Eastern Michigan Athletics
Wednesday, February 24
Lakeland, Fla.
7 p.m.
Eastern Michigan University
3-3
7
vs
8
Florida
5-0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Eastern Michigan
1
0
0
0
1
0
0
5
0
7
8
3
Florida
0
0
1
0
3
0
0
2
2
8
10
2
Photo by: Walt Middleton Photography
Baseball Loses on Walk-off to No. 1 Gators
2/24/2016 11:38:00 PM | Baseball
EMU led 7-6 heading into the final frame
Photo Gallery.
LAKELAND, Fla. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University baseball team lost a tough game in walk-off fashion, 8-7, to the No. 1 Florida Gators Wednesday night, Feb. 24 at Joker Marchant Stadium, the Spring Training home of the Detroit Tigers. The Eagles held a 7-6 lead heading into the ninth before the top-ranked UF (5-0) squad rallied for the win.
EMU (3-3) put together a fine offensive performance, tallying eight hits total, while drawing five walks and getting five more runners on base via hit by pitches. Junior John Montgomery (Anaheim Hills, Calif.-JSerra) led the team after entering the game as a pinch hitter, going a perfect 3-for-3 with two RBI's and two runs scored. Senior Jackson Martin (Listowel, Ontario-Listowel) tallied three RBI's himself in a 1-for-2 day, also reaching base three other times on a walk and two HBPs. Finally, sophomore Brennan Williams (Commerce Township, Mich.-Walled Lake Northern) extended his hitting streak to six games by going 2-for-5.
The base paths continued to be a fruitful place for the Green and White in this game, with the Eagles swiping a season-high seven bases, with redshirt junior Marquise Gill (Paw Paw, Mich.-Paw Paw) notching two of them.
The Eagles struck first for the second straight game against the top-ranked Gators, plating one in the top of the first. A lead-off hit by pitch and infield single from Williams put runners on first and second with no outs. Following a double steal and walk, Martin took the hard-earned RBI by getting plunked on the back foot by a breaking ball. EMU left the bags loaded though, as the UF starter got out of the jam without any further damage.
Going to work in the bottom half was sophomore left-handed pitcher Kyle Huckaby (Chandler, Ariz.-Perry), making his first start of the season. The southpaw held the Gators off the scoreboard in the first two innings, striking out two and only allowing one hit, before running into trouble in the third. After letting the first two runners reach, Head Coach Mark Van Ameyde decided to go to his bullpen. UF tagged righty reliever Brent Mattson (Canton, Mich.-Canton) for a run that was charged to Huckaby, tying the game at 1-1 after three innings.
The Green and White caught a break in the fifth after a scoreless fourth, taking their second lead on a Gator miscue. Montgomery got the inning started with EMU's second hit of the game, a single. After a steal and walk, the runners sat on first and second with two outs. That's when the Gators shortstop took a routine groundball and threw it away, allowing Montgomery to score, giving EMU the lead.
An error came back to bite EMU in the bottom half of the inning though, allowing UF to capture a 4-2 lead. After the first two batters reached base, a throwing error allowed one of them to score, tying the game. Then UF broke the tie on the next batter, a two-run single, yielding UF's first lead of the game.
That's when senior righty Augie Gallardo (Hemet, Calif.-Hemet (Mt. San Jacinto College)) took over, getting out of the inning and then striking out the side in the sixth. The right hander kept the Gators off the board in his 2.1 innings of work, striking out four, but EMU couldn't break through, allowing the Gators to take the 4-2 score into the eighth.
Gallardo's pitching gave EMU a chance in the eighth though; a chance the Eagles took full advantage of. The first three batters reached on a freshman Max Schuemann (Portage, Mich.-Portage Northern) single, a hit by pitch, and a fielder's choice. EMU got its first run of the frame on another fielder's choice, putting the score at 4-3. Florida got the second out in the next at-bat, but EMU was not done yet.
With runners on second and third, Montgomery came through for the second time, ripping a double down the line, giving EMU the lead back at 5-4. Following a walk, Martin cranked a double of his own, plating both runs and extending EMU's lead to 7-4.
With the lead, Van Ameyde decided to go with junior Sam Delapane (San Jose, Calif.-Leigh) out of the bullpen to try and close out the rest of the game. He inherited a runner and walked one, setting up a two-run triple for UF, cutting the lead back down to 7-6. Delaplane tightened up though, striking out two batters after the triple and inducing a fly out to take a one-run lead into the ninth inning.
After the Eagles went down in the top of the ninth, Delaplane went back to work in the final frame. The Gators made one final push, tying the game after three straight hits. Following an intentional walk, UF would take the game on a walk-off catcher's interference call.
Eastern gets back to work this weekend with a three-game set with the University of South Florida. Game one from Tampa is set for a 7 p.m. first pitch, Friday, Feb. 26.
LAKELAND, Fla. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University baseball team lost a tough game in walk-off fashion, 8-7, to the No. 1 Florida Gators Wednesday night, Feb. 24 at Joker Marchant Stadium, the Spring Training home of the Detroit Tigers. The Eagles held a 7-6 lead heading into the ninth before the top-ranked UF (5-0) squad rallied for the win.
EMU (3-3) put together a fine offensive performance, tallying eight hits total, while drawing five walks and getting five more runners on base via hit by pitches. Junior John Montgomery (Anaheim Hills, Calif.-JSerra) led the team after entering the game as a pinch hitter, going a perfect 3-for-3 with two RBI's and two runs scored. Senior Jackson Martin (Listowel, Ontario-Listowel) tallied three RBI's himself in a 1-for-2 day, also reaching base three other times on a walk and two HBPs. Finally, sophomore Brennan Williams (Commerce Township, Mich.-Walled Lake Northern) extended his hitting streak to six games by going 2-for-5.
