Eastern Michigan Athletics
Saturday, March 27
Kalamazoo, Mich.
1:05 p.m.
Eastern Michigan University
7-7, 0
9
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4
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Western Michigan
1-10, 0
1
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9
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E
Eastern Michigan
4
3
0
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12
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Western Michigan
0
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15
1
Eagles Fly Past Broncos to Capture Series Opener
3/27/2021 4:49:00 PM | Baseball
The two sides combined for 27 hits in the first contest
KALAMAZOO, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University baseball team used 12 hits to power past Western Michigan University, 9-4, in its series opener, March 27, at Bobb Stadium at Hyames Field.
From the bump, the Eagles (7-7, 3-2 MAC) were highlighted by five scoreless innings from veteran ace Davis Feldman (Warren, Mich.-Brother Rice), who recorded his fourth outing of the season of 5.0 innings-or-more, and struck out seven in the process. Sophomore Cameron Wagoner (Tecumseh, Mich.-Tecumseh) finished with 1.1 scoreless innings, notching three strikeouts and allowing only one hit.
At the plate, senior Nick Jones (Battle Creek, Mich.-Lakeview), junior Gabe Denton (Clare Mich.-Clare (North Iowa)), and senior Jared Kauffman (Springboro, Ohio-Bishop Fenwick) each finished with two hits, marking the fourth time this season the Eagles have had three or more players record multiple hits in a contest. In addition, Denton also ended tied for the team lead in RBIs, with two.
Coming out hot right from the start, Eastern put together its highest-scoring first inning offensive effort of the season. Having scored just one total run in the first inning over its first 13 games, the Eagles saw the entire batting order make an appearance at the plate, stringing together five hits, aided by a pair of walks, to put up four runs in the first.
It only took one pitch to get the Green and White going, as junior Will Oberg (Wayzata, Minn.-Wayzata (Heartland)) grounded a single to left field on the first pitch he saw to leadoff the game. Freshman Mark Kattula (Sterling Heights, Mich.-Stevenson) followed with a single to center field, and junior Taylor Hopkins (Mason, Ohio-Archbishop Moeller) drew the first walk of the contest to load the bases. Bringing up Jones, the captain singled with a fly ball to shallow center, scoring Oberg for EMU's first run of the game.
A one-out sacrifice fly to center from senior Eli Gora (Cincinnati, Ohio-Anderson) plated Kattula, and was followed by Denton's first hit of the afternoon, a single, to put Eastern's third run on the board. Senior Drake Peggs (Knightstown, Ind.-Knightstown Community) made it on base via walk to follow it up, and load the bases for a second time in the top of the first frame. Kauffman singled up the middle for the fifth and final hit of the first, along with the fourth RBI.
Seeing action right from the start to begin the bottom of the first, Feldman recorded his first out of the afternoon on the first pitch, forcing the Bronco batter into a pop up easily caught by Jones. After Western (1-10, 1-4 MAC) singled and subsequently drew two walks to load the bases, Feldman kept the course and tallied two strikeouts in the frame to keep the Broncos off the board.
Back to the plate in the second, it was not until there were two outs that Eastern found its second offensive burst. Jones singled for the second time in as many innings to start things off, and was followed by back-to-back singles by senior Jeff Timko (Rochester Hills, Mich.-Brother Rice) and Gora. With Jones scoring on the single, Timko managed to cross the plate on a wild pitch to add the second run of the inning. Picking up his second RBI of the day, Denton found the left center warning track for a double, and put the Eagles up, 7-0, after the top of the second.
Feldman continued to roll on the mound, keeping Western Michigan scoreless for the next three innings.
After a quiet third and fourth offensively, the Eagles platted pair of runs in the top of fifth. After Peggs and Kauffman each singled, Kattula was intentionally walked to load the bases. The very next pitch, Hopkins singled to right center for two RBIs and send the Eagles back to the field with a 9-0 lead.
It was the Broncos who went on the offensive for the rest of the game, scoring four unanswered over the final three frames. Wagoner entered with two outs in the eighth, and proceeded to work the Eagles out of a jam and keep WMU off the board in the ninth to give Eastern the series-opening win, 9-4.
After delaying the series one day due to weather, Eastern and Western will play a two seven-inning games tomorrow, March 28. First pitch of game one is set for 12:05 p.m.
To stay up to date on all things EMU baseball, continue to check EMUEagles.com, or follow the team on Twitter, @EMU_Baseball.
From the bump, the Eagles (7-7, 3-2 MAC) were highlighted by five scoreless innings from veteran ace Davis Feldman (Warren, Mich.-Brother Rice), who recorded his fourth outing of the season of 5.0 innings-or-more, and struck out seven in the process. Sophomore Cameron Wagoner (Tecumseh, Mich.-Tecumseh) finished with 1.1 scoreless innings, notching three strikeouts and allowing only one hit.
