Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
0-1
Winthrop
1-0
Baseball's Late Comeback Falls Short in Loss to Winthrop
2/18/2022 6:29:00 PM | Baseball
Eastern continues its weekend series against Winthrop tomorrow, Feb. 19. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m.
ROCK HILL, S.C. (EMUEagles.com) --The Eastern Michigan University baseball team put together a spirited comeback, scoring five runs over the eighth and ninth innings, but the late-game rally came up short and fell to Winthrop University, 11-9, Friday afternoon inside The Winthrop Ballpark.
Junior Frankie Volkers (Maple Grove Minn.-Maple Grove) (0-1) came out of the bullpen for Eastern Michigan (0-1, 0-0) and took the decision. Senior Zach Fruit (Dundee, Mich.-Dundee) was a bright spot for the Eagles, starting the ballgame and throwing four innings, giving up three runs, two earned, on three hits, with one walk and three strikeouts.
Junior Matt Kirk (Milford, Ohio-Milford (Toledo)) led the way offensively for the Eagles, going 4-for-5 in the ballgame with two doubles and an RBI. Senior Shane Easter (Kalamazoo, Mich.-Comstock) put together a standout effort as well, going 3-for-5 with two RBIs. Senior Brady Huebbe (Peru, Ill-La Salle-Peru (Northern Illinois)) also helped out, going 1-for-5 for Eastern Michigan with a triple and two RBIs.
How It Happened
The Eagles put runs on the board first, starting the scoring in the second inning. Easter drove in two runs for EMU with a single, that scored senior Daniel Warkentin (Leamington, Ontario-Leamington District) and senior Eli Gora (Cincinnati, Ohio-Anderson).
The Eagles lost the lead they built in the second inning but got back on the board in the fifth trailing 3-2. Kirk's run-scoring single highlighted an inning where Eastern Michigan scored twice, which brought the score to 4-3 in favor of the Green and White.
Eastern's lead had evaporated by the time the eighth inning arrived and turned into a 9-4 Winthrop advantage when the Eagles cut that deficit to 9-7. The Eagles picked up three runs in the frame, two of them coming across on a two-run triple from Huebbe.
The Winthrop Eagles expanded their lead to 11-7 before the Eastern Michigan offense got back in gear, cutting into that lead in the ninth. Kirk and Gora each scored a run for the Eagles in the inning, tightening the Winthrop lead to 11-9. The ballgame ended with that ninth-inning rally falling short.
Game Notes
» EMU's highest-scoring inning was the eighth when it pushed across three runs.
» The Eagles left 12 runners stranded on base in the loss.
» Eastern Michigan went 4-for-13 (.308) with runners in scoring position. The Eagles also drew eight walks from Winthrop pitching.
» Eastern pitchers faced 43 Winthrop hitters in the game, allowing four ground balls and 11 fly balls while striking out five.
» Easter finished with two RBIs for the Eagles. The two runs batted in is the most for the senior since he brought in four runs in the 2020 season-opener at Austin Peay, Feb. 15.
» It is also Easter's fifth career game with multiple RBIs.
» Kirk started his career at Eastern on fire, recording four hits, an RBI, and two doubles in his EMU debut. The four knocks is a career-high for the outfielder. The last time an Eagle had four hits in a game came when Taylor Hopkins (Mason, Ohio-Archbishop Moeller), Gabe Denton (Clare, Mich.-Clare), and former Eagle Mike Monahan each tallied four hits in a 20-5 win over St. Bonaventure, May 1, 2021.
» Huebbe finished with two RBIs and two runs scored in his EMU debut, including a two-run RBI triple in the eighth inning. The triple was just the second of Huebbe's career.
Historical Notes
» The Winthrop Eagles now lead the all-time head-to-head series 0-3 as the two programs finish their three-game series this weekend with EMU looking for its first victory over Winthrop.
Up Next
Eastern continues its weekend series against Winthrop tomorrow, Feb. 19. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. inside The Winthrop Ballpark.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: MONTENERY, J (1-0)
L: Volkers, Frankie (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Kirk, Matt 2
3B: Huebbe, Brady 1
RBI: Huebbe, Brady 2 ; Denton, Gabe 1 ; Kirk, Matt 1 ; Warkentin, Daniel 1 ; Gora, Eli 1 ; Easter, Shane 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Hopkins, Taylor 1 ; Huebbe, Brady 2 ; Denton, Gabe 1 ; Kirk, Matt 1 ; Warkentin, Daniel 1 ; Gora, Eli 2 ; Easter, Shane 1
HBP: Huebbe, Brady 1
Batting:
2B: TEPPER, J. 1 ; MORTON, D. 1
HR: MILLER, K. 1
RBI: MORTON, D. 1 ; SPYKE, J. 1 ; CONRAD, C.J. 2 ; SZVETITZ, J. 3 ; MILLER, K. 4
Base Running:
RUNS: TEPPER, J. 1 ; HOOKS, T. 2 ; MORTON, D. 1 ; SPYKE, J. 3 ; CONRAD, C.J. 1 ; CHRISTOPHER 1 ; SZVETITZ, J. 1 ; MILLER, K. 1
CS: MORTON, D. 1
HBP: SPYKE, J. 2
PO: SZVETITZ, J. 3
