Kirk's Walk-Off Grand Slam Lifts Baseball Past Toledo, 12-11

Matt_Kirk Walk-Off Grand Slam | Re-Watch the Complete Game

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University baseball team rallied to score six in the ninth inning and walked it off on graduate student Matt Kirk's (Milford,Ohio-Milford-Cypress-Toledo) walk off grand slam to pick up the 12-11 victory over the University of Toledo Rockets Sunday, April 23, inside Oestrike Stadium.

Junior Joe Grassi (Holidaysburg, Pa.-Holidaysburg Area-Harford C.C.) (1-0) picked up the victory out of the bullpen for Eastern Michigan (17-21, 7-14 MAC). The left hander went 0.1 shutout innings without giving up a hit, allowing no walks and striking out one. Senior Tyler Helgeson (Portage, Mich.-Portage Northern) also made an impact on the mound for the Eagles, throwing one scoreless inning while allowing no hits.

In the batter's box, the Eagles were paced by Kirk, who went 3-for-6 on the day with a double, two home runs and six RBIs. Sophomore Josh Kross (Brunswick, Ohio-Brunswick-Toledo) compiled a noteworthy day at the dish as well, going 1-for-3 with a home run, two walks and two RBIs. Senior Blake McRae (Armada, Mich.-Lansing C.C.) also chipped in for Eastern Michigan, putting together four hits in five trips to the plate while adding an RBI.

How it Happened
The Eagles got the scoring started early, putting two runs on the board in the bottom the first inning with the game still scoreless. Eastern Michigan plated two runs when Kross left the yard with senior Glenn Miller (Pentwater, Mich.-Pentwater-Spring Arbor) aboard.

The Eagles then held the Rockets scoreless before getting back on the board the very next inning. Senior Aaron Dolney (Plymouth, Mich.-Detroit Country Day-Nebraska-Hillsborough C.C.) came across to score the lone run of the inning for Eastern Michigan, which brought the Eagles lead to 3-0.

Eastern Michigan kept Toledo without a run before building their lead to 5-0 the following inning. The Eagles added two to their tally on Kirk's two-run homer to right.

Eastern Michigan surrendered the lead they built in the third, but got back on the scoreboard in the seventh trailing 7-5. The Eagles scored once on an RBI single off the bat of junior Darren Kraft (Mount Pleasant, S.C.-Oceanside Collegiate Academy), bringing the score to 7-6 in favor of Toledo.

Toledo extended their lead to 11-6 before Eastern Michigan rallied to score six times in the bottom half of the ninth to claim victory, walking it off on Kirk's grand slam off of Pijaszek.