At the plate, senior Nick Jones (Battle Creek, Mich.-Lakeview), junior Gabe Denton (Clare Mich.-Clare (North Iowa)), and senior Jared Kauffman (Springboro, Ohio-Bishop Fenwick) each finished with two hits, marking the fourth time this season the Eagles have had three or more players record multiple hits in a contest. In addition, Denton also ended tied for the team lead in RBIs, with two.
Coming out hot right from the start, Eastern put together its highest-scoring first inning offensive effort of the season. Having scored just one total run in the first inning over its first 13 games, the Eagles saw the entire batting order make an appearance at the plate, stringing together five hits, aided by a pair of walks, to put up four runs in the first.
It only took one pitch to get the Green and White going, as junior Will Oberg (Wayzata, Minn.-Wayzata (Heartland)) grounded a single to left field on the first pitch he saw to leadoff the game. Freshman Mark Kattula (Sterling Heights, Mich.-Stevenson) followed with a single to center field, and junior Taylor Hopkins (Mason, Ohio-Archbishop Moeller) drew the first walk of the contest to load the bases. Bringing up Jones, the captain singled with a fly ball to shallow center, scoring Oberg for EMU's first run of the game.
A one-out sacrifice fly to center from senior Eli Gora (Cincinnati, Ohio-Anderson) plated Kattula, and was followed by Denton's first hit of the afternoon, a single, to put Eastern's third run on the board. Senior Drake Peggs (Knightstown, Ind.-Knightstown Community) made it on base via walk to follow it up, and load the bases for a second time in the top of the first frame. Kauffman singled up the middle for the fifth and final hit of the first, along with the fourth RBI.
Seeing action right from the start to begin the bottom of the first, Feldman recorded his first out of the afternoon on the first pitch, forcing the Bronco batter into a pop up easily caught by Jones. After Western (1-10, 1-4 MAC) singled and subsequently drew two walks to load the bases, Feldman kept the course and tallied two strikeouts in the frame to keep the Broncos off the board.
Back to the plate in the second, it was not until there were two outs that Eastern found its second offensive burst. Jones singled for the second time in as many innings to start things off, and was followed by back-to-back singles by senior Jeff Timko (Rochester Hills, Mich.-Brother Rice) and Gora. With Jones scoring on the single, Timko managed to cross the plate on a wild pitch to add the second run of the inning. Picking up his second RBI of the day, Denton found the left center warning track for a double, and put the Eagles up, 7-0, after the top of the second.
Feldman continued to roll on the mound, keeping Western Michigan scoreless for the next three innings.
After a quiet third and fourth offensively, the Eagles platted pair of runs in the top of fifth. After Peggs and Kauffman each singled, Kattula was intentionally walked to load the bases. The very next pitch, Hopkins singled to right center for two RBIs and send the Eagles back to the field with a 9-0 lead.
It was the Broncos who went on the offensive for the rest of the game, scoring four unanswered over the final three frames. Wagoner entered with two outs in the eighth, and proceeded to work the Eagles out of a jam and keep WMU off the board in the ninth to give Eastern the series-opening win, 9-4.
After delaying the series one day due to weather, Eastern and Western will play a two seven-inning games tomorrow, March 28. First pitch of game one is set for 12:05 p.m.
To stay up to date on all things EMU baseball, continue to check EMUEagles.com, or follow the team on Twitter, @EMU_Baseball.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Feldman, Davis (4-1)
L: MILLER, BRADY (0-4)
Batting:
2B: Denton, Gabe 1
RBI: Hopkins, Taylor 2 ; Jones, Nick 1 ; Gora, Eli 2 ; Denton, Gabe 2 ; Kauffman, Jared 1
SF: Gora, Eli 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Oberg, Will 1 ; Kattula, Mark 1 ; Hopkins, Taylor 1 ; Jones, Nick 2 ; Timko, Jeff 1 ; Gora, Eli 1 ; Peggs, Drake 1 ; Kauffman, Jared 1
SB: Kauffman, Jared 1
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Batting:
2B: MORRISON, WILL 1 ; O'KEEFE, SEAN 2 ; DOYLE, GAVIN 1 ; ALLEN, JIMMY 1 ; MCINTYRE, JUSTIN 1
HR: MCINTYRE, JUSTIN 1
RBI: MORRISON, WILL 2 ; O'KEEFE, SEAN 1 ; MCINTYRE, JUSTIN 1
Base Running:
RUNS: HUDSON, LOGAN 1 ; ALLEN, JIMMY 1 ; MCINTYRE, JUSTIN 2
HBP: CHARPING, CONNOR 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
AB
5
R
0
H
2
RBI
2
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
5
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
C/IF
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