Baseball Readies for Midweek Clash with Michigan State

Baseball at Michigan State (7-19, 1-5 B1G)
Date	Wednesday, April 4 \| 3:05 p.m.
Venue	East Lansing, Mich. \| McLane Stadium
Game Notes	EMU Notes
Live Stats	MSUSpartans.com
Twitter	@EMUBaseball

EAST LANSING, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University baseball team remains on the road for a midweek clash with Michigan State University Wednesday, April 4, at McLane Stadium in East Lansing. First pitch against the Spartans is set for 3:05 p.m.
The action can be followed live on Twitter by following @EMU_Baseball. Fans can also track the game through live stats. Links can be found on the schedule page of EMUEagles.com.

PLUCKING THE FALCONS: In the series win over Bowling Green State University, EMU accomplished a pair of feats versus the rival Falcons. First, in the series opening win, March 30, EMU won its 100th game over BGSU all-time. It was the first time in program history Eastern has reached the 100-win plateau over any team. Secondly, the series win marked the ninth-straight over Bowling Green, dating back to 2005.

LIGHTS OUT BULLPEN: A key component to the series win over Bowling Green was the effort of EMU's bullpen, as six pitchers combined to toss 10.1 innings while only yielding one earned run, for an ERA of 0.89. The six pitchers also allowed just five hits, while striking out eight Falcon batters.

REACHING THE CENTURY MARK: Junior Max Schuemann reached a career milestone against Bowling Green, March 31, as the infielder notched the 100th hit of his EMU career with a bloop single in the first inning. Schuemann leads the Eagles with 39 hits this season, which already surpasses the total hits recorded in each of his first two seasons. He totaled 29 his freshman year and 34 as a sophomore. In addition, Schuemann has a hit in 22-of-25 games this season, including a team-best 12 multi-hit games.

EASTER BREAKING OUT ON EASTER: As fate would have it, freshman Shane Easter had the best game of his young EMU career against Bowling Green on Easter Sunday, April 1. The outfielder got the start and went 2-for-4 with an RBI bunt single and a run scored. It was the first two-hit game and RBI of his EMU career.

ALL-TIME VS. THE SPARTANS: EMU and MSU have met 137 times since 1949, with MSU holding the series lead 77-58-2. The Eagles and Spartans split the season series last year, with each team winning their home game. The teams are also 3-3 in their last six meetings dating back to 2015.

EMU/MSU CONNECTIONS: There may not be another baseball program in the country that EMU and MSU are more connected to than each other when it comes to the two coaching staffs. Starting with EMU, interim head coach Eric Roof and pitching coach A.J. Achter are MSU alums, as both were stand-out baseball players for the Spartans, Roof from 2007-09 and Achter from 2008-10. On the other side, two MSU coaches are former EMU head coaches, with head coach Jake Boss Jr. leading the Eagles in 2008, Eastern's last time winning the MAC title, while pitching coach Mark Van Ameyde was EMU's bench boss from 2015-17. Additionally, MSU's volunteer assistant, Jordan Keur, was Eastern's volunteer in 2015 under Van Ameyde.

BROTHERLY LOVE: Wednesday will also see the matchup between freshman Luke McGuire, the projected starting pitcher for EMU, and his older brother, Zack McGuire, who is a senior infielder for the Spartans. Both attended Adlai E. Stevenson High School.

FOR THE GREATER GOOD: When EMU get 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 13th in the nation and first in the MAC with 25 sacrifice bunts. In addition, sophomore Devin Hager is tied for fifth in the country with nine sac bunts, just one behind the national leaders.

DEVENNEY HEATING UP ON THE MOUND: Despite being a senior, Luke DeVenney is in just his second season as a pitcher at EMU. After being a primary bullpen/midweek arm in 2017, DeVenney has found his way into the weekend rotation in 2018 as the Sunday starter. In his last five outings, DeVenney has a 2.64 ERA in 30.2 innings, including a 2-0 record and 19 strikeouts. For the season, he leads the EMU staff with a 3.40 ERA in 39.2 innings and 24 Ks.

BLISTERING OFFENSIVE NUMBERS: After the first two weekends of conference play, the EMU offense is at or near the top in the MAC in the biggest offensive categories, including first in batting average (.286), steals (56), and on-base percentage (.368), second in hits (251) and slugging percentage (.395), third in scoring (5.8), and fourth in runs scored (146).

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 56 bags in 25 games, good for ninth in the country. Additionally, Max Schuemann's 15 steals are 18th in the nation and first in the MAC.

ON THE HORIZON: Eastern dips back into conference play this weekend, April 6-8, when it hosts Ball State University for a three-game set. Game one of the series is set to begin at 6 p.m. on Friday.

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Players Mentioned

Luke DeVenney

Shane Easter

Devin Hager

Luke McGuire

Max Schuemann

Eastern Michigan Athletics