Eastern Michigan Athletics
Friday, April 21
Kalamazoo, Mich.
3 p.m.
Eastern Michigan University
17-21, 8-2
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Western Michigan
14-19, 4-9
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Eastern Michigan
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Western Michigan
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Photo by: Steve King/KingStudios
Eagles Continue to Roll in MAC Play with 6-2 Win over WMU
4/21/2017 7:58:00 PM | Baseball
Eastern won its fifth straight MAC game
KALAMAZOO, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University baseball team continued to roll, winning its fifth straight Mid-American Conference game with a 6-2 win over Western Michigan University, April 21 at Robert J. Bobb Stadium.
It was a combination of clutch hitting and crafty pitching that sealed the win for the Eagles (17-21, 8-2 MAC). Leading the way on the mound was the 1-2 punch of senior Sam Delaplane (San Jose, Calif.-Leigh) and junior Justin McMurtrey (Redding, Calif.-Shasta (Butte C.C.)), who combined to go the distance. Delaplane earned his second straight win after going the first 5.2, allowing two runs on five hits with six strikeouts. McMurtrey went the final 3.1 frames, and was unhittable, getting all ten batters he faced out, including one by strikeout. With his effort he earned his first career save.
Offensively, EMU pounded out 10 hits to score its six runs. Leading the way was redshirt senior Jordan Peterson (Gilbert, Ariz.-Highland (Chandler-Gilbert C.C.)), who finished with a three-hit game, his third straight multi-hit game. He now has 10 hits in his last five contests. Fellow senior John Montgomery (Anaheim Hills, Calif.-JSerra) continued to mash the ball, parking his team-leading ninth homer of the season, which was a two-run shot. The righty has four in his last four games.
Delaplane got through the first two innings with relative ease, not allowing a hit, and just one base runner, on three strikeouts. That set up the third, where EMU got on the board with a bang.
After a single from redshirt senior Mike Mioduszewski (Dexter, Mich.-Dexter), one batter later, Montgomery remained on fire, smoking a two-run shot to right field to give EMU the 2-0 lead. It was his fourth home run in as many games.
Delaplane continued to cruise through the next two innings with two more strikeouts while only giving up one hit to keep it 2-0 into the fifth. WMU broke through in the fifth, banging out three hits in a row to score its first run of the day, but Delaplane battled back to maintain the 2-1 lead.
EMU had the immediate response in the top of the sixth, tagging WMU for two more. The Eagles loaded the bags with just one out for freshman Zachary Owings (Saline, Mich.-Saline). The freshman blooped a single to short left to score the first runner. The next batter, junior Brennan Williams (Commerce Township, Mich.-Walled Lake Northern), knocked in the other with a sacrifice fly to extend the EMU lead to three runs.
In the bottom of the sixth, WMU threatened once again, loading the bases with two outs, eventually getting one on a walk. McMurtrey then came on from the pen, and induced the inning ending groundout to get out of the jam and keep the 4-2 advantage into the final three frames.
Eastern had a prime opportunity to bust the game open in the top of the seventh, loading the bases with no outs. WMU got the next batter to pop out for the first out, but Eastern got one on an RBI hit by pitch by freshman Nick Jones (Battle Creek, Mich.-Lakeview) to make it 5-2. Western escaped any further damage by turning a double play, keeping it a three-run game.
On the bump, McMurtrey retired six straight in the seventh and eighth to take the game into the ninth with the same tally. The Eagles got some insurance in the top half of the ninth with a bases loaded walk to sophomore John Rensel Jr. (Tallamdge, Ohio-Tallmadge), who entered as a pinch hitter, to extend it to a four run lead into Western's final turn at the plate.
McMurtrey would finish what he started, retiring his 10th batter in a row in the ninth to wrap up the win and his first career save.
The series resumes tomorrow, April 22, for game two of the series from Robert J. Bobb Stadium. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.
