Eastern Michigan Athletics
Friday, May 9
Mount Pleasant, Mich.
3 p.m.
Eastern Michigan University
18-25, 10-15
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at
11
Central Michigan
18-31, 10-15
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9
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Eastern Michigan
4
0
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0
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12
5
Central Michigan
4
1
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3
1
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X
11
13
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Photo by: Steven King/Steve King Studios
Baseball Falls in Series-Opener at CMU
5/9/2025 9:17:00 PM | Baseball
Ty Stecko led the Eagles with two hits and three RBI
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University baseball team dropped a Mid-American Conference (MAC) series-opener to Central Michigan University, 11-9, Friday, May 9, at Keilitz Field at Theunissen Stadium.
Ty Stecko (North Huntingdon, Pa./Norwin/Mount St. Mary's) paced the Eastern offense with two hits and three RBI in four trips to the plate. Senior left-hander Drew Beckner (Westerville, Ohio/Big Walnut/Charleston) got the start and went three innings. Central Michigan's Jack Otis (1-0) earned his first win of the season, while EMU senior right-hander Dom Anderson (Hagerstown, Ind./Hagerstown) (1-1) was tagged with the loss.
The loss shifted the Eagles' record to 18-25 (10-15 MAC), while the Chippewas improved to 18-31 (10-15 MAC).
How it Happened
Both offenses started hot with each team scoring four runs in the opening inning. Devan Zirwas (Imperial, Pa./West Allegheny/VCU) roped his 16th double of the season into the right field gap to score Giano Zuccaro (Middleburg Heights, Ohio/Berea Midpark/Charleston) and Logan Hugo (Essexville, Mich./Essexville Garber), grabbing the early 2-0 lead. Stecko and John Hale (Ashland City, Tenn./Sycamore/Motlow C.C.) added two more to the EMU total as Stecko scored Zirwas and Hale scored Stecko.
The Chippewas added one run in both the second and third inning to take a two-run lead at 6-4.
Eastern loaded the bases twice in the top of the fourth, but only pushed across two runs to tie the game at six runs apiece. Zuccaro scored off a bases-loaded wild pitch before Zirwas' RBI groundout scored Hugo from third after he reached base off a single to center field.
Niko Kreuzer (Westerville, Ohio/St. Francis Desales) came in to relieve Beckner after facing one batter in the bottom of the fourth before Anderson came in to relieve Kreuzer after he faced three batters. Central Michigan would then return the favor, loading the bases and scoring three runs in the frame to regain the 9-6 lead, two of which came on bases-loaded walks with the other coming home on a fielder's choice RBI.
Cooper Vance (New Waterford, Ohio/Mohawk) led off the top of the fifth with a solo homer, his career-best fifth of the season and the Eagles' 50th as a team. Stecko stepped to the plate five batters later and sent a ball to left field, scoring Hugo and Harrison Travis (Soddy Daisy, Tenn./Soddy Daisy/Carson-Newman) to tie the score at nine.
CMU would take the lead once again, scoring one off a ground-rule RBI-double to go up 10-9 in the fifth. The Chippewas tacked-on one more in the seventh before junior right-hander Ethan Davis (Brownstown, Ind./Brownstown Central/Marian/Frontier C.C.) came in to relieve Anderson after 3.1 innings of work.
Davis retired all five batters he faced, but the EMU offense was unable to make up the deficit as the game ended in a 11-9 win for the Chippewas.
Game Notes
» With 12 hits, Eastern eclipsed the 10-hit mark for the 23rd time this season. It is 15-8 when doing so.
» Vance hit his career-best fifth home run of the season, also marking the team's 50th. He needs seven more hits to reach the 100 mark in his collegiate career.
» Davis tossed his 11th scoreless outing of the season as he did not put a runner on base in his 1.2 innings of work.
» Hugo's one hit and three runs scored both surpassed his season-long career-highs as he now has 53 hits and 42 runs scored on the season. He also worked multiple walks for the eighth time this season as he posts a career and team-high 29.
» With two hits, Travis posted his 11th multi-hit game of the year and drew multiple walks for the second time in 2025.