Game Notes
» Kross got the offense going early for Eastern Michigan, hitting a two-run home run to right field to give the Eagles a 2-0 lead after one inning. The home run was the switch hitters' 11th of the year, ranking first on the team and fourth in the Mid-American Conference. The first baseman finished the day with two RBIs for his 15th multi-RBI outing of the season. Lastly, the Brunswick, Ohio native was walked twice in today's contest, marking the first time he has been issued multiple walks in a single game in his career.
» EMU scored the first two runs of the game in the first inning after Kross sent one over the wall for a two-run homerun. Eastern has gone 10-9 when scoring first. The last time the Eagles won a game after scoring first was on April 11, 2023, when they defeated Western Michigan University, 21-5.
» Dolney had his eyes peeled behind the plate Sunday afternoon as he caught a Rocket batter attempting to steal during the game. Dolney's assist in the top of the third was the 16th time he has caught a runner stealing this season, ranking first on Eastern Michigan and tying him for first in the MAC.
» Logan Hugo (Essexville, Mich.-Essexville Garber) grounded into a fielder's choice in the bottom of the second inning to drive in a run for Eastern Michigan. The sophomore now has 15 RBIs on the season. He had 20 RBIs in the 2022 season. The center fielder hit a blooper to shallow right field, scoring Dolney and bringing his RBI total to 16 on the season. Sunday afternoon also marked Hugo's seventh multi-hit game of the season, and his fourth multi-RBI performance.
» Kirk sent a no-doubter to right field to give the Eagles a five-run lead in the bottom of the third. The left fielder now has eight home runs in the 2023 season. With a homer in yesterday's game as well, Kirk has notched a home run in consecutive games for the first time in the 2023 season. This marks the first time Kirk has gone deep in back-to-back games since he accomplished the feat last season versus Central Michigan University (May 15, 2022) and Kent State University (May 19, 2022). Kirk capped off his day with a no doubt walk-off grand slam to capture the win for the Eagles, 12-11. The EMU slugger finished the day with six RBIs, tying a season high for the Eagles as a team and setting a career high for the Milford, Ohio native. Furthermore, with two homers today, Kirk tallied his second multi-homer day of the season as he also sent two over the wall March 11, in an 8-3 win over Akron.
» McRae hit a single to the right side of the diamond in the bottom of the second, as well as hitting another single, recording his second multi-hit game this season. The last time he achieved this was on March 19, 2023, when he went 2-for-5 against Western Michigan University. McRae continued his hot hitting with two more singles throughout the game, making today the Armada, Mich. native's first four hit game. This also marks the Eagles second consecutive four hit performance as Kirk also had four hits yesterday, in a 10-9 loss to Toledo. Finally, the 6-foot-1 outfielder captured the third RBI of his Eastern Michigan career with his fourth single of the game down the right field line to score Kraft.
» Cooper Vance (New Waterford, Ohio-Mohawk) recorded a double in the bottom of the sixth inning, marking the first time the freshman has tallied an extra-base-hit in consecutive games in his collegiate career.
» Kraft singled through the left side of the infield in the bottom of the seventh inning, scoring Kross. The RBI goes down as the 23rd driven in on the season for Kraft. Additionally, Kraft ended the series tallying five total RBIs in the three-game set.
» Hopkins recorded two walks for Eastern Michigan in Sunday afternoon's game. This is the first time this season the shortstop has had multiple walks in a game this season, marking the 11th time the Mason, Ohio native has been issued multiple walks in his career.
» Eastern Michigan was seeing the ball well Sunday afternoon. The Eagles tied a season high as they were issued eight walks throughout the contest.
» Eastern Michigan scored 12 runs in the win against Toledo. It is the ninth time this season the Eagles have scored double-digit runs. EMU possess a record of 8-1 in those games. Moreover, the Eagles scored 10 or more runs in 10 games in 2022, producing a record of 9-1.
» Eastern Michigan as a team hit three home runs in the win against Toledo, April 23. It is the eighth time this season in which the Eagles have hit three or more home runs in a game this season. The team has a record of 7-1 in those games.

Historical Notes
» Sunday afternoon's matinee matchup marks the 173rd all-time matchup between Eastern Michigan and Toledo. With today's walk-off win, the Eagles hold a 101-72 record when facing the Rockets.
» Kirk's walk off grand slam marks the first walk off home run for the Eagles since Hopkins walked it off to win 5-4 versus Kent State University, May 28, 2021.
» McRae recorded four hits in Sunday afternoon's win after Kirk tallied four knocks in yesterday's 11-10 loss. This marks the first time the Eagles have had four hits from any two individual players in consecutive games since former Eagle Max Schuemann recorded back-to-back games with four hits each to start the 2018 season, Feb. 16, 2018, in doubleheader action versus Florida Gulf Coast University.

Up Next
This Tuesday, April 25, the Eagles will head downtown Detroit to Comerica Park, for a one and done game versus the Scots of Alma College at 6:30 p.m. The game can be streamed live on emueagles.com/watch. Fans can attend in person for a $10 general admission fee.

Kirk's Walk-Off Grand Slam Lifts Baseball Past Toledo, 12-11

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Team Stats

Blake McRae

Matt Kirk

Logan Hugo

Josh Kross

Players Mentioned

Joe Grassi

Logan Hugo

Matt Kirk

Darren Kraft

Blake McRae

Glenn Miller

Cooper Vance

Players Mentioned

Joe Grassi

Logan Hugo

Matt Kirk

Darren Kraft

Blake McRae

Glenn Miller

Cooper Vance

Eastern Michigan Athletics