Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
12-17, 0
Kent State
13-15, 0
Baseball Edges Kent State, 13-12, in 11-Inning Thriller
4/6/2024 8:06:00 PM | Baseball
The Eagles have a chance to win the series tomorrow, Sunday, April 7
KENT, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University baseball team battled 11 innings, earning a hard-fought, 13-12, extra-innings victory over Kent State University Saturday, April 6, at Schoonover Stadium.
Freshman Liam Baker (Cleveland, Ohio/St. Ignatius) (2-0) got the win out of the bullpen for Eastern Michigan (12-17, 7-4 Mid-American Conference). The right-hander went a career-long 3.1 innings, giving up two runs, one earned, on two hits, allowing two walks and striking out a career-high four batters.
At the plate, the Eagles were paced by junior Brendan Kleiman (Olney, Md./Sherwood/Frederick C.C.), who tallied EMU career-highs with four hits and five RBI. Junior Giano Zuccaro (Middleburg Heights, Ohio/Berea Midpark/Charleston) compiled a noteworthy day at the plate as well, going 1-for-4 with one home run, one walk and two RBI.
Senior Cory Taylor (Shelbyville, Ind./Shelbyville) also chipped in for Eastern, putting together three hits in six trips to the plate while adding two RBI.
How it Happened
The Eagles got on the board immediately, starting their scoring with one run in the top of the first inning. Eastern scored three runs in the frame, highlighted by a two-run single off the bat of Kleiman.
The Golden Flashes failed to push any runs across before the Eagles offense got back to their scoring ways the next inning. EMU exploded for five runs, highlighted by another two-run single off the bat of Kleiman, which brought the Eagles lead to 8-0.
Kent State narrowed Eastern Michigan's lead to 8-6 before the Eagles stretched the advantage to 10-6 in the fourth inning. The Eagles added two to their tally on Zuccaro's two-run homer to right.
Eastern Michigan kept the Golden Flashes scoreless before expanding their lead in the eighth inning. The Eagles scored twice, with one run coming across on Kleiman's one-out single, bringing the Eagles' advantage to 12-6.
Kent State fired back to tie the game at 12 before the Eagles reclaimed a 13-12 advantage in the eleventh inning. Eastern Michigan scored the winning run on an RBI single off the bat of junior Lucas Johnson (Hamilton, Ontario/Westdale Secondary/Wright State).
The score remained 13-12 for the rest of the game, as the Eagles held on for their first extra-innings win of the season.
Game Notes
» With a two-RBI single to center field in the first inning, Kleiman recorded at least one hit for the 10th consecutive game, the longest streak on the team thus far. Kleiman would single again in his next at-bat, driving in two more EMU baserunners. He ended the game securing an Eastern career-high with five RBI, the most from an individual player on the Eagles this season. Additionally, finishing the day 4-for-5 at the dish, the first-year Division I player recorded his first four-hit game of the season, becoming the sixth Eagle to record four hits in the 2024 campaign.
» Scoring three runs in the first inning, the Eagles scored in the first frame for the eighth time this season. With the 13-12 win, Eastern holds a 6-2 record when scoring in the first inning and an 8-5 mark when scoring before their opponent.
» Cooper Vance (New Waterford, Ohio/Mohawk) was active on the base paths, stealing a team-high three bases for the Eagles, also tying a career-high.
» The Eastern offense started hot, putting eight runs on the board after two innings of play, marking the third time this season EMU has posted eight runs after two innings. Previously, the Eagles scored eight through the first two innings in a 16-6 win against Belmont University, Feb. 18, and a 14-4 victory over Houston Christian University, Feb. 29.
» Taylor went 3-for-6 at the plate for his third three-hit outing of the year. The senior also swiped three bags and scored four runs, both go down as a career-best.
» Zuccaro homered in the top of the fourth, marking his second home run of the season, bringing his RBI total to 17 on the season, and notching his fifth multi-RBI game as an Eagle.
» Finishing the game with 15 hits and 13 runs, Eastern notched its 16th contest with double-digit knocks and its seventh game with at least 10 runs. After the result, EMU is 6-1 when scoring in the double-digits.
» With 15 hits to Kent State's 11, EMU out-hit its opponent for the 17th time this season. Eastern is now 10-7 in such occurrences. The Eagles also tabbed their sixth game of the season with 10 or more RBI and are 5-1 when doing so this season.
» The Eagles set a season-high with nine stolen bases in the game. Eastern's nine swiped bags in the game are the most since they also stole nine in a 6-5 win against the University of Toledo, April 28, 2019. Nine stolen bases in a single game is also two off the school record (11), set in the 2015 campaign against Wayne State University.
» EMU tied a season-high with 15 hits in the contest.
» Isiah Lindsey (Nunica, Mich./Spring Lake/Lake Michigan/Lansing C.C.) provided valuable relief innings, pitching an EMU career-long 4.2 innings, allowing two runs or less for the sixth time this season.
» Capturing his second win of the season, Baker had a career-long outing of 3.1 innings on the mound, the freshman allowed just two hits and one earned run while striking out a career-high four opposing batters.
» After losing their first three one-run affairs to start the season, EMU has prevailed to win in each of its last five one-run games.
Historical Notes
» Saturday's matchup marked the 131st all-time between Eastern and Kent State. With the win, the Eagles hold a 49-82 record against the Golden Flashes.
» With Saturday's win, the Eagles have the opportunity to win the series tomorrow. A win on Sunday would mark the first series win over Kent State since the 1986 season.
» The 13-12 extra-innings victory marked the first extra-innings win in the Head Coach Robbie Britt era. Going 11 innings, the game also went down as Eastern's first 11-inning win since they topped Towson University, 11-6, in 11 frames, March 5, 2023.
Up Next
The Eagles and Golden Flashes will meet for the final game of the series tomorrow, Sunday, April 7th, at 1 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Baker, Liam (2-0)
L: Cariaco,P (1-1)
Batting:
2B: Arbogast, Aidan 1
HR: Zuccaro, Giano 1
RBI: Taylor, Cory 2 ; Zuccaro, Giano 2 ; Kleiman, Brendan 5 ; Johnson, Lucas 1 ; Vance, Cooper 1
SH: McRae, Blake 1 ; Zuccaro, Giano 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Jones, Drew 1 ; McRae, Blake 2 ; Hugo, Logan 1 ; Wilcox, Cole 1 ; Taylor, Cory 4 ; Zuccaro, Giano 1 ; Oestrike, Jad 1 ; Arbogast, Aidan 1 ; Vance, Cooper 1
SB: McRae, Blake 1 ; Hugo, Logan 1 ; Wilcox, Cole 1 ; Taylor, Cory 3 ; Vance, Cooper 3
CS: Jones, Drew 1 ; Kleiman, Brendan 1 ; Johnson, Lucas 1
Batting:
2B: Orr 1 ; Jackson,K 1 ; Casey,J 1
HR: Johnson,J 1 ; Kibler,D 1 ; Reese,R 1
RBI: Orr 3 ; Jackson,K 2 ; Johnson,J 5 ; Kibler,D 1 ; Reese,R 1
SF: Johnson,J 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Shinkle,B 2 ; Orr 2 ; Jackson,K 1 ; Johnson,J 1 ; Kibler,D 2 ; McNamara,M 1 ; Reese,R 3
SB: Jackson,K 2
CS: Macdonald,L 1 ; Jackson,K 1
HBP: Orr 1 ; Hinds 1 ; Kibler,D 1
