Story Courtesy of Eastern Michigan Athletic Communications

AVON, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) – The sixth-seeded Eastern Michigan University baseball team earned its first postseason victory since 2017 with a dramatic 10-7, 10-inning win over No. 4 Bowling Green State University Thursday, May 22, at Crushers Stadium. The high-stakes victory secured EMU a spot in the second round of the 2025 Mid-American Conference Baseball Championships.
 
Bowling Green tied the game at seven runs apiece in the bottom of the ninth before Eastern plated three in the 10th highlighted by a bases-clearing, two-run double from senior Logan Hugo (Essexville, Mich./Essexville Garber) to storm ahead 9-7 before Harrison Travis (Soddy Daisy, Tenn./Soddy Daisy/Carson-Newman) doubled to right-center to score Hugo and cap the scoring in the game.  
 
Junior Ethan Davis (Brownstown, Ind./Brownstown Central/Marian/Frontier C.C.) shut down the Falcons in the bottom half, allowing zero BGSU runs as he forced a double-play ball to shortstop to seal EMU's first postseason victory since the 2017 season.
 
Hugo led the Eastern offense with a three-RBI day in a 1-for-4 clip from the plate, including his pivotal 10th-inning double to vault the Eagles ahead, 9-7. He added two runs himself and worked one walk as well.
 
Davis (3-4) entered the game in the ninth and allowed just one base runner in his 1.1 innings of work, earning the win while BGSU's Landon Willeman (1-2) was tagged with the loss.  
 
How it Happened
Eastern Michigan got the offense going in the top half of the second inning, threatening with two hits before the side was retired and no runs were scored. Ty Stecko (North Huntingdon, Pa./Norwin Mount St. Mary's) had a double, and Bruce Jellison (Hartland, Mich./Hartland/Wabash Valley) had a single in which Stecko was thrown out at the plate.
 
In the top of the third, Eastern Michigan got two runs across to open up the scoring on sacrifice flies from Logan Hugo (Essexville, Mich./Essexville Garber) and Travis to take a 2-0 lead.
 
Drew Beckner (Westerville, Ohio/Big Walnut Charleston) was the starting pitcher for Eastern. He did not allow a hit or a run until the bottom half of the fourth inning, when the Falcons scored two runs with an RBI single to tie the game at two. After getting into a jam where Bowling Green had the bases loaded, Beckner got out of the inning, finishing the day with six frames of work, allowing three runs off five hits, and striking out eight.
 
The next half inning, Eastern Michigan regained the lead, 3-2, on a solo shot to left field sent out by Giano Zuccaro (Middleburg Heights, Ohio/Berea Midpark/Charleston). The Falcons threatened in the bottom of the fifth. They had the bases loaded, but Beckner was able to get out of it as the score remained 3-2 after five.
 
The sixth inning saw Eastern tack on another run, an RBI single from John Hale (Ashland City, Tenn./Sycamore/Motlow State C.C.) to give the Eagles a two-run lead, 4-2. Jellison scored another run for the Eagles on a passed ball, which gave EMU a 5-2 lead after its half of the sixth. Bowling Green added one more run in the sixth inning to make the game 5-3.
 
In the seventh, EMU threatened once again as they had the bases loaded with two outs but was unable to push any runs across. Beckner was relieved in the inning by Emmett Gillies (Columbus, Ohio/Bishop Hartley/Akron), who went on to pitch a scoreless inning, striking out one batter, and retired the side in order.
 
After Eastern Michigan was retired in the top half of the eighth, Gillies pitched another scoreless inning to keep it a 5-3 game. In the top half of the ninth inning, the Eagles got their first two runners of the inning on base and would ultimately get an insurance run on an RBI single by Devan Zirwas (Imperial, Pa./West Allegheny/VCU) to make it 6-3 Eastern. EMU scored a second run in the frame on a sacrifice RBI fly from Stecko.
 
Bowling Green did not go quietly in the bottom of the ninth. It scored three runs on a homer to left field to make it a 7-6 ball game. After the homer, Dom Anderson (Hagerstown, Ind./Hagerstown) came in to relieve Gillies. Bowling Green had its next two batters reach base on an error and a single. A fielder's choice by BGSU was the second out of the inning. With two runners on and the winning run at first, the Falcons were able to tie the game on an infield hit, which forced the Eagles to go to their bullpen, bringing Davis to the mound as he was able to get out of the inning and force it to extras.
 
In the 10th inning, Eastern got one runner on base on a walk by Hale. Eventually advancing to second with two outs, the Eagles got three runs on the board, including a bases-clearing, two-out, RBI double by Hugo. Travis followed this up with an RBI double to score Hugo, and Eastern Michigan held the lead 10-7 after the top half of the inning. After getting out of the ninth inning, Davis came back to work in the bottom half of the tenth and got the win for Eastern Michigan to keep the Eagles' season alive, capturing the program's first post-season win since the 2017 campaign with a final score of 10-7.

