East Michigan News

The Eastern Michigan University baseball team secured a 6-5 victory against the University of Akron in their Mid-American Conference opener on Friday, March 7, at Skeeles Field in Akron, Ohio. This win improved Eastern's record to 5-6 overall and 1-0 in the MAC, while Akron fell to 5-8 overall and 0-1 in the conference.

Senior outfielder Logan Hugo from Essexville, Michigan, led Eastern offensively with three hits and two RBIs, including a home run. Drew Norris from Leawood, Kansas, earned his first NCAA Division I win by pitching 2.2 innings out of the bullpen. He tied an EMU career high with three strikeouts and allowed two earned runs.

Eastern took the lead in the third inning when Devan Zirwas hit an RBI single that scored John Hale. The Eagles extended their advantage to two runs in the fourth inning thanks to Hugo's single driving in Giano Zuccaro. However, Akron responded with three runs in their half of the fourth inning to take a one-run lead.

In the sixth inning, Hugo hit a solo home run to tie the game at three runs each. Eastern then added three more runs in the eighth inning with RBIs from Connor Walsh and Brendan Kleiman for a 6-3 lead. Norris pitched effectively through the seventh and eighth innings before allowing a two-run homer in the ninth.

Ethan Davis was called upon for his first NCAA Division I save opportunity and successfully closed out the game by forcing a groundout for the final out.

The Eagles displayed strong defense throughout the game without committing any errors. They have improved their fielding percentage significantly from last season's MAC-worst .958 to .984 this year, ranking second-best in the conference.

Friday's contest marked the 68th meeting between Eastern Michigan and Akron, with Eastern holding a 39-29 series lead. Head Coach Robbie Britt achieved his sixth consecutive conference-opening victory as a collegiate head coach.

Eastern Michigan will face Akron again for game two of their series on Saturday at 1 p.m., with live stats available on EMU's baseball schedule page.

For updates on EMU Baseball, follow their social media accounts on X (formerly Twitter) at EMU_Baseball and Instagram at emu_baseball.