Eastern Michigan Athletics
Friday, April 15
Oestrike Stadium
3 p.m.
Eastern Michigan University
vs
Akron
Eagles to Host Zips in Three-Game Series at Oestrike Stadium
4/14/2011 3:17:19 PM | Baseball
The EMU baseball team will host Akron in Mid-American Conference play this weekend.
Game Notes (.pdf)
Live Stats - For all games
Live Audio - Friday's game only
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University baseball team is looking to rebound following a sweep at Kent State last weekend. The Eagles will host the University of Akron this Friday-Sunday, April 15-17, in a Mid-American Conference cross-divisional series at Oestrike Stadium. The Eagles are 7-2 against the Zips under Head Coach Jay Alexander and lead the all-time series 28-14.
PITCHING PROBABLES:
Friday, April 15 (3 p.m.)
“Dog Days” Presented by the Humane Society Huron Valley
EMU: Robert Wendzicki, LHP (2-3, 4.15 ERA)
UA: Andrew Brown, RHP (2-4, 2.51 ERA)
Saturday, April 16 (3 p.m.)
"Military/Veteran's Day" Presented by US Army Recruiting Station
EMU: Corey Chaffins, RHP (4-3, 4.47 ERA)
UA: Alex Loftin, RHP (1-7, 5.40 ERA)
Sunday, April 17 (1 p.m.)
"Military/Veteran's Day" Presented by US Army Recruiting Station
EMU: Steve Weber, RHP (3-3, 4.46 ERA)
UA: Miles McVeigh, RHP (0-5, 3.76 ERA)
--
THE SERIES: Eastern Michigan and Akron will meet for the 43rd time when their series starts Friday, April 15. The Eagles currently hold a 28-14 all-time series lead and are 7-2 under Head Coach Jay Alexander since he took over in 2009.
THE COACHES: EMU Head Coach Jay Alexander enters Friday's contest with a 232-228 career record, including a 71-80 mark in three seasons with the Eagles. Akron's Pat Bangtson enters Friday's game with a 109-176 career record is six seasons, all with the Zips.
WEEK IN REVIEW: The Eagles exacted revenge on Cleveland State Tuesday, April 12, defeating the Vikings, 7-2, in 10 innings. It makes up for a disappointing 2-1 10-inning loss to CSU at Oestrike Stadium back on March 29. The Eagles used a five-run 10th inning to put the Vikings away for good on the road.
The top-four hitters in the EMU lineup acted as a driving force in the win, going 7-for-16 combined at the dish. Meanwhile, Jordan Glover put together a strong outing after allowing two runs on six hits without a single walk, but settled for the no-decision. Sophomore Brian Valente (2-0) earned the win in relief with 3.2 innings of shutout, no-hit baseball.
Ken Battiston went 2-for-5 with a run scored from the leadoff spot. Brent Ohrman and Rob Wendzicki also tallied two hits apiece while Zack Leonard turned in a 1-for-4 effort with an RBI and a run scored.
ON THE HORIZON: After a three-game set against Akron, the Eagles will have a couple days off before making the short trip across county to take on the University of Michigan in a mid-week contest Wednesday, April 20. It will be the third and final meeting between the two squads as the Eagles dropped the first matchup, 5-2, before Brian Valente led the Green and White to an 8-2 triumph in their last outing.
The Eagles and Wolverines are slated for a 6:05 p.m. start in Ann Arbor. After that, EMU will prepare for a three-game road series, April 22-24, against the upstart Western Michigan Broncos, which are currently second in the MAC West with a 6-3 league mark.
SCOUTING THE ZIPS: The University of Akron comes into the weekend with a 6-25 overall record, 0-9 MAC ledger and is looking to snap a five-game losing streak. The Zips have dropped each of their first nine league games as Western Michigan, Toledo and Central Michigan have each earned series sweeps against them. Akron is 1-10 on the road this season.
Drew Turocy leads the Zips offensively with a .347 (42-for-121) batting average. Three of his 14 extra base hits have gone for homeruns and he leads the squad with 13 RBI and 18 runs scored. As a team, the Zips are hitting .215 at the dish with a meager .284 on-base percentage.
The pitching staff has compiled a 4.96 ERA with a 1.76 K/BB ratio. Right-hander and team ace, Andrew Brown, leads the squad in wins with a 2-4 record and a 2.51 ERA, striking out 38 and walking 17 over 61 innings pitched. Reliever Chris Bassitt sports an unfortunate 0-3 record to go along with a 2.37 ERA and has claimed each of the team's four saves on the year.
