Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
19-25, 0
Bowling Green
13-28, 0
Baseball Uses Eight Homers to Power Past Bowling Green Sunday
5/1/2022 3:39:00 PM | Baseball
The eight bombs are tied for seventh-most HRs in a game this season in the NCAA Division I ranks
Watch the Complete Game | Condensed Highlights.
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University baseball team muscled eight home runs on Sunday, May 1, en route to a 19-4 victory over Bowling Green, May 1. The eight bombs are tied for seventh-most home runs in a game this season in the NCAA Division I ranks.
Senior Daniel Warkentin (Leamington, Ontario-Leamington (Parkland)) put together a brilliant performance at the plate Sunday, hitting three home runs to help lead the Eagles past the Falcons. The Leamington, Ontario native's three bombs in a game are tied for third most in a game this season, as only Georgetown's Ubaldo Lopez and Yale's Jake Gehri have hit more in a contest.
Junior Luke Russo (Howell, Mich.-Howell) (3-0) got the win for Eastern Michigan (19-25, 12-15 MAC). The right-hander went five shutout innings, giving up two hits, two walks, and striking out seven.
Warkentin went 3-for-5 at the plate, supplementing his three home runs with three RBIs. Senior Brady Huebbe (Peru, Ill.-La Salle-Peru (Northern Illinois)) added to Warkentin's awesome power-hitting performance by going 3-for-4 with a double, two home runs, and four RBI. Senior Will Oberg (Wayzata, Minn.-Wayzata) also chipped in for the Eagles, going 3-for-4 with a double, a home run, and three RBI.
How It Happened
The Eagles got the scoring started early, putting one run on the board in the bottom of the first inning with the game still scoreless. Eastern Michigan's offense produced a three-run output that included home runs from both Warkentin and freshman Aaron Dolney (Plymouth, Mich.-Detroit Country Day (Nebraska)).
The Falcons failed to push any runs across before the Eagles built on their lead in the third inning. Eastern Michigan hit two home runs in the inning on the way to pushing four runs across. which brought the Eagles lead to 7-0.
Eastern Michigan kept Bowling Green without a run before building their lead to 15-0 in the fifth inning. The Eagles hit four home runs in the inning on the way to scoring eight runs.
The Falcons fought back, closing the gap to 15-3 until Eastern Michigan added some insurance in the sixth. The Eagles scored four runs in the inning, highlighted by a one-run double off the bat of junior Matt Kirk (Milford, Ohio-Milford (Toledo)), bringing the Eastern Michigan advantage to 19-3. Bowling Green put one run on the scoreboard before the game was over, but the Eagles still coasted to the 19-4 win.
Game Notes
» Eastern's eight home runs are a season-high for the Eagles, surpassing the previous season-high of six at Morehead State, March 5. Additionally, it is the third time this season EMU has amassed five homers-or-more in a contest (6 at Morehead State, March 5 and 5 vs. Akron, March 25). Before the 2022 campaign, the Eagles did not hit five homers in a game since 2009 when Eastern launched six vs. Ohio, May 22.
» Furthermore, the eight homers is the seventh-most by a team in a contest in the NCAA Division I this season. EMU is the fourth NCAA DI program to hit eight deep shots.
» The 19 runs by the Eagles is a season-best. The last time the Eagles earned 19-or-more runs was back when the Green and White amassed 20 at St. Bonaventure, May 1, 2021.
» Eastern Michigan's highest-scoring inning was the fifth when it pushed eight runs across. The eight scores are the highest scoring output the Eagles have seen in an inning this season.
» The Eagles notched a season-high 20 hits in the victory. It is the most hits Eastern has recorded since the Eagles tallied 23 at St. Bonaventure, May 1, 2021.
» Five different Eagles tabbed a home run on Sunday. It is the second time this year five EMU batters have tallied a homer (at Morehead State, March 5).
» Warkentin led the Eagles at the plate, going 3-for-5 with three home runs and three RBIs. His three round-trippers are a career-high for the second baseman. Additionally, it is Warkentin's third multi-home run game of the 2022 campaign.
