East Michigan News

After trailing by three runs, the Eastern Michigan University (EMU) baseball team secured a 13-7 victory against the University of Toledo Rockets. The game improved EMU's record to 14-16 (9-8 MAC), fueled by three hits each from players Ty Stecko and Devan Zirwas.

Eastern Michigan's Dom Anderson, from Hagerstown, Indiana, emerged as the winning pitcher. Anderson joined the game in the sixth inning in a relief capacity, striking out a career-best five batters. This marked Anderson's first victory since 2022 due to his absence from the previous two seasons because of injury. Conversely, Toledo's Nathan Leninger was handed the loss.

EMU ended with 14 hits, including three extra-base hits—a double and two home runs—accompanied by 11 RBIs and 13 runs. Toledo's output comprised 11 hits, three doubles, and seven RBIs.

The game saw numerous innings of action. Toledo initiated scoring with an RBI double in the second inning, taking the lead at 1-0. EMU tied it shortly thereafter in their half of the inning. Toledo furthered their lead to 4-3 by the top of the third after obtaining two RBI singles and exploiting walks. The Rockets added two more runs in the fourth, bringing the score to 6-4 in their favor.

Eastern Michigan responded in the fifth with a key RBI from Harrison Travis, narrowing Toledo's advantage to two runs. The sixth inning witnessed another Toledo score before EMU equaled the game at seven through Zirwas's single, Logan Hugo's walk, and a passed ball.

The Eagles seized the lead in the seventh when Cooper Vance hit a two-run homer over the left-field wall, his third of the season. In the eighth, with bases loaded, Stecko hit a grand slam, extending EMU's lead to 13-7. Anderson closed the game in the ninth, with a seamless inning, to confirm the win.

This victory marked Eastern's 14th win of the season, tying their previous season's total in just 30 games. Furthermore, it was their fifth come-from-behind win of the season and their eighth game scoring in double digits in runs, hits, and RBIs.

In the series context, this matchup was the 178th between the two teams, with Eastern holding a 102-76 advantage. It also ended a four-game losing streak against Toledo. Eastern Michigan had last defeated the Rockets April 23, 2023.

Eastern is set to play again on April 13 against Toledo. The game will occur at Oestrike Stadium with live coverage available on ESPN+ and the Varsity Network.