Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
13-27, 8-11
Miami
20-19, 12-10
Baseball Belts Four Homers in Loss to Miami
4/26/2024 6:56:00 PM | Baseball
Freshman Nathan Ball set a career-high with four hits and tied career-highs with one homer, and three RBI
OXFORD, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University baseball team put together a ferocious comeback, scoring three runs over the eighth and ninth innings, but the late-game rally came up short, as it fell 12-10 to Miami University Friday, April 26, at McKie Field at Hayden Park.
How it Happened
The Eagles were trailing 5-0 in the fourth inning when they first put runs on the board. Eastern Michigan's offense produced a three-run inning that included home runs from both Nathan Ball (Bay City, Mich./Bay City John Glenn) and Drew Jones (Cleveland, Ohio/Brush/Ohio State). Both homers marked the second of the season for each respective student-athlete, while Ball's marked his second in as many games for his first time as an Eagle.
The Eagles kept the deficit at 5-3 before closing the gap further in the fifth. Eastern Michigan picked up a run on junior Logan Hugo's (Essexville, Mich./Essexville Garber) one-out solo home run, marking his ninth of the season, which brought the score to 5-4 in favor of the RedHawks.
Eastern kept the RedHawks off the scoreboard before rallying to grab a 7-5 lead in the sixth. The Eagles scored three runs in the frame, two of them coming across on a two-run homer from Aidan Arbogast (Livonia, Mich./Stevenson/Mid-Michigan/Kellogg C.C.).
Eastern Michigan lost the lead it built in the sixth, but got back on the board in the eighth. Trailing 9-7, the Eagles added a run on senior Blake McRae's (Armada, Mich./Romeo/Lansing C.C.) one-out RBI double, bringing the score to 9-8 in favor of Miami.
Miami expanded its lead to 12-8 before the Eagles offense got in action, reducing that lead to 12-10 in the ninth. Ball's run-scoring single highlighted an inning where Eastern Michigan scored twice.
The ballgame ended with that ninth-inning rally falling short, concluding in a 12-10 victory for Miami.
Game Notes
» Ball set a career-high with four hits and captured his first occurrence of homering and knocking multiple hits in consecutive games, as he went deep with two hits in EMU's prior game against Oakland University, April 23. He also tied a career-best with three RBI.
» McRae sprayed his fourth three-hit game of the season, while driving in multiple baserunners for the ninth time this season.
» Arbogast sent a two-run shot to left field in the sixth inning, marking his fourth long ball of the season, and his third time with multiple RBI.
» Jones hit his second home run of the year and finished the game with two hits for the sixth time this season.
» Glenn Miller (Pentwater, Mich./Pentwater/Spring Arbor) smoked two hits for the fifth time this season, bringing his EMU career total to 97.
» Lucas Johnson (Hamilton, Ontario/Westdale Secondary/Wright State) worked multiple walks in the game, marking his fifth time doing so this year. Johnson stands second on the team in base-on-balls with 19. McRae leads the Eagles with 21.
» With four home runs, the Eagles left the playing field three or more times for the eighth time this season. When homering at least three times, Eastern is 5-4.
» With 16 knocks to Miami's eight, EMU out-hit its opponent for the 20th time this year. Eastern is 11-10 in such contests.
» Eastern's 16 hits and 10 runs marked the 12th time they have hit the double-digit mark in both categories this season. When doing so, the Eagles produce a 7-5 record.
Historical Notes
» Friday's contest marked the 131st all-time between the Eagles and RedHawks. After today's result, Eastern holds a 64-67 record when facing Miami.
Up Next
The Eagles are back in action for game two of the three-game set tomorrow, Saturday, April 27. First pitch will be thrown at 1 p.m.
Follow Us
For all things EMU Baseball, be sure to check out the team's social media accounts, including EMU_Baseball on X (formerly Twitter), emu.baseball on Instagram, and emu.baseball on TikTok.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: PREISEL, Connor (1-2)
L: Jones, Bobby (5-4)
Batting:
2B: McRae, Blake 1
3B: Zuccaro, Giano 1
HR: Hugo, Logan 1 ; Ball, Nathan 1 ; Arbogast, Aidan 1 ; Jones, Drew 1
RBI: Vance, Cooper 1 ; McRae, Blake 2 ; Hugo, Logan 1 ; Ball, Nathan 3 ; Arbogast, Aidan 2 ; Jones, Drew 1
SH: Vance, Cooper 2
SF: McRae, Blake 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hugo, Logan 1 ; Zuccaro, Giano 1 ; Johnson, Lucas 1 ; Ball, Nathan 2 ; Beckner, Drew 1 ; Arbogast, Aidan 1 ; Jones, Drew 3
HBP: Vance, Cooper 1 ; Hugo, Logan 1 ; Miller, Glenn 1 ; Oestrike, Jad 1
Batting:
2B: BATUSICH, Ty 1 ; NOVAK, David 1
HR: NOVAK, David 1
RBI: BAKER, Dillon 2 ; BATUSICH, Ty 2 ; NOVAK, Ryan 2 ; NOVAK, David 5 ; GORDON, Tyler 1
Base Running:
RUNS: BAKER, Dillon 1 ; MACDONALD, Zach 1 ; BATUSICH, Ty 1 ; ZABOROWSKI, Ryland 2 ; APPELWICK, Evan 1 ; KEELS, Tre 2 ; NOVAK, Ryan 2 ; NOVAK, David 1 ; GORDON, Tyler 1
SB: KEELS, Tre 1 ; GORDON, Tyler 1
HBP: BAKER, Dillon 1 ; NOVAK, David 1 ; BUZZEO, Blake 1
