Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
6-6, 2-0
Akron
5-9, 0-2
Zirwas' Sixth-Inning Grand Slam Lifts Eagles to 12-5 Comeback Win Over Akron
3/8/2025 7:35:00 PM | Baseball
The Eagles secured their first MAC series win of the season
AKRON, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University baseball team came back from a four-run deficit in large part thanks to Devan Zirwas' sixth-inning grand slam to beat the University of Akron Zips, 12-5, capturing the series win in its first Mid-American Conference series of the season.
Zirwas' (Imperial, Pa./West Allegheny/VCU) sixth-inning grand slam blew the game wide open, vaulting the Eagles ahead, 9-4. They would score three more while Akron plated one over the remaining three innings as the Eagles cruised to the 12-5 win.
The Eagles got a strong showing out of the bullpen from freshman righty Fischer Hendershot (Flushing, Mich./Flint Powers), who had his best day on the mound this season with five strikeouts and no walks, while allowing just one run off one hit.
Eastern's record improved to 6-6 (2-0 MAC) and Akron's adjusted to 5-9 (0-2 MAC).
How it Happened
Akron got out to an early 4-0 lead as they scored four runs in the second. Eastern got off to a slow start offensively, going hitless through three innings before Bruce Jellison (Hartland, Mich./Hartland/Wabash Valley) singled to short in the fourth to end the no-hit bid.
EMU put its first runs on the board in the fifth, scoring four, as John Hale (Ashland City, Tenn./Sycamore/Motlow State C.C.) singled up the middle to score Ty Stecko (North Huntingdon, Pa./Norwin/Mount St. Mary's) and Kevin Krill (White Lake, Mich./Lakeland/Oakland/Kalamazoo Valley C.C.), before Jellison drove in Cooper Vance (New Waterford, Ohio/Mohawk).
Brendan Kleiman (Olney, Md./Sherwood/Frederick C.C.) was hit by a pitch, which sent Krill home give the Eagles their first lead of the day at 5-4. Zirwas furthered the EMU lead with his first career grand slam and third home run of the season, granting EMU a commanding 9-4 advantage.
Junior left hander Eric Boothe (Rochester, Mich./Stoney Creek/Akron/Lansing C.C.) relieved starting pitcher Tyler Kapa (Waterford, Mich./Kettering/Alma/Mott C.C./Davenport) in the fifth. The EMU bullpen went to work over the remaining 3.2 innings, highlighted by a five strikeout, zero walks performance from Hendershot.
Eastern scored three more runs over the remainder of the game with RBI from Stecko and Hale in the seventh, and Logan Hugo (Essexville, Mich./Essexville Garber) in the ninth.
Hendershot retired the last six batters he faced and earned the save as he pitched the final 3.2 innings to secure the Eagles' 12-5 win.
Game Notes
» With a 2-0 conference record, the Eagles are tied with Ball State, Bowling Green, and Miami for the best conference winning percentage (1.000).
» Eastern came back from a four-run deficit to win, 12-5. The comeback win marks its first of the season when being down at least three runs, and first since it also came back from down four to top the reigning MAC Regular-Season Champions, Bowling Green State, 10-9, May 10, 2024.
» The Eagles out-hit their opponent for the 10th time this season, producing a 6-4 record when doing so. They also posted 10 hits, marking their ninth game with double-digit knocks this season.
» Zirwas continued his team-long 11 game streak of reaching base and nine-game hitting streak. He added a career-high four RBI, bringing his total to 14 on the season, a number that stands as the second most on the team. Additionally, His four RBI tied Hugo for the most from an individual in a single game in 2025. Hugo previously drove in four in the 9-5 win over Central Arkansas, Feb. 22.
» The Eagles recorded double-digit RBI for the second time this season, they are 2-0 when doing so. They previously drove in 10+ against Central Arkansas, Feb. 23, in a 14-6 win.
» Hendershot had a career game on the mound as he totaled career-highs with 3.2 innings pitched and five strikeouts. The freshman right hander allowed just one run off one hit as well, his lowest total in both categories when pitching at least two innings.
» Hendershot's save marked the third of the season for the Eagles. The 2024 squad tallied just four saves last season and through 12 games had just one.
» Hale recorded his fourth multi-hit game of the season and set an NCAA Division I career-high with three RBI.
» Stecko matched EMU career bests with two hits and two runs while driving in his third run of the season.
» Krill tied an individual-game high with three runs scored, matching Jellison's three runs at Central Arkansas, Feb. 23.
» The Eastern infield tied an individual-game high with two double plays turned.
» Every Eastern Michigan starter reached base safely in the win.
» Eastern Michigan's highest scoring inning was the sixth, when it pushed five runs across.
» Eastern Michigan went 5-for-13 (.385) with runners in scoring position.
» The Eagles got two hits in four at-bats with the bases loaded.
» Eastern Michigan pitchers faced 39 Akron hitters in the game, allowing eight ground balls and five fly balls while striking out 11.
Historical Notes
» Saturday's game marked the 69th all-time between Eastern and Akron. Eastern leads the series with a 40-29 overall record and also post a winning record (16-9) when facing the Zips on the road.
» With the win, the Eagles post a .500 winning percentage for the first time in the Robbie Britt era.
» The win secured the series for the Eagles, marking their first conference series win of the season. After besting the Ball State Cardinals in the conference-opening series last season, Britt becomes the first EMU coach in program history to win the conference-opening series in both of his first two seasons at the helm of the program.
» With the series win, the Eagles have won their last three conference-opening series, marking the first time the program has done so since 2010-12.
» The Eagles came back from down multiple runs to win by at least seven for the first time since they came back from a two-run deficit to beat the Zips by 12 runs, 18-6, March 25, 2022.
Up Next
The Eagles and Zips will conclude the series tomorrow at 1 p.m. Fans can stream the game here.
Follow Us
For all things EMU Baseball, be sure to check out the team's social media accounts, including EMU_Baseball on X (formerly Twitter) and emu_baseball on Instagram.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Kapa, Tyler (1-1)
L: D. Moore (0-1)
S: Hendershot, Fischer (1)
Batting:
HR: Zirwas, Devan 1
RBI: Hale, John 3 ; Kleiman, Brendan 1 ; Zirwas, Devan 4 ; Hugo, Logan 1 ; Stecko, Ty 1
SF: Hale, John 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hale, John 1 ; Kleiman, Brendan 1 ; Zirwas, Devan 2 ; Hugo, Logan 1 ; Krill, Kevin 3 ; Stecko, Ty 2 ; Vance, Cooper 2
SB: Vance, Cooper 1
CS: Zuccaro, Giano 1
HBP: Kleiman, Brendan 1 ; Zirwas, Devan 1 ; Zuccaro, Giano 1 ; Hugo, Logan 1 ; Vance, Cooper 1
Batting:
2B: I. Penningto 1
RBI: E. Bottone 1 ; M. Bowman 2 ; B. Bowen 1 ; I. Penningto 1
Base Running:
RUNS: J. Poist 1 ; A. Horvath 1 ; C. Schebler 1 ; I. Penningto 1 ; K. McConachi 1
SB: E. Bottone 1
CS: E. Bottone 1
HBP: J. Poist 1 ; M. Bowman 1