LEADING OFF WITH BATTISTON: Senior outfielder Ken Battiston has started 21 games in the leadoff spot for the Eagles. Aside from the team's record being just 13-8, his numbers at the plate are more impressive. Leading the team with a .357 (41-for-115) batting average, his numbers against righties (.356) and lefties (.357) are nearly identical. As a leadoff hitter, he is 20-for-51 in reaching base, but as a producer, he is 11-for-22 with runners in scoring position, 13-for-32 (.406) when there are two outs in an inning, and he has a .673 (33-for-49) success rate in advancing runners.
MID-WEEK RELIEF: Brian Valente and Jordan Glover have combined to give Head Coach Jay Alexander and the Eagles some much-needed quality starting pitching between weekend league series so far this season. Since the start of MAC play, the Eagles have had three mid-week contests and Valente and Glover have combined for a 1.35 ERA, allowing 16 hits while striking out 13 and walking just four over 20 innings pitched. The Eagles are 2-1 in those three games with wins over Cleveland State and Michigan.
DOG DAYS AT OESTRIKE: In the series opener, Friday, April 15, fans are encouraged to bring their dogs to the ballpark for EMU's “Dog Days” sponsored by the Humane Society of Huron Valley. HSHV's mission is to support the loving, responsible care of all animals in the community.
MILITARY/VETERAN'S DAY: The final two games in the series between the Eagles and Zips will be recognized as “Military/Veteran's Day” at Oestrike Stadium. The US Army Recruiting Station will feature a rock climbing wall for fans to try out as well as an ARMY H3 Hummer on display. They will be passing out pamphlets throughout each game.
BEST START IN 23 YEARS: Eastern Michigan is off to its best start in 23 years after going 19-13 through its first 32 games this season. The last time the Eagles started better was in 1988 when the then-Hurons went 21-10-1 on the way to a 35-22-1 overall record and a MAC Tournament runner-up finish. The Eagles are 18-9 over their last 27 contests.
CLIMBING THE CHARTS: Seniors Zack Leonard and Corey Chaffins are putting up impressive career numbers at Eastern Michigan University, ranking among the all-time greats at EMU in several offensive and pitching categories, respectively.
Leonard overtook Derrick Peterson's record of 806 career at-bats last weekend and now sits at 815 for his career. His 266 career hits ranks second to Peterson's 274. He has 151 career RBI, good for fourth on the all-time list and needs just four more to catch Audie Cole for third all-time. Leonard is seventh in runs scored (147) and second in doubles (55), just four behind Greg Ryan's 59.
Chaffins ranks 10th all-time with 259.2 career innings pitched and is fourth on the all-time list with 248 career strikeouts, just one shy of tying Anthony Tomey for third all-time.
Live Stats - For all games
Live Audio - Friday's game only
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University baseball team is looking to rebound following a sweep at Kent State last weekend. The Eagles will host the University of Akron this Friday-Sunday, April 15-17, in a Mid-American Conference cross-divisional series at Oestrike Stadium. The Eagles are 7-2 against the Zips under Head Coach Jay Alexander and lead the all-time series 28-14.
PITCHING PROBABLES:
Friday, April 15 (3 p.m.)
“Dog Days” Presented by the Humane Society Huron Valley
EMU: Robert Wendzicki, LHP (2-3, 4.15 ERA)
UA: Andrew Brown, RHP (2-4, 2.51 ERA)
Saturday, April 16 (3 p.m.)
"Military/Veteran's Day" Presented by US Army Recruiting Station
EMU: Corey Chaffins, RHP (4-3, 4.47 ERA)
UA: Alex Loftin, RHP (1-7, 5.40 ERA)
Sunday, April 17 (1 p.m.)
"Military/Veteran's Day" Presented by US Army Recruiting Station
EMU: Steve Weber, RHP (3-3, 4.46 ERA)
UA: Miles McVeigh, RHP (0-5, 3.76 ERA)
--
THE SERIES: Eastern Michigan and Akron will meet for the 43rd time when their series starts Friday, April 15. The Eagles currently hold a 28-14 all-time series lead and are 7-2 under Head Coach Jay Alexander since he took over in 2009.
THE COACHES: EMU Head Coach Jay Alexander enters Friday's contest with a 232-228 career record, including a 71-80 mark in three seasons with the Eagles. Akron's Pat Bangtson enters Friday's game with a 109-176 career record is six seasons, all with the Zips.
WEEK IN REVIEW: The Eagles exacted revenge on Cleveland State Tuesday, April 12, defeating the Vikings, 7-2, in 10 innings. It makes up for a disappointing 2-1 10-inning loss to CSU at Oestrike Stadium back on March 29. The Eagles used a five-run 10th inning to put the Vikings away for good on the road.
