Saturday's Baseball Results
Bowling Green 7, Eastern Michigan 1
Northern Illinois 4, Western Michigan 3
Ohio 14, Miami 5
Ball State 6, Central Michigan 4
Recaps courtesy of MAC Sports Information Departments
Bowling Green 7, Eastern Michigan 1
Boxscore
YPSILANTI, Mich. – The Bowling Green State University baseball team bested the Eastern Michigan Eagles, 7-1, on Saturday (May 11). The win paired with results from around the MAC clinched at least a share of the MAC regular season title for the Falcons. The win also marks the 20th for the Falcons in MAC play, securing the third 20-win MAC season in program history, joining the 1995 and 1999 teams that both won 22.
After three scoreless innings to start the game, BGSU's offense came to life in the fourth, tallying runs in the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh innings. One run in the fourth opened the gates, followed by three in the fifth, two in the sixth and another in the seventh. Landon Willeman held down the fort in the start, giving up just one run over five innings, before handing the ball off to Kade Arn who locked down the Eagles for four innings, snagging the save in the process.
Ohio 14, Miami 5
Boxscore
OXFORD, Ohio – The Ohio baseball team (15-30, 10-16 MAC) dominated Miami (25-22, 17-12 MAC) 14-5 to even the series on Saturday, May 11.
Overall, Ohio scored 14 runs on 14 hits with no errors, while Miami scored five runs on seven hits and no errors.
Individually, the Bobcats were led by fifth year Alex Finney (Oxford, Mich.), going 3-for-5 at the plate with three runs and four RBIs. Redshirt junior AJ Rausch (Powell, Ohio) went 2-for-4 at the plate, highlighted by three runs and four RBIs. Freshman Pauly Mancino (Westlake, Ohio) had one run on two hits and recorded two RBIs. Freshman Caleb Karll (Fitchburg, Wis.) had two runs on one hit and two RBIs.
Junior Tyler Peck (Oak Creek, Wis.) got the start on the mound, pitching five innings, allowing three runs on five hits, walked three and struck out two. Junior Adam Beery (Ravenna, Ohio) pitched two innings, not allowing any runs or hits with one walk and two strikeouts. Junior Hudson Boncal (Corona, Calif.) pitched the final two innings, allowing two runs on two hits, walked one and struck out two.
The Bobcats struck first and never looked back. A one-RBI single got Ohio on the board, and it was followed by Rausch doubling to right to bring two Bobcats across home for an early 3-0 lead in the first.
The top of the second opened with double and two walks, loading the bases. Finney was next at bat and sent the ball over the right fence for a grand slam to set the score at 7-0. Rausch opened the third innings with a one-run home run to extend the Bobcats' lead to eight.
The Bobcats strong hitting performance continued, extending their advantage to 9-0 in the fifth. Miami tallied three runs to make the score 9-3. Ohio added five runs in the sixth by loading the bases early, highlighted by a two-RBI single. Miami scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth, but it was not enough as Ohio won 14-5.
The Bobcats are back in action for their final game of the Battle of the Bricks at Miami tomorrow, May 12. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. ET. Tune in to Russ Eisenstein on the Varsity Network App for the radio broadcast starting at 12:45 p.m.
Northern Illinois 4, Western Michigan 3
Boxscore
KALAMAZOO, Mich. - Senior outfielder Eric Erato (Sussex, Wis./Sussex Hamilton) picked a very good time for his first home run of the year on Saturday, as his three-run blast in the top of the seventh inning proved to be the game-winner in a 4-3 win for the Northern Illinois University baseball team over the Western Michigan Broncos at Robert J. Bobb Stadium at Hyames Field.
"It was a well-played game by both sides," said head coach Ryan Copeland. "When you're playing a good team, sometimes it comes down to a play or two, a swing or two, a pitch or two and Eric and Adam [Brouwer] found a way to help us get a win."
NIU (18-32, 11-15 MAC) trailed 3-1 going into the seventh. Cooper Cohn (McHenry, Ill./McHenry) started the rally with a one-out single to right field. Western Michigan pitcher Nolan Vlcek struck out pinch-hitter Nick Varon (Palatine, Ill./Southwestern Illinois College) for the second out of the inning. Spencer Bartel (Sun Prairie, Wis./Madison College) kept the inning alive with a base hit to left center, getting Cohn to third. Erato then smashed the first pitch from Vlcek over the right centerfield fence for a three-run home run that put the Huskies up 4-3.
