The Eastern Michigan University Baseball team made the 60-mile trip to East Lansing to take on the Michigan State Spartans, with the Eagles losing by a score of 9-8 on May 14.
Eastern Michigan’s offense tallied nine hits to the Spartans seven hits, but it was not enough for the Eagles in the effort east of the state capital. In addition to the nine hits, Eastern Michigan had eight walks, tied for a season-high.
Eastern was able to take the lead in the fourth inning, leading by a score of 6-5 until the sixth inning when MSU tied the game and ultimately took the lead in the seventh inning.
Eastern Michigan scored in the top of the second inning when Brendan Kleiman (Olney, Maryland) hit an RBI double for the Eagles. The transfer catcher was one of three players who produced multi-hit games for Eastern Michigan, including Glenn Miller (Pentwater, Michigan) and Logan Hugo (Essexville, Michigan).
Miller hit his first home run of the 2024 season for one of his three hits. It came in the top of the third inning to give Eastern Michigan a smaller deficit of 5-2. Miller hit three home runs in the 2023 season, and in the fourth to last game of the season, he connected with a drive to left-center field.
The fourth inning on offense was Eastern Michigan's highlight of the night. They scored four runs and at that point, they held a 6-5 lead. All four runs came on one swing as Hugo hit the second grand slam of his collegiate career and the first since his freshman season two years ago.
The Essexville native now has 10 home runs on the season, the same amount he hit combined in his first two years of four and six home runs. The 10 home runs tie Kyle Schroedele (Redding, California) for the team lead.
Pitching had a rough day for both programs. Allowing a combined 16 runs for both teams, Eastern Michigan used six pitchers on the night.
Although the Eagles allowed nine runs, only four of them were earned. Liam Baker (Cleveland, Ohio) was Eastern Michigan's starter, but he did not make it through three innings, so the bullpen had to be used for much of the game. Jack Topolski (Seven Hills, Ohio) was the only pitcher who did not allow a run for the Eagles.
After the Spartans took the lead 9-6 in the seventh, the Eagles showed life in the eighth. A wild pitch and a double by Miller scored two runs to cut the deficit to one.
In the end, the Eagles got a runner on base in the ninth inning with one out, but could not capitalize after that, ending a hard-fought game that lasted 3 hours and 43 minutes.
Up next, Eastern Michigan will conclude its season with a Thursday through Saturday three-game series at Northern Illinois.
Keep up with The Echo for more Eastern Michigan University Baseball team coverage.