It was a combination of clutch hitting and crafty pitching that sealed the win for the Eagles (17-21, 8-2 MAC). Leading the way on the mound was the 1-2 punch of senior Sam Delaplane (San Jose, Calif.-Leigh) and junior Justin McMurtrey (Redding, Calif.-Shasta (Butte C.C.)), who combined to go the distance. Delaplane earned his second straight win after going the first 5.2, allowing two runs on five hits with six strikeouts. McMurtrey went the final 3.1 frames, and was unhittable, getting all ten batters he faced out, including one by strikeout. With his effort he earned his first career save.
Offensively, EMU pounded out 10 hits to score its six runs. Leading the way was redshirt senior Jordan Peterson (Gilbert, Ariz.-Highland (Chandler-Gilbert C.C.)), who finished with a three-hit game, his third straight multi-hit game. He now has 10 hits in his last five contests. Fellow senior John Montgomery (Anaheim Hills, Calif.-JSerra) continued to mash the ball, parking his team-leading ninth homer of the season, which was a two-run shot. The righty has four in his last four games.
Delaplane got through the first two innings with relative ease, not allowing a hit, and just one base runner, on three strikeouts. That set up the third, where EMU got on the board with a bang.
After a single from redshirt senior Mike Mioduszewski (Dexter, Mich.-Dexter), one batter later, Montgomery remained on fire, smoking a two-run shot to right field to give EMU the 2-0 lead. It was his fourth home run in as many games.
Delaplane continued to cruise through the next two innings with two more strikeouts while only giving up one hit to keep it 2-0 into the fifth. WMU broke through in the fifth, banging out three hits in a row to score its first run of the day, but Delaplane battled back to maintain the 2-1 lead.
EMU had the immediate response in the top of the sixth, tagging WMU for two more. The Eagles loaded the bags with just one out for freshman Zachary Owings (Saline, Mich.-Saline). The freshman blooped a single to short left to score the first runner. The next batter, junior Brennan Williams (Commerce Township, Mich.-Walled Lake Northern), knocked in the other with a sacrifice fly to extend the EMU lead to three runs.
In the bottom of the sixth, WMU threatened once again, loading the bases with two outs, eventually getting one on a walk. McMurtrey then came on from the pen, and induced the inning ending groundout to get out of the jam and keep the 4-2 advantage into the final three frames.
Eastern had a prime opportunity to bust the game open in the top of the seventh, loading the bases with no outs. WMU got the next batter to pop out for the first out, but Eastern got one on an RBI hit by pitch by freshman Nick Jones (Battle Creek, Mich.-Lakeview) to make it 5-2. Western escaped any further damage by turning a double play, keeping it a three-run game.
On the bump, McMurtrey retired six straight in the seventh and eighth to take the game into the ninth with the same tally. The Eagles got some insurance in the top half of the ninth with a bases loaded walk to sophomore John Rensel Jr. (Tallamdge, Ohio-Tallmadge), who entered as a pinch hitter, to extend it to a four run lead into Western's final turn at the plate.
McMurtrey would finish what he started, retiring his 10th batter in a row in the ninth to wrap up the win and his first career save.
The series resumes tomorrow, April 22, for game two of the series from Robert J. Bobb Stadium. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Delaplane, Sam (2-1)
L: MALLWITZ (5-3)
S: McMurtrey, Justin (1)
Batting:
HR: Montgomery, John 1
RBI: Williams, Brennan 1 ; Rensel Jr., John 1 ; Montgomery, John 2 ; Jones, Nick 1 ; Owings, Zachary 1
SH: Schuemann, Max 1 ; Jones, Nick 1
SF: Williams, Brennan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Mioduszewski, Mike 1 ; Stidham, Jeremy 1 ; Montgomery, John 1 ; Peterson, Jordan 1 ; Schuemann, Max 1 ; Jones, Nick 1
SB: Gill, Marquise 1
CS: Gill, Marquise 1 ; Owings, Zachary 1
HBP: Schuemann, Max 2 ; Jones, Nick 1 ; Gill, Marquise 1
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Batting:
2B: SMITH 1 ; FILKINS 1
RBI: FILKINS 1 ; STONE 1
Base Running:
RUNS: SMITH 1 ; FILKINS 1
HBP: GOODWIN 1 ; FORESTELL 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
1
H
3
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
AB
5
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
RHP
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RHP
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