Eastern Michigan Athletics
Thursday, May 17
Oestrike Stadium
6 p.m.
Eastern Michigan University
21-31, 13-12
2
vs
1
Northern Illinois
19-35, 8-17
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Northern Illinois
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
1
14
4
Eastern Michigan
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
0
X
2
6
1
Photo by: Steven King/Steve King Studios
Eagles Sneak By Huskies to Take Series Opener, 2-1
5/17/2018 8:32:00 PM | Baseball
EMU kept pace in a tight MAC Tournament race
Postgame Interviews.
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University baseball team won the crucial series opener over the Northern Illinois University Huskies with a nail-biting 2-1 win Friday evening, May 17, at Oestrike Stadium. With the win, EMU (21-31, 13-12 MAC) remained in sixth place in race for the Mid-American Conference Tournament with two games to play.
NIU (19-35, 8-17 MAC) had multiple opportunities to break the game open, as evidenced by the 14-6 difference in the hit column, but EMU got out of almost every jam with some slick fielding which included a thrown out runner at the plate by freshman Nate Jones (Battle Creek, Mich.-Lakeview) in the third inning.
Senior Justin McMurtrey (Redding, Calif.-Shasta (Butte C.C.)) earned his fifth win of the season and 12th of his career in his final outing at Oestrike. The right hander went seven innings, only allowing one run on 11 hits while striking out two. In relief, freshman Thomas House (Okeana, Ohio-Ross) tallied his team-best fourth save of the year after going the final two innings, yielding no runs on three hits with two punch outs as well.
Offensively, junior Max Schuemann (Portage, Mich.-Portage Northern) was the hero, as he knocked in the first run of the game on a double, and went on to score the eventual winning run as well. Sophomore Zachary Owings (Saline, Mich.-Saline) had the other highlight, as he extended his on-base streak to 30 games with a walk, as well as extended his hitting streak to a career-best 11 games with a single.
The game was a true pitchers duel in the first five innings, as both arms kept the other team off the board. EMU could only muster one hit through the first five, but the other side was a different story.
NIU had numerous scoring chances in the first five, leaving nine runners on base, while also having another thrown out at the plate by Nate Jones. When it was all said and done, though, McMurtrey kept NIU off the board into the sixth inning, where that changed.
After McMurtrey fired his sixth scoreless frame, EMU began to get the bats going in the bottom half. Nate Jones led off with a single down the line in right, which was followed immediately by a Schuemann double down the left field line to score Jones, and opening up the scoring. Later in the inning, NIU made a pair of errors to allow Schuemann to come around and make it a 2-0 game with three innings to play
The shutout was broken in the seventh as NIU turned a lead off triple into a run on an RBI ground out, bringing it back to 2-1 into the stretch. EMU had runners on second and third in that inning, but could not capitalize to keep it tight.
House entered in the top of the eighth and was able to work around a two-out single to keep EMU ahead by one. The Eagles couldn't scratch across any runs in the bottom of the eighth, setting up the ninth. There, House worked around a single, as EMU turned a double play. After that, NIU doubled to place the tying run in scoring position, but House got the final batter to chase, sealing the 2-1 decision.
EMU and NIU get back into action tomorrow evening, May 18, for game two of the series from Oestrike. First pitch is set for 6 p.m., and will be preceded by an Alumni Appreciation ceremony, where the 2008 MAC Tournament Champion team will be honored.
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University baseball team won the crucial series opener over the Northern Illinois University Huskies with a nail-biting 2-1 win Friday evening, May 17, at Oestrike Stadium. With the win, EMU (21-31, 13-12 MAC) remained in sixth place in race for the Mid-American Conference Tournament with two games to play.
NIU (19-35, 8-17 MAC) had multiple opportunities to break the game open, as evidenced by the 14-6 difference in the hit column, but EMU got out of almost every jam with some slick fielding which included a thrown out runner at the plate by freshman Nate Jones (Battle Creek, Mich.-Lakeview) in the third inning.
Senior Justin McMurtrey (Redding, Calif.-Shasta (Butte C.C.)) earned his fifth win of the season and 12th of his career in his final outing at Oestrike. The right hander went seven innings, only allowing one run on 11 hits while striking out two. In relief, freshman Thomas House (Okeana, Ohio-Ross) tallied his team-best fourth save of the year after going the final two innings, yielding no runs on three hits with two punch outs as well.
Offensively, junior Max Schuemann (Portage, Mich.-Portage Northern) was the hero, as he knocked in the first run of the game on a double, and went on to score the eventual winning run as well. Sophomore Zachary Owings (Saline, Mich.-Saline) had the other highlight, as he extended his on-base streak to 30 games with a walk, as well as extended his hitting streak to a career-best 11 games with a single.
The game was a true pitchers duel in the first five innings, as both arms kept the other team off the board. EMU could only muster one hit through the first five, but the other side was a different story.
NIU had numerous scoring chances in the first five, leaving nine runners on base, while also having another thrown out at the plate by Nate Jones. When it was all said and done, though, McMurtrey kept NIU off the board into the sixth inning, where that changed.
After McMurtrey fired his sixth scoreless frame, EMU began to get the bats going in the bottom half. Nate Jones led off with a single down the line in right, which was followed immediately by a Schuemann double down the left field line to score Jones, and opening up the scoring. Later in the inning, NIU made a pair of errors to allow Schuemann to come around and make it a 2-0 game with three innings to play
The shutout was broken in the seventh as NIU turned a lead off triple into a run on an RBI ground out, bringing it back to 2-1 into the stretch. EMU had runners on second and third in that inning, but could not capitalize to keep it tight.
House entered in the top of the eighth and was able to work around a two-out single to keep EMU ahead by one. The Eagles couldn't scratch across any runs in the bottom of the eighth, setting up the ninth. There, House worked around a single, as EMU turned a double play. After that, NIU doubled to place the tying run in scoring position, but House got the final batter to chase, sealing the 2-1 decision.
EMU and NIU get back into action tomorrow evening, May 18, for game two of the series from Oestrike. First pitch is set for 6 p.m., and will be preceded by an Alumni Appreciation ceremony, where the 2008 MAC Tournament Champion team will be honored.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: McMurtrey, Justin (5-6)
L: FAUE, George (2-7)
S: House, Thomas (4)
Batting:
2B: SMITH, Kam 1
3B: SZCZASNY, Tommy 1
RBI: SMITH, Kam 1
Base Running:
RUNS: SZCZASNY, Tommy 1
SB: JUMONVILLE, Joe 1
HBP: WOOD, Brad 1
Batting:
2B: Schuemann, Max 1
RBI: Schuemann, Max 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Jones, Nate 1 ; Schuemann, Max 1
SB: Hager, Devin 1
CS: Jones, Nick 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
RHP
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RHP
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