Eastern Michigan Athletics
Sunday, February 17
Hoover, Ala
9:30 a.m. CT
Eastern Michigan University
0-3-1
9
vs
9
NJIT
3-0-1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
R
H
E
NJIT
4
0
0
0
0
0
1
4
9
10
1
Eastern Michigan
0
0
5
0
0
1
1
2
9
12
0
Catch the Plane: Final Game of NJIT Series Ends Abruptly
2/17/2019 3:08:00 PM | Baseball
Offense comes alive as EMU plays its first tie since the 1999 season
HOOVER, Ala. (EMUEagles.com) - For the first time since the 1999 season, the Eastern Michigan University baseball team left the field Sunday, Feb. 17, after playing to a 9-9 draw with NJIT .
Due to travel arrangements, both teams agreed that no inning would be start after 12:30 p.m. CT. As the eighth inning concluded beyond that mark, the game was forced to end with a score of 9-9. The last time EMU was part of a tie, was against Marshall on April, 28. 1999, in a game played in Huntington, W.Va.. As a result of the game, EMU was left winless in its season opening series for the second consecutive season, after being swept in a four-game series with Florida Gulf Coast University in 2018.
Offensively, the Eagles broke through for nine runs on 12 hits in the contest. Highlighting the day for EMU was senior infielder Zachary Owings (Saline, Mich.-Saline) who turned in a two home-run performance. With his first long ball of the year, Owings delivered a two-RBI dinger, bringing EMU within two in the second inning, 4-2. In the eighth inning, down 9-7, Owings pounded a solo shot to bring the Eagles within one. Owings ended his dominating day going 3-for-5 at the plate, tallying three hits and three RBI. Furthermore, it was the first multi-home run game of the EMU third baseman's career, and the first by an Eagle since Kolton Schenker had a pair of bombs against Dayton, March 6, 2018.
Sophomore center fielder Nate Jones (Battle Creek, Mich.-Lakeview) also provided offensive firepower for EMU. His solo shot, part of a two-hit effort in Sunday's contest, extended EMU's lead to 6-4 in the sixth inning. Senior captain John Rensel Jr. (Tallmadge, Ohio-Tallmadge) delivered the largest hit of the game when he smashed a RBI double in the eighth inning, tying the game at 9-9, where it would eventually end. The Eagles' 12 hits are the most that EMU has collected in a single game during the 2019 season.
In addition to its double-digit hitting effort, the Eagles were outstanding on the base paths during Sunday's battle. In all, EMU swiped six bases, including five steals in a third inning which saw the Eagles erase a 4-0 deficit, to take a 5-4 lead. Most notably, EMU designated hitter, redshirt junior Jacob Bolton (Lewis Center, Ohio-Bishop Watterson) provided a key run when he stole home in the third inning, tying the game at 4-4. Senior Cameron Cruz (Chandler, Ariz.-Hamilton) chipped in with two stolen bases during the game.
Defensively, Eastern Michigan again struggled to contain the NJIT offense. After scoring 10 runs in back-to-back contests Saturday, Feb. 16, NJIT blasted EMU pitching for nine runs in the Sunday contest. In total, EMU ended the series having given up 34 total runs, the most in a single series since the Eagles played FGCU to open its season in 2018. Within the struggles, however, were multiple bright spots for the Eagles pitching staff. After a four-run first inning, sophomore Luke McGuire (Shelby Township, Mich.-Stevenson) showed resolve, pitching the next three innings in dominant fashion, giving up no hits, while allowing just three baser runners. McGuire's successful stretch was part of five consecutive scoreless innings tossed by the EMU pitching staff, as redshirt junior Nick Poretto (Geneva, Ill.-Geneva (McHenry, C.C.)) blanked the Highlander offense in the fifth and sixth innings, respectively.
Eastern Michigan will return to game action when it takes on Notre Dame and Incarnate Word, in a four-game alternating series, as part of the Alamo Irish Classic in San Antonio, Texas, Feb. 21-24. Following the four game series, Eastern will remain in Texas for a single game against Abilene Christian, Feb. 27, in Abilene, Texas, before completing its road trip with a three game series at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, March, 1-3. in Corpus Christi, Texas.
Due to travel arrangements, both teams agreed that no inning would be start after 12:30 p.m. CT. As the eighth inning concluded beyond that mark, the game was forced to end with a score of 9-9. The last time EMU was part of a tie, was against Marshall on April, 28. 1999, in a game played in Huntington, W.Va.. As a result of the game, EMU was left winless in its season opening series for the second consecutive season, after being swept in a four-game series with Florida Gulf Coast University in 2018.
