Eastern Michigan Athletics
Sunday, April 28
Oestrike Stadium
1 p.m.
Eastern Michigan University
11-32-1, 6-12
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Toledo
15-27, 3-13
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Photo by: Steve King/KingStudios
Break Out the Brooms: Baseball Completes Sweep of Toledo
4/28/2019 4:50:00 PM | Baseball
Jared Kauffman sets season-high with three hits; Nate Jones and Shane Easter both add two RBI
Video Recap
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University baseball team completed a weekend sweep over the University of Toledo with a 6-5 victory in series finale Sunday, April 28 at Oestrike Stadium.
Trailing 4-1 heading into the bottom of the fifth inning, EMU (11-32-1, 6-12 MAC) scored four runs during a two-out rally en route to its third straight win over UT (15-27, 3-13 MAC), marking the Eagles' first sweep in Mid-American Conference play since winning three consecutive games at Northern Illinois University, May 12-14, 2017.
Sophomore Jared Kauffman (Springboro, Ohio-Bishop Fenwick) recorded his first three-hit game of the season, going 3-for-4 with two singles, a double, an RBI, a stolen base, and a run scored. Sophomore Nate Jones (Battle Creek, Mich.-Lakeview) finished 2-for-4 with two singles, two RBI, and a run scored, while fellow sophomore Shane Easter (Kalamazoo, Mich.-Comstock) went 2-for-4 with a pair of base hits and two RBI.
Freshman Justin Meis (Pittsburgh, Pa.-Bethel Park) picked up his third win of the season after notching a career-high seven strikeouts in 5.1 innings of work, allowing four earned runs on nine hits and a walk. Sophomore Luke McGuire (Shelby Township, Mich.-Stevenson) tossed 1.2 innings in relief, allowing one earned run on a hit and a walk while striking out one, and redshirt junior Caleb Hester (Coloma, Mich.-Coloma) preserved the Eagles' slim lead with a six-out save.
EMU started the scoring with a run in the bottom of the opening frame. Junior Zachary Owings (Saline, Mich.-Saline) singled on a hard ground ball up the middle, before fellow junior Nick Jones (Battle Creek, Mich.-Lakeview) lifted a base hit into shallow right-center to put runners on the corners with one out. Nate Jones then belted a sacrifice fly into deep right to drive in Owings and give the Eagles a 1-0 lead.
After the Green and White left the bases loaded in the bottom of the second, the Rockets knotted the score in their next trip to the plate. Zach Schwartzenberger hit a leadoff double into the gap in right-center, and was safe at home on freshman Danny Murphy's single.
Toledo jumped ahead with a three-spot in the top of the fourth, but the Eagles reclaimed the lead by scoring four runs with two outs during the home half of the fifth. Nate Jones singled up the middle, stole second base, sprinted to third as freshman Taylor Hopkins (Mason, Ohio-Archbishop Moeller) reached on an infield single to the right side, and advanced 90 feet when Hopkins moved into scoring position by swiping second.
After Cruz drew a walk to put Eagles on first and second, Kauffman singled into center to plate Hopkins and cut the deficit to 4-3. With Kauffman and Cruz on second and third, respectively, Easter followed with a base hit to center that knocked in both runners and put EMU in front, 5-4.
The Eagles manufactured another run to double their advantage in the bottom of the sixth. Redshirt sophomore Jeff Timko (Rochester Hills, Mich.-Brother Rice) was plunked and used a wild pitch and a stolen base to reach third. Nate Jones eventually added a two-out single through the left side to score Timko and make it a 6-4 contest.
Toledo notched a sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh to close the gap to 6-5, and nearly pulled even an inning later. Freshman Darryn Davis went the other way for a leadoff double down the left-field line, advancing a base when freshman Ryan Thompson laid a sacrifice bunt toward the third-base side. Sophomore Andrew Compton then had a chance to level the score on a fly ball to right, only for Nate Jones to throw out Davis at the plate to retire the side.
The Rockets had the potential tying run on third with one out in the top of the ninth, but the Eagles held on to finish a three-game sweep over their MAC West counterparts.
Eastern will travel to the Buckeye State for a midweek game at Youngstown State University, Wednesday, May 1, at 1 p.m. before resuming Mid-American Conference action when it travels to Kalamazoo for a three-game weekend series against Western Michigan University, Fri.-Sun., May 3-5.
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University baseball team completed a weekend sweep over the University of Toledo with a 6-5 victory in series finale Sunday, April 28 at Oestrike Stadium.
Trailing 4-1 heading into the bottom of the fifth inning, EMU (11-32-1, 6-12 MAC) scored four runs during a two-out rally en route to its third straight win over UT (15-27, 3-13 MAC), marking the Eagles' first sweep in Mid-American Conference play since winning three consecutive games at Northern Illinois University, May 12-14, 2017.