"Eric does a lot of things well on the baseball field," Copeland said. "He played three different positions today. For him to be rewarded with a moment like that, it's really deserving. He's a guy that's been through a lot in our program and to go out towards the end of the season and hit a game-winning home run is really special for him."
Western Michigan (26-20, 16-10 MAC) had a chance to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh. Brendan Harrity led off with a double down the right field line. Adam Brouwer (Tinley Park, Ill./Illinois-Springfield) struck out Grady Mee for the first out, his sixth strikeout of the game. Jackson Kitchen put down a sacrifice bunt to move Harrity to third base with two outs. Cade Sullivan ripped a line drive right back at Brouwer for the final out of the frame.
NIU's bullpen took over from there. Reagan Klawiter (Verona, Wis./Madison College) retired the first two batters of the bottom of the eighth, turning the ball over to Sam Pederson (Verona, Wis./McHenry CC) for the final out. Pederson retired the side in the ninth, getting a strikeout and a pair of groundouts to lock up his second save of the season and a 4-3 win for NIU.
"We had Reagan ready for the two lefties in the middle of their order, and he pounded the strike zone and got them both out," Copeland said. "Then Sam came in and did what he's done all year which is throw that slider away to righties and made it really challenging for them to get a good look."
Western Michigan opened the scoring in the bottom of the first. Brouwer retired the first two Broncos he faced. Dylan Nevar then stepped up to the plate and hit a home run to give Western Michigan a 1-0 lead. Brouwer bounced back with a strikeout of CJ Richmond to end the inning.
NIU got on the board in the top of the third with a pair of two-out hits. Erato reached on a double for the Huskies' first hit of the game. Andre Demetral (Rochester, Mich./Florence Darling Tech) drove Erato in with a base hit to left field to tie the game at 1-1. The Broncos took back the lead with a Greg Budig home run in the fourth, followed by a Kitchen leadoff home run in the fifth that put Western Michigan up 3-1. Brouwer retired nine of the next 10 Broncos he faced after the Kitchen home run.
"He dominated a really good offense today, for the most part," said Copeland about NIU's starting pitcher. "When you have a good start like that, there's always a couple pitches through out the game especially if you go deep into the game, that determine whether or not you can survive. The second inning was big to get out of that. When we took the lead in the seventh, they got the double to lead it off and he essentially takes the game in his own hands. It just felt like we wasn't going to let us lose that game."
Brouwer allowed three runs on eight hits in seven innings, with just one walk against six strikeouts. It was the redshirt-sophomore's fourth straight start of at least seven innings and three runs or less, all of which were wins. Brouwer is 7-1 in Mid-American Conference play this season with a 2.84 earned run average.
Ball State 6, Central Michigan 4
Boxscore
MUNCIE, Ind. – The Ball State baseball team rode a strong performance on the mound from Keegan Johnson and three-hit games from Decker Scheffler, Michael Hallquist and Houston King at the plate to a 6-4 win on Saturday afternoon against Central Michigan at Ball Diamond.
The Cardinals (30-19-1, 16-10 Mid-American Conference) clinched the series win after claiming Friday's opener 6-1 over the Chippewas (15-35, 6-20 MAC).
Ball State scored the first run of the game on a Blake Bevis RBI single in the opening frame before Scheffler (two-run single) and Hallquist (RBI single) powered the hosts to a three-run second to pull ahead 4-0.
Central Michigan plated single tallies in the fourth and fifth inning off of Johnson, but that was all the freshman lefty would surrender while striking out 10 in 6.0 innings of work. The Cardinals responded with a two-spot in the bottom of the fourth as Scheffler hit an RBI triple before scoring on a wild pitch.
The visitors scored once each in the seventh and eighth, but Nate Blain closed the game out with 2.1 innings out of the bullpen for his fourth save of the year.
Scheffler went 3-for-5 on the day with three RBI and two runs scored, while Hallquist joined his fellow upperclassman on Senior Day with a 3-for-5 performance at the plate. King went 3-for-4 and scored a run, and Nick Gregory went 2-for-4 with a walk and two runs at the top of the order to spark the Ball State offense.
The Cardinals and Chippewas are set to wrap up the series at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
