Softball Heads West For Key MAC Weekend Action

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KEY MAC WEEKEND FOR EAGLES: With a 4-10 record in Mid-American Conference play entering this weekend, the Eastern Michigan University softball team is looking to make up some ground against two West Division opponents. First up is a trip to Kalamazoo, Mich., to take on the Western Michigan University Broncos in a doubleheader. The two teams will square off Friday, April 24 at 1 p.m. The Eagles will then continue their westward travels, heading to DeKalb, Ill. for single games against Northern Illinois. The first game is scheduled for Saturday, April 25 at 2 p.m. (CST) with the second contest slated for Sunday, April 26 at 1 p.m. (CST).

SCOUTING THE BRONCOS: The Broncos come into the series against EMU with a 15-17 overall record and a 9-5 MAC mark. WMU currently sits in second place in the MAC West after splitting a series with Ball State. The Broncos are 6-2 at home this year. Western Michigan is led by sophomore Lexi Jager, who is hitting .408 in all games and leads the conference in MAC-only batting (.465). Meredith Whitney handles the bulk of the pitching duties, pitching 116.2 innings with an 11-7 record and 2.22 ERA. The in-state rivals have not squared off against each other since the Eagles came away with a 9-2 decision, April 1, 2007.

A LOOK AT THE HUSKIES: NIU travels to take on No. 10 Northwestern before welcoming the Eagles to Mary M. Bell Field for two single games this weekend. Prior to that contest, the Huskies are 11-31 overall and 6-8 in MAC action. NIU has not won in the month of April, dropping its last 11 contests. The Huskies are led by Andrea Colosimo at the plate, who is hitting .279 with 19 RBI. Morgan Bittner leads the way in the circle with a 6-16 record and 5.00 ERA in 138.2 innings of action. These teams have not faced each other since the 2007 season, with EMU blanking the Huskies, 5-0, March 30, 2007.

KNOCK CANCER OUT OF THE PARK A HUGE SUCCESS: The Eagles raised almost $4,000 in an effort to “Knock Cancer Out of the Park” this past weekend against Buffalo. In a home run derby following the game, Kaylee Tolliver (10) and Heather Han (9) led the way for the Green and White, while head coach Karen Baird, Jenny Scherer and McKenna Russ all knocked seven out of the park. The Eagles exceeded their goal for the year and will be raising their goal for next year while adding some more events in the fall. The team will continue to sell bracelets ($5) and t-shirts ($10) for the remainder of the season.

EAGLES AMONG MAC BEST: The Eagles have three players who are among the league's best on the offensive side of the ball. Freshman McKenna Russ leads the MAC in doubles (15) while ranking second in hits (47) and total bases (70). Junior Jenny Scherer is the MAC leader in home runs (8) while ranking second in RBI (27) and fourth in both slugging percentage (.593) and doubles (9). Sophomore shortstop Stacie Skodinski is now leading the MAC in batting average (.432), slugging percentage (.784) and on-base percentage (.490) while ranking third in doubles (11) and total bases (69).

HAN SELECTED MAC SCHOLAR ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Senior Heather Han was selected the MAC Scholar Athlete, April 16, for the first time in her career. Han, who boasts a 3.61 GPA in elementary education, hit .429 (3-for-7) with four RBI and one home run in helping the Eagles sweep the regular-season series from Central Michigan for the first time in school history. In the first game against CMU, Han accounted for all three runs, hitting a three-run home run to center, helping the Eagles to a 3-2 win. In Sunday's come-from-behind win, Han went 2-for-3 with an RBI. When she reached base on an error, it allowed the Eagles to score the winning run in the sixth inning.

FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING: With a dramatic sweep of Central Michigan (3-2 and 6-5) marked the first time in program history that EMU has ever come away with a regular season sweep of the Chippewas. The Eagles were down 5-0 in the second game before rallying to score six unanswered runs in the fifth and sixth innings to come away with the comeback win. Saturday's (April 11) win also marked the first time since the 2000 season that the Eagles won the first game of a series against their in-state rival.

PRESIDENT PITCH, TAKE TWO: EMU President Sue Martin was scheduled to throw out the first pitch, April 7, when the Eagles were supposed to host Oakland. Due to a snowfall that left about four inches of snow in the Ypsilanti area, the game was postponed. President Martin will now throw out the first pitch Sunday, May 3, when the Eagles wrap up the regular season against Bowling Green.

RUSS SETS A NEW STANDARD: In a 10-2 win over IPFW (April 1), freshman McKenna Russ set a new single-game record for doubles in a game. Russ went 4-for-4 with three doubles and a home run to lead EMU to a doubleheader sweep of the Mastodons. The previous single-game mark was two doubles, accomplished 34 times by 19 different players.

Eastern Michigan Athletics

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