senior John Montgomery (Anaheim Hills, Calif.-JSerra) also had a solid day, notching his team-leading 15th multi-RBI game of the season with two runners knocked in.
The pitching staff as a whole was able to get the job done as six pitchers combined to go the distance. Junior starter Brad Allen (Manchester, Mich.-Manchester (Jackson College)) went the first 5.1 innings, and was missing Huskies bats all day, going for a career-high eight strikeouts. In relief, junior Luke DeVenney (Des Moines, Iowa-Dowling Catholic) earned the first save of his EMU career after getting the final two outs on the double play.
The Eagles struck first in the bottom of the first, capitalizing on an NIU miscue. EMU's first runner reached on an NIU error, and after a double from senior Jeremy Stidham (Colorado Springs, Colo.-Sand Creek (Colby C.C.)), runners were on second and third for Montgomery. The veteran drove one in on an RBI groundout, making it 1-0 after one.
NIU rallied back in the second with three runs on four hits to shoot ahead by two, 3-1. After a scoreless second, EMU got one back in the third inning with a solo blast from Schuemann to leftfield, which was the first of his EMU career, to make it 3-2 into the fourth.
EMU retook the lead in the fourth on three more NIU errors and no hits. Errors allowed the first two runners to reach and after a double steal, a wild throw scored sophomore Drake Lubin (West Bloomfield, Mich.-Walled Lake Northern) from third, tying the game at three. One batter later, freshman Zachary Owings (Saline, Mich.-Saline) drove in the leading run with an RBI groundout, putting the tally at 4-3 in favor of EMU.
Meanwhile on the hill, Allen settled in after the three-run second inning, going for three straight scoreless after that, including seven K's overall, to keep it tight into the middle of the game. In the sixth, Allen got his career-high eighth K to lead off the inning, but walked the next two to bring in the reliever, junior Justin McMurtrey (Redding, Calif.-Shasta (Butte C.C.)). The Huskies went on to tie the game on an RBI single, but McMurtrey did not yield the lead as the score stood at four-all.
The tie was short lived, however, as EMU got the lead back with two runs in the bottom of the sixth on a clutch two-out double from Schuemann. After a single and walk put two on, the infielder drove a ball off the wall in left to score the pair and give EMU the two-run lead into the final three frames.
McMurtrey tossed a scoreless top of the seventh, and EMU continued to build its lead in the bottom half. After a one-out walk to Stidham, Montgomery smoked a double off the wall in right to score him from first. Later on, EMU loaded up the bags, and got more insurance with an RBI groundout from freshman Nick Jones (Battle Creek, Mich.-Lakeview) to make it a four-run game with two to play.
The insurance turned out to be important as NIU tagged EMU for three runs in the top of the eighth to tighten the gap to 8-7 going into the ninth. In the ninth, NIU got a pair of runners on, but DeVenney induced the 1-6-3 double play to end the game and clinch the one-run win.
EMU returns to action tomorrow afternoon, May 26, for day three of the MAC Tournament. EMU will take on Western Michigan at 1 p.m.
RE-LISTEN TO GAME
AVON, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) – The No. 3 seeded Eastern Michigan University baseball team escaped day two of the Mid-American Conference Tournament with an 8-7 victory over No. 7 seeded Northern Illinois University Thursday afternoon, May 25 at Sprenger Stadium.
EMU led by four into the final two innings before NIU mounted a comeback. After getting within one in the eighth, the Huskies got two runners on with a one-run lead in the ninth, but Eastern's defense came up clutch, turning a 1-6-3 double play to end the game and seal a thrilling one-run win.
The hero of the game was sophomore Max Schuemann (Portage, Mich.-Portage Northern) who had a huge game, going 2-for-3 with a double and the first home run of his career, as well as a career-best three RBI's. Senior John Montgomery (Anaheim Hills, Calif.-JSerra) also had a solid day, notching his team-leading 15th multi-RBI game of the season with two runners knocked in.
The pitching staff as a whole was able to get the job done as six pitchers combined to go the distance. Junior starter Brad Allen (Manchester, Mich.-Manchester (Jackson College)) went the first 5.1 innings, and was missing Huskies bats all day, going for a career-high eight strikeouts. In relief, junior Luke DeVenney (Des Moines, Iowa-Dowling Catholic) earned the first save of his EMU career after getting the final two outs on the double play.
