Eastern Michigan Athletics
Wednesday, February 27
Abilene, Texas
6:30 p.m. CT
Eastern Michigan University
2-6-1
6
at
5
Abilene Christian
4-5
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Eastern Michigan
2
0
1
1
0
2
0
0
0
6
12
1
Abilene Christian
0
0
0
2
1
1
0
1
0
5
10
3
Quick Start Helps Baseball Edge Abilene Christian, 6-5
2/27/2019 11:31:00 PM | Baseball
Scott Granzotto got the win going 3.0 innings with just one hit allowed and three strikeouts
ABILENE, Texas (EMUEagles.com) – Timely hitting was the story early on for the Eastern Michigan University baseball team in a 6-5 victory over Abilene Christian University Wednesday, Feb. 27, in non-conference action at Crutcher Scott Field. The Eagles built a 6-4 edge in the sixth inning, before the Wildcats clawed back with runs in the sixth and eighth innings to get within a run. However, ACU would get no closer, as Thomas House (Ross, Ohio-Ross) picked up his fifth career save with a strikeout to end the game with a runner aboard.
Overall, Eastern put the leadoff hitter on base five times throughout the night en route to equaling its season-high with 12 hits. The Green and White were also 13-for-28 (.464) advancing runners to go along with a 3-of-5 performance with runners on third with less than two out.
Eastern Michigan improved to 2-6-1 on the season with the victory, while Abilene Christian dropped to 4-5 on the young season.
Scott Granzotto (Northville, Mich.-Gabriel Richard) was nearly flawless in his second start of the season, tossing three innings of scoreless, one hit baseball. He evened his record to 1-1 on the year, after he struck out three Wildcats to lower his ERA to 2.92 through three appearances. Five different Eagles pitched in the contest, with House tossing the final inning to grab his first save of the season.
Cameron Cruz (Chandler, Ariz.-Hamilton) posted his fourth career three hit night, while also driving in two and scoring twice. Cruz pushed his batting average to .389 and extended his hitting streak to six consecutive games with two singles and a double. John Rensel Jr. (Tallmadge, Ohio-Tallmadge) and Jeff Timko (Rochester Hills, Mich.-Brother Rice) also had multi-hit nights, with Timko collecting a pair of RBIs.
A leadoff double got the offense going off the bat of Nate Jones (Battle Creek, Mich.-Lakeview) to open the contest for the Eagles. After advancing on a groundout, Jones came home on a Cruz single to left-center to make it 1-0 in EMU's favor. EMU would tack on another run later in the frame when Cruz scored on a groundout by Timko.
The lead grew to four when EMU plated runs in both the third and fourth inning by playing small ball.
After the first two batters were retired to start the third, Rensel Jr. added his second hit of the night with a single up the middle. Timko followed with another single before Drake Peggs (Knightstown, Ind.-Knightstown Community) walked to load the bases. Jared Kauffman (Springboro, Ohio-Bishop Fenwick) delivered with an infield single push the lead to 3-0.
The bats continued to swing in the fourth when Stephen Karis' (Zionsville, Ind.-Zionsville Community) second career double led off the inning. Two batters later, Cruz delivered once more with a single to right to plate his second RBI of the game.
After retiring nine of the first 11 batters he faced, Granzotto turned the ball over to Nick Porretto (Geneva, Ill.-Geneva-McHenry C.C.) in the bottom of the fourth. ACU promptly responded with a pair in the inning and pulled back within one, 4-3, with another in the fifth.
Eastern again light up the scoreboard in the top of the sixth, as Nate Jones drew a leadoff walk to kick start the inning. Cruz's third hit of the contest put runners at second and third. A wild pitch allowed Jones to trot home before Timko slammed a triple to right to score Cruz and once again get the lead to three, 6-3.
ACU got a run back in the bottom of the inning and added another in the eighth to make it 6-5.
In the ninth, House quickly retired the first two batters before allowing a two-out base-on-balls. ACU's Koby Claborn was called off the bench to pinch hit, but House struck him out looking to give EMU the one-run victory.
Eastern Michigan continues its Spring Break Trip with a 400-mile trek from Abilene to Corpus Christi, Texas, to battle Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, March 1-3. The weekend series includes games on Friday (6:30 p.m. CT), Saturday, (4 p.m. CT), and Sunday (1 p.m. CT), at Chapman field. Live stats will be available at EMUEagles.com, while GoIslanders.com will have video coverage of the three-game set.