Sophomore Jared Kauffman (Springboro, Ohio-Bishop Fenwick) recorded his first three-hit game of the season, going 3-for-4 with two singles, a double, an RBI, a stolen base, and a run scored. Sophomore Nate Jones (Battle Creek, Mich.-Lakeview) finished 2-for-4 with two singles, two RBI, and a run scored, while fellow sophomore Shane Easter (Kalamazoo, Mich.-Comstock) went 2-for-4 with a pair of base hits and two RBI.
Freshman Justin Meis (Pittsburgh, Pa.-Bethel Park) picked up his third win of the season after notching a career-high seven strikeouts in 5.1 innings of work, allowing four earned runs on nine hits and a walk. Sophomore Luke McGuire (Shelby Township, Mich.-Stevenson) tossed 1.2 innings in relief, allowing one earned run on a hit and a walk while striking out one, and redshirt junior Caleb Hester (Coloma, Mich.-Coloma) preserved the Eagles' slim lead with a six-out save.
EMU started the scoring with a run in the bottom of the opening frame. Junior Zachary Owings (Saline, Mich.-Saline) singled on a hard ground ball up the middle, before fellow junior Nick Jones (Battle Creek, Mich.-Lakeview) lifted a base hit into shallow right-center to put runners on the corners with one out. Nate Jones then belted a sacrifice fly into deep right to drive in Owings and give the Eagles a 1-0 lead.
After the Green and White left the bases loaded in the bottom of the second, the Rockets knotted the score in their next trip to the plate. Zach Schwartzenberger hit a leadoff double into the gap in right-center, and was safe at home on freshman Danny Murphy's single.
Toledo jumped ahead with a three-spot in the top of the fourth, but the Eagles reclaimed the lead by scoring four runs with two outs during the home half of the fifth. Nate Jones singled up the middle, stole second base, sprinted to third as freshman Taylor Hopkins (Mason, Ohio-Archbishop Moeller) reached on an infield single to the right side, and advanced 90 feet when Hopkins moved into scoring position by swiping second.
After Cruz drew a walk to put Eagles on first and second, Kauffman singled into center to plate Hopkins and cut the deficit to 4-3. With Kauffman and Cruz on second and third, respectively, Easter followed with a base hit to center that knocked in both runners and put EMU in front, 5-4.
The Eagles manufactured another run to double their advantage in the bottom of the sixth. Redshirt sophomore Jeff Timko (Rochester Hills, Mich.-Brother Rice) was plunked and used a wild pitch and a stolen base to reach third. Nate Jones eventually added a two-out single through the left side to score Timko and make it a 6-4 contest.
Toledo notched a sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh to close the gap to 6-5, and nearly pulled even an inning later. Freshman Darryn Davis went the other way for a leadoff double down the left-field line, advancing a base when freshman Ryan Thompson laid a sacrifice bunt toward the third-base side. Sophomore Andrew Compton then had a chance to level the score on a fly ball to right, only for Nate Jones to throw out Davis at the plate to retire the side.
The Rockets had the potential tying run on third with one out in the top of the ninth, but the Eagles held on to finish a three-game sweep over their MAC West counterparts.
Eastern will travel to the Buckeye State for a midweek game at Youngstown State University, Wednesday, May 1, at 1 p.m. before resuming Mid-American Conference action when it travels to Kalamazoo for a three-game weekend series against Western Michigan University, Fri.-Sun., May 3-5.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Meis, Justin (3-6)
L: JACOB, Michael (2-7)
S: Hester, Caleb (3)
Batting:
2B: MEYERS, Chris 1 ; DAVIS, Darryn 1 ; COMPTON, Andrew 1 ; SCHWARTZENBERGER, Z. 2
RBI: MEYERS, Chris 1 ; BOSS, Brad 1 ; SCHWARTZENBERGER, Z. 2 ; MURPHY, Danny 1
SH: THOMPSON, Ryan 1 ; JEFFERS, David 1
SF: BOSS, Brad 1
Base Running:
RUNS: MEYERS, Chris 1 ; THOMPSON, Ryan 1 ; COMPTON, Andrew 1 ; SCHWARTZENBERGER, Z. 2
CS: COMPTON, Andrew 1
Batting:
2B: Kauffman, Jared 1
RBI: Jones, Nate 2 ; Kauffman, Jared 1 ; Easter, Shane 2
SH: Jones, Nick 1
SF: Jones, Nate 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Timko, Jeff 1 ; Owings, Zachary 1 ; Jones, Nate 1 ; Hopkins, Taylor 1 ; Cruz, Cameron 1 ; Kauffman, Jared 1
SB: Timko, Jeff 1 ; Owings, Zachary 1 ; Jones, Nate 3 ; Hopkins, Taylor 1 ; Kauffman, Jared 1 ; Easter, Shane 1 ; Rensel Jr., John 1
HBP: Timko, Jeff 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
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3
RBI
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2
RBI
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2
RBI
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4
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1
H
1
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Players Mentioned
IF/OF
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LHP
/ Baseball
IF
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
C/IF
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/ Baseball
RHP
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RHP
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OF
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