Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
8-4, 0
Akron
4-9, 0
Kirk homers twice in Eastern Michigan's 8-3 victory over Akron
3/11/2023 5:24:00 PM | Baseball
The Eagles and Zips close the series Sunday, March 12, at 1 p.m.
AKRON, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) –Graduate student Matt Kirk (Milford, Ohio-Cypress-Toledo) put together a brilliant showing at the plate Saturday, March 11, knocking two out of the park to help lead the Eastern Michigan University Eagles past the University of Akron Zips, in an 8-3 decision on Skeeles Field in Akron, Ohio.
Junior Adam Falinski (Howell, Mich.-Detroit Catholic Central-Ashland) (2-0) started on the mound and picked up the win for Eastern Michigan (8-4). The right-hander went four innings, giving up only two runs, both of them earned, on three hits, allowing four walks and striking out four. Junior Bobby Jones (Loveland, Ohio-St.Xavier-Xavier) also made an impact on the mound for the Eagles, throwing four innings, giving up one run on four hits, with no walks and three strikeouts.
Kirk went 3-for-5 at the plate, supplementing his two home runs with three RBIs. Junior Cory Taylor (Shelbyville, Ind.-Shelbyville) added to Kirk's impactful power-hitting performance by going 1-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs. Sophomore Josh Kross (Brunswick, Ohio-Brunswick-Toledo) also chipped in for the Eagles, going 1-for-5 with a double.
How it Happened
The Eagles got on the board immediately, starting their scoring with one run in the top of the first inning. Kirk put Eastern Michigan on the board with a one-out solo home run off Akron's Spencer Atkins.
The Green and White then held the Zips scoreless before getting back on the board the next inning. Eastern Michigan hit two home runs on the way to pushing five runs across the plate, bringing the score to 6-0 in favor of the Eagles.
Akron narrowed Eastern's lead to 6-3 before the Eagles stretched the advantage to 8-3 in the seventh inning. The score remained 8-3 for the rest of the game, as Eastern Michigan coasted to the win.
Game Notes
» Kirk and the EMU offense got off to a hot start in today's contest. With a homer in each of his first two at-bats, this marks the first multi-homer game of the 2023 campaign for the Milford, Ohio native, and the third overall of his career.
» Taylor Hopkins (Mason, Ohio-Archbishop Moeller) grounded out to shortstop in the top-half of the seventh inning, scoring Kirk and increasing the Eagles' lead to four. With the RBI, Hopkins now regains the team lead for RBIs with 15. More importantly, the RBI goes down as the 100th of Hopkins career, dating back to the 2019 season.
» It's no secret Taylor has turned an offensive corner this season, finishing the day 1-for-4 with a long-ball and three RBIs, the senior set a career in today's contest with three runs driven in. Furthermore, today's RBIs mark the third straight game with an RBI for Taylor, the second time he's accomplished the feat in his career as he also had an RBI in three straight games Feb. 26-March 4, 2023.
» Today's contest marked the fifth time Eastern Michigan managed to outhit their opponent this season. With the victory, EMU's record when they out hit their opponent now improves to 4-1 in the 2023 season.
» After pitching four innings, allowing two runs on three hits with four strikeouts, Falinski was credited with his second win of the season, improving his record to 2-0. The win also goes down as the sixth in the right-handers career.
» Trevor House (Okeana, Ohio-Ross) came in to finish the game on the mound for the Eagles. The senior struck out the side for a season high in strikeouts (3).
Historical Notes
» The Eastern Michigan offense tabbed three home runs in today's victory, the most since the Eagles rocketed eight over the wall in a 19-4 domination over Bowling Green State University, May 1, 2022.
» With today's 8-3 victory, Eastern Michigan's conference record has improved to 2-0. This marks the first time the Eagles have started conference play with two wins in the Head Coach Eric Roof era (2018-present) and the first since they won the first two of a three game set versus Bowling Green, March 24-25, 2017.
Up Next
The Eagles will go for seven straight wins and two straight series sweeps tomorrow in the series finale versus Akron at 1:05 p.m. ET.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Falinski, Adam (0-0)
L: ATKINS, Spencer (0-0)
Batting:
2B: Kross, Josh 1
HR: Kirk, Matt 2 ; Taylor, Cory 1
RBI: Kirk, Matt 3 ; Hopkins, Taylor 1 ; Milene, Logan 1 ; Taylor, Cory 3
SH: Lux, Ryan 1
SF: Milene, Logan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Miller, Glenn 1 ; Kirk, Matt 3 ; Kross, Josh 1 ; Wilcox, Cole 1 ; Lux, Ryan 1 ; Taylor, Cory 1
SB: Hugo, Logan 1 ; Wilcox, Cole 1
HBP: Wilcox, Cole 1 ; Lux, Ryan 1
Batting:
2B: FIRESTONE, Jack 1 ; HORVATH, Andy 1
3B: HARA, Kaito 1 ; SEEKER, Sam 1
RBI: HARA, Kaito 2 ; SEEKER, Sam 1
Base Running:
RUNS: FIRESTONE, Jack 1 ; PENNINGTON, Ian 2
CS: POIST, Jack 1
HBP: SEEKER, Sam 1 ; JENKINS, Caleb 1
