YPSILANTI - It really was a good game.
Then the sixth inning started.
The Michigan baseball team (6-2 Big Ten, 16-10 overall) fell to the powerful bats of Eastern Michigan, 14-7, yesterday. The Eagles (3-0 MAC, 13-8) scored more runs in the sixth inning - eight - than the Wolverines scored in the entire game.
After seeing the box score for the first five innings, one would have expected a cat-and-mouse outcome, with one team edging out the other.
Michigan's starter, righthander Ryan Kelley, was cruising along after getting out of a no-out, bases-loaded jam and giving up only one Eastern run.
Seth Kenny started on the hill for the Eagles and had equal success, striking out three batters and surrendering only two runs.
"We're just trying to get better, throwing strikes, trying to change speeds, staying competitive," Eastern coach Roger Coryell said.
The two pitchers both brought an arsenal of breaking balls, and off-speed junk, which led to mostly ground-ball outs.
Both starters were yanked after three innings of work, leaving the game knotted at two.
Kelley will start this weekend, which is why he was removed, according to Michigan coach Geoff Zahn.
At that point in the game, it seemed like the Wolverines and Eagles were on the same page, with either team having an opportunity to win.
But again, that sixth inning ....
"The most disappointing thing about the loss is Luke Bonner," Zahn said. "He gave up eight runs in one inning."
Bonner, a sophomore righthander, started the sixth inning, but he didn't finish it.
He gave up six runs on four hits before he was pulled.
Sophomore righthander Mario Garza, Jr., relieved him by surrendering two runs (both of which were attributed to Bonner) in his third of an inning, to close out the painful eight-run sixth, posting a 13-3 lead at that point.
Michigan's fate was in the hands of the pitchers, as the first five Eastern batters eventually crossed the plate in the inning. Twelve Eagles appeared at the plate.
The line for the Eagles in the inning read: two home runs, three doubles, a triple and a single. Add to that two walks, and you've got a sure formula for a troublesome inning.
Nearly every Eagle got his shots against the beleaguered Michigan pitching staff. Brent Miller rocketed a pinch-hit home run in the sixth and another homer in the eighth.
Todd Vokal was a round-tripper short of hitting for the cycle with two singles, a double and a triple. Only one Eagle didn't get a hit - the ninth batter, Jason Carano.
But the Michigan bats weren't silent either, as the dimensions of Oestrike Stadium - shorter than those of Michigan's Fisher Stadium - appeared to help at least a couple of Wolverines.
First baseman Bryan Besco put on an offensive show of his own. He ripped two homers and a double.
Third baseman Mike Cervenak hit a late-game solo shot in the seventh inning, which gave the Wolverines some hope.
Michigan put together a small rally in the ninth, scoring a pair of runs on doubles by Besco and Cervenak.
Still, it wasn't enough to climb out of the ditch, as Jason Alcaraz - who entered the game in the seventh for Bobby Scales - grounded out to short to end it.
"When you score seven runs, you should win the ballgame," Zahn said.
This season, however, the Eagles have been putting football-like scores on the scoreboard. They have scored at least 10 runs in 10 of 20 games, including a 32-run whipping of Siena Heights.
"Michigan is an important game; it always will be," Coryell said. "It's a friendly rivalry."
The Wolverines road trip will continue this weekend.
But this time, they will travel further than just down Washtenaw Avenue, when they head to Minnesota for a four-game conference series.