Kleiman Homers for Third Consecutive Game in Season Finale

DeKALB, Ill. (EMUEagles.com) – Brendan Kleiman (Olney, Md./Sherwood/Frederick C.C.) homered for the third consecutive game, becoming the only Eagle to do so in 2024 as the Eastern Michigan University baseball team fell to Northern Illinois University, 9-8, in the Eagles' season finale Saturday, May 18, at Ralph McKinzie Field.

Kleiman went 2-for-4 on the day with a home run, a walk and two RBI. Senior Cory Taylor (Shelbyville, Ind./Shelbyville) put together a standout day at the dish as well, going 3-for-4 with a double and two RBI while stealing two bases. Logan Milene (Rochester, Minn./Rochester Century/North Iowa Area C.C.) also helped out for Eastern Michigan, logging one hit while adding a walk and two RBI.

How it Happened
Trailing 1-0, the Eagles first put runs on the board in the second inning. They scored twice, taking the 2-1 lead as one run came across on Cole Wilcox's (Shiocton, Wis./Shiocton/Lake County) single.

The Huskies failed to push any runs across before the Eagles offense got back to their scoring ways the next inning. Senior Blake McRae (Armada, Mich./Romeo/Lansing C.C.) scored the lone run of the inning for Eastern Michigan off Taylor's sacrifice fly, which brought the score to 3-1 in favor of the Eagles.

Northern Illinois came back to even the ballgame at three before Eastern reclaimed a 7-3 advantage in the seventh inning. The Eagles' bats heated up in the inning, scoring four runs off two singles and two walks, capped by a one-run walk from Evan Sines (Lancaster, Ohio/Lancaster).

EMU gave up the lead it built in the seventh, but got back on the board in the ninth trailing 9-7. The Eagles pushed across a run on Kleiman's leadoff dinger, his third in the previous three games, tightening the Northern Illinois lead to 9-8.

The ballgame ended with that ninth inning rally falling short.

Game Notes
» McRae reached base for the seventh consecutive game as he logged two hits for his 20th multi-hit outing of the season, finishing as the team leader in the category. McRae drew his 32nd walk of the season, a figure that also led the Eagles this season. Both his season-long hit total (61) and walk total (32) went down as Division I career-highs for the graduate student.
» Taylor drilled three hits while driving in two runs and scoring twice himself. The contest went down as the senior's second of the year with three hits and 11th with two or more RBI. Coincidentally, Taylor finished the season with the same hit total as he did in the 2023 campaign (49), while setting a career-best and team-high 39 RBI in 43 games played for the infielder.
» Milene drove in two EMU baserunners in the game for the first time this season.
» The Eagles recorded one four-plus run inning in consecutive games for the fifth time this season, marking their 22nd time doing so in 2024.
» Kleiman homered for the third straight game for the first time in his EMU tenure, becoming the first Eagle this season to record a home run in three straight games. Kleiman finished the game with two hits, RBI, and runs, marking his 14th multi-hit outing and sixth game with two or more RBI.
» Nick Chittum (Grosse Ile, Mich./Grosse Ile) started for the 26th time in his collegiate career and pitched 7.1 innings into the contest, marking his third time eclipsing the seven-inning mark this season, the most from any EMU hurler.
» Eastern reached the double-digit hit mark for the 28th time with 10 knocks in the game.
» The Eagles swiped three bases, elevating their season total to 78, ranking second in the conference and 62nd in the nation.
» Sines posted his first RBI of the 2024 campaign as he worked his third walk in the seventh inning.
» Wilcox notched a hit, RBI, and walk for the first time this season.

Historical Notes
» EMU finished its 52 regular season games with a .300 batting average, the highest average from an Eagles' team since the 2004 squad batted .314.
» Saturday's game marked the completion of the 75th season of EMU baseball. Since 1949, the Eagles have played 3,727 games.
» Saturday's tilt marked the 140th all-time between Eastern and NIU. After the narrow loss, the Eagles remain in the series-lead as they now hold an 83-57 record against the Huskies, and a 21-18 record when playing them in DeKalb.

Follow Us
As we have arrived at the off season, be sure to keep up with EMU baseball on the team's social media accounts, including EMU_Baseball on X (formerly Twitter), emu.baseball on Instagram, and emu.baseball on TikTok

Team Stats

Cory Taylor

Blake McRae

Brendan Kleiman

Nathan Ball

Players Mentioned

Nick Chittum

Brendan Kleiman

Blake McRae

Logan Milene

Evan Sines

Cory Taylor

Cole Wilcox

Players Mentioned

Nick Chittum

Brendan Kleiman

Blake McRae

Logan Milene

Evan Sines

Cory Taylor

Cole Wilcox

Eastern Michigan Athletics