Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
11-42-1, 0
Kent State
29-22, 0
Ninth Inning Run Costs Baseball in Friday Fall
5/17/2019 6:41:00 PM | Baseball
Owings, Hopkins tally multi-hit games for EMU
After taking an early lead, 2-0, Eastern (11-41-1; 6-20 MAC) was outscored 5-2 in the final four frames of the game, eventually relinquishing 10 hits in the one run setback.
Offensively, the Eagles again showed a poised approach at the plate, racking up nine hits in the contest. EMU scored the first run of the game in the bottom half of the second when sophomore Nate Jones (Battle Creek, Mich.-Lakeview) notched an RBI groundout to score redshirt sophomore Jeff Timko (Rochester Hills, Mich.-Brother Rice), who reached base via his fifth triple of the season.
Down, 4-2, in the bottom of the seventh, Eastern rallied to tie the game. After a lead-off single from Hopkins, and a walk in the ensuing at-bat, senior John Rensel Jr. (Tallmadge, Ohio-Tallmadge) blasted an RBI double down the left field line, scoring Hopkins and giving Eastern its third run of the game. EMU scored its fourth run of the contest when Owings notched an RBI single in the next at-bat.
Despite getting runners on base in both the eighth and ninth innings, respectively, Eastern was unable to score, and again fell short of the Golden Flashes, 5-4. With his 3-for-5 performance at the dish, Owings notched his team-leading 26th multiple-hit game of the season.
On the hill, it was sophomore Thomas House (Ross, Ohio-Ross) that got the nod for the Green and White. Masterful at the start, House blanked the Golden Flashes in each of their first five frames, allowing just three hits in that span. In total, House pitched 5.2 innings, allowing three runs and striking out three in his 88 pitch no decision.
Out of the bullpen, a pair of Eagles pitched for Eastern. In for the second consecutive day, sophomore Luke McGuire (Shelby Twp., Mich.-Stevenson) tossed 1.1 innings before redshirt junior Caleb Hester (Coloma, Mich.-Coloma) took over for the eighth and ninth innings, respectively.
In all, the EMU pitching staff combined to hold Kent State scoreless in six of the game's nine frames, but was unable to keep the Flashes off the board in crunch time as they scored the game's winning run in the top half of the ninth inning to take a 5-4 lead, a score that eventually went final.
Eastern returns to action for the final game of its three-game series with Kent State, tomorrow, May 18, at Oestrike Stadium. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m., with senior day festivities set to begin at 12:45 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: MATTHEWS, John (5-1)
L: Hester, Caleb (0-2)
Batting:
2B: TOUCHETTE, Cam 1 ; PARKS, Pavin 1 ; KIRBY, Justin 1
RBI: TURNER, Michael 2 ; O'BRIEN, Kian 1 ; PARKS, Pavin 1 ; KIRBY, Justin 1
SH: TURNER, Michael 1
SF: TURNER, Michael 1 ; O'BRIEN, Kian 1
Base Running:
RUNS: TOUCHETTE, Cam 2 ; TURNER, Michael 1 ; PARKS, Pavin 1 ; HOLLANDER, Josh 1
SB: CAREW, BEN 1 ; TOUCHETTE, Cam 1 ; KIRBY, Justin 1 ; ELSEN, Nick 1
Batting:
2B: Rensel Jr., John 1 ; Owings, Zachary 1 ; Cruz, Cameron 1
3B: Timko, Jeff 1
RBI: Rensel Jr., John 1 ; Owings, Zachary 2 ; Jones, Nate 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Timko, Jeff 1 ; Hopkins, Taylor 1 ; Wolanski, Alex 1 ; Cruz, Cameron 1
SB: Owings, Zachary 2 ; Jones, Nick 1
HBP: Jones, Nick 1