The top-four hitters in the EMU lineup acted as a driving force in the win, going 7-for-16 combined at the dish. Meanwhile, Jordan Glover put together a strong outing after allowing two runs on six hits without a single walk, but settled for the no-decision. Sophomore Brian Valente (2-0) earned the win in relief with 3.2 innings of shutout, no-hit baseball.
Ken Battiston went 2-for-5 with a run scored from the leadoff spot. Brent Ohrman and Rob Wendzicki also tallied two hits apiece while Zack Leonard turned in a 1-for-4 effort with an RBI and a run scored.
ON THE HORIZON: After a three-game set against Akron, the Eagles will have a couple days off before making the short trip across county to take on the University of Michigan in a mid-week contest Wednesday, April 20. It will be the third and final meeting between the two squads as the Eagles dropped the first matchup, 5-2, before Brian Valente led the Green and White to an 8-2 triumph in their last outing.
The Eagles and Wolverines are slated for a 6:05 p.m. start in Ann Arbor. After that, EMU will prepare for a three-game road series, April 22-24, against the upstart Western Michigan Broncos, which are currently second in the MAC West with a 6-3 league mark.
SCOUTING THE ZIPS: The University of Akron comes into the weekend with a 6-25 overall record, 0-9 MAC ledger and is looking to snap a five-game losing streak. The Zips have dropped each of their first nine league games as Western Michigan, Toledo and Central Michigan have each earned series sweeps against them. Akron is 1-10 on the road this season.
Drew Turocy leads the Zips offensively with a .347 (42-for-121) batting average. Three of his 14 extra base hits have gone for homeruns and he leads the squad with 13 RBI and 18 runs scored. As a team, the Zips are hitting .215 at the dish with a meager .284 on-base percentage.
The pitching staff has compiled a 4.96 ERA with a 1.76 K/BB ratio. Right-hander and team ace, Andrew Brown, leads the squad in wins with a 2-4 record and a 2.51 ERA, striking out 38 and walking 17 over 61 innings pitched. Reliever Chris Bassitt sports an unfortunate 0-3 record to go along with a 2.37 ERA and has claimed each of the team's four saves on the year.
LEADING OFF WITH BATTISTON: Senior outfielder Ken Battiston has started 21 games in the leadoff spot for the Eagles. Aside from the team's record being just 13-8, his numbers at the plate are more impressive. Leading the team with a .357 (41-for-115) batting average, his numbers against righties (.356) and lefties (.357) are nearly identical. As a leadoff hitter, he is 20-for-51 in reaching base, but as a producer, he is 11-for-22 with runners in scoring position, 13-for-32 (.406) when there are two outs in an inning, and he has a .673 (33-for-49) success rate in advancing runners.
MID-WEEK RELIEF: Brian Valente and Jordan Glover have combined to give Head Coach Jay Alexander and the Eagles some much-needed quality starting pitching between weekend league series so far this season. Since the start of MAC play, the Eagles have had three mid-week contests and Valente and Glover have combined for a 1.35 ERA, allowing 16 hits while striking out 13 and walking just four over 20 innings pitched. The Eagles are 2-1 in those three games with wins over Cleveland State and Michigan.
DOG DAYS AT OESTRIKE: In the series opener, Friday, April 15, fans are encouraged to bring their dogs to the ballpark for EMU's “Dog Days” sponsored by the Humane Society of Huron Valley. HSHV's mission is to support the loving, responsible care of all animals in the community.
MILITARY/VETERAN'S DAY: The final two games in the series between the Eagles and Zips will be recognized as “Military/Veteran's Day” at Oestrike Stadium. The US Army Recruiting Station will feature a rock climbing wall for fans to try out as well as an ARMY H3 Hummer on display. They will be passing out pamphlets throughout each game.
BEST START IN 23 YEARS: Eastern Michigan is off to its best start in 23 years after going 19-13 through its first 32 games this season. The last time the Eagles started better was in 1988 when the then-Hurons went 21-10-1 on the way to a 35-22-1 overall record and a MAC Tournament runner-up finish. The Eagles are 18-9 over their last 27 contests.
CLIMBING THE CHARTS: Seniors Zack Leonard and Corey Chaffins are putting up impressive career numbers at Eastern Michigan University, ranking among the all-time greats at EMU in several offensive and pitching categories, respectively.
Leonard overtook Derrick Peterson's record of 806 career at-bats last weekend and now sits at 815 for his career. His 266 career hits ranks second to Peterson's 274. He has 151 career RBI, good for fourth on the all-time list and needs just four more to catch Audie Cole for third all-time. Leonard is seventh in runs scored (147) and second in doubles (55), just four behind Greg Ryan's 59.
Chaffins ranks 10th all-time with 259.2 career innings pitched and is fourth on the all-time list with 248 career strikeouts, just one shy of tying Anthony Tomey for third all-time.
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