Mid-American Conference

The University of Toledo baseball team scored three runs in the top of the ninth to win a wild game at Winthrop on Friday to kick off the 2019 season.

UT took an early lead, but the Eagles scored twice in the sixth and twice in the seventh to go ahead, 4-2. But the Rockets stormed back in the top of the ninth, tallying three runs to take a 5-4 lead. Winthrop loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth to make things interesting, but UT held on to move to 1-0 on the season.

Freshman Darryn Davis had the big hit, plating two runs with a double in the ninth inning. Freshman Ryan Thompson, sophomore Zach Schwartzenberger, and junior Michael Ryan all drove in runs for the Midnight Blue and Gold as well. Senior Michael Jacob threw six innings, striking out three and walking just one. The southpaw started the game with five shutout innings.

Due to impending rainy weather on Sunday, the Rockets and Eagles will play a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 1:00 p.m.

No. 12 Stanford 2, Ball State 1
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TEMPE, Ariz. - Starting opening night against Stanford after a standout freshman season, Drey Jameson showed the stuff that bode well for the Cardinals all season. The right-hander tossed 6.0 no-hit innings but a couple of timely runs and stellar pitching lifted Stanford past Ball State 2-1 Friday night.

Jameson struck out nine and as Ball State held the nationally-ranked Stanford club to just two base hits. He walked two and the run he allowed was unearned. Jameson's velocity and movement showed why he was the MAC Freshman of the Year in 2018.

As good as Jameson was, Stanford ace Brendan Beck was just as tough. Beck was 8-0 a year ago and picked up the win after striking out 11 over 6.1 innings. Two Stanford relievers came on to finish the night, combining for 2.2 innings and allowing only an infield single to Noah Navarro in the 9th. 

Trailing 1-0, Ball State's run came when Griffin Hulecki clubbed a triple in the top of the 7th. Hulecki scored on a sac fly by Noah Powell. With the game tied 1-1, Stanford's Brandon Wulff scored the winning run after hitting a triple of his own. 

Hulecki was the only player on either team with two hits while Navarro, Chase Sebby and Aaron Simpson each singled for the Cardinals.

Ball State will play two games Saturday starting with a 1 p.m. ET game at Grand Canyon. The Cards will then play against Cal State Bakersfield right after that game.

Dallas Baptist 3, Kent State 0
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DALLAS, Texas –The Kent State baseball team (0-1) opened the 2019 season with a 3-0 loss to Dallas Baptist (1-0) Friday evening, as the Flashes struggled to get the bats started at Horner Ballpark in Dallas, Texas. Senior Connor Wollersheim started on the bump for the Flashes pitching 5.0 innings, striking out six and allowing three hits and four walks.

Against an offense that averaged 10.3 hits per game last season, the Kent State pitching staff tallied nine strikeouts and held Dallas Baptist to just four hits. Coming off a 42-21 season and its seventh postseason appearance in eight years in 2018, Dallas Baptist managed only three unearned runs off of Kent State pitching and did not record a hit with a runner in scoring position. The Kent State battery stranded seven runners, despite the Patriots leading off seven-of-eight innings with a runner on base. 

Wollersheim started on the hill for the Flashes and worked his way out of early offensive threats, pitching three scoreless innings in the loss. He ended his night striking out the side in the fifth. Junior Zach Schultz entered the game out of the bullpen in the sixth and picked up two strikeouts in his first inning of work. Pittman closed the game with 1.0 inning pitched and one strikeout. Behind the plate, senior Pete Schuler caught two baserunners stealing, including one in the bottom of the first inning.

The Patriots' runs came in the fourth, scoring two runs on two errors, and in the seventh, adding a run on defensive miscues.

"Wollersheim threw well and his breaking ball was sharp," head coach Jeff Duncan said, "Pittman and Schultz threw the ball well too. Four errors is uncharacteristic for our defense, but that will get better as we continue to play outdoors. We were a little anxious early offensively, but we hit some balls hard. We will get better as we go. We learned a lot tonight!"

Offensively, the Flashes totaled two hits and three walks on the night. Junior Cam Touchette picked up the first hit of the season with a sharp ground ball to short stop in the top of the sixth and senior Josh Hollander added a hit in the top of the ninth. Sophomore Nick Elsen reached base twice on two walks.

The Flashes will square off against the Patriots in the second game of the series Saturday at Horner Ballpark at 3:00 p.m. EST. The final game scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 17 has been moved up an hour and will be played at 1:00 p.m. EST.

