East Michigan News

The Eastern Michigan University baseball team faced a narrow defeat against Ball State University in the first round of the Mid-American Conference Tournament. The game, held at Crushers Stadium in Avon, Ohio, ended with a 6-5 victory for Ball State.

Eastern Michigan, seeded sixth, will now compete in an elimination game against the loser of the Bowling Green versus Toledo match. This upcoming game is scheduled to occur after the completion of the BGSU-UT game, which was postponed due to rain and will be played tomorrow morning.

Junior infielder Cooper Vance from New Waterford, Ohio led Eastern's offense by achieving his 100th collegiate hit during this game. Senior right-hander Tyler Kapa started for Eastern Michigan and allowed three runs over three innings while striking out six batters. Ball State's John Chambers secured the win, whereas EMU's Ethan Davis took the loss.

Michael Pfeiffer provided a strong performance on the mound for Eastern Michigan by pitching two scoreless innings after entering with two runners on base and no outs. Despite these efforts, Ball State managed to tie and eventually regain their lead following a weather delay that lasted over three hours.

"Eastern threatened in the first," putting two runners on base before Ball State scored one run off back-to-back doubles. In response, Eastern scored five runs in the fourth inning to take a temporary lead at 5-3. However, Ball State responded with additional runs post-delay to clinch their victory.

Following this result, Eastern Michigan holds a record of 20-30 overall and 12-19 within conference play. "Pfeiffer tossed his fifth scoreless outing of the season," contributing significantly despite their loss. Additionally, Vance recorded his seventh multi-RBI game this season with his two-run double.

Historically speaking, this marks Eastern's first MAC Tournament appearance since 2018 and their eighth as a sixth seed overall. They have now played 176 games against Ball State all-time with an 85-90-1 record when facing them.

Looking ahead, Eastern Michigan will face either Bowling Green or Toledo depending on tomorrow’s results as they aim to continue their tournament journey.