Game Notes
» Hugo's RBI sacrifice fly was his 60th of the season, which leads the team and marks a career-high. His double in the ninth inning was his 13th of the year, which is tied for second place on the team and also stands as a career best.
» Travis's RBI sacrifice fly was his 37th of the season, which ranks fourth on the team.
» Brendan Kleiman (Olney, Md./Sherwood Frederick C.C.) had a solid day at the plate with two hits while scoring a run. It is his 13th multi-hit game of 2025 and his first two hits in a postseason game at Eastern Michigan.
» Zuccaro had a forceful game at the plate, finishing with three hits, including one home run in the top of the fifth and one walk. It is the third time this season in which he has reached base four times in a game.
» Beckner ended up throwing six innings while allowing three runs, striking out eight, and allowing just five hits. The eight strikeouts are tied with three other occasions for the second-most strikeouts he has had in a game this season, trailing only the 10-strikeout game he had at Albany (April 17). Beckner now has 236 strikeouts in his career.
» Hale had one RBI single, which gave EMU a 4-2 lead in the sixth. He now has 32 RBI in 2025, the fifth most on the team.
» Stecko had two doubles and finished the game 2-for-3 with a walk in the victory over Bowling Green. It is the third time this season that Stecko has had multiple extra-base hits.
» Jellison additionally had a solid game offensively for EMU, going 2-for-5 while scoring one run. It's his 14th multi-hit game of the year.
» Zirwas became the fifth Eagle player to record a multi-hit game, and he finished the contest going 2-for-6. It is his 21st multi-hit game of the season.
» Davis pitched 1.1 innings of shutout baseball. It is the eighth time this year he has pitched an inning or more and allowed no runs.
» The contest was just the second true night game of the year that EMU has played. They lost the first occurrence against Michigan State 3-1, Tuesday, May 6, meaning it's the first game they have won since April 25, 2023 against Alma at Comerica Park that started at 6 p.m. or later.
» Eastern had 15 hits in the win over the Falcons. It is the 28th time that the Eagles have had at least 10 hits in a game, and the eighth time they have had at least 15. They have a 6-2 record in games with at least 15 hits.

Historical Notes
» After the result, Eastern's record shifted to 21-30 (12-18 MAC) while Bowling Green's fell to 33-22 (19-11).
» Eastern Michigan played its 64th all-time game in the MAC Tournament. They now hold a 38-26 record in MAC Tournament games.
» Eastern played its eighth game as the sixth seed in the tournament, posting a 2-7 record all-time.
» After Thursday's result, Head Coach Robbie Britt holds a 10-5 record in conference tournament games and has coached in 15 of them in his six-year head coaching career.
» Eastern Michigan played it's 195th all-time game against the Falcons. After tonight's result, the Eagles now hold a record of 113-82 in those games.
» EMU matched up with the four seed for the third time in MAC Tournament history. Overall, it is 3-0 when doing so.
» The game marked the second time in which Eastern Michigan faced Bowling Green in the MAC Tournament. The Eagles have a 2-0 record in these games
» The Eagles played their 18th tournament game in Avon, they now have a 9-9 record when the tournament is being played there.
» Eastern Michigan advanced for the first time in the MAC Tournament since 2017 when they topped No. 7 NIU, 8-7, May 25, 2017, to advance to a second round game against No. 6 Western Michigan.  
 » Eastern Michigan's 15 hits is the first time it has had at least 10 hits in a MAC Tournament game since May 28, 2017, when it  had 12 hits and lost 7-4 in the MAC Title game against Ohio. Furthermore, it is the first time it has had 15 or more hits in a MAC Tournament game since it had 20 hits in a 12-11 10-inning win over Northern Illinois, May 27, 2011.
 » All nine of EMU's starters had at least one hit in a MAC Tournament game since the 2017 title game against Ohio,
» As a team, Eastern Michigan had 11 strikeouts. It marks the first time it posted 10 strikeouts or more in a MAC Tournament game since May 24, 2017, when it struck out 11 Western Michigan Broncos in the 2017 MAC Tournament.
» Beckner's eight strikeouts are the first time an Eastern Michigan pitcher has struck out at least eight batters in a MAC Tournament game when Brad Allen struck eight Northern Illinois Huskies, May 25, 2017.
» Because the game went to extra innings, it is the third consecutive tournament the Eagles have played in where a game went to extra innings. Their last occurrence, May 24, 2018, was a loss to Toledo, 2-1 in 10 innings. With the win, it is the first time the Eagles have won an extra-inning game in the MAC Tournament since they beat Northern Illinois 12-11 in 10 innings, May 27, 2011.
» The win is the first MAC Tournament game win for the Eagles since they beat No. 2 CMU, 4-2, in the second game of a doubleheader, May 27, 2017
» The Eagles out-hit the Falcons 15-10. It is the first MAC Tournament game they have done so since they out-hit Ohio in the 2017 championship game, 12-10, May 28, 2017.
» The win is the first MAC Tournament game that Eastern Michigan defeated and out-hit an opponent since it did so against No. 2 CMU, 4-2, in the second game of a doubleheader, May 27, 2017.
» The win marked the first post-season upset for the Eagles since they upset No. 2 Central Michigan in the second game of a semi-final doubleheader, 4-2, May 27, 2017.