Middle Tennessee 7, Bowling Green 0
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MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The Bowling Green State University baseball team opened its 2019 season at Middle Tennessee State University on Friday (Feb. 15) afternoon. The Blue Raiders picked up the 7-0 win on opening day. The ballgame was played at MTSU's Reese Smith Jr. Field.
 
Middle Tennessee opened the scoring on the day with a two-run single with two outs in the first inning. MTSU scored three more runs with two outs in the fifth, before tacking on single runs in the fifth and sixth innings.
 
Making his first appearance since the 2017 season, Chase Antle struck out four batters over 3.1 innings of work. Jeremy Spezia, David Stopp and Damon Egnormade relief appearances for the Falcons. Stopp surrendered just one run over 2.1 innings on the hill, while Egnor struck out two over 0.2 innings. Neil Lambert and R.J. Williams recorded hits for the Orange and Brown

NJIT 5, Eastern Michigan 4
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HOOVER, Ala. - (EMUEagles.com) – For the second consecutive season, the Eastern Michigan University baseball team began its season with a heartbreaking loss as the Eagles were defeated by NJIT, 5-4, Friday, Feb. 15, at the Hoover Metropolitan Complex. Tied going into the ninth inning, EMU batters showed immense poise, as a two out, bases loaded walk gave EMU a one-run lead. Despite Eastern's best effort, a two-run home run off the bat of the Highlanders' Paul Franzoni ended the game in the bottom of the inning.
 
Offensively, the Green and White saw production and poise from a slew of its players, including veteran infielder, and returning First Team-All MAC selection Zachary Owings (Saline, Mich.-Saline). Owings tallied two hits in four at-bats, and drove in the go-ahead run in the ninth inning via a full-count walk. The six hits from the Eagles were spread among five players. While no hit resulted in extra bases, the Eagles were able to drive in four runs in their 2019 debut.

On the hill, senior Jackson Shaver (Grand Rapids, Mich.-Forest Hills Northern (Grand Rapids C.C.)) had a strong first start of the year, taking a no decision after going the first four innings, allowing no runs, and just three hits. 
 
EMU struck first in the game, as junior team captain Nick Jones (Battle Creek, Mich.-Lakeview) singled in his co-captain, senior John Rensel Jr.(Tallmadge, Ohio-Tallmadge) from third. Rensel reached base on a single, before advancing to second on a balk, one of NJIT's two for the game. A groundout to second base allowed Rensel to advance to third, before scoring on the Jones single. Shaver continued to dominate over the next two innings, keeping NJIT off of the board until the fifth.

In the fifth, a combination of high-powered offense and pitching inconsistencies allowed NJIT to put three on the board. A leadoff home run, followed by two hit batters gave way to a triple, which put the Highlanders on top, 3-1, until the seventh inning, when Eastern would tie the game in a series of unfortunate events for NJIT.

A scoreless sixth made way for a two-run seventh for the Eagles, tying the game 3-3. With two outs, senior Cameron Cruz (Chandler, Ariz.-Hamilton (Mesa C.C.)) reached on an error by the NJIT first baseman. Unable to regain focus, NJIT again allowed an Eastern runner, junior Devin Hager(Commerce Twp. Mich.-Walled Lake Northern), to reach on the ensuing sequence. Cruz reached third base on the error and came around to score on sophomore Shane Easter's (Kalamazoo, Mich.-Comstock) RBI knock to bring the Eagles to within one, 3-2. The third error for NJIT advanced Easter to third base, setting up sophomore Nate Jones (Battle Creek, Mich.-Lakeview) run-scoring groundout to tie at three all.
 
Strong defense, highlighted by the pitching of redshirt junior Caleb Hester (Coloma, Mich.-Coloma) allowed the Eagles to stay in the game through the end. Hester, who has battled injuries in each of the last two seasons, tossed two innings of scoreless baseball, giving up just one hit on his way to a stellar first game in relief for the Green and White.
 
The ninth inning proved to be one of high suspense and excitement for Eastern. After loading the bases via a single, two fielder's choice plays, and a walk, Owings was right back in the thick of the action for EMU. A seven-pitch at-bat, resulted in an RBI walk to give the Eagles a 4-3 lead. 
 
Sophomore closer Thomas House (Ross, Ohio,-Ross) was sent back to the mound in the bottom frame of the ninth, hoping to toss a second straight clean inning. A lead-off fly out started the inning in the Eagles' favor, however a quick one-out single allowed NJIT to step up to the plate with the tying run on. During that next at bat, NJIT blasted its second home run of the game, a two-run shot to deep left-center, ending the game 5-4 in walk-off fashion in favor of the Highlanders. 

