Eastern Michigan Athletics
Saturday, February 21
Clarksville, Tenn.
1 p.m. CT
Eastern Michigan University
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Austin Peay
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Photo by: Brody Hall/Walt Middleton Photography
Baseball Drops 8-7 Heartbreaker in 11 Innings at Austin Peay
2/21/2026 6:42:00 PM | Baseball
Eastern fought back from two multi-run deficits, Nathan Borchardt and Ethan Davis highlighted EMU's individual performances
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University baseball team fought back from two multi-run deficits and forced extra innings before falling 8-7 in 11 frames to Austin Peay State University in a non-conference contest Saturday, Feb. 21, at Raymond C. Hand Park.
Nathan Borchardt (Stanley, N.C./East Lincoln/King) paced the Eastern offense with three hits and RBI. Ethan Davis (Brownstown, Ind./Brownstown Central/Frontier C.C.) excelled out of the bullpen, throwing a scoreless five frames while striking out two opposing batters.
How it Happened
The hosts grabbed a 3-0 lead in the second inning, but Eastern rallied immediately in the third as Devan Zirwas (Imperial, PA./West Allegheny/VCU) launched his second home run of the year, a two-run shot to right, before Borchardt tied it with an RBI double.
Austin Peay answered with a four-run fourth, going back on top, 7-3.
Undeterred, EMU chipped away—Borchardt singled in a run in the fifth and Drew Jones (Cleveland, Ohio/Brush/Ohio State) followed with an RBI infield hit to cut the deficit to 7-5. Borchardt continued his breakout day by blasting a solo home run in the seventh, and the Eagles tied it in the ninth after Ty Stecko (North Huntingdon, Pa./Norwin/Mount St. Mary's) scored his third run on a clutch pinch-hit RBI single from Ben Schechterman (Aurora, Ohio/Aurora/Ohio State).
Both teams stranded runners in extra innings before Austin Peay eventually prevailed with a walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the 11th.
Game Notes
» The 11-inning game was the Eagles' first extra-innings contest of the 2026 season.
» Eastern set season highs in hits with 11. The Eagles recorded 28 10-hit games in the 2025 season.
» In a combined 7.2 innings, the Eastern bullpen allowed just one run, marking the third time this season the pen has allowed two runs or less.
» Walks came at a premium as EMU issued just three on the day, its third time this season with three or fewer.
» With two home runs in Saturday's game against Austin Peay and three in Friday's, Eastern has hit multiple homers in consecutive games for the first time since it hit three against Kent State, May 15, and two against the Golden Flashes the next day, May 16.
» Nathan Borchardt set season highs with three hits, three RBI, one double, and his first home run as an Eagle. He led the team in all three categories and accounted for nearly half of EMU's runs. The game marked his first as an Eagle with multiple hits and RBI.
» Devan Zirwas hit his third home run of the year and second in as many days. He finished with two hits and two RBI for his second game with multiple hits and RBI this season.
» Freshman Keegan Knupp (Galena, Ohio/Olentangy Orange) collected the first multi-hit game of his NCAA career with three hits. His three hits are the most from an Eastern freshman this season and the most since Nathan Ball had four hits at Miami, April 26, 2024.
» Ty Stecko set a new season high with three runs scored and matched his season bests with two hits, marking his second multi-hit game of the season. He also worked two walks for the second time in 2026 while reaching base four times.
» Ben Schechterman delivered his first hit and RBI of 2026 with a game-tying pinch-hit single in the ninth.
» Drew Jones drove in his first run of the season in the fifth to keep the Eagles in striking distance. The hit went down as his third of the year.
» Ethan Davis tossed his first scoreless outing of the season as he went a career-long 5.0 innings on the mound. The outing was Davis' 13th scoreless as an Eagle, surpassing his previous career high of 4.1 IP set last season against Ball State, April 4, 2025. His five innings pitched mark the longest outing for an Eastern reliever this season.
Historical Notes
» The extra inning game was the first since its MAC Tournament elimination game against Bowling Green that went 10 innings and resulted in a 10-7 Eastern win.
» Saturday's contest marked the 15th all-time meeting between Eastern Michigan and Austin Peay. EMU is now 6-9 against the Governors.
» Eastern matched up with an Atlantic Sun Conference team for the 48th time. It is 23-26 when facing the conference.
Up Next
Eastern Michigan concludes its weekend series at Austin Peay with game three set for Sunday, Feb. 22, at 1 p.m. ET in Clarksville, Tenn.
Follow Us
Keep up with all things Eastern baseball by following the team on X @EMU_Baseball, and on Instagram @emu_baseball.
Nathan Borchardt (Stanley, N.C./East Lincoln/King) paced the Eastern offense with three hits and RBI. Ethan Davis (Brownstown, Ind./Brownstown Central/Frontier C.C.) excelled out of the bullpen, throwing a scoreless five frames while striking out two opposing batters.
