Sunday’s Baseball Results
Kent State 8, Bowling Green 1
Northern Illinois 12, Toledo 4
Miami 3, Western Michigan 1
Central Michigan 12, Eastern Michigan 3
Ball State 15, Ohio 1
Ball State 11, Ohio 6
Stories courtesy of MAC Sports Information Departments
Kent State 8, Bowling Green 1
Boxscore
KENT, OHIO – Kent State finished a dominating sweep of Bowling Green with an 8-1 win in the finale of a weekend series that also trimmed the club's magic number to four Sunday afternoon at Schoonover Stadium.
After winning 11-0 on Friday and 12-0 Saturday, the Flashes wasted little time in jumping out in front Sunday. Left fielder Reilly Hawkins swatted his third leadoff homer in the last three years in the first and KSU had a 1-0 lead. It became 2-0 in the second on a wild pitch.
KSU then took command with a four-run fourth. After the first two men were retired, the Flashes got a double from Brad Hamilton and then struck for four runs. Mason Mamarella drove in a pair and then Nick Kanavas did the same with two outs. Kent State soared out in front, 6-0. Two sacrifice flies in the fifth made it 8-0.
Eli Kraus pitched into the sixth for the victorious Flashes, earning his 24th career victory. The win ties him for fourth on KSU's all-time list with Dirk Hayhurst. After being held scoreless for 23 innings, BG finally scored it's first run of the series with a single tally in the sixth. Tyler Drabick, Robert Zeigler and Collin Romel each worked a scoreless inning.
Kent State will next be in action on Friday night when Eastern Michigan comes to town for a 6 p.m. game.
Northern Illinois 12, Toledo 4
Boxscore
DEKALB, IL – Brad Wood (Orland Park, Ill./St. Laurence), Tommy Szczasny (Tinley Park, Ill./Lincoln-Way North), Kam Smith (Colonial Beach, Va./The Steward School), Connor Montgomery (Newport Beach, Calif./Canyon) and Joe Jumonville (Munster, Ind./Munster) each connected for a double as part of the Huskies 13-hit barrage Sunday, as they sent their senior class out in style with a 12-4 win over the University of Toledo at Ralph McKinzie Field.
Despite Toledo overcoming an early 1-0 Huskies' lead, NIU recaptured the momentum and the lead for good with a three-run bottom of the third inning to secure their 10th and final win at home as they improved to 17-31 overall, and 6-15 in the Mid-American Conference.
An RBI groundout from Jumonville in the second inning put the Huskies in front 1-0, but Toledo erased the deficit with one swing on a three-run home run to left-center field in the third. The Rockets' rally didn't last though as NIU pushed across three in its half – highlighted by RBI singles from Smith and Scooter Bynum (Fairbanks, Alaska /Arizona Western College). Wood then made it a 5-3 affair in the fourth when he ripped a hard run-scoring double down the left field line, allowing Samuel Vega (Vega Baja, Puerto Rico/Southwestern Junior College) to score.
On the mound, junior RHP William Anderson (Columbus, Ind./Columbus East) tossed 4 1/3 innings of five-hit ball. He gave up three earned runs while striking out five and walking only two. Seniors George Faue (Corcoan, Minn./Iowa Central) and Donovin Sims (Roscoe, Ill./Hononegah Community) then closed out the final five innings with Faue tossing 4 1/3 and Sims a 1/3.
A Jumonville RBI double in the fifth made it a 6-3 affair, and Smith connected for a two-run double in the sixth before the Huskies finished off the scoring with three in the eighth on an error, a two-run Jumonville single and a Vega run-scoring single.
Vega, Wood, Szczasny, Smith and Jumonville each had a pair of hits for the Huskies, while Jake Dunham (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North), Bynum and Montgomery each had one.
Prior to the game, the Huskies honored their eight seniors – Bynum, Jumonville, Sims, Vega, Matthew Hoffmann (East Dubuque, Ill./Wahlert Catholic), Wood, Faue and Andrew Frankenreider (Peoria, Ill./Dunlap) – for the hard work, dedication and commitment they've given to the program in their time as student-athletes.
NIU closes out the regular season with a seven-game road trip, starting with a three-game series at Bowling Green University May 11-13.
Miami 3, Western Michigan 1
Boxscore
KALAMAZOO, Mich. - The Miami baseball team collected its sixth conference series win in seven weekends as it topped Western Michigan, 3-1, Sunday afternoon.
The RedHawks improve to 28-16 (13-8 MAC) on the season while the Broncos drop to 20-21 (9-10 MAC).
MU starting pitcher Gus Graham was brilliant again. He went seven innings and allowed just one run on four hits. He picked up the win to move to 5-0 on the year. Over his last three starts, Graham has amassed 25 innings of work and has given up just four total runs. He has also walked just six and struck out 20 over that span with opposing hitters batting just .145 against him.
WMU starting pitcher Jacob Piechota was just as good Sunday. He allowed just one hit on the day but unfortunately for the Broncos it was a Ross Haffey solo blast in the top of the sixth.
