ATHENS, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University baseball team fell 6-3 in the series opening game on April 9 at Bob Wren Stadium against Ohio University.
senior citizens Eli Gora (Cincinnati, Ohio-Anderson) and Nick Jones (Battle Creek, Mich.-Lakeview)together with junior Taylor Hopkins (Mason, Ohio Archbishop Moeller) Each scored two hits, making it the fourth time this season that three or more Eagles have had multiple hits in the same game.
Off the hill, veteran right Davis Feldman (Warren, Mich.-Brother Rice) threw 5.2 innings, racking up four strikeouts before handing it over to sophomore Cameron Wagoner (Tecumseh, Mich.-Tecumseh)who pitched 1.1 innings for the Green and White. classmate Trevor House (Okeana, Ohio-Ross) finished the game for EMU, hitting two, keeping the Bobcats off the board in his 1.0-inning of work.
Eastern Michigan (8-14, 4-9 MAC) saw the odds from the start, putting three runners in goal position in the first two innings, with the men finishing second and third in the first and third in the second. It was not until the third inning, however, that the Eagles broke through. Kauffman went for a walk with his bags packed to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead.
Ohio (12-11, 6-7 MAC) didn’t take long to find the answer, slamming two hits into the bottom half of the frame to bring the game down to one.
Adding to his lead in the fourth, Eastern Michigan leadoff man Anthony Sharkas (Canton, Mich.-Plymouth) individually and advanced to second place on failure to start the inning. In the next game, Jones scored on the left to score the second goal, putting the green and white back on top 2-1. Not finished yet, Hopkins was hit off the field on his plate appearance and showed a masterful base run as he finished second and third on the next two consecutive fields to find himself 90 feet away for Gora. The senior hit a helicopter on the left to hit Hopkins, giving the Eagles a 3-1 lead in fourth place.
Feldman was challenged in the fourth game and allowed two quick hits to start the inning, but the Warren, Michigan native forced the next two batters to a groundout double play or groundout to end the threat. Feldman kept rolling, then tossing his third 1-2-3 inning of the night into the fifth inning to keep the Eagles on top.
After a quiet offensive innings for Eastern, it was Ohio that would begin its scoring run in the sixth. OU would end the game with a double loaded with bases with two runs and take the lead 4-3 when it comes to groundout to second place in the next at-bat. With momentum from Gora and a wild pitch from Wagoner that put a 6-3 lead in the final two frames, the Bobcats would add two runs to their lead to get a 6-3 lead.
Neither side could get anything going on the eighth when the Eagles settled down and House took the hill to face the Ohio. Against four batters, the second player got a quick lineout before giving up a walk, but ended the game with two consecutive strikeouts to send the game into the final frame.
Ohio was unable to beat any runs and won 6-3.
EMU and OU will play a double header with seven innings tomorrow, April 10th, from 11 a.m. Fans can follow via live stream or WOUB radio. Links can be found on the EMUEagles.com baseball schedule page.
To stay up to date on all things EMU baseball, please continue to visit EMUEagles.com or follow the team on Twitter at @EMU_Baseball.
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