Eastern Michigan Athletics
Sunday, March 11
Stillwater, Okla.
1 p.m.
Eastern Michigan University
5-10
6
at
5
Oklahoma State
8-6
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Eastern Michigan
0
0
0
2
0
0
3
1
0
6
8
2
Oklahoma State
1
0
0
0
2
2
0
0
0
5
7
1
Photo by: EMU Athletics/Andrew Mascharka
Baseball Takes Series From Oklahoma State with 6-5 Win
3/11/2018 4:35:00 PM | Baseball
It was EMU's first series win on the season
STILLWATER, Okla. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University baseball team completed the weekend series win over Oklahoma State University with a 6-5 win Sunday afternoon, March 11, at Reynolds Stadium. It was EMU's (5-10) first series win on the young season.
Two EMU pitchers navigated through the Oklahoma State (8-6) lineup, and limited the Cowboys to seven hits and just three earned runs. Senior Luke DeVenney (Des Moines, Iowa.-Dowling Catholic) took a no decision after pitching the first six innings, allowing the five runs, just three earned, while striking out four. Pitching his second straight game in relief, junior Mitchell Sparks (Willis, Texas.-Carmel (Ind.) (Iowa Lakes C.C.)) went the final three, allowing a single to his first batter, but then retiring the final nine in a row to lock up his second win of the series and third of the season.
The offense had one more hit than OSU, finishing with eight, led by a two-hit day from redshirt freshman Jeff Timko (Rochester Hills, Mich.-Brother Rice) who also drew a walk and scored two runs. The game-winning RBI came off the bat of freshman Eli Gora (Cincinnati, Ohio-Anderson) in the eighth inning, his first RBI as a college player. EMU relied mostly on small ball, though, as they did not record an extra base hit for the first time this season.
Oklahoma State struck first with an unearned run in the first inning. Meanwhile, the EMU offense did not get its first hit until the fourth inning, but they made it count. Junior Max Schuemann (Portage, Mich.-Portage Northern) led off with EMU's first hit, an infield single. After a wild pitch advanced him to second, and Timko walked, runners were on the corners for freshman Nate Jones (Battle Creek, Mich.-Lakeview). The rookie tied the game with a solid single to right. Next up was junior Cameron Cruz (Chandler, Ariz.-Hamilton (Mesa C.C.)), who executed a perfect safety squeeze to drive in Timko, giving EMU the lead, 2-1, in the fourth.
DeVenney pitched a scoreless frame in the bottom of the fourth, but the Pokes snatched the lead back in the fifth on a two-run double, one of which was unearned, to make it 3-2 into the sixth inning. They tacked on two more in the sixth inning to expand the lead to three, 5-2.
EMU rallied in the seventh, tying the game again with a three-spot. Gora and sophomore Devin Hager (Commerce Township, Mich.-Walled Lake Northern) led off with back-to-back walks, and both were driven in on a single from junior Kolton Schenker (Augusta, Kan.-Augusta (Labette C.C.)), which was misplayed by the right fielder, allowing both to come around. Later in the frame, sophomore Nick Jones (Battle Creek, Mich.-Lakeview) fouled out to right, but it was far enough to score Schenker from third, knotting it up at five apiece.
The Green and White broke through in the eighth inning, getting some clutch two-out hitting from Gora to take the lead. Timko led off with his second hit of the day, and advanced to second on a ground out. With two outs, Gora singled up the middle for his first collegiate run batted in, and Eastern captured its first lead of the day.
In the bottom half of the eighth, Sparks tossed his second straight scoreless inning in a 1-2-3 frame to send it to the ninth. After EMU went in order in the ninth, Sparks cruised through the ninth, sending the Cowboy batters down in order, to seal the one-run victory, and the series win.
EMU has the midweek off before hitting the road for the final non-conference road series of the weekend at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Friday and Saturday, March 16 and 17. Action against UTRGV begins at 8 p.m. ET on Friday.
Two EMU pitchers navigated through the Oklahoma State (8-6) lineup, and limited the Cowboys to seven hits and just three earned runs. Senior Luke DeVenney (Des Moines, Iowa.-Dowling Catholic) took a no decision after pitching the first six innings, allowing the five runs, just three earned, while striking out four. Pitching his second straight game in relief, junior Mitchell Sparks (Willis, Texas.-Carmel (Ind.) (Iowa Lakes C.C.)) went the final three, allowing a single to his first batter, but then retiring the final nine in a row to lock up his second win of the series and third of the season.
