Saturday's MAC Baseball Results
Akron 3, Western Michigan 1 (Game 1)
Western Michigan 10, Akron 6 (Game 2)
Eastern Michigan 4, Ball State 0
Miami 7, Bowling Green 0
Ohio 5, Buffalo 3
Kent State 6, Central Michigan 3
Toledo 5, Northern Illinois 1
Stories courtesy of home sports information departments
Akron 3, Western Michigan 1 (Game 1 Boxscore)
Western Michigan 10, Akron 6 (Game 2 Boxscore)
KALAMAZOO, Mich.-Western Michigan split Saturday's doubleheader against Mid-American Conference East division rival Akron, falling 3-1 in game one, and rebounding with a 10-6 win in the nightcap.
The Broncos (17-19, 7-6 MAC) and Zips (15-24, 8-6 MAC) conclude the three-game series tomorrow with a 1 p.m. first pitch.
WMU left-handed pitcher Mike Moyer (0-1, 9.31 ERA) is expected to go up against AU right-hander Alex Loftin (2-1, 3.12 ERA).
GAME ONE RECAP
Akron scored three unearned runs off of Bronco starter Casey Webber in the top of the second and hung on to for a 3-1 win over Western Michigan in game one of Saturday's doubleheader.
Webber got the first two batters he faced to fly out in the second and then after issuing a walk struck out Gerrad Rohan swinging. The pitch was low in the dirt however and skipped past Bronco catcher Caleb Caton, enabling Rohan to race down to first. The Zips proceeded to pepper three singles around the diamond, pushing three runs across.
Webber (2-3) would only give up three more hits over the next five innings, tossing seven total frames. Monty Porter came out of the bullpen to work a scoreless eighth and ninth.
Right-hander Andrew Brown (5-5) went the distance in the winning effort for Akron, scattering nine hits over nine innings, while fanning six and not allowing a walk.
Patrick Duncan drove in the Broncos' lone run in the bottom of the sixth with a single through the left side. Jack Scanlon scored from second after reaching on a fielding error by the shortstop.
Defensively, both teams turned to three double plays.
GAME TWO RECAP
Western Michigan scored a run in the first and erupted for six runs on seven hits in the fifth, building a 7-0 lead and held off Akron in the late innings for a 10-6 victory.
Sophomore southpaw Steve Laudicina (4-3) earned the win on the mound, hurling six innings. He was touched for nine hits and allowed three runs, only one earned. Middle reliever David Brennan tossed an inning and two thirds and Patrick Borlik worked the final inning and a third to register his fifth save.
Jack Scanlon, Zach Thoma and Ryan McMillin each drove in two runs apiece. Scanlon and Vinnie Booker both went 3-for-5 at the plate and McMillin, Booker and Dan Shutes all collected doubles.
The Broncos got to Akron left-handed starter Pat Dyer (3-2) for nine hits and seven runs in just 4.1 innings.
WMU and Akron combined for 33 hits in the game.
Eastern Michigan 4, Ball State 0
Boxscore
MUNCIE, Ind. – The Ball State baseball team suffered a 4-0 loss to Mid-American Conference West Division leader Eastern Michigan Saturday afternoon in a pitchers’ duel at Ball Diamond that saw each team tally only three hits apiece on the afternoon. The Cardinals and the Eagles will decide the series victor Sunday afternoon with the rubber game at 1 p.m.
Junior right-hander Chris Marangon (Maple Valley, Wash./Edmunds CC) was the hard-luck loser in the game as he worked 8.2 innings and allowed three runs on two hits. Marangon allowed a run in the top of the first inning before holding EMU hitless until the ninth inning when the Eagles plated three insurance runs. He set the Eagles down in order five times on the afternoon and needed just 109 pitches to work a career-high 8.2 innings.
Eastern Michigan right-hander Steve Weber was stellar on the mound as he posted a complete-game shutout of the Cardinals to improve to 4-3 on the year. Weber limited Ball State to three hits while striking out six and walking two batters on 113 pitches. The Cardinals only got one runner to third base in the loss and only two runners were in scoring position all afternoon.
Eastern Michigan (18-20, 9-5 MAC) got on the board quickly in the top of the first inning against Marangon. Leadoff hitter Ben Magsig gave the Eagles the early lead as he hit his fourth home run of the season over the right field wall for the 1-0 lead.
