Box Score
CHILLICOTHE, Ohio- No. 2 seed Eastern Michigan broke a 5-5 tie and scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh to beat No. 7 seed Western Michigan, 8-5, in the first round of the Mid-American Conference Tournament Wednesday at VA Memorial Stadium in Chillicothe, Ohio.
The Broncos slide into the loser's bracket of the double-elimination tournament and will play No. 6 seed Ohio tomorrow at 9 a.m. The Bobcats lost in the first game of the day to No. 3 Bowling Green, 5-4.
Zach Gentile and Second Team All-MAC selection Pedro Dager accounted for five of the Broncos' six hits of the afternoon. Gentile batted 3-for-4 with a double and drove in a run, while Dager hit two doubles and had a pair of RBIs. Chris Lewis added a single.
WMU right-hander Ethan Hollingsworth got off to a rocky start, allowing four runs in the first inning. With two of runners on via walks, Eastern Michigan did its damage with two outs, rattling off three singles and a double before Hollingsworth caught Kyle Rhoad looking for the third out.
Western Michigan battled back and tied the score in the top of the second and added a run in the third to take a 5-4 lead. In the second, Dager drove in Joe Sheets, who reached on a fielder's choice, with a double down the left field line. An error and a walk loaded the bases for the Broncos, and in the next at bat Grant Simotes put a ball into the outfield for a sacrifice fly. After cutting off the relay, Eastern Michigan's Steve Bradshaw's throw home got away from him, allowing both Dager and Mosher to score. Gentile plated Hess for the fourth run of the inning with a RBI single to right field.
Matthew Abro scored for the Brown & Gold in the third, drawing a walk and coming around the base paths on a double to right center by Dager.
After giving up the four runs in the first, Hollingsworth settled down and allowed just one more run over the next five innings, a solo home run to Aaron Powell that knotted the score at 5-5 in the bottom of the fourth.
With Tim Mowry on the mound for Western Michigan in the seventh, the leadoff batter reached on an error and scored on a single as Eastern Michigan regained the lead 6-5. Zack Leonard then provided insurance runs, taking Mowry deep for a two-run homer that gave EMU an 8-5 advantage that stood the rest of the game.
Throwing a complete game, Eastern Michigan's Sean Hoffman (4-2) held the Broncos scoreless over the final six frames, recording the win. Mowry (2-3) took the loss for WMU, allowing three runs (two earned) on three hits in the final two innings.
Leonard led EMU with two hits and four RBIs. Four other players had two hits as the Eagles recorded 12 total. Western Michigan committed three errors, while Eastern Michigan had two.
