Sunday's Baseball Results
Sunday's Baseball Results
Eastern Michigan 4 Buffalo 0
Kent State 6, Central Michigan 5
Bowling Green 3, Miami 1
Louisville 17, Toledo 2
Stories courtesy of MAC Sports Information Departments
Eastern Michigan 4, Buffalo 0
Boxscore
BUFFALO, N.Y. - The Eastern Michigan University baseball team snapped its five-game losing skid in a big way, securing a 4-0 victory in the series finale over the University at Buffalo Sunday, April 30, at Audubon Field.
EMU (18-26, 9-6 MAC) used a fantastic start from junior Brent Mattson (Canton, Mich.-Canton) to carry them to victory, as the righty went the first seven innings, only allowing five hits and two walks, while striking out a career-high 10 batters. Finishing off the game was freshman James Harness (Huber Heights, Ohio-Wayne) who went the final two innings, only allowing three base runners, while striking out three. It was the first save of his EMU career.
Offensively, EMU used eight hits to get its four runs. Leading the way was senior John Montgomery(Anaheim Hills, Calif.-JSerra) who finished with a three-RBI day, including an RBI double. It was his team-leading fifth three-RBI game of the season. His other two RBIs came on sacrifice flies, which twice scored redshirt senior Marquise Gill (Paw Paw, Mich.-Paw Paw) who finished with a career-high four stolen bases. It tied the program record for steals in a game, set by John Rubino in 2015.
EMU wasted no time getting on the board, plating a run in the top of the first. After a leadoff single from redshirt senior Jordan Peterson (Gilbert, Ariz.-Highland (Chandler-Gilbert C.C.)), he got to third after a sacrifice bunt and ground out for Montgomery. The slugger cranked a double over the head of the left fielder to score Peterson and make it 1-0.
On the hill, Mattson had a fantastic first three innings, holding the Bulls (14-26, 6-9 MAC) scoreless with six strikeouts, which matched his career-high, maintaining the 1-0 game into the fourth. In the fourth, EMU tacked on another run on an RBI single from freshman Zachary Owings (Saline, Mich.-Saline), doubling the lead to 2-0.
The Eagles padded the lead in the seventh, getting another run after a leadoff base hit from Gill. He then stole his third bag, and advanced to third on a balk, allowing Montgomery to knock him in on the sacrifice fly, putting the tally at 3-0.
Mattson, meanwhile, continued to carve through Bulls hitters, shutting them down in innings four through seven, racking up four more K's to up his total to 10, and keep it 3-0 into the eighth.
In the eighth inning, Harness came on in relief and picked up where Mattson left off, getting through the inning without yielding a run, keeping it a three-run contest into the ninth. EMU tacked on insurance in the top of the ninth on another RBI sacrifice fly from Montgomery after a single, steal, and wild pitch that placed Gill on third. The insurance run made it 4-0 into UB's final at bat.
Despite giving up a leadoff double in the ninth, Harness then retired the next three, the final batter on a strikeout, to finish the 4-0 shutout victory.
EMU will complete its nine-game road trip when it travels to West Virginia Tuesday, May 2, for a single game against the Mountaineers. First pitch from Morgantown is set for 6:30 p.m.
Kent State 6, Central Michigan 5
Boxscore
KENT, Ohio - John Matthews found some magic in the bottom of the 10th inning on Sunday to help Kent State (27-13, 12-3) grab the overall lead in the Mid-American Conference as it beat Central Michigan (23-20, 11-4) on a 6-5 walkoff win.
The Golden Flashes had a 4-0 lead but then saw that surrendered later on in the game. Down one with one out in the 8th, Matthews came to bat with bases loaded but hit into a double play on the first pitch he was served. After the game was sent to extras thanks to a Luke Burchsingle and Zach Schultz double in the 9th, Matthews found redemption in the 10th. Brad Hamilton had a pinch-hit single, Nick Kanavas walked and Josh Hollander walked to load the bases yet again for Matthews. He came through with a single to right field to allow the winning run to score.
Robert Zeigler was a big part of the Flashes' success as he threw the final 4.0 innings impeccably, giving up just one hit and one walk while striking out five for the win.
Joey Murray got the start on the mound and threw well. He went 6.0 innings with six hits, two runs, four walks and eight strikeouts.
The team provided four runs for him starting with a single tally in the 2nd and another in the 3rd. The first run came when Tim DalPorto singled, Dom Iero was hit by a pitch, Reilly Hawkins bunted them over and DalPorto scored on a ground out by Kanavas. In the 3rd, Matthews led off with a single to left and eventually came home on another ground out.
The lead opened up to 4-0 after two runs in the 5th. Matthews singled again before Burch hit a ground rule double over the left field wall. With runners on the corners, Mason Mamarella hit a sacrifice fly. Dylan Rosa followed with a RBI base hit.
It would not be smooth sailing, though, as Central Michigan worked its way back in to the game. The Chippewas hit a two-run homerun in the 6th and another in the 7th to tie it at four. After the Central Michigan head coach was ejected, the team rallied and hit a go-ahead base hit. Zeigler would get a double play to end the inning and the threat.
That led to the dramatics to come in the next three innings and gave some momentum to the Golden Flashes, enabling them to pull of the 6-5 victory.
