YPSILANTI, Mich., -- The coach of the Eastern Michigan University's baseball team got his 200th win versus the Kent State Golden Flashes in a triple header over the weekend.
While the Eagles only won one of the three games against Kent State, a milestone was reached for head coach Jay Alexander. He reached the 200 win mark in game two of the triple header on Saturday.
Alexander said, "It feels good and honestly I never thought about it until they announced it after the game." He added that anytime you get a win it feels good.
"It's a coaching milestone which just means I am getting old."
He said his expectations for the season are the same they are for every season. He expects to win the Mid-Atlantic Conference and the MAC tournament.
While coach Alexander reached a milestone they were beat in the best-of-three series. The first game of the triple header was a blow-out to the tune of 16-1. Alexander said when the Eagles made bad pitches they got hits and even when they made good pitches they still got hits.
"They simply got all the breaks." It's baseball, sometimes it just happens, he added.
Corey Chaffins was the starting pitcher in that game against Kent St. and said that nothing was going their way.
Chaffins said he really enjoys Alexanders coaching style. He said Alexander gives the players more freedom for players to play the way they like. He lets his players play more to their own style instead of just dictating to them the way things need to be done.
"He is fun to play for." Chaffins said.
Chaffins said that they have some good competition this year in their conference. He said that the best team in the conference is Ball State but there are other really good teams to look out for such as Toledo and Central Michigan University, who is number one in the MAC standings this season.
The Eagles were outplayed by the Golden Flashes all weekend. The only win they earned was a close 8-6 victory in game two. The Eagles offense and defense was stagnant for most of the series. They only scored a combined total of nine runs in the three games. The Golden Flashes scored 27 runs.
Right fielder Bo Kinder led the Eagles with 5 hits during the series. Second baseman Zack Leonard and infielder Brent Ohrman led the Eagles in the series with two runs batted in each.
Infielder Anthony Gallas contributed almost the same amount of offense the Eagles did for the entire series. He led his team in runs batted in and hits with seven of each.
Kent State got the better of EMU the last two years by winning five out of the last six games against the Eastern, but don't look for the Eagles to give up yet, as the Mid-American Conference tournament is coming up May 26. The Eagles beat the Golden Flashes 12-4 for the MAC tournament championship in 2008.
Coach Alexander has coached a couple of players who are trying to make their way to the big leagues. Jimmy Gulliver and Kyle Rhoad are two players looking to play professional baseball that played for Alexander's Eagles. Jimmy Gulliver was drafted by the Detroit Tigers last year and Kyle Rhoad was drafted last year, as well, by the Texas Rangers. They both still play in the minor leagues and they are working hard to make it in Major League Baseball.
Gulliver said that the biggest thing when trying to get to the major leagues is switching to wood bats and playing everyday.
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