Eastern will be back on the diamond in game action Saturday, Feb. 16, when it looks to avenge its loss and more, facing NJIT in a doubleheader. The games are set for 12 p.m. CT, and 2 p.m. CT, respectively. Both games will be played at the Hoover Metropolitan Complex in Hoover, Ala. The series finale will take place Sunday, Feb. 17, when the Eagles and Highlanders will play a 9:30 a.m. CT matinee.

Saint Louis 9, Miami 1
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HOOVER, Ala. – The Miami University baseball team settled down in the later innings after a rough start, but Saint Louis took a 9-1 victory to open the season on Friday.

Saint Louis struck first in the bottom of the first after a double brought in a runner who had been hit by a pitch. The Billikens then added three runs in the bottom of the second and four more in the bottom of the third to take an 8-0 lead.

Miami got on the board in the top of the fourth. Junior first baseman Charlie Harrigan led off with a double to right center. One batter later, junior shortstop Will Vogelgesang drove him in with a double to left field. The RedHawks were able to load the bases by drawing a pair of walks, but were unable to bring another run home.

Junior pitcher Nick Urbantke helped settle things down for Miami as he did not allow another run over his 4.0 innings of relief work in his RedHawk debut. He struck out five.

Saint Louis brought home one unearned run in the bottom of the eighth off an error and a sacrifice fly to complete the scoring.

Vogelgesang finished 2-for-4 with one RBI to lead the RedHawks.

Miami continues its neutral series against Saint Louis Saturday with a doubleheader. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 2 p.m. (EST) with game two to follow approximately 45 minutes after its conclusion.

Wofford 2, Ohio 0
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SPARTANSBURG, S.C. – The Ohio Baseball team (0-1) dropped its season opener to Wofford (1-0), 2-0, on Friday evening (Feb. 15) at King Field.

Wofford scored twice in in the first inning after a double plated two runners and was held scoreless after that.

Ohio's starter senior RHP Kenny Ogg (Indianapolis, Ind.) tossed 5.0 innings and allowed just the two earned runs in the first inning before settling in and not allowing a run. Ogg fanned four batters and gave up six hits without giving up a walk. Sophomore RHP Eddie Kutt IV(Westlake, Calif.) tossed three innings of relief and faced the minimum nine batters. Kutt IV fanned one batter and did not walk one while allowing just one hit.

Ohio pitches allowed just seven hits in total while striking out five batters. No Terrier was walked and Wofford left three on base.

The Bobcats were able to put two runners on in the ninth with two outs as sophomore INF Treyben Funderberg (Bevercreek, Ohio) had an infield single and redshirt freshman Trevor Lukkes (Tustin, Calif.) had a single to left field.

Ohio also threatened in the fourth inning when Lukkes and redshirt sophomore C Dan McCauley (Pittsburgh, Pa.) had singles back-to-back singles but was unable to convert.
Lukkes led the way, going 2-for-4 with singles for Ohio. Senior 1B Rudy Rott (Holmen, Wis.) had the Bobcats only extra base hit of the day, a double. Rott also reached on a hit by pitch.

Sophomore OF Sebastian Fabik (Lebanon, Ohio) and Funderburg was 1-of-4 on the day with singles, while redshirt senior Connor McMann (Flower Mound, Texas) was 1-of-2 with a single. Redshirt junior OF Ryan Sargent (Algonquin, Ill.) was 1-for-3 with a single.

Ohio outhit Wofford 8-7 in the game.

The Bobcats will be back in action for a doubleheader tomorrow beginning at 1 p.m. instead of the previously scheduled one game. Ohio and Wofford will not play on Sunday.

Troy 3, Central Michigan 2
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TROY, Ala. – The Central Michigan baseball team could not deliver the timely hit on Friday in dropping its season opener, 3-2, to Troy at the Trojans' Riddle-Pace Field.
 
CMU stranded 11 baserunners, including eight in scoring position. The Chippewas left at least one runner on in seven of their nine turns at bat. They left two in scoring position in the seventh inning and they left the bases loaded in the eighth. CMU also struck out 14 times.
 
The Chippewas and Troy are scheduled to square off in a doubleheader on Saturday (2 p.m.) and then close the season-opening series on Sunday (noon).
 
"I thought our guys did a nice job coming out and playing our style of baseball," said Jordan Bischel, who was coaching his first game at CMU. "We did a lot of things well."