Offensively, the Eagles broke through for nine runs on 12 hits in the contest. Highlighting the day for EMU was senior infielder Zachary Owings (Saline, Mich.-Saline) who turned in a two home-run performance. With his first long ball of the year, Owings delivered a two-RBI dinger, bringing EMU within two in the second inning, 4-2. In the eighth inning, down 9-7, Owings pounded a solo shot to bring the Eagles within one. Owings ended his dominating day going 3-for-5 at the plate, tallying three hits and three RBI. Furthermore, it was the first multi-home run game of the EMU third baseman's career, and the first by an Eagle since Kolton Schenker had a pair of bombs against Dayton, March 6, 2018.
Sophomore center fielder Nate Jones (Battle Creek, Mich.-Lakeview) also provided offensive firepower for EMU. His solo shot, part of a two-hit effort in Sunday's contest, extended EMU's lead to 6-4 in the sixth inning. Senior captain John Rensel Jr. (Tallmadge, Ohio-Tallmadge) delivered the largest hit of the game when he smashed a RBI double in the eighth inning, tying the game at 9-9, where it would eventually end. The Eagles' 12 hits are the most that EMU has collected in a single game during the 2019 season.
In addition to its double-digit hitting effort, the Eagles were outstanding on the base paths during Sunday's battle. In all, EMU swiped six bases, including five steals in a third inning which saw the Eagles erase a 4-0 deficit, to take a 5-4 lead. Most notably, EMU designated hitter, redshirt junior Jacob Bolton (Lewis Center, Ohio-Bishop Watterson) provided a key run when he stole home in the third inning, tying the game at 4-4. Senior Cameron Cruz (Chandler, Ariz.-Hamilton) chipped in with two stolen bases during the game.
Defensively, Eastern Michigan again struggled to contain the NJIT offense. After scoring 10 runs in back-to-back contests Saturday, Feb. 16, NJIT blasted EMU pitching for nine runs in the Sunday contest. In total, EMU ended the series having given up 34 total runs, the most in a single series since the Eagles played FGCU to open its season in 2018. Within the struggles, however, were multiple bright spots for the Eagles pitching staff. After a four-run first inning, sophomore Luke McGuire (Shelby Township, Mich.-Stevenson) showed resolve, pitching the next three innings in dominant fashion, giving up no hits, while allowing just three baser runners. McGuire's successful stretch was part of five consecutive scoreless innings tossed by the EMU pitching staff, as redshirt junior Nick Poretto (Geneva, Ill.-Geneva (McHenry, C.C.)) blanked the Highlander offense in the fifth and sixth innings, respectively.
Eastern Michigan will return to game action when it takes on Notre Dame and Incarnate Word, in a four-game alternating series, as part of the Alamo Irish Classic in San Antonio, Texas, Feb. 21-24. Following the four game series, Eastern will remain in Texas for a single game against Abilene Christian, Feb. 27, in Abilene, Texas, before completing its road trip with a three game series at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, March, 1-3. in Corpus Christi, Texas.
Team Stats
Batting:
HR: MARCANO, David 1 ; FRANZONI, Paul 1 ; HUSSEY, Nick 1
RBI: MARCANO, David 1 ; ETTS, Justin 1 ; FRANZONI, Paul 2 ; HELMKAMP, Brett 2 ; HUSSEY, Nick 3
Base Running:
RUNS: MARCANO, David 1 ; MARCANO, Julio 1 ; FRANZONI, Paul 1 ; COCCIADIFERRO, Matt 1 ; ANASTASIA, Michael 2 ; HELMKAMP, Brett 1 ; ELCOCK, Andrew 1 ; HUSSEY, Nick 1
SB: COCCIADIFERRO, Matt 1 ; ANASTASIA, Michael 1
CS: ELCOCK, Andrew 1
HBP: ETTS, Justin 1
Batting:
2B: Jones, Nick 1 ; Rensel Jr., John 1 ; Timko, Jeff 1
HR: Jones, Nate 1 ; Owings, Zachary 2
RBI: Jones, Nate 1 ; Owings, Zachary 3 ; Rensel Jr., John 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Jones, Nate 2 ; Owings, Zachary 2 ; Jones, Nick 1 ; Rensel Jr., John 1 ; Bolton, Jacob 2 ; Cruz, Cameron 1
SB: Owings, Zachary 1 ; Bolton, Jacob 1 ; Cruz, Cameron 2 ; Hopkins, Taylor 1 ; Peggs, Drake 1
CS: Jones, Nate 1
Game Leaders
AB
5
R
2
H
3
RBI
3
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
2
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
IF/RHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballIF
/ BaseballIF
/ Baseball
IF
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