The base paths continued to be a fruitful place for the Green and White in this game, with the Eagles swiping a season-high seven bases, with redshirt junior Marquise Gill (Paw Paw, Mich.-Paw Paw) notching two of them.
The Eagles struck first for the second straight game against the top-ranked Gators, plating one in the top of the first. A lead-off hit by pitch and infield single from Williams put runners on first and second with no outs. Following a double steal and walk, Martin took the hard-earned RBI by getting plunked on the back foot by a breaking ball. EMU left the bags loaded though, as the UF starter got out of the jam without any further damage.
Going to work in the bottom half was sophomore left-handed pitcher Kyle Huckaby (Chandler, Ariz.-Perry), making his first start of the season. The southpaw held the Gators off the scoreboard in the first two innings, striking out two and only allowing one hit, before running into trouble in the third. After letting the first two runners reach, Head Coach Mark Van Ameyde decided to go to his bullpen. UF tagged righty reliever Brent Mattson (Canton, Mich.-Canton) for a run that was charged to Huckaby, tying the game at 1-1 after three innings.
The Green and White caught a break in the fifth after a scoreless fourth, taking their second lead on a Gator miscue. Montgomery got the inning started with EMU's second hit of the game, a single. After a steal and walk, the runners sat on first and second with two outs. That's when the Gators shortstop took a routine groundball and threw it away, allowing Montgomery to score, giving EMU the lead.
An error came back to bite EMU in the bottom half of the inning though, allowing UF to capture a 4-2 lead. After the first two batters reached base, a throwing error allowed one of them to score, tying the game. Then UF broke the tie on the next batter, a two-run single, yielding UF's first lead of the game.
That's when senior righty Augie Gallardo (Hemet, Calif.-Hemet (Mt. San Jacinto College)) took over, getting out of the inning and then striking out the side in the sixth. The right hander kept the Gators off the board in his 2.1 innings of work, striking out four, but EMU couldn't break through, allowing the Gators to take the 4-2 score into the eighth.
Gallardo's pitching gave EMU a chance in the eighth though; a chance the Eagles took full advantage of. The first three batters reached on a freshman Max Schuemann (Portage, Mich.-Portage Northern) single, a hit by pitch, and a fielder's choice. EMU got its first run of the frame on another fielder's choice, putting the score at 4-3. Florida got the second out in the next at-bat, but EMU was not done yet.
With runners on second and third, Montgomery came through for the second time, ripping a double down the line, giving EMU the lead back at 5-4. Following a walk, Martin cranked a double of his own, plating both runs and extending EMU's lead to 7-4.
With the lead, Van Ameyde decided to go with junior Sam Delapane (San Jose, Calif.-Leigh) out of the bullpen to try and close out the rest of the game. He inherited a runner and walked one, setting up a two-run triple for UF, cutting the lead back down to 7-6. Delaplane tightened up though, striking out two batters after the triple and inducing a fly out to take a one-run lead into the ninth inning.
After the Eagles went down in the top of the ninth, Delaplane went back to work in the final frame. The Gators made one final push, tying the game after three straight hits. Following an intentional walk, UF would take the game on a walk-off catcher's interference call.
Eastern gets back to work this weekend with a three-game set with the University of South Florida. Game one from Tampa is set for a 7 p.m. first pitch, Friday, Feb. 26.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Shaun Anderson (1-0)
L: Delaplane, Sam (1-1)
Batting:
2B: Montgomery, John 1 ; Martin, Jackson 1
RBI: Gill, Marquise 1 ; Montgomery, John 2 ; Martin, Jackson 3
SH: Lett, David 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Gill, Marquise 2 ; Montgomery, John 2 ; DeVenney, Luke 1 ; Schuemann, Max 1 ; Stidham, Jeremy 1
SB: Gill, Marquise 2 ; Williams, Brennan 1 ; Montgomery, John 1 ; Martin, Jackson 1 ; Wilson, Austin 1 ; Lett, David 1
CS: Gill, Marquise 2 ; Stidham, Jeremy 1
HBP: Gill, Marquise 2 ; Martin, Jackson 2 ; Stidham, Jeremy 1
PO: Gill, Marquise 1
Batting:
2B: Jonathan India 1
3B: Deacon Liput 1
RBI: Deacon Liput 2 ; Buddy Reed 1 ; Peter Alonso 1 ; Mike Rivera 2 ; Nelson Maldonado 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Deacon Liput 1 ; JJ Schwarz 1 ; Peter Alonso 1 ; Jeremy Vasquez 1 ; Ryan Larson 1 ; Jonathan India 2 ; Christian Hicks 1
SB: Deacon Liput 1 ; Buddy Reed 1
HBP: JJ Schwarz 1 ; Peter Alonso 1 ; Mark Kolozsvary 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
ph/1b
AB
3
R
2
H
3
RBI
2
AB
5
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
3
AB
5
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
IF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ BaseballIF/OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballIF/OF
/ BaseballIF
/ BaseballIF/OF
/ BaseballDrew Beckner's Comments After BGSU Win in MAC Tournament
Friday, May 23
Robbie Britt's Comments After MAC Tournament Win over BGSU
Friday, May 23
EMU Stuns BGSU for First Postseason Win Since 2017
Friday, May 23
Baseball 2025 MAC Tournament Practice Day Recap
Wednesday, May 21