Eastern Michigan (10-26, 5-9 MAC) got three big insurance run in the top of the ninth inning as Brent Ohrman led off with a double down the left field line, only the Eagles’ second hit of the afternoon. After a fly ball moved Ohrman to third, Tucker Rubino lifted a sacrifice fly to left field to give the Eagles a 2-0 lead. The Eagles took advantage of a pair of walks before Matt Hitt delivered a two-run double off of left-hander Jon Cisna (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport Township) for the 4-0 lead.
Ball State and Eastern Michigan will wrap up the three-game series Sunday afternoon with the rubber game. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. at Ball Diamond.
Miami 7, Bowling Green 0
Boxscore
OXFORD, Ohio -- Senior left-hander Shawn Marquardt struck out six over eight innings and Scott Slappey drove in three runs with a double and sacrifice fly, leading Miami to a 7-0 victory over Bowling Green Saturday afternoon at McKie Field. The shutout was the RedHawks third of the season.
Marquardt (5-3) limited the Falcons to just six baserunners during the contests. He scattered five hits and hit a batter, but did not allow a walk. Brandon Adkins gave up a pair of hits in the ninth, but rolled a double play to complete the effort.
Miami grabbed the lead in the second on Slappey's two-run double just inside third base. After an out to start the inning, the RedHawks loaded the bases when John Crummy and Dan Walsh singled around a Nate Bowles walk. Slappey laced a 1-2 pitch inside the left field line to put the RedHawks on the board.
In the fourth, the same players led to three Miami runs. Crummy singled to left center before Bowles reached on an error during a sacrifce attempt. Walsh bunted again, this one perfectly placed toward third for a base hit. Slappey flied out to center, but it was deep enough to plate a run for a 3-0 lead. A squeeze bunt by Ryan Elble brought home another run before Brenner capped the rally with a chopper through the left side that made the score 5-0.
A fielder's choice by Brenner in the sixth brought home Walsh for the sixth run, while Elble doubled and scored on an error in the eighth.
Bowling Green starter Ethan McKenney (1-6) took the loss, giving up five runs (three earned) before being pulled with two outs in the fourth. The Falcons had a fell to 16-22 overall and 5-9 in the MAC.
The two teams wrap up the series tomorrow afternoon in a 1 p.m. start.
Ohio 5, Buffalo 3
Boxscore
ATHENS, Ohio – Senior pitcher Jason Moulton worked a solid 6.0 innings to lead the Ohio University baseball team (21-17; 10-4) to a 5-3 win over against Buffalo Saturday evening at Bob Wren Stadium.
With the win, Ohio has won its fourth-consecutive Mid-American Conference series. The Bobcats have also won nine of their last 10 games in league play.
Moulton (Toledo, Ohio) finished the evening with five strikeouts and just two walks, while scattering nine innings as he improved to 4-2 on the year.
Freshman Tyler Wells (Lexington, Ky.) led the way offensively as he finished the day by going 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored and one RBI. Junior third baseman Dan Schmidt (Kamiak, Wash.) also collected a pair of hits and drove in run.
Also chipping in for the Bobcats was freshman Jake Madsen (Cincinnati, Ohio) and senior Jensen Painter (Willshire, Ohio). Madsen drove in team-best two RBI with a two-out single in the third inning, while Painter went 1-for-3 with a run scored as he got on base for the 38th-consecutive game. Painter has got on base in every game this season.
Ohio never trailed as it opened up a 5-0 lead through five innings. Buffalo fought back with three runs in the top of the sixth to cut the Bobcats’ lead to two at 5-3, but that was as close as the Bulls would get for the remainder of the game.
Senior Shane Cole (Oakville, Ontario) would come on in the seventh to relieve Moulton. He would go on to pitch 2.1 innings before handing the ball off to sophomore Sean Kennedy (Columbus, Ohio) pitched just 0.1 of an inning. Sophomore Tyler Stage (Grove City, Ohio) would then come in to pick up his first save of the year.
The Bobcats also improved to 19-1 when leading after seven innings.
Ohio and Buffalo return to the diamond tomorrow at 1 p.m. for the series finale at Bob Wren Stadium. Junior captain Seth Streich will get the start for the Bobcats.
Kent State 6, Central Michigan 3
Boxscore
MOUNT PLEASANT — Central Michigan dropped game two of its series versus Kent State Saturday at Theunissen Stadium, 6-3.
The GoldenFlashes (22-16, 11-3 MAC) scored all six of their runs with two outs to even the series, despite striking out 12 times. The Chippewas (17-23, 7-7 MAC) have now recorded 25 strikeouts in the first two games of the series.
