On an Easter weekend that featured 40-mph winds in Ypsilanti, Mich., an eight home run game, BG coach Danny Schmitz getting ejected and the Falcons’ biggest offensive eruption of the season, the Eastern Michigan Eagles took three of four games from BG. The four games were played at EMU’s Oestrike Field.
Saturday’s opener of a weather-induced doubleheader featured 40 mph winds and eight home runs as Eastern out-slugged BG 13-10. The Falcons went down early 3-0, but they regained the lead in the top of the third with six runs, including a Nate Henschen two-run homer and Corey Loomis’ fifth home run of the season, a three-run blast. That momentum was short-lived, however, as Eastern put two on the board in the bottom of the third and tallied three more in the bottom of the fourth.
BG scored three in the top of the fifth, including another home run, this time by Nick Elrod. The Falcons put another on the board in the top of the seventh, as Andy Hudak scored on a solo home run.
In the bottom of the seventh, Eagle Ben Jones scored off a double. Two walks later, the table was set, and Eagle Derrick Peterson won the game with the grand slam off of Matt Hundley.
“We always say that when we go on the road, we want a split,” Schmitz said. “We would like to have gotten that split. … We gave one away in that first game Saturday with that wind-blown grand slam. In all fairness to our pitchers, the last time they’ve thrown was our spring trip.”
Saturday’s nightcap did not offer much rejoicing for Falcon fans either, as starter Doug Flere gave up eight runs in 2 2/3 innings and Eastern jumped out to a 14-1 lead. The Eagles smacked five more home runs in the game on their way to a 15-8 win.
Sunday proved to be a much better day for the Falcons’ pitching, but not for their coaching. Head coach Danny Schmitz was ejected in the first inning after arguing a debated walk by pitcher Tyler Saneholtz. After Schmitz’s ejection, Saneholtz settled down and gave up just three runs in six innings. The Falcon bats did the rest, and Henschen hit another two-run home run in the second. After Eastern tied the game in the bottom of the inning, BG erupted for 11 runs in the third, pushing its lead to 14-3. Len Elias, Henschen, Loomis, Hudak and Nick Elrod all drove in runs during the stretch, which sent 17 BG batters to the plate.
“It was good to see our bats come alive in that game,” Schmitz said. “We need to hit a little more consistently, however, as the guys didn’t really come out strong in Sunday’s second game. We need to learn to go for the jugular a little bit when we have somebody on the ropes like we did after beating up on them pretty badly Sunday.”
“We need more and more people to start stepping up,” junior infielder Corey Loomis said. “We need to guys to get big hits and pitchers to throw some big strikes for us. Some guys are starting to come around, like Lenny and Nate, and we?ll definitely need more of that.”
Saneholtz did walk six but only gave up those three third-inning runs for the win. Brad Henry pitched a scoreless seventh for BG.
Eastern won the series with a Sunday night win, however, as BG let another big inning dominate the game. EMU starter Anthony Tomey, after a shaky first inning, retired nine straight, and the bottom of the second proved to be the difference in the ball game. Greg Anglin hit the Eagles’ second grand slam of the series, this time off Burke Badenhop, which helped Eastern to a 6-0 advantage. Five of Badenhop’s six runs were unearned.
A Kelly Hunt groundout scored catcher Tim Newell, and back-to-back singles put two on for Elias, who hit his first home run of the season to draw the Falcons within five at 9-4. That was all Tomey would allow, pitching the nine-inning complete game.
The series pushed Eastern to 10-15 and started its conference slate at 3-1 while BG fell to 7-13 and 1-3 in MAC play. BG now readies for its home opener after a two-week postponement. The Falcons will host Detroit-Mercy today and Cleveland State tomorrow in non-conference matchups.
“It’s been frustrating to be looking forward to games and get a call that is has been canceled,” Loomis said. “A lot of guys are looking forward to this week’s games at home.”
