Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
Michigan State
Eagles Fall to Spartans, 9-6, in Home Opener
3/17/2010 8:12:40 PM | Baseball
Fielding miscues plague the Eagles down the stretch
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YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – Miscues in the field proved to be too much for the Eastern Michigan University baseball team to overcome Wednesday night, March 17, as the Eagles dropped their home opener to the Spartans of Michigan State University, 9-6, at Oestrike Stadium.
The Eagles drop to 5-10 with the loss, while the Spartans improve to 9-4 with the win.
The Spartans managed to capitalize on five EMU errors, depsite EMU out-hitting MSU at the plate, 10-8, in the loss.
Junior Matt Skirving (Midland, Mich.-H.H. Dow) finished 4-for-5 at the plate in the loss with a home run, two runs scored and two RBI, while senior Andrew Marshall (Mason, Mich.-Mason) hit his first home run of the season for the Eagles. Marshall finished the day 2-for-4 with one run scored and two RBI.
Sophomore left hander Collin Taylor (Cincinnati, Ohio-Lakota West) had a solid outing for the Eagles on the mound, as he went five and two-thirds innings, giving up just four runs (two earned) on four hits and two walk, while striking out six Spartans.
Michigan State's Jonathan Roof went 3-for-5 with three RBI in the win for the Spartans, while Bo Felt finished with two hits and three RBI.
After the Spartans posted two runs in the top of the first, the Eagles cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the third, as Skirving hit an RBI single to the gap in left center to plate redshirt sophomore Ben Magsig (Okemos, Mich.-Okemos-Lansing C.C.) and make it a 2-1 game.
Michigan State took a two-run lead in the top of the sixth, as two EMU errors plated a pair of Spartans to make it a 4-1 game.
The Eagles used the long-ball to come back in the bottom of the sixth, as a solo blast by Skirving and a two-run homer by Marshall knotted the game at 4-all. But MSU scored two an inning later to put the Eagles behind, 6-4.
But the Eagles proved resilient yet again, as senior Todd Graves (St. Marys, Ohio-St. Marys Memorial) belted a two-run pinch hit single in the bottom of the eighth with the bases loaded to make it a 6-6 game.
MSU managed to capitalize on three EMU miscues in the top of the ninth, scoring three runs to put EMU down, 9-6.
The Spartans held on in the bottom of the ninth, as reliever Kurtis Frymier shut down the Eagles to help escape Ypsilanti with the win and earn the victory on the mound.
The Eagles are back in action this weekend for a four game set with the West Virginia University Mountaineers. Game one is slated for Friday, March 19, at 3 p.m.
