Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
13-15, 0
Miami
9-24, 0
Russo's 9-Strikeout Performance Leads Eastern Michigan Past Miami, 8-1
4/9/2023 3:44:00 PM | Baseball
Kraft tallied a career-high four RBIs, Eagles fall 2-1 in the series to the RedHawks
Re-Watch the Game | 8th Inning Web Gem by Jefferies.
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- Senior Luke Russo (Howell, Mich.-Howell) was mowing people down on Sunday, April 9 fanning nine Miami University hitters over seven innings of work to help power the Eastern Michigan University Eagles past the RedHawks in an 8-1 decision at Oestrike Stadium.
In addition to his nine strikeouts, Russo (4-1) tossed seven innings, giving up one run on two hits and walking one for Eastern Michigan (13-15). Junior Jagger Jefferis (Barnesville, Ohio-Barnesville-Bryant & Stratton C.C.) also made an impact on the mound for the Eagles, throwing two shutout innings while allowing three hits, with one walk and four strikeouts.
Senior Glenn Miller (Pentwater, Mich.-Pentwater-Spring Arbor) led the way offensively for the Eagles, going 3-for-5 in the ballgame with a double, a home run and an RBI. Junior Darren Kraft (Mount Pleasant, S.C.-Oceanside Collegiate Academy) furnished a standout performance at the plate as well, going 2-for-3 with a walk and four RBI. Sophomore Josh Kross (Brunswick, Ohio-Brunswick-Toledo) also contributed, going 1-for-5 for the Green and White with two RBIs.
How it Happened
Trailing 1-0, the Eagles first put runs on the board in the second inning. Eastern Michigan got an RBI single from Kraft, scoring graduate student Kyle Schroedle (Redding, Calif.-University Prep-Crown College) from second base.
The score stayed at 1-1 until the fourth inning, when the Eagles put numbers on the scoreboard once again. The EMU offense exploded for six runs, highlighted by a three-run single off the bat of Kraft and a two-run single from Kross, which brought the score to 7-1 in favor of the Eagles.
Eastern Michigan kept Miami scoreless before building their lead to 8-1 the following inning. The Eagles added a run on Miller's leadoff home run off sophomore Patrick Mastrian. The score remained 8-1 for the rest of the game, as Eastern Michigan coasted to the win.
Game Notes
» Russo got the ball for Eastern Michigan to start the game, striking out nine batters, which sets a new season-high for an Eagle's pitcher. As a result, he has now surpassed the 50 strikeout mark on the season. He is the first Eagle pitcher to tally 50 strikeouts in the 2023 season. Three Eagle pitchers did this in the 2022 season with Thomas House (Ross, Ohio.-Ross), Adam Falinski (Howell, Mich-Detroit Catholic Central-Ashland), and former Eagle Zach Fruit all accomplishing the feat in the same campaign.
» Eastern Michigan saw some offense from Kraft who had an RBI single to get Eastern Michigan on the board in the bottom of the second inning. The RBI was Kraft's ninth on the season. In addition, Kraft had a base hit in the fourth inning, scoring three runs for the Eagles. The 6-foot-1 junior finished the day going 2-for-3 at the plate with a walk, run scored, and four RBIs. Additionally, Kraft's four RBIs Sunday afternoon mark a new career high for the Mount Pleasant, S.C., native.
» Miller recorded his eighth extra base-hit on the season with a double down the right field line. The senior had just six extra base-hits in the 2022 season. Miller would also follow this up by hitting a home run in the bottom of the fifth. He now has two home runs on the season. The Pentwater, Mich. native had just two home runs in his entire Spring Arbor career. Furthermore, the senior finished the day with a 3-for-5 performance at the dish, marking the third time the third baseman has tallied a three-hit game in his EMU career. Miller now joins Kross and Kirk as the only EMU batters to tally a three-hit game this season.
» Kross recorded a two-RBI single to give the Eagles a 7-1 lead in the bottom of the fifth. Kross has a team leading 29 RBIs for the 2023 season. With today's performance, Kross now has a team-high nine games with multiple runs driven in.
» Schroedle recorded three walks in the win against Miami. The three walks are tied for a team-high this season as Matt Kirk (Milford, Ohio-Milford(Cypress Toledo) was also walked three times in a 9-7 loss to the University of Evansville, Feb. 27.
» Making his second straight start behind the plate, Ryan Lux (Shelby Twp, Mich.-Stevenson) got on base twice for Eastern Michigan, drawing two walks. It is the third time this year Lux has drawn multiple walks this season and career, also doing so Feb. 25, in a 9-7 loss to Evansville.
» The Green and White had five players record multiple hits in a game in Taylor, Kirk, Miller, Kraft, and Hugo. This marks the first game where the Eagles have had five batters each with multiple hits since they accomplished the feat in a 9-7 loss to Butler University, March 21.
» Logan Hugo (Essexville, Mich.-Essexville Garber) tallied his second multi-hit game of the 2023 season by going 2-for-4 in Sunday afternoon's victory. This marks the sophomore's ninth time notching multiple hits in a single game in his collegiate career.
» Kirk recorded two hits in the win for Eastern Michigan against Miami. With the two hits, Kirk has had 12 multi-hit games in this season, putting him two behind the team leader, Kross (14). In addition, Kirk had 23 multi-hit games in all of 2022.
» The Eagles saw another impressive offensive game from Cory Taylor (Shelbyville, Ind.-Shelbyville) recording two hits and driving in one run for Eastern Michigan. The Indiana product now has seven multi-hit games in the 2023 campaign, after having just two in the 2022 season.
Historical Notes
» Sunday afternoon's contest was the 134th all-time meeting for Eastern Michigan against the Miami RedHawks. After today's Eagles' victory, the all-time record for EMU versus the RedHawks now sits at 64-66.
Up Next
The Eagles will hit the road for a one-game road trip against Western Michigan, in the first game of a two-game series, Tuesday April 11. First pitch is slated for 3:05 p.m. Fans can also follow @EMU_Baseball on twitter for game updates.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Russo, Luke (4-1)
L: Zach Maxey (2-6)
Batting:
3B: Brian Zapp 1
RBI: Cooper Weiss 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Brian Zapp 1
HBP: Zach MacDonald 1 ; Tommy Harrison 1
Batting:
2B: Miller, Glenn 1
HR: Miller, Glenn 1
RBI: Taylor, Cory 1 ; Kross, Josh 2 ; Miller, Glenn 1 ; Kraft, Darren 4
Base Running:
RUNS: Taylor, Cory 1 ; Kirk, Matt 1 ; Miller, Glenn 2 ; Schroedle, Kyle 2 ; Lux, Ryan 1 ; Kraft, Darren 1
SB: Kirk, Matt 1 ; Schroedle, Kyle 1
