East Michigan News

The Eastern Michigan University baseball team achieved its first victory of the 2025 season with a 9-5 win over the University of Central Arkansas Bears. The game took place at Bear Stadium on February 22.

Logan Hugo, from Essexville, Michigan, was instrumental in EMU's offensive efforts, contributing four hits and four RBIs. Drew Beckner from Westerville, Ohio, started as pitcher for the Eagles and completed five innings while allowing one run off three hits. He struck out eight batters and walked four.

The scoring began early for the Eagles when Bruce Jellison singled to score Devan Zirwas, giving EMU a 1-0 lead after the first inning. In the third inning, Jellison doubled to bring in John Hale before Hugo followed with another double that scored two more runs. Central Arkansas responded in their half of the third by grounding out to score a runner from third base.

In the fifth inning, Zirwas hit his first home run as an Eagle, scoring two runs. Hugo then added a two-RBI double and later scored on a wild pitch by UCA. This sequence capped off a five-run fifth inning for Eastern Michigan, extending their lead to 9-1.

Niko Kreuzer relieved Beckner at the start of the sixth inning. The Bears attempted a comeback with four runs across three innings until Nick Keane secured the final out for EMU.

"Jellison turned in his third multi-hit game of the year as he went 2-for-4 from the plate with one walk," according to game notes provided by EMUEagles.com. "Hugo had a 4-for-5 day from the dish... He also drove in four runs." Zirwas recorded his first homer as an Eagle during this game.

This victory marked Eastern's first encounter with Central Arkansas, putting them ahead in their all-time series against each other.

Eastern Michigan will face Central Arkansas again on Sunday at Bear Stadium at 1 p.m. CT (2 p.m. ET).

For updates on EMU Baseball activities, fans are encouraged to follow their social media accounts under @EMU_Baseball on X (formerly Twitter) and @emu_baseball on Instagram.