Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
12-13
Akron
12-16
Schroedle and Kraft shine in Eastern Michigan's 9-2 win over Akron
4/4/2023 6:54:00 PM | Baseball
The duo combined to go 6-for-8 at the dish in the win
AKRON, Ohio. (EMUEagles.com) -- Junior Darren Kraft (Mount Pleasant, S.C.-Oceanside Collegiate Academy) and graduate student Kyle Schroedle (Redding, Calif.-University Prep-Crown College) each collected three hits to help power the Eastern Michigan University baseball team past the University of Akron Zips, 9-2, Tuesday, April 4.
Freshman Sam Reed (Carmel, Ind.-Brebeuf Jesuit Prep) started on the mound and picked up the win for Eastern Michigan (12-13, 4-8 MAC). The southpaw went 7.2 innings, giving up two runs, both of them earned, on six hits, allowing no walks and striking out three. Junior Dylan Wolff (Joliet, Ill.-Joliet West-Kankakee C.C.) also made an impact on the mound for the Eagles, throwing 1.1 shutout innings while allowing one hit, with one walk and three strikeouts.
In addition to his three hits, Schroedle had two doubles to lead the Eagles. Kraft added a home run and two RBIs to his three-hit performance as well. Senior Aaron Dolney (Plymouth, Mich.-Detroit Country Day-Nebraska-Hillsborough C.C.) also helped out for Eastern Michigan, putting together two hits in three trips to the plate while adding a home run, a walk and two RBIs.
How it Happened
Trailing 1-0, the Eagles first put runs on the board in the fourth inning. Schroedle came across to score the lone run of the inning for Eastern Michigan and get it on the board.
The Zips then scored one run to retake their advantage heading into the fifth inning, when the Eagles responded by getting back on the scoreboard themselves. Dolney came across to score the lone run of the inning for Eastern Michigan, which evened the score at 2-2.
That 2-2 tie turned into a 5-2 Eastern Michigan lead in the sixth. The Eagles picked up three runs in the frame, two of them coming across on a two-run homer from Dolney.
Eastern Michigan kept the Zips scoreless before building on their lead in the eighth inning. The Eagles scored twice on Kraft's two-run homer, bringing the score to 7-2 in favor of Eastern Michigan.
The Eagles held Akron off the scoreboard before expanding their lead to 9-2 the following inning. Eastern Michigan brought home a pair, with one run driven in by senior Taylor Hopkins' (Mason, Ohio.-Archbishop Moeller) single. The score remained 9-2 for the rest of the game, as the Eagles coasted to the win.
Game Notes
» Schroedle paced the Eagles offensively in Tuesday afternoon's contest. The EMU newcomer batted 3-for-4 at the plate, including two doubles, and scoring two runs. Schroedle now joins Matt Kirk (Milford, Ohio.-Cypress-Toledo) and Logan Milene (Rochester, Minn.-Rochester Century-North Iowa Area C.C.) as the only Eagles to knock two doubles in a single game this season. With his hits today, the Redding, Calif. native now claims the longest current hitting streak of his EMU career with a hit in five straight. Moreover, the 6-foot-3 outfielder has notched a double in consecutive games for the first time in his EMU career and has three two-baggers over his last two games.
» Dolney continued his hot streak at the dish this afternoon as the senior batted 2-for-3 with a home run in the top-half of the sixth inning, scoring himself and Kraft, marking the Detroit Country Day alum's third longball in his last four games.
» Kraft joins Dolney in swinging a hot bat for the Eagles as of late. The 6-foot-1 infielder sent the first home run of his career over the fences of Skeeles Field in the top of the eighth inning, putting the Green and White up, 7-2. Kraft finished the day batting a clean 3-for-4 with a homer, two RBIs and two runs scored, to mark the first three-hit day of the junior's career. Lastly, with his hits, today, the Mount Pleasant, S.C. native extended his career-long hit streak to three straight games.