» Zirwas drove in three runs for the third time this season, marking his team-best 16th multi-RBI outing. He also hit his team-high 16th double of the season, a figure that ranks him fourth in the conference.
» Zirwas furthered his hitting streak to 10 games, currently serving as the longest on the team. He needs at least one hit in his next three games to surpass his 12-game hitting streak from earlier this season. Should he reach 13 consecutive games with a hit, it would mark the longest hitting streak from an Eagle this season. He also reached base for the 12th consecutive game, the longest streak of reaching base for the Eagles at the moment.
» Stecko collected his 14th multi-hit game and ninth game with multiple RBI with two hits and three RBI. He increased his season-long career-best marks to 41 hits, 32 RBI, and 31 runs as he crossed home plate once.
» Hale earned his 12th multi-hit game as he totaled three hits for the third time this season, elevating his 2025 total to 41 knocks.
» Zuccaro's one hit marked the 188th of his career, he is 12 hits away from reaching the 200 mark. He also earned two base-on-balls for the fifth time this season.
» Eastern Michigan's highest scoring inning was the first, when it pushed four runs across.
» Eastern Michigan left 13 runners stranded on base in the loss.
» Eastern Michigan pitchers faced 44 Central Michigan hitters in the game, allowing nine ground balls and eight fly balls while striking out four.
Historical Notes
» Friday's game marked the 183rd all-time between the Eagles and Chippewas. After the result, EMU holds a 98-85 all-time record against CMU and a 12-29 record when facing it in Mount Pleasant in the modern statistical era (1999-present).
Up Next
The Eagles and Chippewas will run it back for the second of three games tomorrow, Saturday, May 10, 2 p.m. Fans can stream the game live and follow along with live stats.
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) and emu_baseball on Instagram.
Ty Stecko (North Huntingdon, Pa./Norwin/Mount St. Mary's) paced the Eastern offense with two hits and three RBI in four trips to the plate. Senior left-hander Drew Beckner (Westerville, Ohio/Big Walnut/Charleston) got the start and went three innings. Central Michigan's Jack Otis (1-0) earned his first win of the season, while EMU senior right-hander Dom Anderson (Hagerstown, Ind./Hagerstown) (1-1) was tagged with the loss.
The loss shifted the Eagles' record to 18-25 (10-15 MAC), while the Chippewas improved to 18-31 (10-15 MAC).
How it Happened
Both offenses started hot with each team scoring four runs in the opening inning. Devan Zirwas (Imperial, Pa./West Allegheny/VCU) roped his 16th double of the season into the right field gap to score Giano Zuccaro (Middleburg Heights, Ohio/Berea Midpark/Charleston) and Logan Hugo (Essexville, Mich./Essexville Garber), grabbing the early 2-0 lead. Stecko and John Hale (Ashland City, Tenn./Sycamore/Motlow C.C.) added two more to the EMU total as Stecko scored Zirwas and Hale scored Stecko.
The Chippewas added one run in both the second and third inning to take a two-run lead at 6-4.
Eastern loaded the bases twice in the top of the fourth, but only pushed across two runs to tie the game at six runs apiece. Zuccaro scored off a bases-loaded wild pitch before Zirwas' RBI groundout scored Hugo from third after he reached base off a single to center field.
Niko Kreuzer (Westerville, Ohio/St. Francis Desales) came in to relieve Beckner after facing one batter in the bottom of the fourth before Anderson came in to relieve Kreuzer after he faced three batters. Central Michigan would then return the favor, loading the bases and scoring three runs in the frame to regain the 9-6 lead, two of which came on bases-loaded walks with the other coming home on a fielder's choice RBI.
Cooper Vance (New Waterford, Ohio/Mohawk) led off the top of the fifth with a solo homer, his career-best fifth of the season and the Eagles' 50th as a team. Stecko stepped to the plate five batters later and sent a ball to left field, scoring Hugo and Harrison Travis (Soddy Daisy, Tenn./Soddy Daisy/Carson-Newman) to tie the score at nine.
CMU would take the lead once again, scoring one off a ground-rule RBI-double to go up 10-9 in the fifth. The Chippewas tacked-on one more in the seventh before junior right-hander Ethan Davis (Brownstown, Ind./Brownstown Central/Marian/Frontier C.C.) came in to relieve Anderson after 3.1 innings of work.
