Baseball Jumps Down to Toledo for Weekend Series

Baseball at Toledo (12-21, 6-6 MAC)
Date	Friday-Sunday, April 20-23
Venue	Toledo, Ohio \| Scott Park
Game Notes	EMU Notes
Live Stats	UTRockets.com
Stream	Fri \| Sat \| Sun
Twitter	@EMUBaseball

TOLEDO, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University baseball team continues its six-game road stretch when it heads south to the University of Toledo for a three-game series against the Rockets, April 20-22. The series begins Friday with a 3:05 first pitch, followed by 1:05 start times on Saturday and Sunday.
The action can be tracked live on Twitter by following @EMU_Baseball. Fans can also follow the game through live stats and via a stream on ESPN+. Links can be found on the schedule page of EMUEagles.com.

ALL-TIME VS. THE ROCKETS: EMU and UT have met 155 times in their respective histories with the Eagles leading the all-time series by a 94-61 tally. The two schools have met every season since 1977. Last season, EMU won the regular season series on senior weekend, 2-1, taking the first two games of the set before falling on Senior Day, 6-5.

OWINGS OWNING THE DISH: For the second time this season, Zachary Owings is on a ten-game hitting streak, and he has a hit in 20 of his last 21 games. Over this second hitting streak, he owns 17 hits, and has upped his batting average from .322 to a team-best .364, which is second in the conference as well.

SOLID START TO CONFERENCE PLAY: With the 2-1 series win over Ohio University last weekend, EMU has won three of its first four conference series, and is off to a 7-5 league start. It marks the second-straight season in which EMU has won three-of-four conference series to begin a year, as EMU started 2017 with an 8-4 MAC record on its way to a 14-10 regular season mark and a third place finish.

EAGLES HEATING UP ON THE MOUND: Since entering conference play, EMU's pitching staff has been lights out against its competition. As a staff, EMU holds the best ERA in MAC-only games with a mark of 2.72, which is 0.22 points better than the next team (Kent State, 2.94). In addition, EMU starting pitchers Luke DeVenney and Justin McMurtrey have ERAs of 1.21 and 1.98, respectively, in their first four MAC starts, which ranks third and seventh in the league.

DEVENNEY DEVELOPING ON THE HILL: Despite being a senior, Luke DeVenney is in just his second season as a pitcher at EMU. After being a primary bullpen/midweek pitcher in 2017, DeVenney has found his way into the weekend rotation in 2018. He has been fantastic this season, leading the team in ERA (2.79) and IPs (51.2), while striking out the second-most batters (34). In addition, he owns a 1.21 ERA in four MAC starts, which is third in the conference.

FOR THE GREATER GOOD: When EMU gets runners on base, almost no other team is more unselfish when it comes to advancing them an extra base. Thus far this season, EMU is 19th in the nation and second in the MAC with 30 sacrifice bunts. In addition, sophomore Devin Hager is ninth in the country with 10 sac bunts.

ZOOM ZOOM: In each of the last three seasons, EMU has finished in the top-60 nationally in stolen bases, including third in the NCAA in 2016 and 11th in 2015. This season, Eastern is near the top once again, as it has swiped 63 bags, good for 20th in the country and first in the MAC.

ALL HE DOES IS WIN: Junior Mitchell Sparks has been rewarded for having the most appearances for EMU this season as he has tallied a team-leading six wins in 15 games. His six wins are second in the MAC (most for a reliever) and 21st in the nation, just two behind the national leaders.

JUST CALL HIM MR. APRIL: Freshman Jared Kauffman has been a clutch machine so far in the month of April, as the freshman has two game-winning hits under his belt. The first came with a walk-off single to defeat Ball State, April 7. He followed that up with a game-winning, two-run double in the top of the tenth to come back and defeat Ohio on the road, April 13.

ON THE HORIZON: EMU completes its road swing with a midweek contest against Michigan State University at Comerica Park, the home of the Detroit Tigers, Tuesday, April 24. The contest against the Spartans is set for a 6:35 p.m. first pitch.

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Players Mentioned

Luke DeVenney

Devin Hager

Jared Kauffman

Justin McMurtrey

Zachary Owings

Mitchell Sparks

Eastern Michigan Athletics