The offense had one more hit than OSU, finishing with eight, led by a two-hit day from redshirt freshman Jeff Timko (Rochester Hills, Mich.-Brother Rice) who also drew a walk and scored two runs. The game-winning RBI came off the bat of freshman Eli Gora (Cincinnati, Ohio-Anderson) in the eighth inning, his first RBI as a college player. EMU relied mostly on small ball, though, as they did not record an extra base hit for the first time this season.
Oklahoma State struck first with an unearned run in the first inning. Meanwhile, the EMU offense did not get its first hit until the fourth inning, but they made it count. Junior Max Schuemann (Portage, Mich.-Portage Northern) led off with EMU's first hit, an infield single. After a wild pitch advanced him to second, and Timko walked, runners were on the corners for freshman Nate Jones (Battle Creek, Mich.-Lakeview). The rookie tied the game with a solid single to right. Next up was junior Cameron Cruz (Chandler, Ariz.-Hamilton (Mesa C.C.)), who executed a perfect safety squeeze to drive in Timko, giving EMU the lead, 2-1, in the fourth.
DeVenney pitched a scoreless frame in the bottom of the fourth, but the Pokes snatched the lead back in the fifth on a two-run double, one of which was unearned, to make it 3-2 into the sixth inning. They tacked on two more in the sixth inning to expand the lead to three, 5-2.
EMU rallied in the seventh, tying the game again with a three-spot. Gora and sophomore Devin Hager (Commerce Township, Mich.-Walled Lake Northern) led off with back-to-back walks, and both were driven in on a single from junior Kolton Schenker (Augusta, Kan.-Augusta (Labette C.C.)), which was misplayed by the right fielder, allowing both to come around. Later in the frame, sophomore Nick Jones (Battle Creek, Mich.-Lakeview) fouled out to right, but it was far enough to score Schenker from third, knotting it up at five apiece.
The Green and White broke through in the eighth inning, getting some clutch two-out hitting from Gora to take the lead. Timko led off with his second hit of the day, and advanced to second on a ground out. With two outs, Gora singled up the middle for his first collegiate run batted in, and Eastern captured its first lead of the day.
In the bottom half of the eighth, Sparks tossed his second straight scoreless inning in a 1-2-3 frame to send it to the ninth. After EMU went in order in the ninth, Sparks cruised through the ninth, sending the Cowboy batters down in order, to seal the one-run victory, and the series win.
EMU has the midweek off before hitting the road for the final non-conference road series of the weekend at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Friday and Saturday, March 16 and 17. Action against UTRGV begins at 8 p.m. ET on Friday.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Sparks, Mitchell (3-0)
L: BattenfieldP (0-1)
Batting:
RBI: Jones, Nick 1 ; Jones, Nate 1 ; Cruz, Cameron 1 ; Gora, Eli 1 ; Schenker, Kolton 1
SH: Kauffman, Jared 1 ; Cruz, Cameron 1 ; Hager, Devin 1
SF: Jones, Nick 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Schuemann, Max 1 ; Timko, Jeff 2 ; Gora, Eli 1 ; Hager, Devin 1 ; Schenker, Kolton 1
CS: Jones, Nate 1
PO: Schuemann, Max 1
Batting:
2B: Littell 1 ; Boone 1 ; Dobbs 1
3B: Rosa 1
RBI: Rosa 1 ; Simpson, C. 1 ; Littell 2
SH: Kroon 1
SF: Simpson, C. 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Cash 1 ; Rosa 2 ; Simpson, C. 1 ; Dobbs 1
HBP: Rosa 2
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Baseball
OF/RHP
/ Baseball
IF
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
C/IF
/ Baseball
IF
/ BaseballIF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ BaseballOF
/ BaseballDrew Beckner's Comments After BGSU Win in MAC Tournament
Friday, May 23
Robbie Britt's Comments After MAC Tournament Win over BGSU
Friday, May 23
EMU Stuns BGSU for First Postseason Win Since 2017
Friday, May 23
Baseball 2025 MAC Tournament Practice Day Recap
Wednesday, May 21