Central Michigan Chippewas at Eastern Michigan Eagles - Baseball

 I love college sports and I think I would love to follow college baseball more but I live in a northern state.  College baseball usually starts in February.  Because it is winter in the northern areas, those teams tend to play their "home" games in southern locations.  This means that by the time the season are played at their actual homes, the season is almost half over.  

That shouldn't really matter.  But I decided to head to the game today.  Since I don't do a ton of baseball, I think I have some things to learn about shooting the game.  Anyway, this was my favorite picture from the game.  Sadly, Eastern Michigan lost.

Oakland at Eastern Michigan Baseball

As I was leaving work today, I found out that Oakland University was playing Eastern Michigan at Oestrike Stadium.  After grabbing dinner, I decided to head over there for what was the last out.

Eastern Michigan was down 3-2.  There were two men on, Oakland had just changed pitchers so Eastern Michigan put a pinch hitter in.  Unfortunately, he hit to the shortstop who then threw the last out.  I think I got a nice shot out of it though.

Eastern Michigan Vs. Bowling Green Baseball

College Baseball is tough to follow if you are a fan of one of the northern colleges.  The season typically starts around the middle of February which means that any northern teams start their season on the road.  Usually the home opener is in late March and sometimes the weather around here can be iffy.  Despite all that, I try to make it to a couple Eastern Michigan games during the season.

 It was in the mid-70's tonight, so  I decided to head over to the home opener at Oestrike Stadium.  Eastern Michigan was playing Bowling Green.  If I remember correctly, Eastern Michigan is hovering around 5-15 but they had one of the tougher schedules in Division I baseball.

 They actually looked decent enough but I didn't stay long enough for the real fireworks.

 I think this ended up going into one of the gaps to bring in one of Eastern Michigan's runs.

This was the second Eastern Michigan run.

I only stayed for 3 innings.  At that point, the game was tied at 2.  After that, Bowling Green would take a 6-3 lead but they would fall to Eastern Michigan by a final score of 7-6 after a walk off single.  So that makes Eastern Michigan 1-0 in MAC play.

Eastern Michigan Baseball Vs. Michigan State

I heard that Eastern Michigan was playing Michigan State tonight, so I decided to briefly stop at the game after work.  I try to make all of the home Eastern Michigan Footballs and most of the home basketball games but I don't get a chance to make many of the Eastern Michigan baseball games.

For some reason, the college baseball season starts in February.  That is fine for teams that are in areas of the country where it isn't winter.  For teams that do play in the north, that means they are away for roughly the first half of the season.  When they do finally get home, many of the games are schedule during the day on weekdays, so that takes out about 2/3's of the remaining games.  Since spring is the time that I like to pursue other photographic activities, that doesn't leave much time for baseball.

It's kind of sad because I do enjoy baseball, the games are free and I can get in some pretty decent spots to take pictures.

 I was taking this picture through the netting, I think you can kind of see the pattern, but I like the shot.

 One of the Michigan State players sliding into third.

 I really do need to work on my timing.  I would love to get a shot where you can see the bat contacting the ball.

 the Michigan State pitcher working the mound.

 This would have been a sweeter shot had I gotten more of the player in it.

 One of the Michigan State players swinging the bat.

 Laying down a bunt.

One of 10 Eastern runs that would score this game.

I only stayed for a couple innings, Eastern was up 4-2 at that point.  They would end up winning 10-5.

A Baseball Game

As I was going down Huron to head home, I looked over at the baseball stadium and saw someone playing there.  I wasn't sure if it was Eastern or not, so I figured I would check it out.

 Turns out that it was two high school teams.  One was the Gabriel Richard Fighting Irish from Ann Arbor (I think).  The other was a Lutheran Team from Macomb County.  There was no score on the scoreboard, so I had no idea what was going on.  I suppose that was fine since I was really there to take pictures.  In this particular instance, a baserunning error led to two people coming to third (one coming back and the other coming in).  Eventually one of them was tagged out.

 This Lear Jet caught my eye as it zipped across the sky.

 One of the players getting a hit.

 One not so much.

 Another swing and a miss.

 The Gabriel Richard pitcher.

 I think this was a hit too.

 Fielding the ball.

One of the other players scoring.  From the look of things, it appeared that this team was winning.

I do know one thing, I need to work on my baseball shots.

Eastern Michigan Baseball Vs Michigan State

I decided to stop at the Eastern Michigan baseball game tonight.  They were playing the dreaded Spartans of Michigan State.  I don't normally go to Eastern baseball games because they tend to be scheduled for odd times and about half of the season is played somewhere warmer.  Around the time they start playing in Ypsilanti, the season is almost half over.  Normally, Eastern's baseball team is decent.  They are generally competitive in the MAC.

 Eastern's pitcher throwing the ball.  He ended up getting chased out after two innings.

 The pitching coach discussing strategy with the pitcher.

 One of the Eastern players swinging for the ball.

 Michigan State celebrating one of their 5 runs.

 Another pitch.

 The Michigan State base coach.

 Eastern celebrating one of their three runs.

The Michigan State pitcher getting chased off the mound.

I didn't stick around for the whole game because it started to get chilly.  It was still pretty fun.