The Eagles struck first in the bottom of the first, capitalizing on an NIU miscue. EMU's first runner reached on an NIU error, and after a double from senior Jeremy Stidham (Colorado Springs, Colo.-Sand Creek (Colby C.C.)), runners were on second and third for Montgomery. The veteran drove one in on an RBI groundout, making it 1-0 after one.
NIU rallied back in the second with three runs on four hits to shoot ahead by two, 3-1. After a scoreless second, EMU got one back in the third inning with a solo blast from Schuemann to leftfield, which was the first of his EMU career, to make it 3-2 into the fourth.
EMU retook the lead in the fourth on three more NIU errors and no hits. Errors allowed the first two runners to reach and after a double steal, a wild throw scored sophomore Drake Lubin (West Bloomfield, Mich.-Walled Lake Northern) from third, tying the game at three. One batter later, freshman Zachary Owings (Saline, Mich.-Saline) drove in the leading run with an RBI groundout, putting the tally at 4-3 in favor of EMU.
Meanwhile on the hill, Allen settled in after the three-run second inning, going for three straight scoreless after that, including seven K's overall, to keep it tight into the middle of the game. In the sixth, Allen got his career-high eighth K to lead off the inning, but walked the next two to bring in the reliever, junior Justin McMurtrey (Redding, Calif.-Shasta (Butte C.C.)). The Huskies went on to tie the game on an RBI single, but McMurtrey did not yield the lead as the score stood at four-all.
The tie was short lived, however, as EMU got the lead back with two runs in the bottom of the sixth on a clutch two-out double from Schuemann. After a single and walk put two on, the infielder drove a ball off the wall in left to score the pair and give EMU the two-run lead into the final three frames.
McMurtrey tossed a scoreless top of the seventh, and EMU continued to build its lead in the bottom half. After a one-out walk to Stidham, Montgomery smoked a double off the wall in right to score him from first. Later on, EMU loaded up the bags, and got more insurance with an RBI groundout from freshman Nick Jones (Battle Creek, Mich.-Lakeview) to make it a four-run game with two to play.
The insurance turned out to be important as NIU tagged EMU for three runs in the top of the eighth to tighten the gap to 8-7 going into the ninth. In the ninth, NIU got a pair of runners on, but DeVenney induced the 1-6-3 double play to end the game and clinch the one-run win.
EMU returns to action tomorrow afternoon, May 26, for day three of the MAC Tournament. EMU will take on Western Michigan at 1 p.m.
Hear the #RapidReaction from @m_schuemann17 after his 3-RBI day lifts EMU to day 3 of the tournament! #EMUBats #MACtion pic.twitter.com/uVdR6jrgG4
— EMU Baseball (@EMU_Baseball) May 25, 2017
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: McMurtrey, Justin (5-3)
L: Sims (5-4)
S: DeVenney, Luke (1)
Batting:
2B: Vega 1 ; Jumonville 1 ; Hook 1
3B: Bynum 1
RBI: Bynum 1 ; Vega 1 ; Tovar 2 ; Gasser 2 ; Wood 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Bynum 1 ; Vega 1 ; Tovar 1 ; Jumonville 1 ; Gasser 2 ; Hook 1
Batting:
2B: Mioduszewski, Mike 1 ; Stidham, Jeremy 1 ; Montgomery, John 1 ; Schuemann, Max 1
HR: Schuemann, Max 1
RBI: Montgomery, John 2 ; Jones, Nick 1 ; Owings, Zachary 1 ; Schuemann, Max 3
SH: Gill, Marquise 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Mioduszewski, Mike 1 ; Stidham, Jeremy 1 ; Montgomery, John 1 ; Lubin, Drake 1 ; Gill, Marquise 1 ; Jones, Nick 1 ; Owings, Zachary 1 ; Schuemann, Max 1
SB: Lubin, Drake 1 ; Gill, Marquise 1 ; Jones, Nick 1
HBP: Lubin, Drake 1 ; Gill, Marquise 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
3
AB
5
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ Baseball
OF/RHP
/ Baseball
C/IF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballIF/OF
/ Baseball
IF/OF
/ BaseballIF
/ BaseballC/OF
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