» Cory Taylor (Shelbyville, Ind.-Shelbyville) added a hit, one run scored, and two RBIs. The RBIs go down as his 14 and 15 of the 2023 season, bringing the Shelbyville, Ind. native's career total to 20 runs driven in.
» Kirk contributed with two hits, one of which being a double, a run scored and an RBI. Kirk remains atop the Mid-American Conference rankings in doubles with 14 on the year, which is also good enough for sixth in all Division I.
» With a single down the left-field line in the top-half of the ninth inning, Evan Sines (Lancaster, Ohio.-Lancaster) tallied his first hit and run scored of the 2023 campaign.
» The Eagles outhit their opponent for the 12th time this season by notching 14 hits in Tuesday's contest as opposed to Akron's seven. This brings EMU's record to 7-5 on the 2023 campaign when they out-hit their opponent.
» Kirk and junior Cole Wilcox (Shiocton, Wisc.-Shiocton-Lake County) were kept busy in the outfield during Tuesday afternoon's win as the pair each set a new career-high in putouts with six for Kirk and five for Wilcox, respectively.
» Sophomore Logan Hugo (Essexville, Mich.-Essexville Garber) would pinch hit for Wilcox in the top of the eighth and proceed to drill a single to center-field, marking his 11 hit of the season and 41 overall in the Essexville, Mich. native's career.
» Eastern Michigan pitching proved hard to hit today as the Eagles gave up just two runs for the second time this season, their second lowest total of the 2023 regular-season. The Eagles lowest number of runs given up this season is zero when they shutout Towson, 9-0, in the first game of a doubleheader, March 4.
» Coming in to relieve Reed in the bottom of the eighth inning, Wolff cruised through the remaining four outs need to close out the game. Wolff tied a season low in runs (0) while also tying for his season-high in strikeouts (3). The 6-foot-3 right-hander also relinquished no runs in 4.2 innings of work in an 11-6 win over Towson University, March 5, and struck out three in his last appearance, a 16-5 loss to Ball State University.
Historical Notes
» Reed had a career and season long stint on the hill today both for himself and Eastern Michigan as a team. The freshman left-hander pitched 7.2 innings, giving up just two runs on six hits while striking out three Akron batters. 7.2 innings is the longest an EMU starter has gone in a game since former Eagle Luke McGuire gave up just one run on three hits in 8.0 innings of work in a 2-1 loss to Ohio University, April 10, 2021.
» Tuesday afternoon's victory granted Eastern Michigan their third win over the Zips in the 2023 campaign and brought the all-time series record for the Eagles versus the Zips to 24-18. Additionally, with today's win, EMU has emerged victorious in their last 7-of-10 games versus Akron.
Up Next
After Tuesday's contest, the Eagles will return home to Oestrike Stadium for their second homer series of the 2023 season. This time, to take on the Miami University RedHawks. The series will be a three-game set, April 7-9, with the first game slated to begin Friday at 3:00 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Reed, Sam (0-0)
L: BIGLIN, B (0-0)
Batting:
2B: Kirk, Matt 1 ; Schroedle, Kyle 2
HR: Kraft, Darren 1 ; Dolney, Aaron 1
RBI: Kirk, Matt 1 ; Hopkins, Taylor 1 ; Taylor, Cory 2 ; Kraft, Darren 2 ; Dolney, Aaron 2
SH: Miller, Glenn 1 ; Wilcox, Cole 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Sines, Evan 1 ; Kirk, Matt 1 ; Schroedle, Kyle 2 ; Taylor, Cory 1 ; Kraft, Darren 2 ; Dolney, Aaron 2
CS: Schroedle, Kyle 1
HBP: Schroedle, Kyle 1
Batting:
3B: SEEKER, S. 1
HR: SEEKER, S. 1
RBI: SEEKER, S. 1 ; PENNINGTON 1
SF: PENNINGTON 1
Base Running:
RUNS: SEEKER, S. 2
HBP: HORVATH, A 1