How it Happened
The hosts grabbed a 3-0 lead in the second inning, but Eastern rallied immediately in the third as Devan Zirwas (Imperial, PA./West Allegheny/VCU) launched his second home run of the year, a two-run shot to right, before Borchardt tied it with an RBI double.
Austin Peay answered with a four-run fourth, going back on top, 7-3.
Undeterred, EMU chipped away—Borchardt singled in a run in the fifth and Drew Jones (Cleveland, Ohio/Brush/Ohio State) followed with an RBI infield hit to cut the deficit to 7-5. Borchardt continued his breakout day by blasting a solo home run in the seventh, and the Eagles tied it in the ninth after Ty Stecko (North Huntingdon, Pa./Norwin/Mount St. Mary's) scored his third run on a clutch pinch-hit RBI single from Ben Schechterman (Aurora, Ohio/Aurora/Ohio State).
Both teams stranded runners in extra innings before Austin Peay eventually prevailed with a walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the 11th.
Game Notes
» The 11-inning game was the Eagles' first extra-innings contest of the 2026 season.
» Eastern set season highs in hits with 11. The Eagles recorded 28 10-hit games in the 2025 season.
» In a combined 7.2 innings, the Eastern bullpen allowed just one run, marking the third time this season the pen has allowed two runs or less.
» Walks came at a premium as EMU issued just three on the day, its third time this season with three or fewer.
» With two home runs in Saturday's game against Austin Peay and three in Friday's, Eastern has hit multiple homers in consecutive games for the first time since it hit three against Kent State, May 15, and two against the Golden Flashes the next day, May 16.
» Nathan Borchardt set season highs with three hits, three RBI, one double, and his first home run as an Eagle. He led the team in all three categories and accounted for nearly half of EMU's runs. The game marked his first as an Eagle with multiple hits and RBI.
» Devan Zirwas hit his third home run of the year and second in as many days. He finished with two hits and two RBI for his second game with multiple hits and RBI this season.
» Freshman Keegan Knupp (Galena, Ohio/Olentangy Orange) collected the first multi-hit game of his NCAA career with three hits. His three hits are the most from an Eastern freshman this season and the most since Nathan Ball had four hits at Miami, April 26, 2024.
» Ty Stecko set a new season high with three runs scored and matched his season bests with two hits, marking his second multi-hit game of the season. He also worked two walks for the second time in 2026 while reaching base four times.
» Ben Schechterman delivered his first hit and RBI of 2026 with a game-tying pinch-hit single in the ninth.
» Drew Jones drove in his first run of the season in the fifth to keep the Eagles in striking distance. The hit went down as his third of the year.
» Ethan Davis tossed his first scoreless outing of the season as he went a career-long 5.0 innings on the mound. The outing was Davis' 13th scoreless as an Eagle, surpassing his previous career high of 4.1 IP set last season against Ball State, April 4, 2025. His five innings pitched mark the longest outing for an Eastern reliever this season.
Historical Notes
» The extra inning game was the first since its MAC Tournament elimination game against Bowling Green that went 10 innings and resulted in a 10-7 Eastern win.
» Saturday's contest marked the 15th all-time meeting between Eastern Michigan and Austin Peay. EMU is now 6-9 against the Governors.
» Eastern matched up with an Atlantic Sun Conference team for the 48th time. It is 23-26 when facing the conference.
Up Next
Eastern Michigan concludes its weekend series at Austin Peay with game three set for Sunday, Feb. 22, at 1 p.m. ET in Clarksville, Tenn.
Follow Us
Keep up with all things Eastern baseball by following the team on X @EMU_Baseball, and on Instagram @emu_baseball.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: J. Hope (2-0)
L: Henson, Brian (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Borchardt, Nathan 1
HR: Zirwas, Devan 1 ; Borchardt, Nathan 1
RBI: Zirwas, Devan 2 ; Borchardt, Nathan 3 ; Jones, Drew 1 ; Schechterman, Ben 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Williams, TJ 1 ; Zirwas, Devan 2 ; Stecko, Ty 3 ; Borchardt, Nathan 1
SB: Williams, TJ 1 ; Stecko, Ty 1
HBP: Knupp, Keegan 1
Batting:
RBI: R. Velazquez 1 ; P. Pridgen 1 ; K. Cottam 1 ; T. Conley 5
SF: P. Pridgen 1
Base Running:
RUNS: C. Johnson 1 ; A. Matias 2 ; Z. Taylor 3 ; P. Pridgen 1 ; K. Cottam 1
SB: P. Pridgen 1
Game Leaders
AB
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RBI
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RBI
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AB
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H
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RBI
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Players Mentioned
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