Zips Earn Walk-Off Win in Extra-Innings

Sunday, March 12

Akron, Ohio

1 PM

University of Akron

5-9, 0

Eastern Michigan

8-5, 0

Eastern Michigan

AKRON

March 12 | Baseball

Box Score

AKRON, Ohio – The Akron Zips scored two runs in the bottom of the tenth inning for a 6-5 victory over Eastern Michigan in the series finale at Skeeles Field on Sunday afternoon.

Junior OF Jack Firestone (Zionsville, Ind.) broke-up a no-hitter in the fourth inning with an infield single and plated the Zips first run with a solo homerun to right centerfield in the sixth inning. Sophomore OF Ian Pennington (Springboro, Ohio) followed with a homerun to complete back-to-back homers while giving Akron a 2-1 lead over the Eagles.

The two players delivered consecutive singles in the 10^th inning, setting up a game-tying RBI infield single by sophomore OF Sam Seeker (Norton, Ohio). With the game tied and two outs, junior OF Jack Poist (Hoover, Ala.) was hit by a pitch to load the bases, and sophomore 1B Ty Stolarski (Medina, Ohio) earned the game-winning RBI after being struck by a pitch.

Eastern Michigan scored 3-of-4 runs in the ninth inning to take a 4-2 lead, but with one swing of the bat junior 3B Max Bowman (Gahanna, Ohio) tied the game, sending a two-run blast over the right field fence to force extra-innings.

The Eagles scored their initial run in the third inning and held a 1-0 advantage until Firestone and Pennington registered back-to-back homeruns in the sixth.

Firestone led the offense with a 3-of-5 performance, including an RBI and two runs scored, while Pennington also recorded an RBI and a pair of runs scored on a 2-of-5 effort at the plate. Five different players added hits to the Zips' 10-hit total as Bowman drove in two runs and Seeker collected an RBI. Senior IF Nick Arrivo (Ann Arbor, Mich.), junior IF Kaito Hara (Houston, Texas) and sophomore C Andrew Horvath (Aurora, Ohio) added singles.

Freshman starting pitcher Joe Roth (Austintown, Ohio) threw 6.2 innings, allowing one run on seven hits with two strikeouts a walk and two hit batsmen. Freshman P Emmett Gillies (Columbus, Ohio) hurled 2.1 innings in relief allowing four runs on three hits with a pair of strikeouts, while junior P Anthony Fett (Orchard Lake, Mich.) collected the win without allowing a run on one hit.

UP NEXT:
Akron is scheduled to be back in action at Skeeles Field on Tuesday, March 14 against Dayton. First pitch is slated for 3 p.m.