Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
10-13, 0
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Western Michigan
4-17, 0
Baseball Splits Saturday Set With Western Michigan
4/2/2022 5:58:00 PM | Baseball
Adam Falinski tossed a complete-game en route to his third win in game one of the afternoon
Game 1: EMU 3, WMU 2
Game 2: WMU 10, EMU 5
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University baseball team locked up at least a split in its four-game weekend series against Western Michigan University today, April 2, as it split a Saturday doubleheader with the Broncos inside Oestrike Stadium.
Eastern (10-14, 6-5 MAC) used stellar pitching and defense to pick up a 3-2 victory in the first contest of the day. Game two featured improved offense from Western Michigan (5-17, 3-6 MAC), who scored runs in four consecutive innings en route to a 10-5 decision.
Freshman Adam Falinski (Howell, Mich.-Detroit Catholic Central) (3-2) started on the mound and picked up the win for Eastern Michigan in game one of the Saturday Set. The right-hander went seven innings, his second complete-game effort of the season, giving up two runs, both of them earned, on four hits, allowing three walks and striking out three.
Senior Daniel Warkentin (Leamington, Ontario-Leamington District (Parkland)) led the way offensively for the Eagles in game one, going 2-for-3 in the ballgame with a home run and an RBI. Junior Matt Kirk (Milford, Ohio-Milford (Toledo)) provided a noteworthy day at the plate as well, going 1-for-3 with a home run and an RBI. Senior Shane Easter (Kalamazoo, Mich.-Comstock) also contributed, going 1-for-3 for Eastern Michigan with a double and an RBI.
Senior Thomas House (Ross, Ohio-Ross) (1-3) started and took the loss on the mound for Eastern Michigan in game two of the double dip. Freshman Brendan Alvord (Fenton, Mich.-Fenton) was a bright spot out of the bullpen, going one shutout inning without allowing a hit.
Kirk led the way, going 2-for-5 in the ballgame with a double and an RBI. Senior Brady Huebbe (Peru, Ill.-La Salle-Peru (Northern Illinois)) was a contributor as well, going 1-for-4 with a double and an RBI in Saturday's second contest.
How It Happened - Game 1
Trailing 1-0, the Eagles first put runs on the board in the first inning. Eastern Michigan got on the board thanks to Easter's RBI double with two outs.
The score stayed at 1-1 until the third inning, when the Eagles put runs on the scoreboard once again. Eastern Michigan scored twice on back-to-back home runs from Kirk and Warkentin, which brought the Eagles lead to 3-1.
Western Michigan put one run on the scoreboard before the game was over, but Eastern Michigan still held on for the 3-2 win.
» Eastern Michigan's highest scoring inning was the third, when it pushed two runs across.
» Eastern Michigan grabbed the lead at 3-1 in the bottom half of the third and never lost that advantage.
» Falinski put together seven innings of two-run ball for the Eagles. The right-hander recorded three strikeouts and allowed just four hits. The win is Falinski's third of the season and it is the third time this season he has pitched at least seven innings. Additionally, the victory was his second complete game of the 2022 campaign (March 14 at Ball State).
» As a team, Eastern Michigan only had three strikeouts for the game. It is the third time this season that the Eagles have struck out in a game three times or fewer.
» Eastern Michigan hitters went 8-for-22 in the first game of the doubleheader, a .363 batting average. The Eagles have hit .300 or better in 10 games this season. The Eagles hit that mark just 16 total times during the 2021 campaign.
» Freshman Logan Hugo (Essexville, Mich.-Essexville Garber) added two hits of his own for Eastern Michigan. Hugo has nine hits through his first 11 games with the Green and White.
» The Eagles out-hit the Broncos at an 8-4 clip. It marks the 13 times this season, with nine going for wins.
» Eastern Michigan pitchers limited Western Michigan to just 1-for-5 (.200) with runners in scoring position.
How it Happened - Game 2
The Eagles got on the board immediately, starting their scoring with two runs off of Western Michigan pitching, one of which was driven in on a run-scoring double off the bat of Huebbe.
The Eagles lost the lead they built when WMU scored five in the top half of the fourth, but got back on the board in the bottom half. Eastern Michigan picked up two runs in the frame, the big hit being an RBI double from Kirk, which brought the score to 5-4 in favor of the Broncos.
Western Michigan built their lead to 7-4 before the Eastern Michigan offense got back in action, reducing that lead to 7-5 in the fifth. The Eagles were unable to get any closer, as Western Michigan added three runs to their tally on the way to a 10-5 final.
Game Notes - Game 2
» Kirk led the Eagles at the plate, going 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI.
» Eastern Michigan pitchers faced 47 Western Michigan hitters in the game, allowing 10 ground balls and nine fly balls while striking out seven.
» EMU's highest scoring inning was the fourth, when it pushed two runs across.
» Eastern Michigan tallied five runs on offense, marking the 14th time that the Green and White offense have scored at least that many runs this season. The Eagles hit that number just 22 total times a season ago.
» Kirk tallied two hits on offense for Eastern Michigan. It is Kirk's 12th multi-hit performance of the season, which leads the team. Three of his fellow Eagles have eight multi-hit contests, tied for second most on the team.
» In addition to his multi-hit totals, Kirk had an RBI for Eastern Michigan as well. It is the 13th game this season in which he has produced at least one run. That marks a total of 58.3% of his games.
Historical Notes
» Kirk and Warkentin hit back-to-back home runs in the bottom half of the third inning in Saturday's first game. It is the first time Eastern Michigan has hit back-to-back home runs since April 9, 2017 when Mike Mioduszewski and John Montgomery did it against Miami.
Up Next
The Eagles and Broncos will finish their four-game weekend set with a nine-inning contest tomorrow, April 3, at 1 p.m. inside Oestrike Stadium. The game will be aired on Eagle All-Access, at EMUEagles.com/watch.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Falinski, Adam (3-2)
L: SHAPIRO, Joe (0-5)
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Batting:
HR: NEVAR, Dylan 1
RBI: DOYLE, Gavin 1 ; NEVAR, Dylan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: ALLEN, Jimmy 1 ; NEVAR, Dylan 1
SB: McINTYRE, Justin 1
HBP: McINTYRE, Justin 1
Batting:
2B: Easter, Shane 1
HR: Kirk, Matt 1 ; Warkentin, Daniel 1
RBI: Kirk, Matt 1 ; Warkentin, Daniel 1 ; Easter, Shane 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kirk, Matt 1 ; Warkentin, Daniel 2
CS: Denton, Gabe 1 ; Hopkins, Taylor 1