The Red & White doubled their advantage in the top of the eighth. Parker Massman led off the inning by drawing a walk, got to second on a Jordan Stephens sacrifice bunt and reached third thanks to a Cristian Tejada single. Massman was promptly brought in to score on a Haffey safety squeeze sacrifice bunt. WMU finally got on the board in the bottom half of the eighth, scoring a single tally on an RBI single. After cutting the deficit to 2-1, the Broncos had their chances to tie or take the lead as they had the bases loaded with nobody out. Andy Almquist, who came on to pitch for MU just prior to the Bronco RBI single, struck out two batters and got a foul out to escape the jam and preserve the lead.
Now nursing just a 2-1 advantage, the RedHawks were able to get some insurance in the top of the ninth. Will Vogelgesang reached on a one-out walk and went first to third on a Kyle Winkler single. Spencer Dull then came on to pinch hit and laid down another successful safety squeeze, driving in the speedy Vogelgesang from third to hand Miami a 3-1 edge.
Shane Smith earned the save for the ‘Hawks, his third of 2018, after pitching a scoreless final 1.1 innings.
With the road portion of the season’s schedule in the books, Miami will close the regular season with a seven-game home stand. The upcoming week features four of those contests, starting with Ball State at 6 p.m. on Tuesday in a midweek non-conference matchup. The ‘Hawks then host Central Michigan for the weekend, starting on Friday at 5 p.m.
Central Michigan 12, Eastern Michigan 3
Boxscore
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - Battered and bruised, and maybe limping a little bit.
But they're still swinging.
Logan Buczkowski and Jack Collins combined on a five-hitter and the Chippewas got two big innings on Sunday in topping Eastern Michigan, 12-3, in the third and final game of a Mid-American Conference baseball series at Keilitz Field at Theunissen Stadium.
CMU, which dropped the first two games of the series, improved to 20-25-1, 12-9 MAC. The Chippewas entertain Michigan on Tuesday and then Cleary on Wednesday in back-to-back nonleaguers before heading to Miami (Ohio) next weekend for their second-to-last MAC series of the season.
Nate Jones hit a three-run homer off CMU starter Logan Buczkowski to put Eastern in front, 3-2, in the top of the fifth inning.
The Chippewas responded with six runs in the bottom half of the frame to retake the lead, 8-3. Daniel Robinson hit his first career grand slam in the seventh to extend the Chippewas' lead to 12-3.
CMU sent 10 men to the plate in the fifth. They pieced together four hits, two hit batters, a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly to break the game open.
Buczkowski, a freshman starting in place of normal Sunday starter Tyler Hankins (injury), went 4 1/3 innings. He allowed three runs on three hits, walked four and struck out five.
Collins (4-1), a junior left-hander, blanked the Eagles (18-27, 11-10) over the final 4 2/3 innings. He allowed two hits and walked two in picking up the victory.
Dillon Schroeder (0-3), who relieved EMU starter Jackson Shaver in the fifth, took the loss. The Eagles used five pitchers.
Ball State 15, Ohio 1 -- Boxscore
Ball State 11, Ohio 6 – Boxscore
ATHENS, Ohio – The Ball State baseball team notched a series sweep at Ohio thanks to winning both ends of a doubleheader Sunday afternoon by scores of 15-1 and 11-6. This was Ball State's first ever three-game series sweep at Ohio in a series that dates back to 1969.
With the two wins, Ball State has now won eight straight Mid-American Conference games and improved its record to 26-20 overall and 13-8 in league action. Ohio (20-26, 8-13) has dropped five consecutive league contests.
The 15 runs scored in Sunday's first game were the most tallied by the Cardinals in a MAC game this year. Ball State racked up four runs in the second inning, two more in the third and five in the fourth to blow open the game. Senior Colin Brockhouse went 5-for-6 with a home run, double and four RBIs. Junior John Ricotta also tallied a home run, which came right after Brockhouse's homer in the third inning.
Freshman pitcher Drey Jameson improved to 5-0 against MAC competition as the righty went 6.2 innings and struck out a personal-high 12 batters.
The series finale was a back-and-forth affair until the Cardinals broke a 6-6 tie with five runs in the top of the eighth inning. Redshirt freshman Tim Blankenberger had the go-ahead hit, a two-run double, to make the score, 8-6. Junior Chase Sebby and senior Jeff Riedel also had RBIs in the decisive inning.
Sebby and Riedel combined for four hits and six RBIs in Sunday's nightcap. Sophomore Noah Powell added two RBIs and scored three times. Riedel had a hit in all three games and now carries a 15-game hitting streak.
Reliever Nolan Gazouski tallied his third win by pitching the final 3.2 frames, striking out five batters and limiting Ohio to one run. Ball State pitchers struck out 43 batters in the sweep.
Next up for Ball State is a road game at Miami on Tuesday evening, May 8, which will count as a non-conference contest. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.
