Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
2-6
Middle Tennessee
8-5
Eastern's Comeback Bid Falls Short
2/24/2018 3:56:00 PM | Softball
Haley Hostetler belted EMU's first homerun of the season
Junior Nicolle Miranda (Wilmington, Calif.-Port of Los Angeles) earned the starting nod, throwing her third complete game of the season. Through seven innings of work, Miranda gave up 12 hits and walked two. The junior also struck out one, moving her into 15th in program history for career-strikeouts with 171.
Offensively, the Green and White continued to improve as it tied a season-high with eight hits and five runs. Junior Amanda Akles (La Habra, Calif.-La Habra) had a stellar day at the plate, where she went 3-for-4, including two singles and a double. Fellow junior Sam Saporito (Eastvale, Calif.-Eleanor Roosevelt) also had a multi-hit day, as she had two hits on three at bats to go along with a career-high two RBIs.
The Blue Raiders jumped to an early 1-0 lead in the opening frame, but the Eagles answered right back in the bottom when senior Haley Hostetler (New Haven, Ind.-Woodlan) pounded out a solo homerun to left field. The homerun was EMU's first this season and Hostetler's first since the 2015 season.
Middle Tennessee tacked on four more runs through the fourth and fifth frame to extend its lead, 5-1, before Eastern was able to break through the Blue Raiders defense in the fifth. After freshman Casey Skeens (Poca, W. Va-Poca) reached on an error, junior Olivia Logan (Riverview, Calif.-Grand Terrace) used an RBI-triple to plate Skeens. Logan would be able to score three plays later before MTU cracked down to get out of the inning.
Down 7-3 in the bottom of the seventh, the Eagles turned in a two-run final inning in an attempted comeback. After Logan reached on a fielder's choice, the junior advanced to third on an Akles left-side double. With runners on second and third, junior Brandice Olmos (Riverside, Calif.-Grand Terrace) brought Logan home with a grounder to second. Akles closed the deficit to two with a Saporito left-field double. Saporito took advantage of a wild pitch to move to third for a prime scoring opportunity, but Eastern's comeback attempt was thwarted as a groundout capped the 7-5 loss.
Eastern Michigan returns to action Sunday, Feb. 25 when it faces Albany and Marist at 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m., respectively.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: JENNINGS, Cori (3-3)
L: Miranda, Nicolle (1-3)
Batting:
2B: DE LA CRUZ, Jocelynn 1 ; HARRIS, Morgan 1
3B: BIRDSONG, Precious 1
RBI: DE LA CRUZ, Jocelynn 3 ; HARRIS, Morgan 2
Base Running:
RUNS: BURGESS, Summer 1 ; BIRDSONG, Precious 3 ; HARRIS, Morgan 1 ; CUCCIA, Kirstyn 1 ; MCGEE, Keely 1
SB: BIRDSONG, Precious 1
CS: BURGESS, Summer 1
Batting:
2B: Akles, Amanda 1 ; Saporito, Sam 1
3B: Logan, Olivia 1
HR: Hostetler, Haley 1
RBI: Hostetler, Haley 1 ; Logan, Olivia 1 ; Olmos, Brandice 1 ; Saporito, Sam 2
SH: Holdsworth, Lauren 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hostetler, Haley 1 ; Skeens, Casey 1 ; Logan, Olivia 2 ; Akles, Amanda 1
HBP: Logan, Olivia 1