Kent got its first two-out RBI in the top of the first inning to take a 1-0 lead when George Roberts doubled to right center, scoring Jimmy Rider.
The Chippewas tied the game in the bottom of the second, 1-1, but were unable to take advantage of a key opportunity in the same frame. Senior William Arnold led off with a single, senior Nate Theunissen followed with a double to right field and senior Sam Russell walked to load the bases before freshman Joe Houlihan hit a RBI single to center field to batters later.
With the bases still loaded, redshirt freshman Pat MacKenzie hit a line shot right at the first baseman who was just able to make a reactionary catch and redshirt freshman Nick Regnier grounded into a fielder’s choice leaving the bases loaded.
A pair of doubles by Rider and David Lyon to lead off the third gave the Golden Flashes the lead right back, 2-1, before two more runs in the top of the fourth extended the lead to 4-1 and chased junior Pat Kaminska from the game.
Kaminska gave up nine hits in his four innings of work, but was able to get five strikeouts to keep the game within reach for the Chippewas before being pulled in favor of redshirt freshman Dylan Rheault.
Rheault held Kent State to just two hits over the final five innings of work and despitesingle runs in the top of the seventh and eighth innings, the Chippewas made one last attempt at a rally.
Arnold his a single with one out in the eighth, advanced to second on a wild pitch and came around to score on a RBI single up the middle by Russell, pulling CMU within four, 6-2.
Junior Reid Rooney then came on to pinch hit for the Chippewas and hit a high fly ball to left field for a sacrifice fly that plated Theunissen, while also moving Russell up to second. Houlihan then came to the plate and hit a ball that was lost in the sun by center fielder Evan Campbell, but T.J. Sutton came all the way from right and made a sliding catch in center to prevent disaster for KSU and end the rally.
The Chippewas got a lead off walk from MacKenzie in the bottom of the ninth after a pair of strike outs and pick off by Rheault in the top of the inning, but Brian Clark came on and got pinch hitter Tyler Huntey and Hall to strike out and induced a fly out by Dean to end the game.
Arnold led the way at the plate, going 2-for-4 with two runs scored, while Russell and Hall each finished the gamewith two hits as well.
Rider went 3-for-4 with three runs scored and a RBI to lead the Golden Flashes, while Derek Toadvine went 2-for-4 with a run scored and RBI.
Sunday’s rubber match will begin at 1:05 p.m. at Theunissen Stadium with Central’s Rick Dodridge taking on Kent’s Tyler Skulina.
Toledo 5, Northern Illinois 1
Boxscore
DeKALB, Ill. – Down 5-0 after six innings, the Northern Illinois bullpen combined for three hitless and scoreless innings against Toledo, with the offense assembling a rally in the ninth, but the Huskies fell to the Rockets, 5-1.
“We didn’t stop battling in the game and we were one batter away from tying the game and that’s your job when you’re behind,” said Head Coach Ed Mathey. “Our bullpen gave us a chance at the end of the game and that’s all we can ask from them. If you post zeroes on the scoreboard, you have to hope the offense starts hitting. We were hoping for a better result today but we’ll have to come out tomorrow and get it done then. “
Through the first eight innings of the game, the Huskies accounted for four hits, half of which were collected by first baseman Jeff Zimmerman who was 2-for-3 at the plate with one walk as well.
Starting pitcher Jake Hermsen hurled six innings for the Huskies with three strikeouts and surrendered five of the Rockets runs. The NIU bullpen began its work at the start of the seventh inning, two of which were handled by Eli Anderson who struck out one in his appearance. Ben Neumann hurled 0.2 innings and Zach Badgley got the last out of the inning to finish for the Huskies.
The bullpen faced 11 batters, surrendering only two walks and did not allow a single hit in their three innings to post three goose eggs on the scoreboard.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, Jordan Huffman lined a ball to left field and reached second after the outfielder stumbled and dropped the ball. Following a walk by Zimmerman, Alex Klonowski singled to right center to load the bases and push the Rockets against the proverbial wall.
Alex Beckmann flied out to right field and sacrificed to score Huffman and break the shutout. Northern Illinois was unable to score anymore runs in the inning and ended the contest, 5-1. The run continued the Huskies streak of 49-straight games without being shutout.
NIU will close its series against Toledo tomorrow afternoon at Ralph McKinzie Field with the first pitch slated for 1:05 p.m.