The Eagles of Eastern Michigan University returned to the diamond that resides inside Oestrike Stadium in Ypsilanti, Mich., to host the school down the road, the University of Michigan.
After a dominating day on offense for EMU, the Green and White would secure its first win over Michigan since 2014, 14-4.
The last time the two universities of Washtenaw County met was during the 2019 season on May 8, where the Eagles fell to the Wolverines, 12-5. That same season, Michigan was one win away from being the College World Series Champions.
With the win today by the Eagles, the all-time series between the two now sits at 65-122-2. Entering the matchup, the Wolverines were on a nine-game winning streak against EMU.
Giano Zuccaro (Middleburg Heights, Ohio) finished the day going 4-for-5 at bat as he totaled two RBIs on two doubles, while Lucas Johnson (Hamilton, Ontario) went 3-for-4 while adding four RBIs and one home run.
Blake McRae (Armada, Mich.) would add a 2-for-4 day at the plate for the Eagles with three RBIs and one home run, Kyle Schroedle (Redding, Calif.) would also go 2-for-4 with three RBIs and one home run, while Cory Taylor (Shelbyville, Ind.) went 1-for-3 with two RBI’s and one home run.
EMU would jump out to an early 3-0 lead through the bottom of the second inning as the Green and White totaled three home runs hit by McRae, Johnson, Schroedle.
The Wolverines would wake up in the top of the third as they notched three hits which all turned into runs to even the score, 3-3.
The Green and White would explode for four hits in the bottom of the fourth inning, which was highlighted by a two-RBI double from Johnson that would send in Logan Hugo (Essexville, Mich.) and Cooper Vance (New Waterford, Ohio) to increase EMU’s lead, 7-3.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Eagles would send another one out of the park as Taylor homered to center field to add to the lead, 8-3. The Wolverines responded in the top of the sixth inning and cut the deficit, 8-4, as a single to left field from Joe Longo (Apple Valley, Minn.) would send in Collin Priest (Mount Dora, Fla.).
Following that answer would be the Eagles adding onto its lead in the bottom of the sixth inning as Taylor would hit a sacrifice fly to right field, which would send in McRae to increase the lead to 9-4.
The bottom of the seventh inning would see EMU tack on more runs as McRae would send in Brendan Kleiman (Olney, Md.) before Johnson would send in McRae and Zuccaro notching a two-RBI double that sent in Johnson and Hugo to produce a 13-4 lead.
Schroedle would then step up to the plate for the fourth time on the day and crush a two-RBI double to send in Taylor to walk off the Wolverines, 14-4.
The Eagles offense would total 14 runs on 14 hits on the day. EMU now improves to 6-1 overall this season when notching 13 or more hits in a single game.
After four home runs today, EMU now sits at a total of 29 home runs on the season. Entering the matchup, the Eagles ranked fifth in the Mid-American Conference in total home runs.
First-year head coach Robbie Britt now improves to a 5-0 record in home openers throughout his career as a collegiate head coach.
Next up, the EMU baseball team will return home to host interstate rival Western Michigan University in a three-game series on Friday-Sunday, March 22-24.
To stay up-to-date on all things EMU baseball, you can visit The Echo's website.
