Akron Falls Twice to Western Michigan on Friday

Friday, March 21

Kalamazoo, MI

12:05 pm

University of Akron

6-15, 0-7

Western Michigan

3-16, 2-5

Akron

Western Michigan

March 21 | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Game 1 Boxscore Game 2 Boxscore

KALAMAZOO, Mich. - The Akron baseball team fell twice in a doubleheader to the Western Michigan Broncos on Friday, March 21.

GAME 1 | Western Michigan 6, Akron 1
Junior Jared Schaeffer dominated on Friday, punching out eight Western Michigan hitters over seven innings of work, but it was not enough as the Akron Zips fell to the Broncos 6-1.

Kyle McConachie led the Zips at the plate, recording a pair of hits and an RBI.

In addition to his eight strikeouts, Schaeffer (0-4) tossed seven innings, giving up three runs, all of them earned, on five hits and walking one for Akron (6-15, 0-7).

HOW IT HAPPENED

Trailing 6-0, the Zips first put runs on the board in the ninth inning. Akron got an RBI single from McConachie, scoring Will Heisler from second base. The ballgame ended with that ninth inning rally falling short.

GAME NOTES
» Schaeffer fanned eight Broncos hitters.
» Akron's highest scoring inning was the ninth, when it pushed one run across.
» Akron pitchers faced 35 Western Michigan hitters in the game, allowing 12 ground balls and three fly balls while striking out eight.
» The Zips drew five walks from Western Michigan pitching.
» McConachie led the Zips at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI.

GAME 2 | Western Michigan 14, Akron 8
Four Akron players collected at least two hits, but the Zips fell to the Western Michigan Broncos 14-8 Friday.

Max Bowman led the way with a three hit game against the Broncos while driving in a pair of runs. McConachie, Andrew Horvath and Caden Matlon joined Bowman with mul-hit performances.

Brett Dietrich (0-1) came out of the bullpen for Akron (6-16, 0-8) and took the loss. Jett Slepak was a bright spot for the Zips, coming out of the bullpen as well and throwing two scoreless innings, allowing one hit, with two walks and one strikeout.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Zips got on the board immediately, starting their scoring with one run in the top of the first inning.

The Zips then lost some of their lead, expanding on their advantage in the third inning after the Broncos cut it to 3-2. Horvath came across to score the lone run of the inning for Akron, which brought the Zips lead to 4-2.

Akron's lead had disappeared once the fifth inning came around and turned into a 6-4 Western Michigan advantage, when the Zips cut that deficit to 6-5. The Zips added a run on Bowman's leadoff home run,

The Broncos expanded their lead to 14-5 before the Akron offense got back to work, cutting into that lead in the eighth. The Zips scored twice on sophomore Charlie Schebler's two-run homer, bringing the score to 14-7 in favor of Western Michigan.

The Zips held the Broncos off the scoredboard before getting within 14-8 in the ninth. McConachie came across to score the lone run of the inning for Akron and get them on the board. The ballgame ended with that ninth inning rally falling short.

GAME NOTES
» Bowman led the Zips, amassing three base knocks in the ballgame.
» Akron's power output was led by Bowman, who had two extra base hits in the ballgame.
» Akron's highest scoring inning was the first, when it pushed three runs across.
» Four Akron hitters had multiple base knocks in the ballgame.
» The Zips took Western Michigan pitchers deep three times on Friday.
» The Zips out-hit the Broncos at a 13-10 clip.
» Akron pitchers faced 46 Western Michigan hitters in the game, allowing seven ground balls and nine fly balls while striking out six.
» Bowman led the Zips at the plate, going 3-for-5 with a double, a home run and two RBI.

WHAT'S NEXT?
The Zips and Broncos conclude the series on Saturday, March 22 for a 1:05 p.m. start.