Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
20-22, 14-17
Northern Illinois
14-32, 13-19
Baseball Drops Series Finale to Northern Illinois
5/16/2021 3:57:00 PM | Baseball
Mike Monahan and Will Oberg each had two RBIs
Senior Mike Monahan (Saline, Mich.-Saline) and junior Will Oberg (Wayzata, Minn.-Wayzata (Heartland)) tallied multiple-RBI games for EMU, each recording two on one hit. On the mound, junior Zach Fruit (Dundee, Mich.-Dundee (Lansing)) pitched a career-high 2.2 innings, striking out three in his outing.
Although the Huskies led off the game with a hit, senior Scott Granzotto (Northville, Mich.-Gabriel Richard) forced a popout and double play over the next two batters to face the minimum in the first inning.
Posting its second four-run first inning of the series, Eastern got things started with a run from its first three batters. After junior Taylor Hopkins (Mason, Ohio-Archbishop Moeller) opened the frame being hit by the pitch, senior Nick Jones (Battle Creek, Mich.-Lakeview) and classmate Christian Bault (Maineville, Ohio-Archbishop Moeller (Lincoln Trail)) knocked back-to-back singles to right and left field, respectively, giving EMU the 1-0 lead.
Senior Eli Gora (Cincinnati, Ohio-Anderson) loaded the bases with a grounder to the first baseman, paving the way for Monahan to deliver his first hit of the contest, a single to left center that plated two, putting the Green and White in front, 3-0.
With runners on the corners, junior Will Oberg (Wayzata, Minn.-Wayzata (Heartland)) delivered a sacrifice bunt to the right side of the infield, scoring Gora for the final run of the frame and sending the game to the second inning with Eastern Michigan up, 4-0.
Northern Illinois controlled the offensive effort for the next five innings, pulling within one, 4-3, after the second inning, taking the lead, 5-4, in the fifth, and adding one more to its lead, 6-4, in the sixth.
Eastern managed to put a stop to NIU's scoring run in the bottom of the sixth, with junior Gabe Denton (Clare, Mich.-Clare (North Iowa)) and Gora on second and first via hit by pitch and walk, respectively, the Eagles executed a hit-and-run on a single to right center field by Oberg, pulling back within one, 6-5, after six innings.
It would not be long until NIU struck again, as the Huskies extended their lead to three in the top of the seventh, 8-5.
Apart from a double to right center by Jared Kauffman (Springboro, Ohio-Bishop Fenwick) in the seventh and single from Denton in the eighth, the Eagles were unable to spark any offense and ultimately fell to the Huskies, 8-5, in the series finale.
Eastern Michigan will close out its homestand against Toledo Tuesday, May 18 at Oestrike Stadium. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.
To stay up to date with all things EMU baseball, continue to check EMUEagles.com, or follow the team on Twitter, @EMU_Baseball.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: LANGREDER, Connor (3-4)
L: Granzotto, Scott (3-1)
S: HEDMARK, Erik (1)
Batting:
2B: JOYCE, Brendan 1 ; HUEBBE, Brady 1 ; LARSON, Jordan 1
RBI: SMITH, Kam 1 ; HUEBBE, Brady 1 ; LARSON, Jordan 2 ; DROBUSHEVICH, Nick 1 ; MCKERMITT, Paddy 1 ; BARNES, Matt 1
SF: SMITH, Kam 1 ; DROBUSHEVICH, Nick 1 ; MCKERMITT, Paddy 1
Base Running:
RUNS: ERATO, Eric 1 ; JOYCE, Brendan 2 ; DUNHAM, Jake 2 ; HUEBBE, Brady 1 ; LARSON, Jordan 2
SB: JOYCE, Brendan 1
CS: DROBUSHEVICH, Nick 1
Batting:
2B: Kauffman, Jared 1
RBI: Bault, Christian 1 ; Monahan, Mike 2 ; Oberg, Will 2
SH: Oberg, Will 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hopkins, Taylor 1 ; Jones, Nick 1 ; Bault, Christian 1 ; Denton, Gabe 1 ; Gora, Eli 1
CS: Gora, Eli 1
HBP: Hopkins, Taylor 1 ; Denton, Gabe 1
