Eastern Michigan Athletics
Wednesday, May 8
Ann Arbor, Mich.
6 p.m.
Eastern Michigan University
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Photo by: Steve King/KingStudios
Fast Start Not Enough as Baseball Falls to Michigan
5/8/2019 9:15:00 PM | Baseball
Hopkins provides EMU's lone RBI
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – Although the journey home is just six miles long, it is a disappointing one for the Eastern Michigan University baseball team, as it dropped a non-conference midweek game to the University of Michigan, 10-1, tonight, May 8, at Ray Fisher Stadium.
Although Eastern (11-37-1; 6-15 MAC) took an early lead, 1-0, it was unable to contain the Michigan offense, which erupted for 10 runs on 13 hits in the game.
Offensively, the Eagles struck first in the matchup of Washtenaw County foes, taking advantage of an early bases-loaded situation to go ahead, 1-0. After two consecutive hits from juniors Zachary Owings (Saline, Mich.-Saline) and Nick Jones (Battle Creek, Mich.-Lakeview), and a walk, it was freshman Taylor Hopkins (Mason, Ohio-Archbishop Moeller) who delivered the games initial run, doing so via a one-out RBI grounder in the top half of the first inning.
The Eagles found success in the second inning as well, again loading the bases with just one out, but failed to score when a hard hit liner from Owings deflected off the pitcher directly to the Michigan shortstop for an unconventional inning-ending double play.
Although EMU had an abundance of offensive chances throughout the game, the Eagles were unable to take advantage of their scoring opportunities, leaving 10 men on base in their one run, seven hit effort. Despite the struggles, Owings was able to notch his team-leading 24th multi-hit game of the season.
On the mound, freshman Tyler Koons (Flat Rock, Mich.-Gibraltar Carlson) made his fourth start of the season for the Green and White. After allowing three earned runs through the first two innings, Koons bounced back with a scoreless third frame.
Taking the ball with one out in the fourth, senior Mitchell Sparks (Willis, Texas-Carmel (Ind.) (Iowa Lakes C.C.)) provided yet another strong performance out of the pen. In 1.2 innings of work, Sparks allowed just one run on two hits, fanning a Wolverine hitter along the way. Sparks' momentum carried over to sophomore reliever Holden Cook (Oklahoma City, Okla.-Casady (Murray State)), who came on to pitch a near-flawless sixth inning, allowing no runs on just one hit while picking up a strike out.
Rounding out the pitching efforts for Eastern was a trio of Eagles, sophomore Luke McGuire (Shelby Twp., Mich.-Stevenson), and redshirt juniors Caleb Hester (Coloma, Mich.-Coloma) and Nick Porretto (Geneva, Ill.-Geneva (McHenry C.C.)). McGuire tossed a 1-2-3 seventh inning before Hester and Porretto combined to toss the eighth.
In all, the Wolverines scored in five of their eight offensive frames, never allowing Eastern the opportunity to compete for a comeback en route to the 10-1 setback.
Eastern returns to action when it hosts Mid-American Conference and in-state rival Central Michigan University for a three-game weekend series, May 10-12, at Oestrike Stadium. Game one is set to begin Friday, May 10, at 6 p.m. with games to follow Saturday, May 11, at 6 p.m., and Sunday, May 12, at 1 p.m.
Although Eastern (11-37-1; 6-15 MAC) took an early lead, 1-0, it was unable to contain the Michigan offense, which erupted for 10 runs on 13 hits in the game.
Offensively, the Eagles struck first in the matchup of Washtenaw County foes, taking advantage of an early bases-loaded situation to go ahead, 1-0. After two consecutive hits from juniors Zachary Owings (Saline, Mich.-Saline) and Nick Jones (Battle Creek, Mich.-Lakeview), and a walk, it was freshman Taylor Hopkins (Mason, Ohio-Archbishop Moeller) who delivered the games initial run, doing so via a one-out RBI grounder in the top half of the first inning.
The Eagles found success in the second inning as well, again loading the bases with just one out, but failed to score when a hard hit liner from Owings deflected off the pitcher directly to the Michigan shortstop for an unconventional inning-ending double play.
Although EMU had an abundance of offensive chances throughout the game, the Eagles were unable to take advantage of their scoring opportunities, leaving 10 men on base in their one run, seven hit effort. Despite the struggles, Owings was able to notch his team-leading 24th multi-hit game of the season.
On the mound, freshman Tyler Koons (Flat Rock, Mich.-Gibraltar Carlson) made his fourth start of the season for the Green and White. After allowing three earned runs through the first two innings, Koons bounced back with a scoreless third frame.
Taking the ball with one out in the fourth, senior Mitchell Sparks (Willis, Texas-Carmel (Ind.) (Iowa Lakes C.C.)) provided yet another strong performance out of the pen. In 1.2 innings of work, Sparks allowed just one run on two hits, fanning a Wolverine hitter along the way. Sparks' momentum carried over to sophomore reliever Holden Cook (Oklahoma City, Okla.-Casady (Murray State)), who came on to pitch a near-flawless sixth inning, allowing no runs on just one hit while picking up a strike out.
Rounding out the pitching efforts for Eastern was a trio of Eagles, sophomore Luke McGuire (Shelby Twp., Mich.-Stevenson), and redshirt juniors Caleb Hester (Coloma, Mich.-Coloma) and Nick Porretto (Geneva, Ill.-Geneva (McHenry C.C.)). McGuire tossed a 1-2-3 seventh inning before Hester and Porretto combined to toss the eighth.
In all, the Wolverines scored in five of their eight offensive frames, never allowing Eastern the opportunity to compete for a comeback en route to the 10-1 setback.
Eastern returns to action when it hosts Mid-American Conference and in-state rival Central Michigan University for a three-game weekend series, May 10-12, at Oestrike Stadium. Game one is set to begin Friday, May 10, at 6 p.m. with games to follow Saturday, May 11, at 6 p.m., and Sunday, May 12, at 1 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Cleveland (4-1)
L: Koons, Tyler (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Owings, Zachary 1 ; Rensel Jr., John 1
RBI: Hopkins, Taylor 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Owings, Zachary 1
HBP: Hager, Devin 1
Batting:
2B: Brewer 2 ; Kerr 1 ; Lewis 1
3B: Nelson 1
HR: Nwogu 1
RBI: Nwogu 2 ; Franklin 1 ; Brewer 1 ; Kerr 2 ; Nelson 1 ; Blomgren 1 ; Thomas 1
SH: Buckley 1
SF: Kerr 1 ; Blomgren 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Nwogu 2 ; Franklin 2 ; Brewer 1 ; Kerr 1 ; Nelson 1 ; Lewis 1 ; Blomgren 1 ; Thomas 1
SB: Brewer 1
HBP: Nwogu 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
IF
/ BaseballC/IF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballIF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
LHP
/ BaseballScout day✅
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