Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
2-2
Evansville
0-5
Pitching Shines in Eastern Michigan's 5-2 victory over Evansville
2/24/2023 7:12:00 PM | Baseball
Josh Kross led the offense, going 2-for-3 with his first career homer
EVANSVILLE, Ind. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University baseball team strung together five runs on eight hits to defeat the University of Evansville in a 5-2 decision, today, Feb. 24, on German American Bank Field at Charles H. Braun Stadium.
With the win, Eastern (2-2, 0-0 MAC) picked up its second victory of the season and second straight win. Meanwhile, Evansville (0-5, 0-0 MVC) is left searching for its first victory of the new campaign. Today's victory marks consecutive wins for the Eagles for the first time in 2023, and the first time overall since it defeated Northern Illinois University in both games of a doubleheader, May 8, 2022.
Senior Luke Russo (Howell, Mich.-Howell) came on in relief and collected six strikeouts en route to the win on the mound. Graduate student Thomas House (Ross, Ohio-Ross) started the game and fanned five to help propel the Eagles past the Purple Aces.
In addition to his six strikeouts, Russo (1-0) tossed 4.1 no-hit innings. House's five strikeouts came in addition to his 4.2 innings of two-run ball where he allowed three hits while walking two.
In the batter's box, the Eagles were paced by sophomore Josh Kross (Brunswick, Ohio-Brunswick-Toledo), who went 2-for-3 on the day with a home run, a walk and two RBIs. Graduate student Matt Kirk (Milford, Ohio, Milford-Cypress-Toledo) compiled a standout day at the plate as well, going 2-for-4 with a double, a walk and an RBI. Junior Logan Milene (Rochester, Minn.-Rochester Century-North Iowa Area C.C.) also chipped in for the Eagles offense, putting together one hit in two trips to the plate while adding a double, a walk and an RBI.
How it Happened
The Eagles put numbers on the board first with an RBI double from Milene who pushed a run across with two outs in the second inning.
The Purple Aces responded in the second half of the inning with a single through the left side that would eventually score one from third base. A fly out in foul ball territory retired the inning with the score knotted at 1-1. Then in the fifth, Eastern Michigan plated two runs off of Evansville pitching, punctuated by a run-scoring double off the bat of Kirk, which brought the Eagles lead to 3-2.
The Green and White held Evansville without a run before building its lead to 5-2 in the eighth inning. The Eagles added two to their tallies on Kross' two-run homer to right field.
The score remained 5-2 for the rest of the game, as Eastern Michigan held on for the win.
Game Notes
» Milene made his first start for the Green and White in today's contest. By way of North Iowa Area C.C., Milene doubled to deep left-center in the top half of the second inning to score Kross and put the Eagles on the board first. The extra-base hit and RBI both mark as Milene's firsts as an Eagle. Milene continued his stellar EMU debut with a stolen base and scoring a run in the top of the fifth inning.
» Eastern Michigan scored in the top half of the second inning of today's contest to go ahead, 1-0. Eastern Michigan has scored first in each game it has played in this season. It marks the first time EMU has scored first in four consecutive games since the 2011 season. Additionally, it is the first four-game stretch securing the first run of a game for EMU at any point since the 2021 season, when it did so in five straight games between April 18-May 7, against Ball State University (one game), St. Bonaventure (one game), the University of Toledo (one game), and Bowling Green State University (two games).
» Kirk continued to display his extra-base power in today's contest. The Milford, Ohio. native knocked a double to the right field gap in the top half of the fifth inning, scoring Milene. The double marked Kirk's second of the year and extended his team-high in hits this season to six. After finishing the 2022 campaign tied for the Division-I lead in two-baggers (25), Kirk is currently tied with teammate Taylor Hopkins (Mason, Ohio-Archbishop Moeller) for the most doubles on the team with two.
» House was impressive in his second start of the 2023 season, his 23rd career starting effort. The graduate student went 4.2 innings, striking out a season-high five batters while allowing just two earned runs on three hits before being relieved by Russo in the bottom of the fifth inning.
» Kross smashed the first homer of his career in today's victory in the top of the eighth inning. The homer goes down as a two-run shot, increasing Kross' RBI total to five this season, good enough for second-highest on the team behind only Hopkins (8).
» Eastern Michigan's superb pitching was on full display this afternoon as the EMU pitching staff combined for a total of 11 strikeouts, the most of the 2023 season. Furthermore, Russo came in to relieve House in the bottom half of the fifth inning and retired six Purple Aces via strikeouts. The six punchouts are good for third most in Russo's career and are the most strikeouts thrown in relief by an Eastern Michigan pitcher since former Eagle Frankie Volkers sat down six against Northern Illinois University, May 8, 2022.
» Kross and junior Darren Kraft (Mount Pleasant, S.C.-Oceanside Collegiate Academy) executed exemplary all-around offense in the 5-2 win. The two notched at least one run, one hit, one RBI, and one walk this afternoon. The two join Hopkins as the only EMU batters to stuff the offensive stat sheet with at least one of each in the 2023 regular season.
» The EMU defense allowed just two runs in the game. The two runs marked the lowest run total given up this season and the fewest since the Green and White allowed a single run in a 5-1 win over Alma College, April 27, 2022.
» The Eagles outhit the Purple Aces at an 8-3 clip. It marked the first time this season the Green and White has outhit its opponent and the first since March 21, 2022 when EMU produced 18 hits over Kent State University's 10 in the 15-8 victory for Eastern. Last season, the team out-hit its foe in 20 games going 16-4 in said contests.
Historical Notes
» Today's victory marks Eastern Michigan's first win over Evansville. Prior to today's matchup, the teams had met just once, a 10-2 decision in favor of the Purple Aces, March 6, 1999.
» With the win, Eastern (2-2, 0-0 MAC) picked up its second victory of the season and second straight win. Meanwhile, Evansville (0-5, 0-0 MVC) is left searching for its first victory of the new campaign. Today's victory marks consecutive wins for the Eagles for the first time in 2023, and the first time overall since it defeated Northern Illinois University in both games of a doubleheader, May 8, 2022.
Up Next
Eastern Michigan will return to action tomorrow, Feb. 25, for game two of its three-game set against the Purple Aces. First pitch is slated for 2 p.m. CT, 3 p.m. ET. The game will be aired on ESPN3.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Russo, Luke (1-0)
L: Nick Smith (0-2)
Batting:
2B: Kirk, Matt 1 ; Milene, Logan 1
HR: Kross, Josh 1
RBI: Kirk, Matt 1 ; Kraft, Darren 1 ; Kross, Josh 2 ; Milene, Logan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kirk, Matt 1 ; Hopkins, Taylor 1 ; Kross, Josh 2 ; Milene, Logan 1
SB: Kraft, Darren 1 ; Milene, Logan 1 ; Taylor, Cory 1
CS: Miller, Glenn 1
HBP: Miller, Glenn 1
Batting:
2B: Ben Stuart 1
RBI: Danny Borgstrom 1 ; Ben Stuart 1
SH: Ty Rumsey 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Brent Widder 2