Overall, Eastern put the leadoff hitter on base five times throughout the night en route to equaling its season-high with 12 hits. The Green and White were also 13-for-28 (.464) advancing runners to go along with a 3-of-5 performance with runners on third with less than two out.
Eastern Michigan improved to 2-6-1 on the season with the victory, while Abilene Christian dropped to 4-5 on the young season.
Scott Granzotto (Northville, Mich.-Gabriel Richard) was nearly flawless in his second start of the season, tossing three innings of scoreless, one hit baseball. He evened his record to 1-1 on the year, after he struck out three Wildcats to lower his ERA to 2.92 through three appearances. Five different Eagles pitched in the contest, with House tossing the final inning to grab his first save of the season.
Cameron Cruz (Chandler, Ariz.-Hamilton) posted his fourth career three hit night, while also driving in two and scoring twice. Cruz pushed his batting average to .389 and extended his hitting streak to six consecutive games with two singles and a double. John Rensel Jr. (Tallmadge, Ohio-Tallmadge) and Jeff Timko (Rochester Hills, Mich.-Brother Rice) also had multi-hit nights, with Timko collecting a pair of RBIs.
A leadoff double got the offense going off the bat of Nate Jones (Battle Creek, Mich.-Lakeview) to open the contest for the Eagles. After advancing on a groundout, Jones came home on a Cruz single to left-center to make it 1-0 in EMU's favor. EMU would tack on another run later in the frame when Cruz scored on a groundout by Timko.
The lead grew to four when EMU plated runs in both the third and fourth inning by playing small ball.
After the first two batters were retired to start the third, Rensel Jr. added his second hit of the night with a single up the middle. Timko followed with another single before Drake Peggs (Knightstown, Ind.-Knightstown Community) walked to load the bases. Jared Kauffman (Springboro, Ohio-Bishop Fenwick) delivered with an infield single push the lead to 3-0.
The bats continued to swing in the fourth when Stephen Karis' (Zionsville, Ind.-Zionsville Community) second career double led off the inning. Two batters later, Cruz delivered once more with a single to right to plate his second RBI of the game.
After retiring nine of the first 11 batters he faced, Granzotto turned the ball over to Nick Porretto (Geneva, Ill.-Geneva-McHenry C.C.) in the bottom of the fourth. ACU promptly responded with a pair in the inning and pulled back within one, 4-3, with another in the fifth.
Eastern again light up the scoreboard in the top of the sixth, as Nate Jones drew a leadoff walk to kick start the inning. Cruz's third hit of the contest put runners at second and third. A wild pitch allowed Jones to trot home before Timko slammed a triple to right to score Cruz and once again get the lead to three, 6-3.
ACU got a run back in the bottom of the inning and added another in the eighth to make it 6-5.
In the ninth, House quickly retired the first two batters before allowing a two-out base-on-balls. ACU's Koby Claborn was called off the bench to pinch hit, but House struck him out looking to give EMU the one-run victory.
Eastern Michigan continues its Spring Break Trip with a 400-mile trek from Abilene to Corpus Christi, Texas, to battle Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, March 1-3. The weekend series includes games on Friday (6:30 p.m. CT), Saturday, (4 p.m. CT), and Sunday (1 p.m. CT), at Chapman field. Live stats will be available at EMUEagles.com, while GoIslanders.com will have video coverage of the three-game set.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Granzotto, Scott (1-1)
L: Hanson, D. (0-1)
S: House, Thomas (1)
Batting:
2B: Jones, Nate 1 ; Owings, Zachary 1 ; Cruz, Cameron 1 ; Rensel Jr., John 1 ; Karis, Stephen 1
3B: Timko, Jeff 1
RBI: Cruz, Cameron 2 ; Timko, Jeff 2 ; Kauffman, Jared 1
SH: Hager, Devin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Jones, Nate 2 ; Cruz, Cameron 2 ; Rensel Jr., John 1 ; Karis, Stephen 1
CS: Owings, Zachary 1
Batting:
2B: Trevino, L. 1 ; Salazar, R. 2 ; Dunn, D. 1
HR: Scott, D. 1
RBI: Scott, D. 2 ; Donahue, R. 1 ; Dunn, D. 1
SF: Scott, D. 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Randle, R. 1 ; Trevino, L. 1 ; Scott, D. 1 ; Salazar, R. 1 ; Bourland, L. 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
rf/lf
AB
5
R
2
H
3
RBI
2
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
2
AB
4
R
2
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
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