Kraft Homers Twice in Eastern Michigan's 21-5 victory over Western Michigan

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- Junior Darren Kraft (Mount Pleasant, S.C.-Oceanside Collegiate Academy) put together an outstanding outing at the plate Tuesday, April 11 hitting two homers to help propel the Eastern Michigan University Eagles over the Western Michigan University Broncos, 21-5.

Freshman Sam Reed (Carmel, Ind.-Brebeuf Jesuit Prep) (2-2) started on the mound and picked up the win for Eastern Michigan (14-15, 5-10 MAC). The southpaw went four innings, giving up two runs, both of them earned, on two hits, allowing five walks and striking out seven.

Kraft went 3-for-4 at the plate, supplementing his two home runs with four RBIs. Sophomore Logan Hugo (Essexville, Mich.-Essexville Garber) added to Kraft's power-hitting performance by going 2-for-4 with a triple, a home run and four RBI along with one walk. Senior Aaron Dolney (Plymouth, Mich.-Detroit Country Day-Nebraska-Hillsborough C.C.) also chipped in for the Eagles, going 2-for-2 with a home run and six RBI.

How it Happened
The Eagles scored in six different innings on the way to the win. Eastern Michigan broke a 0-0 tie and took the lead for good at 2-0 in the first inning on sophomore Josh Kross' (Brunswick, Ohio.-Brunswick-Toledo) one-out two-run home run off of sophomore Ethan Houghtaling.

Game Notes
» Kross kicked off what proved to be a big offensive day for the Green and White with a two-run home run in the top of the first inning, scoring Matt Kirk (Milford, Ohio.-Milford-Cypress-Toledo). The homer ties Kross with fellow Eagle Taylor Hopkins (Mason, Ohio.-Archbishop Moeller) for the most on the team (6). By driving in two runs in Tuesday afternoon's contest, Kross increased his team-high in RBIs to 31 on the season. Today's RBIs vault the Brunswick, Ohio. native and first year Eagle up to fourth in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) rankings in total RBIs for the 2023 campaign.
» Hugo picked up where Kross left off with a two-run shot of his own, this time to center-field. The home run scored Ryan Lux (Shelby Twp., Mich.-Stevenson), marking the second homer of the season for the sophomore outfielder, and sixth of his collegiate career. Today's performance marks the first multi-RBI game of the season for the Essexville, Mich. native, and the first since he drove in two runs in a 7-6 loss to the Michigan State University Spartans, April 20, 2022. Hugo continued his great play into the sixth inning where he would blast the first triple of his collegiate career to right-field. The sophomore outfielder would end the day with four RBIs, one off his career high as the then freshman drove in five runs in a 14-10 win over Miami University, April 10, 2022.
» Kraft had himself a day on the diamond as he notched his first multi-homer game by sending a pair of two-run shots (one each in the fourth and fifth innings) over the fences of Robert J. Bobb Stadium Tuesday afternoon. Furthermore, the Mount Pleasant, S.C. native tied a career-high in both hits (3), and RBIs (4) in Tuesday's win. Kraft has now tallied both a hit and an RBI in his previous three games, by far the most productive stint offensively for the 6-foot-1 infielder in his collegiate career.
» Hopkins doubled to left-center in the top-half of the fifth inning to score Kross, marking the senior's 12^th extra-base-hit of the season and fifth double. With the RBI, Hopkins now has 27 driven in runs in the 2023 regular-season, the RBI goes down as the 112^th in his collegiate career, the most of any current Eagle.
» With a double to right-field in the top of the fifth, Glenn Miller (Pentwater, Mich.-Pentwater-Spring Arbor) now has a double in back-to-back games for the second time in his Eastern Michigan career. The senior would finish the day going 2-for-3 at the plate, with an RBI and a double, giving the Pentwater, Mich. native his eighth double and 12^th RBI of the season.
» Kirk kicked off a massive sixth inning for the Eagles with a solo-shot to center-field. The reigning MAC Player of the Year would end the day with a 2-for-4 performance at the plate, scoring two runs and driving in one. The Milford, Ohio. native's homer goes down as his sixth of the season, tied for the team lead with Hopkins and Kross, and 23^rd of his Eastern Michigan career.
» After coming in to catch in the bottom of the fifth, Dolney singled to right-field to score Evan Sines (Lancaster, Ohio.-Lancaster) and Hopkins in the top of the sixth inning. Dolney would follow that up with a grand slam in the top of the seventh inning, scoring Kraft, Blake McRae (Armada, Mich.-Romeo-Lansing C.C.) and Sines. The homer marks Dolney's fifth this season, and 12^th of his EMU career. The Plymouth, Mich. native would end the day with a career-high in RBIs with six. Six RBIs is also the most from any individual Eagles batter in a single game this season, and the most since former Eagle Brady Huebbe also drove in six in a 15-8 win over Kent State University, May 21, 2022.
» Sines singled, scored two runs, and walked once for the Eagles in Tuesday's win. This marks the Lancaster, Ohio. native's first game scoring multiple runs in his collegiate career.
» The Eagles set season-highs in multiple offensive statistics in Tuesday afternoon's 21-5 blowout of the Broncos. EMU set a season-high in home runs (6), runs scored (21), and RBIs (19). Today's team performance marks the most home runs from the Eagles since they blasted eight in a 19-4 win over Bowling Green State University, May 1, 2022. The Green and White also had 19 RBIs in that same game versus the Falcons.
» The Green and White exploded for seven runs scored in the top-half of the sixth inning in Tuesday's win. This ties Eastern's highest scoring inning this season as the Eagles also pushed across seven runs earlier this season in their 14-3 win over the Broncos, March 19.
» EMU pitching followed suit with their offense as they allowed just four hits to the Broncos offense, one off a season-low when they gave up just three hits in a 5-2 win over the University of Evansville, Feb. 24.
» Reed continues to improve with each start as the Freshman set a career-high in strikeouts by fanning seven Broncos in Tuesday's win.

Historical Notes
» Eastern Michigan scored 21 runs in Tuesday afternoon's victory over the Broncos. This marks the most runs for the Eagles in the 2023 campaign and the most since EMU plated 23 in a 23-0 shutout of the West Virginia University Mountaineers in Morgantown, W.Va, March 10, 2010.
» Today's win marks the first game in which Eastern Michigan has hit three or more multi-run homers since May 1, 2022, when the Eagles hit five two-run blasts (and eight total home runs) against Bowling Green in a 19-4 victory.
» Today's meeting marked the 191^st all-time meeting between the Eagles and Broncos, with today's win, Eastern holds a 94-97 record in the series.

Up Next
The Eagles will make the trek back home to Ypsilanti, Mich. and prepare for the second game of the home-to-home versus the Broncos. The finale will take place tomorrow at 6 p.m. at Oestrike Stadium. Fans can tune into Eagle All-Access or tune in to @EMU_Baseball on Twitter for line in-game updates.

Kraft Homers Twice in Eastern Michigan's 21-5 victory over Western Michigan

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Team Stats

Darren Kraft

Matt Kirk

Glenn Miller

Aaron Dolney

Players Mentioned

Taylor Hopkins

Brady Huebbe

Logan Hugo

Matt Kirk

Darren Kraft

Ryan Lux

Blake McRae

Glenn Miller

Sam Reed

Evan Sines

Players Mentioned

Taylor Hopkins

Brady Huebbe

Logan Hugo

Matt Kirk

Darren Kraft

Ryan Lux

Blake McRae

Glenn Miller

Sam Reed

Evan Sines

Eastern Michigan Athletics