Eastern Michigan Athletics
Friday, February 21
Sanford, Fla.
6 p.m.
Eastern Michigan University
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Pittsburgh
4-1
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Eastern Michigan
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Pittsburgh
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Photo by: Walt Middleton Photography
Eagles Fall to Panthers, 3-2, in Series Opener
2/21/2020 9:03:00 PM | Baseball
Eastern battled back from a 3-0 deficit, but could not complete the comeback
SANFORD, Fla. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University baseball team rallied, but fell just short of a comeback against the University of Pittsburgh, 3-2, in the series opener, Feb. 21 at Sanford Memorial Stadium.
Eastern (1-3) scored twice on three hits, but was unable to overcome the three-run lead Pitt (4-1) built in the first five innings.
Leading the way for the Eagles at the plate was sophomore Taylor Hopkins (Mason, Ohio-Archbishop Moeller), who recorded a hit and RBI while also scoring a run. Seniors Jeff Timko (Rochester Hills, Mich.-Brother Rice) and Drake Peggs (Knightstown, Ind.-Knightstown Community) each added a hit for EMU.
Junior Luke McGuire (Shelby Township, Mich.-Stevenson) threw 5.2 innings in his second start of the season, racking up four strikeouts in the process. Classmate Justin Reinkall (Superior, Wis.-Superior (Southeast)) was strong in relief, allowing no runs and striking out two in 2.1 innings.
Pitt was the first on the board, jumping to a 1-0 lead after the first inning. Adding runs in the third and fourth inning, the Panthers held the 3-0 lead through five innings. Eastern found a spark in the top of the sixth, when Timko singled to right-center to start things off. Hopkins followed with a double to the left side, scoring Timko to give the Eagles their first run of the night. Hopkins would touch home plate on a RBI groundout by junior Daniel Warkentin (Leamington, Ontario-Leamington District (Parkland), pulling the Green and White within one, 3-2.
The Eagles saw one more chance to tie in the eighth inning, getting junior Shane Easter (Kalamazoo, Mich.-Comstock) in to scoring position. However, EMU was not able to bring him around, and ultimately fell to Pitt, 3-2.
Eastern will be back on the diamond tomorrow, Feb. 22, at 3 p.m. from Sanford Memorial Stadium.
Eastern (1-3) scored twice on three hits, but was unable to overcome the three-run lead Pitt (4-1) built in the first five innings.
Leading the way for the Eagles at the plate was sophomore Taylor Hopkins (Mason, Ohio-Archbishop Moeller), who recorded a hit and RBI while also scoring a run. Seniors Jeff Timko (Rochester Hills, Mich.-Brother Rice) and Drake Peggs (Knightstown, Ind.-Knightstown Community) each added a hit for EMU.
Junior Luke McGuire (Shelby Township, Mich.-Stevenson) threw 5.2 innings in his second start of the season, racking up four strikeouts in the process. Classmate Justin Reinkall (Superior, Wis.-Superior (Southeast)) was strong in relief, allowing no runs and striking out two in 2.1 innings.
Pitt was the first on the board, jumping to a 1-0 lead after the first inning. Adding runs in the third and fourth inning, the Panthers held the 3-0 lead through five innings. Eastern found a spark in the top of the sixth, when Timko singled to right-center to start things off. Hopkins followed with a double to the left side, scoring Timko to give the Eagles their first run of the night. Hopkins would touch home plate on a RBI groundout by junior Daniel Warkentin (Leamington, Ontario-Leamington District (Parkland), pulling the Green and White within one, 3-2.
The Eagles saw one more chance to tie in the eighth inning, getting junior Shane Easter (Kalamazoo, Mich.-Comstock) in to scoring position. However, EMU was not able to bring him around, and ultimately fell to Pitt, 3-2.
Eastern will be back on the diamond tomorrow, Feb. 22, at 3 p.m. from Sanford Memorial Stadium.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Corcoran (2-0)
L: McGuire, Luke (1-1)
S: Smith (1)
Batting:
2B: Hopkins, Taylor 1
RBI: Hopkins, Taylor 1 ; Warkentin, Daniel 1
SH: Timko, Jeff 1 ; Kauffman, Jared 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Timko, Jeff 1 ; Hopkins, Taylor 1
Batting:
2B: Washington 1
RBI: Yanni 1 ; Washington 1
SH: Anderson 1 ; Duff 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Popa 1 ; Yanni 1 ; Wash 1
SB: Popa 1 ; Yanni 1
HBP: Hulett 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
IF/OF
/ BaseballIF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballIF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
IF
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