Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
15-15
.png&width=60&height=60&type=webp)
Western Michigan
9-22
Baseball Breaks Through Late Tie For 13-10 Win Against Western Michigan
4/12/2023 9:00:00 PM | Baseball
Kross went 3-for-5 with three runs scored, two homers, and four RBIs
Re-Watch the Game.
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University Baseball team broke through after a 9-9 tie in the sixth inning to take down the Western Michigan University Broncos 13-10, Wednesday, April 12, inside Oestrike Stadium.
Senior Zach Gillig (Valley Center, Kan.-Valley Center-Friends University-Pratt C.C.) (1-1) picked up the victory out of the bullpen for Eastern Michigan (15-15, 5-10 MAC). The right-hander went 3.2 innings, giving up two runs, both of them earned, on six hits, allowing no walks and striking out six.
In the batter's box, the Eagles were led by sophomore Josh Kross (Brunswick, Ohio.-Brunswick-Toledo), who went 3-for-5 on the day with two home runs and four RBI. Senior Taylor Hopkins (Mason, Ohio.-Archbishop Moeller) put together a noteworthy effort as well, going 3-for-4 with a home run, a walk and two RBI. Senior Aaron Dolney (Plymouth, Mich.-Detroit Country Day-Nebraska-Hillsborough C.C.) also chipped in for Eastern Michigan, putting together one hit in three trips to the plate while adding a walk and two RBI.
How it Happened
The Eagles were trailing 2-0 in the third inning when they first put runs on the board. Eastern Michigan's offense started clicking and put up four runs, including a two-run home run off the bat of Hopkins.
After the Broncos rallied to tie the ballgame at four, the Eagles came back to retake the lead in the fifth inning. The Eastern Michigan offense exploded for five runs, highlighted by a two-run single off the bat of junior Cory Taylor (Shelbyville, Ind.-Shelbyville) and a two-run single from Kross, which brought the score to 9-4 in favor of the Eagles.
Western Michigan came back to even the ballgame at nine before Eastern Michigan reclaimed a 12-9 advantage in the seventh inning. The Eagles notched three runs in the frame, two of them coming across on a two-run single off the bat of Dolney.
Eastern Michigan held the Broncos scoreless before their offense got in gear the next inning. The Eagles added a run on Kross' one-out solo home run off junior Josh Swinehart, bringing the Eastern Michigan advantage to 13-9. Western Michigan put one run on the scoreboard before the game was over, but the Eagles still held on for the 13-10 win.
Game Notes
» Hopkins got the Eagles offense humming in the bottom of the third with a two-run shot to right-center field in the bottom of the third inning to score Glenn Miller (Pentwater, Mich.-Pentwater-Spring Arbor). The homer goes down as Hopkins' seventh of the season, and brings his RBI total up to 29 on the season. Additionally, Hopkins had seven homers the entirety of the 2022 season, meanwhile it took the Mason, Ohio. native just 30 games this season to reach the seven home run mark this season.
» Matt Kirk (Milford, Ohio.-Milford-Cypress-Toledo) sent a soft single to second base, advancing two Eastern Michigan runners and scoring Dolney. This marks the graduate student's 40th hit of the season, along with the 23rd RBI of the 2023 campaign.
» In the first start of his Eastern Michigan career, Dylan Wolff (Joliet, Ill.-Joliet West-Kankakee C.C.) pitched 4.0 innings and tied his EMU career-high with three strikeouts. Moreover, the 6-foot-3 right hander has tallied at least three strikeouts in four of his last three appearances.
» Kross singled through the right side to score Miller and Logan Hugo (Essexville, Mich.-Essexville Garber) in the bottom of the fifth. Finishing the day 3-for-5 at the plate, Kross crushed two solo home runs with one each coming in the seventh and eighth inning. This marks the first baseman's first collegiate game with multiple home runs, joining Kirk, Hopkins, Dolney, and Darren Kraft (Mount Pleasant, S.C.-Oceanside Collegiate Academy) as the only Eagles to reach the multi-homer mark in a single game this season. The sophomore increased his team lead in hits to 44 and RBIs to 35. Lastly, this marks the Brunswick, Ohio. native's second game with four RBIs this season, and his 11th overall game with multiple runs driven in, the most on the team.
» Following up Kross, Taylor rifled a groundball through the middle of the infield to score Hopkins and Kross, this brings the Shelbyville, Ind. native up to 29 hits and 20 RBIs this season. Finishing the day with two RBIs, Taylor now has an RBI in two of his last three games.
» Hugo scored two runs in Wednesday night's contest, marking the first time in the sophomore's career where he has scored multiple runs in consecutive games as the Essexville, Mich. native also crossed home plate twice in a 21-5 routing of Western Michigan, April 11.
» Dolney singled up the middle in the bottom of the seventh to score two Eastern Michigan runners. After a career-high six RBIs in yesterday's 21-5 win over the Broncos, Dolney now has multiple RBIs in consecutive games for the first time in his Eastern Michigan career.
» Zach Gillig came in to pitch for the Eagles in the top of the sixth inning, and proceed to throw a career high six strikeouts in his 3.2 innings of work.
» The Eagles pushed across 13 runs in Wednesday night's contest, marking the seventh time this season the Green and White have scored double digit runs in a single game, with 12 runs driven in tonight, the Eagles have also notched double digit RBIs for the seventh time this season.
Historical Notes
»Today's meeting marked the 192nd all-time meeting between the Eagles and Broncos, with today's win, Eastern holds a 95-97 record in the series.
Up Next
Eastern Michigan will head down to Ohio for a three-game weekend series versus Bowling Green State University, Friday-Sunday, April 14-16. The first game is slated to start at 3 p.m., April 14. Follow @EMU_Baseball on Twitter for live in-game updates.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Gillig, Zach (1-1)
L: WATT, Ryan (0-3)
.png&width=32&height=32&type=webp)
Batting:
2B: MEE, Grady 1 ; SULLIVAN, Cade 1 ; KITCHEN, Jackson 1
HR: SWINEHART, Josh 1
RBI: MEE, Grady 1 ; SULLIVAN, Cade 1 ; NEVAR, Dylan 1 ; SWINEHART, Josh 2 ; KITCHEN, Jackson 1
Base Running:
RUNS: MORRISON, Will 1 ; ALLEN, Jimmy 2 ; SULLIVAN, Cade 2 ; DOYLE, Gavin 3 ; SWINEHART, Josh 1 ; KITCHEN, Jackson 1
SB: MORRISON, Will 1 ; DOYLE, Gavin 1
HBP: CAMPOS, Ben 1
Batting:
HR: Kross, Josh 2 ; Hopkins, Taylor 1
RBI: Kirk, Matt 1 ; Kross, Josh 4 ; Hopkins, Taylor 2 ; Schroedle, Kyle 1 ; Taylor, Cory 2 ; Dolney, Aaron 2
SH: Taylor, Cory 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Miller, Glenn 2 ; Kirk, Matt 1 ; Kross, Josh 3 ; Hopkins, Taylor 3 ; Wilcox, Cole 1 ; Dolney, Aaron 1 ; Hugo, Logan 2
SB: Hopkins, Taylor 1 ; Taylor, Cory 1 ; Dolney, Aaron 1
HBP: Miller, Glenn 1 ; Kirk, Matt 1 ; Hugo, Logan 1