Matthews finished 3-for-5 with two runs scored and the game-winning RBI. Burch was also 3-for-5 with two runs scored. Iero went 2-for-4 while Mamarella led the team with two RBI.
Kent State's next contest will be a 3 p.m. game at Canisius on Tuesday.
Bowling Green 3, Miami 1
Boxscore
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University baseball team scored three runs in the second inning, and held Miami University to just six hits, as the Falcons avoided the weekend sweep by defeating the RedHawks, 3-1, Sunday (April 30) afternoon at Steller Field. The win was head coach Danny Schmitz's 690th at BGSU, which moves him into second place by himself for most wins as a MAC head coach.
Schmitz surpassed Joe Carbone with the victory. Carbone, who coached at Ohio University from 1989-2012, registered 689 wins as the Bobcats' head coach. The only head coach with more wins as a MAC head coach than Schmitz is Fred Decker, who picked up 791 wins from 1976-2004 at Western Michigan University.
Bowling Green improves to 11-28, and 6-12 in the Mid-American Conference with the victory. Miami, with the loss, falls to 19-26 (5-10 MAC).
"This was a must win for us, and we played a complete game, and picked up the win," said head coach Danny Schmitz. "Our pitching was great, and our defense was just as good. We had the one big inning, and we made sure that it held up. Overall, we wanted to win the series, but I'm happy that our kids didn't give up, and earned a win.
"We'll need to just take things one game at a time. Our team will focus on finals next week, and we will also be sure that we are doing everything that we need to do in order to get ready for a big series at Ohio next weekend."
Sophomore right-hander Chase Antle picked up the win for the Falcons, and was extremely dominant over 5.0 innings. Antle allowed four hits and one run, and struck out a career-high eight batters. His previous career high for strikeouts in a game was five. Antle left runners on second base with third-out strikeouts in each of the first two innings.
Miami scored a run in the fifth, but with runners at second and third, Antle left the tying run on base with a weak ground out to second. The righty recorded two strikeouts the first, third and fourth. Over his last four outings, which includes two starts and a total of 10.0 innings, Antle has recorded 15 strikeouts, while allowing just three walks, seven hits and one run.
Senior Tony Landi turned in his best outing of the season in relief of Antle. He retired the first eight batters he faced, and went on to hurl 3.2 innings of two-hit ball. He did not record a strikeout, but also did not issue a walk. He set down the first batter in the ninth, but then allowed a single.
Junior southpaw Kody Brown then entered the game to face the left-handed hitting Brooks Urich. Brown needed just one pitch to induce a game-ending, 4-6-3 double play. The Falcons scored all three of their runs in the second inning.
Junior Randy Righter started the frame with a leadoff double that hit the left-field fence on one hop. Senior Greg Basalyga was then hit by a pitch. With one out, both runners moved into scoring position on a passed ball. Junior Justin Mott delivered with an RBI single that was hit into center field. With runners on the corners, redshirt-sophomore Jeff Scott doubled down the third-base line, plating Basalyga. A wild pitch allowed Mott to score, giving BGSU a 3-0 lead.
Righter went 2-for-4 with a run and two doubles. Mott tied his career high, and established a season high with a three-hit performance. He went 3-for-4 with a run and RBI. Freshman Jake Wilson, junior Derek Drewes, and seniors Basalyga and Nick Glanzman also added hits for the Falcons.
Bowling Green does not play a midweek game this week, due to the fact that final exams are taking place at the University. The Falcons will travel to Athens over the weekend for a three-game series at Ohio, which takes place from May 5-7.
Louisville 17, Toledo 2
Boxscore
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Rockets could not keep up with the nine extra-base hits, including two home runs, by No. 2 Louisville in a 17-2 non-conference defeat on Sunday afternoon in Jim Patterson Stadium.
Toledo (14-30) managed two extra base hits on the day, a pair of doubles by sophomore Ross Adolph and senior Jake Krupar. Adolph and Krupar also singled in the game to lead the Rockets with two hits each.
Louisville (38-6) was led by two-time John Olerud Award winner Brendan McKay who hit two home runs and drove in three runs for the nationally ranked Cardinals.
The Rockets found themselves in a 5-0 hole in the opening third of the game when the Cards scored three in the second inning and two more in the third.
UT notched their first run in the top of the fourth. With two outs, junior Dalton Bollinger walked and junior AJ Montoya singled to left to prolong the inning. Adolph lined a single to right to get the Midnight Blue & Gold on the board.
Toledo did not quit after Louisville plated three in the bottom of the fourth and posted another run in the top of the fifth. Freshman Malave Bettinger led off the frame with a first-pitch up the middle and was chase to second on a first-pitch single by freshman Antonio Bennett.
Junior Casey Gose reached on a bunt single to loaded the bases for sophomore Riley Campbell. Campbell earned an RBI with a four-pitch walk to force home the second run for the Rockets.
Louisville proved to be too much offensively as the Cardinals put the game away with a six-run fifth innings and added two in the sixth and another in the eighth to claim the series sweep.
The Rockets return to Mid-American Conference play on Friday as they take to Muncie, Ind. for an important series with Ball State.
