Eastern Michigan Athletics
Friday, February 22
San Antonio, Texas
2 p.m. CT
Eastern Michigan University
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Photo by: Walt Middleton Photography
Sweet Revenge: Eastern Tops Notre Dame, 4-2
2/22/2019 6:08:00 PM | Baseball
Holden Cook earned the win, going six scoreless innings
SAN ANTONIO, Texas (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University baseball team picked up its first win of the season as it outlasted the University of Notre Dame, 4-2, behind strong pitching and a balanced offense at the Alamo Irish Classic Friday, Feb. 22.
Sophomore Holden Cook (Oklahoma City, Okla.-Casady (Murray State)) was outstanding on the mound in just the second start of his career. The Oklahoma City, Okla. native tossed six scoreless innings, allowing just four hits, and striking out three en route to the win. Redshirt junior Caleb Hester (Coloma, Mich.-Coloma) locked down the game, throwing the final 2.1 innings to record his first save of the year.
Eastern Michigan tallied nine hits spread out among eight players. Freshman Stephen Karis (Zionsville, Ind.-Zionsville Community) paced the Green and White offensively, going 2-for-4 at the plate with two RBI and a run scored. Meanwhile, senior Cameron Cruz (Chandler, Ariz.-Hamilton (Mesa C.C.)) and junior Jacob Bolton (Lewis Center, Ohio-Bishop Watterson (Sinclair C.C.)) drove in a run each.
Entering the fourth tied at 0-0, senior John Rensel Jr. (Tallmadge, Ohio-Tallmadge) walked with one out and moved onto second on a passed ball with Bolton at the plate. Up in the count, 2-0, Bolton singled to center to drive in Rensel Jr. from third and put the Eagles in front, 1-0.
The Green and White doubled its lead in the fifth, as Karis led the frame off with a single and advanced to second on an error. Jones moved Karis to third with a sacrifice bunt, setting the table for Cruz's RBI single through the left side to extend Eastern's advantage to 2-0 through five.
Eastern Michigan's bats came alive with two outs in the sixth, as the Eagles cranked out four straight hits to push a pair of runs across. Redshirt sophomore Jeff Timko (Rochester Hills, Mich.-Brother Rice) got things going with a single and junior Devin Hager (Commerce Twp., Mich.-Walled Lake Northern) followed suit to put runners on the corners before swiping second. Stepping to the plate with two in scoring position, Karis' second base knock of the day double EMU's lead to 4-0. Sophomore Nate Jones (Battle Creek, Mich.-Lakeview) kept the inning alive with a double down the left field line to force a Notre Dame pitching change, but a strikeout ended Eastern's rally.
Cook ran into some trouble in the sixth as Notre Dame put two runners aboard with one away, but an inning-ending double play thwarted the Fighting Irish's threat and ended Cook's impressive day.
With Eastern's offense slowing down, Notre Dame broke through for a run in the seventh, cutting Eastern's lead to three, 4-1, behind a pair of doubles.
Entering the game following an RBI double by ND, Hester escaped jams in each of the next three innings to earn the save and seal EMU's first win of the year, 4-2.
After an off day, Eastern wraps up play at the Alamo Irish Classic Sunday, Feb. 24, against the University of Incarnate Word. First pitch is scheduled for 12 p.m. CT.
Sophomore Holden Cook (Oklahoma City, Okla.-Casady (Murray State)) was outstanding on the mound in just the second start of his career. The Oklahoma City, Okla. native tossed six scoreless innings, allowing just four hits, and striking out three en route to the win. Redshirt junior Caleb Hester (Coloma, Mich.-Coloma) locked down the game, throwing the final 2.1 innings to record his first save of the year.
Eastern Michigan tallied nine hits spread out among eight players. Freshman Stephen Karis (Zionsville, Ind.-Zionsville Community) paced the Green and White offensively, going 2-for-4 at the plate with two RBI and a run scored. Meanwhile, senior Cameron Cruz (Chandler, Ariz.-Hamilton (Mesa C.C.)) and junior Jacob Bolton (Lewis Center, Ohio-Bishop Watterson (Sinclair C.C.)) drove in a run each.
Entering the fourth tied at 0-0, senior John Rensel Jr. (Tallmadge, Ohio-Tallmadge) walked with one out and moved onto second on a passed ball with Bolton at the plate. Up in the count, 2-0, Bolton singled to center to drive in Rensel Jr. from third and put the Eagles in front, 1-0.
The Green and White doubled its lead in the fifth, as Karis led the frame off with a single and advanced to second on an error. Jones moved Karis to third with a sacrifice bunt, setting the table for Cruz's RBI single through the left side to extend Eastern's advantage to 2-0 through five.
Eastern Michigan's bats came alive with two outs in the sixth, as the Eagles cranked out four straight hits to push a pair of runs across. Redshirt sophomore Jeff Timko (Rochester Hills, Mich.-Brother Rice) got things going with a single and junior Devin Hager (Commerce Twp., Mich.-Walled Lake Northern) followed suit to put runners on the corners before swiping second. Stepping to the plate with two in scoring position, Karis' second base knock of the day double EMU's lead to 4-0. Sophomore Nate Jones (Battle Creek, Mich.-Lakeview) kept the inning alive with a double down the left field line to force a Notre Dame pitching change, but a strikeout ended Eastern's rally.
Cook ran into some trouble in the sixth as Notre Dame put two runners aboard with one away, but an inning-ending double play thwarted the Fighting Irish's threat and ended Cook's impressive day.
With Eastern's offense slowing down, Notre Dame broke through for a run in the seventh, cutting Eastern's lead to three, 4-1, behind a pair of doubles.
Entering the game following an RBI double by ND, Hester escaped jams in each of the next three innings to earn the save and seal EMU's first win of the year, 4-2.
After an off day, Eastern wraps up play at the Alamo Irish Classic Sunday, Feb. 24, against the University of Incarnate Word. First pitch is scheduled for 12 p.m. CT.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Cook, Holden (1-1)
L: Cameron Junker (0-2)
S: Hester, Caleb (1)
Batting:
2B: Jones, Nate 1 ; Karis, Stephen 1
RBI: Cruz, Cameron 1 ; Bolton, Jacob 1 ; Karis, Stephen 2
SH: Jones, Nate 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Rensel Jr., John 1 ; Timko, Jeff 1 ; Hager, Devin 1 ; Karis, Stephen 1
SB: Bolton, Jacob 1 ; Timko, Jeff 1 ; Hager, Devin 1
Batting:
2B: Carter Putz 1 ; Zack Prajzner 1
RBI: Eric Gilgenbach 1 ; Zack Prajzner 1
SF: Eric Gilgenbach 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Carter Putz 1 ; Zack Prajzner 1
SB: Ryan Cole 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
rf/lf
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
IF/RHP
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RHP
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IF
/ Baseball
LHP
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OF
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