The Eastern Michigan University baseball team is getting closer to returning home.
On Tuesday, March 11, they traveled south to the Ohio state capital to take on the Ohio State University Buckeyes, falling by a score of 13-7.
The loss drops Eastern Michigan to 7-7 on the season, though they are still a perfect 3-0 in Mid-American Conference play. Despite EMU scoring seven runs and getting nine hits, it was not enough to take down the Buckeyes, who had 16 hits and scored 13 runs.
It was a game that was in OSU’s favor right from the start, who went up 3-0 at the end of the first inning after they had a home run and a double steal. After three innings, they were up 10-2 as EMU got on the board in the top of the third inning after a sacrifice groundout and a single.
For the remainder of the game, the closest Eastern Michigan cut the lead was to five when they were behind 12-7 in the sixth. That was the last time Eastern Michigan scored in the game as the Buckeyes would add one more run in the eighth inning, resulting in them taking the game from the Eagles, 13-7.
On offense, the Eagles had three players collect two hits, including Logan Hugo from Essexville, Michigan, John Hale hailing from Ashland City, Tennessee, and Brendan Kleiman from Olney, Maryland, with Hugo and Kleiman collecting the only extra-base hits, each with a double. Ty Stecko, North Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, contributed with three daily walks. He also had one hit, meaning he was the only EMU player to reach base safely four times.
EMU’s starting pitcher, Michael Pfeiffer from Brownsboro, Alabama, faced a challenging outing, allowing eight runs before exiting in the second inning, resulting in his first loss of the season. The bullpen worked through the remainder of the game, using six pitchers combined to allow five runs.
Even though Ohio State won the game, they left 13 runners on base, and Eastern left 10 men on base, meaning there could have been more runs for both teams that did not happen.
Up next, Eastern Michigan is back in action on Friday, March 14. They will jump back into MAC play and head to Kalamazoo to take on the Western Michigan Broncos in a doubleheader to start a four-game weekend series. The first pitch is set for noon.
For more coverage on the Eastern Michigan University baseball team, you can visit The Echo’s website.
