Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
17-24, 0
Bowling Green
12-26, 0
WALK IT OFF! Warkentin Sends the Eagles Home Winners Friday
4/29/2022 6:42:00 PM | Baseball
The win marks the first time this season EMU has won in walk-off fashion
Watch the Walk-off Winner | Rewatch the Complete Game
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) --The Eastern Michigan Eagles rallied to score two in the ninth inning and walked it off on a single off the bat of senior Daniel Warkentin (Leamington, Ontario.-Leamington District (Parkland)) to pick up the 6-5 win over Bowling Green State University Friday, April 29, inside Oestrike Stadium.
Junior Zach Gillig (Valley Center, Kan.-Valley Center (Pratt C.C.)) (2-2) got the win out of the bullpen for Eastern Michigan (17-24, 11-14 MAC). The right-hander went two shutout innings, giving up three hits, one walk, and striking out three.Q
Freshman Aaron Dolney (Plymouth, Mich.-Detroit Country Day (Nebraska)) led the way offensively for the Eagles, going 1-for-2 in the ballgame with a home run, two walks, and two RBI. Senior Taylor Hopkins (Mason, Ohio.-Archbishop Moeller) compiled a noteworthy performance at the plate as well, going 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI. Warkentin went 2-for-4 for Eastern Michigan with two RBI and the walk-off base knock in the ninth.
How It Happened
The Eagles put runs on the scoreboard first, starting the scoring in the second inning. Eastern Michigan plated two runs when Dolney left the yard with senior Brady Huebbe (Peru, Ill-La Salle-Peru (Northern Illinois)) aboard.
The Falcons then gained ground, narrowing the lead to 2-1 until the Eagles expanded their advantage in the fourth. Huebbe came across to score the lone run of the inning for Eastern Michigan, which brought the score to 3-1 in favor of the Eagles.
Eastern Michigan kept Bowling Green without a run before building their lead to 4-1 the following inning.
Bowling Green then rallied to take a 5-4 lead before Eastern Michigan scored two runs in the bottom half of the ninth to grab the win, walking it off on an RBI single off the bat of Warkentin.
Game Notes
» Senior Thomas House (Ross, Ohio-Ross) struck out six Falcons hitters. The total ties a season-high for House.
» Every Eastern Michigan starter reached base safely in the win.
» The Eagles out-hit the Falcons at a 12-9 clip. EMU is 13-4 when outhitting its opposition.
» Dolney tallied a home run in the second inning on Friday. The homer was the catcher's third of the season as well as RBI's 15 and 16 on the season.
» Dolney got on the base often, tallying two bases on balls. It is the third time this season that Dolney has recorded multiple free passes in a contest.
» Will Oberg's (Wayzota, Minn.-Wayzata) sacrifice fly was his third RBI of the season.
» Hopkins finished 2-for-5 with an RBI in the win. His RBI double marked the second time this season that the left-handed-hitting shortstop notched a double and an RBI in the same game (at Morehead State, March 5).
» Down one run in the ninth inning, Eastern tabbed two runs on three hits in the last half inning to defeat the Falcons. It is EMU's fifth come-from-behind victory this season.
» Huebbe contributed with a multi-hit performance of his own, going 2-for-3 with a double. It was Huebbe's 14th multi-hit performance of the season.
» Redshirt Junior Zach Gillig (Valley Center, Kan.-Valley Center) earned his second win of the year. He joins Fruit, Falinski, and Russo as the only Eastern pitchers to win multiple contests in the 2022 campaign.
» Eastern Michigan hit 12-for-32 (.364) as a team. With the performance, EMU has hit over .300 as a team in 15 games this season, improving its record to 12-3 in such performances.
Historical Notes
» Warkentin recorded Eastern's first walk-off win of the season with the two-out RBI single. Additionally, it is the first time EMU has notched a walk-off hit since former Eagle Nick Jones tallied an RBI single to defeat Ball State 2-1, April 17, 2021. Furthermore, it is Warkentin's first career walk-off hit.
» Moreover, the game-winning base knock was the first time Eastern had won a game in walk-off fashion since Hopkins tabbed a two-run walk-off home run to defeat Kent State 5-4, May 28, 2021.
Up Next
Eastern Michigan continues its four-game series against the Bowling Green Falcons with a doubleheader Saturday, April 30. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. inside Oestrike Stadium.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Gillig, Zach (2-2)
L: SPEZIA, Jeremy (1-3)
Batting:
RBI: GURNEY, Kyle 1 ; ROSE, Nathan 1 ; KRAUSE, Jack 1 ; ROSS, Tyler 1 ; JOHNSTON, Ryan 1
SH: KRAUSE, Jack 1 ; ROSS, Tyler 2
Base Running:
RUNS: ARCHER, Nathan 1 ; GURNEY, Kyle 1 ; FURNAS, Adam 1 ; ROSE, Nathan 1 ; KRAUSE, Jack 1
SB: ARCHER, Nathan 1 ; MONTGOMERY, Mason 1
CS: ARCHER, Nathan 1
HBP: ARCHER, Nathan 1
Batting:
2B: Hopkins, Taylor 1 ; Huebbe, Brady 1
HR: Dolney, Aaron 1
RBI: Hopkins, Taylor 1 ; Warkentin, Daniel 2 ; Dolney, Aaron 2 ; Oberg, Will 1
SH: Huebbe, Brady 1
SF: Warkentin, Daniel 1 ; Oberg, Will 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hopkins, Taylor 1 ; Huebbe, Brady 2 ; Dolney, Aaron 1 ; Kauffman, Jared 1 ; Taylor, Cory 1
HBP: Easter, Shane 1
PO: Dolney, Aaron 1