Davis retired all five batters he faced, but the EMU offense was unable to make up the deficit as the game ended in a 11-9 win for the Chippewas.
Game Notes
» With 12 hits, Eastern eclipsed the 10-hit mark for the 23rd time this season. It is 15-8 when doing so.
» Vance hit his career-best fifth home run of the season, also marking the team's 50th. He needs seven more hits to reach the 100 mark in his collegiate career.
» Davis tossed his 11th scoreless outing of the season as he did not put a runner on base in his 1.2 innings of work.
» Hugo's one hit and three runs scored both surpassed his season-long career-highs as he now has 53 hits and 42 runs scored on the season. He also worked multiple walks for the eighth time this season as he posts a career and team-high 29.
» With two hits, Travis posted his 11th multi-hit game of the year and drew multiple walks for the second time in 2025.
» Zirwas drove in three runs for the third time this season, marking his team-best 16th multi-RBI outing. He also hit his team-high 16th double of the season, a figure that ranks him fourth in the conference.
» Zirwas furthered his hitting streak to 10 games, currently serving as the longest on the team. He needs at least one hit in his next three games to surpass his 12-game hitting streak from earlier this season. Should he reach 13 consecutive games with a hit, it would mark the longest hitting streak from an Eagle this season. He also reached base for the 12th consecutive game, the longest streak of reaching base for the Eagles at the moment.
» Stecko collected his 14th multi-hit game and ninth game with multiple RBI with two hits and three RBI. He increased his season-long career-best marks to 41 hits, 32 RBI, and 31 runs as he crossed home plate once.
» Hale earned his 12th multi-hit game as he totaled three hits for the third time this season, elevating his 2025 total to 41 knocks.
» Zuccaro's one hit marked the 188th of his career, he is 12 hits away from reaching the 200 mark. He also earned two base-on-balls for the fifth time this season.
» Eastern Michigan's highest scoring inning was the first, when it pushed four runs across.
» Eastern Michigan left 13 runners stranded on base in the loss.
» Eastern Michigan pitchers faced 44 Central Michigan hitters in the game, allowing nine ground balls and eight fly balls while striking out four.
Historical Notes
» Friday's game marked the 183rd all-time between the Eagles and Chippewas. After the result, EMU holds a 98-85 all-time record against CMU and a 12-29 record when facing it in Mount Pleasant in the modern statistical era (1999-present).
Up Next
The Eagles and Chippewas will run it back for the second of three games tomorrow, Saturday, May 10, 2 p.m. Fans can stream the game live and follow along with live stats.
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) and emu_baseball on Instagram.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Jack Otis (1-0)
L: Anderson, Dom (1-1)
S: Liam Stumpf (3)
Batting:
2B: Travis, Harrison 1 ; Zirwas, Devan 1
HR: Vance, Cooper 1
RBI: Zirwas, Devan 3 ; Stecko, Ty 3 ; Hale, John 1 ; Vance, Cooper 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Zuccaro, Giano 2 ; Hugo, Logan 3 ; Travis, Harrison 1 ; Zirwas, Devan 1 ; Stecko, Ty 1 ; Vance, Cooper 1
SB: Hale, John 1
HBP: Hugo, Logan 1 ; Stecko, Ty 1
Batting:
2B: Aaron Piasecki 1 ; Brady Krzciok 2 ; Cole Kwiatkowski 1
RBI: Aaron Piasecki 1 ; Aydin Wright 2 ; Brady Krzciok 2 ; Cayden Smith 1 ; Cole Kwiatkowski 2 ; Cole Prout 3
Base Running:
RUNS: Mikey Murphy 3 ; Aaron Piasecki 3 ; Aydin Wright 2 ; Brady Krzciok 1 ; Cole Kwiatkowski 2
SB: Mikey Murphy 2 ; Cole Kwiatkowski 1
CS: Mikey Murphy 1
HBP: Aydin Wright 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
2
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
RHP
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LHP
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RHP
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OF
/ Baseball
RHP
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INF
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INF
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