» Warkentin's three long shots are tied for third-most in the NCAA Division I ranks this season. Additionally, Warkentin is the 37th player in the nation this season to total three homers in a game. Moreover, the second baseman is the first Eagle to round the pillows three times in a game since former Eagle Jordan Peterson did it at NIU, May 14, 2017.
» The Leamington, Ontario native now leads the Eagles, and the Mid-American Conference, with 14 homers on the year. His 14 round-trippers are tied for ninth-most in EMU's history in a single season.
» Senior Taylor Hopkins (Mason, Ohio-Archbishop Moeller) tallied his sixth homer of the season. With a pair of RBIs on Sunday, Hopkins now has 26 RBIs on the year.
» Oberg had a career day for Eastern. The third baseman went 3-for-4 with three RBIs on a home run and a double. The round-tripper was Oberg's first of the season. Furthermore, his three hits and three RBIs are both career-highs.
» Huebbe drove in four runs for Eastern Michigan on two homers and a double. The pair of home runs bring Huebbe's total to nine on the season. Additionally, it is the senior's second mulit-homer game of the season.
» Russo struck out seven Falcons hitters on his way to his third win of the season (3-0). As a staff, Eastern Michigan pitchers limited Bowling Green to just 2-for-10 (.200) with runners in scoring position. The staff faced 34 Bowling Green hitters in the game, allowing five ground balls and eight fly balls while striking out eight.
Historical Notes
» Eastern's eight home runs is the second-highest mark in the program's history. EMU totaled nine homers versus Bowling Green, April 8, 2009.
» With three hits on Sunday, Huebbe surpassed 100 career hits (51 hits at Northern Illinois). Huebbe joins teammate Shane Easter (Kalamazoo, Mich.-Comstock) as the only two active Eagles to reach the 100 career hit mark.
» With the win, Eastern takes the series win over the Falcons. EMU has now taken 11 consecutive series from Bowling Green, dating back to 2005.
Up Next
Eastern will head to Illinois to battle Northern Illinois University in a four-game set, May 6-8. First pitch for Friday is set for 3 p.m. CT (4 p.m. ET).
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Russo, Luke (3-0)
L: PENROD, Connar (1-4)
Batting:
2B: KRAUSE, Jack 1 ; FUGITT, Justin 1
RBI: ROSE, Nathan 1 ; PETERSON, Robbie 1 ; HORKY, Zack 1 ; JOHNSTON, Ryan 1
SF: ROSE, Nathan 1 ; JOHNSTON, Ryan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: TOMA, Anthony 1 ; GURNEY, Kyle 1 ; FURNAS, Adam 1 ; KRAUSE, Jack 1
HBP: TOMA, Anthony 1 ; FUGITT, Justin 1
Batting:
2B: Miller, Glenn 1 ; Kirk, Matt 1 ; Huebbe, Brady 1 ; Oberg, Will 1 ; Bault, Christian 2
HR: Hopkins, Taylor 1 ; Warkentin, Daniel 3 ; Huebbe, Brady 2 ; Dolney, Aaron 1 ; Oberg, Will 1
RBI: Hopkins, Taylor 2 ; Miller, Glenn 1 ; Warkentin, Daniel 3 ; Kirk, Matt 1 ; Huebbe, Brady 4 ; Dolney, Aaron 2 ; Oberg, Will 3 ; Kauffman, Jared 1 ; Bault, Christian 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Hopkins, Taylor 1 ; Miller, Glenn 1 ; Warkentin, Daniel 3 ; Kirk, Matt 2 ; Huebbe, Brady 3 ; Dolney, Aaron 3 ; Oberg, Will 2 ; Gora, Eli 1 ; Kauffman, Jared 1 ; Bault, Christian 2
SB: Hopkins, Taylor 1 ; Bault, Christian 1
HBP: Gora, Eli 1 ; Bault, Christian 1
