The Eastern Michigan Eagles (1-4) men’s baseball team lost their fourth consecutive game, 10-4 versus the Pittsburgh Panthers (5-1) on Saturday, Feb. 22 in Sanford, Fla. The Eagles trailed 3-2 in the middle of the sixth inning but the Panthers scored seven runs in the bottom of the sixth to pull away. Justin Meis (0-1) took the loss for EMU.
The Panthers jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second inning before adding two more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning with a two-run homer. Eastern Michigan got on the board for the first time in the sixth inning as Jeff Timko doubled to center field, scoring Nate Jones and bringing the Eagles within two runs.
Taylor Hopkins kept the Eagles momentum going with an RBI single to score Timko and put the score at 3-2 in favor of the Panthers. From that point on, though, Pittsburgh was able to pull away by adding seven runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. EMU got two runs back in the eighth inning but it was too late as they lost 10-4.
In four at bats, Timko totaled three hits, two runs and one RBI. Hopkins finished 1-for-3 with one RBI and one strikeout. No other EMU player had multiple hits besides Timko but Christian Bault, Daniel Warkentin, Stephen Karis, Jared Kaufman, Drake Peggs, and Jones all reached base with Kauffman earning the lone walk.
Eastern Michigan had four pitchers take the mound in the loss as Meis started the game. He pitched 5.0 innings and gave up eight hits, three runs and three walks while throwing 98 pitches. He also struck out five batters. Cameron Wagoner had 0.2 innings pitched as he gave up four runs and four base on balls.
Trevor House pitched just 0.1 innings, while giving up four hits and three runs on 24 pitches. Caleb Hester and Tyler Helgeson each pitched 1.0 innings on 29 pitches combined. They gave up a combined two hits and one walk while also striking out one batter. Helgeson also had one wild pitch.
The Eagles will play one more game against Pittsburgh on Sunday, Feb. 23 at 12 p.m. before taking on Florida Gulf Coast on Tuesday, Feb. 25 in Fort Myers, Fla. EMU will also play four games the following weekend as they face Saint Louis (Feb. 28), Villanova (Feb. 29), Northeastern (Feb. 29) and Northeastern (March 1) in Port Charlotte, Fla.
