With the final bid in the season-ending Mid-American Conference tournament hanging in the balance, Eastern Michigan University’s baseball team made a pivotal road trip to Mount Pleasant to face off against one of their direct competitors for the final spot — the Central Michigan University Chippewas.
Entering the weekend holding the edge over the Chippewas in the standings, the Eagles proceeded to lose two of three games to their fellow in-state foe by a combined three runs and slip into a three-way tie for the final spot in the bracket.
Exiting the weekend, Eastern Michigan now holds the sixth and last spot in the tournament via tiebreaker. EMU, Central Michigan, and Western Michigan all boast 11-16 MAC records, but the Eagles received the tiebreaker due to a higher overall season win percentage (.422 to .375 for Central and Western).
The Eagles started the series red-hot at the plate and did not cool down.
After only posting a single run in their loss to Michigan State earlier in the week, Eastern Michigan put up nine runs in the opening game, nine runs in game two, and six in the final match on May 11.
Friday afternoon saw Devan Zirwas and Ty Stecko lead at the plate, each contributing three RBIs apiece. Cooper Vance knocked his fifth home run of the season and Eastern Michigan’s 50th as a team out of the park in the fifth inning, with the squad putting 12 total hits on the stat sheet.
However, Central Michigan’s bats answered with 13 hits of their own, and five registered errors for the green and white on the defensive end proved to be the difference, with the Chippewas prevailing in the high scoring affair 11-9.
The second game on Saturday afternoon went Eastern Michigan’s way, this time with extra help on the mound.
Tyler Kapa pitched six innings, giving up three earned runs but registering eight strikeouts in what would go on to be his fifth win of the season.
This combined with the 14 hits from the Eagles as a team, including home runs from Harrison Travis and Ty Stecko, would be enough to survive a late rally from the home team and enable Eastern Michigan to even the series heading into Mother’s Day.
The pivotal final game of the series would come down to the wire with Eastern Michigan holding a 6-4 lead heading into the bottom of the eighth inning in a must-win game.
Bruce Jellison and Connor Walsh spearheaded 10 hits as a team, contributing four and two RBIs respectively. If the Eagles had held on, they would have avoided the now three-way tie for the final conference tournament spot.
However, three runs allowed in the eighth inning and no response from the Eagles' offense at the top of the ninth allowed the Chippewas to once again claim victory in a thriller, 7-6.
Just four games now remain in the regular season. As for the fate of the Eastern Michigan baseball team, an upcoming home series at Kent State will likely determine whether or not they will make the MAC tournament from May 15-17.
First, though, the Eagles must try to take down their final Power Four opponent on their schedule, with a trip to South Bend on the docket to face Notre Dame on May 13 at 4:30 p.m.
