Eastern Michigan Baseball defeated Dayton 10-2 on the road March 12 in Dayton, Ohio. The Eagles had their most explosive offensive performance of the year and were led by two hits, two runs and one RBI from Zachary Owings.
The scoring got going in the first inning as EMU got up 2-0. Owings hit an RBI single to center field, which brought Cameron Cruz around to score. Later in the inning, Jeff Timko hit a single of his own, which scored Owings. Dayton answered with a run in the bottom of the second inning but Eastern Michigan pushed the lead to 4-1 by the third inning.
Nate Jones connected for a single which scored two more baserunners, Cruz and Owings. The Eagles refused to let up and continued to pour it on in the latter innings. In the top of the fifth inning, Timko knocked a solo home run out of the ballpark. Taylor Hopkins did the same an inning later. That made it 6-1 in favor of EMU.
The score would remain the same until the top of the ninth inning when Eastern Michigan totally put the game away. Jones would add another RBI to his total with a sacrifice fly out in the final inning, which allowed Jared Kaufman to score. Dayton would get one run back in the bottom of the ninth inning with a solo homer from Tate Hogan.
On the mound, Luke McGuire was dominant from the beginning. McGuire finished the game with only one strikeout but allowed just two hits and one run in seven innings of work. It was his first win of the year, as he improves to 1-0, and was certainly a huge factor in the Eagles’ victory.
Dayton’s starting pitcher, Zach Watzka, lasted only two innings before being pulled. He gave up three hits and two runs, while striking out two batters. He falls to 0-1 on the season. Timko and Owings helped pace EMU to the victory, combining for four hits, three runs batted in and four runs. Timko was 2-3 from the plate and also drew a walk.
Eastern Michigan will have a few days off before heading to Fort Worth, Texas for a three-game series against TCU. The series will begin Friday, March 15.
