Eastern Michigan Athletics
Friday, May 6
Oestrike Stadium
6 p.m.
Eastern Michigan University
vs
Northern Illinois
Eagles Put Streak On Line Against Northern Illinois This Weekend
5/6/2011 8:54:25 AM | Baseball
The EMU baseball team will look to extend its 11-game winning streak in a three-game MAC series at Oestrike Stadium.
Game Notes (.pdf)
Live Stats
Live Audio (Saturday/Sunday only)
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University baseball team is tied for first in the Mid-American Conference West Division and carries an 11-game winning streak into its pivotal series with Northern Illinois University this weekend.
The Eagles (30-15, 12-6 MAC) and Huskies (22-21, 10-8 MAC) are slated for a 6 p.m. start in game one, today, May 6. Game two is scheduled for 3 p.m. on Saturday and game three is set for 1 p.m. on Sunday.
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SETTING THE SCENE: Eastern Michigan jumps back into Mid-American Conference play to host Northern Illinois in a three-game series at Oestrike Stadium this weekend after taking two from Louisville on the road to extend its overall win streak to 11 games. The Eagles are 12-6 and in a three-way tie for first place in the MAC West Division after sweeping Ball State last weekend to extend their MAC streak to seven straight wins. The Huskies are 10-8 after dropping all three to West Division favorite, Central Michigan, last weekend.
THE SERIES: The Eagles and Huskies will meet for the 96th time with Eastern Michigan leading the all-time series 60-35. The Eagles have won four of the last five meetings with the Huskies, including two-of-three at home back in 2009.
THE COACHES: EMU Head Coach Jay Alexander enters Friday's contest with a 243-230 career record, including a 82-82 mark in three seasons with the Eagles. Northern Illinois Head Coach Ed Mathey has a 232-255-1 record in this his ninth season at NIU while amassing more than 400 wins over his 17-year career.
WEEK IN REVIEW: After a three-game sweep of Ball State, the Eagles hit the road for a challenging two-game mid-week series with the University of Louisville. Eastern Michigan rose up to the challenge and took both games from the Cardinals including an impressive four-run, eighth inning comeback to take game one.
Ben Magsig and Zack Leonard each recorded four hits during the two-game series while Sam Ott totaled four RBI, including a three-run double that propelled EMU to a 6-2 win over Louisville in game two on Wednesday.
Senior Corey Chaffins pitched 3.2 innings in relief to earn the win, his sixth of the season, in game one on Tuesday, striking out four and becoming the second all-time leader in strikeouts at EMU. Jordan Glover went six strong innings, allowing just two runs on eight hits to help the Eagles to the series sweep. He improved to 3-0 on the year and lowered his ERA to 4.15.
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES: Northern Illinois University enters this weekend's series against the Eagles with a 22-21 overall record with a 10-8 mark in league play. The Huskies won both mid-week games against Valparaiso and UIC after being swept by Central Michigan last weekend, dropping them from the top spot in the MAC West all the down to fourth place.
NIU is hitting .276 as a team and averaging 5.9 runs per contest, tied for fourth in the MAC for most overall runs scored this season. Alex Jones leads the Huskies with a .348 (62-for-178) batting average and 21 extra-base hits including five triples and two home runs to go along with 37 RBI. In league play, Troy White is sixth in hitting with a .371-clip with two home runs and 16 runs driven in.
On the mound, the NIU pitching staff ranks 10th with a 5.33 ERA and an opponent batting average of .293 this season. Staff ace, Zach Oates is 3-5 on the season with a 4.24 ERA in 10 starts spanning 70 innings pitched. He's struck out 47 while walking 18 batters. Kyle Glancy was recently named to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Stopper of the Year watch list as he's third in the league with eight saves and a 2.05 ERA in 17 appearances in 2011.
PITCHING PROBABLES:
Friday, May 6 (6 p.m.)
EMU: Rob Wendzicki, LHP (4-4, 3.50ERA)
NIU: Zach Oates, RHP (3-5, 4.24 ERA)
Saturday, May 7 (3 p.m.)
EMU: Corey Chaffins, RHP (6-3, 4.81ERA)
NIU: Tom Barry, LHP (3-4, 4.11 ERA)
Sunday, May 8 (1 p.m.)
EMU: Joe Battistelli, RHP (5-1, 4.21ERA)
NIU: Tony Manville, RHP (6-1, 5.44 ERA)
MAC ATTACK: The Eagles lead the Mid-American Conference in hitting this season with a .305-clip overall and a .327-clip in league-only games. EMU also paces the MAC in categories such as on-base (.398) and slugging (.448) percentage, at-bats (652), hits (213), runs (131), doubles (43), RBI (119) and stolen bases (30).
Three individuals rank in the top-10 in batting average in both overall and league-only games. In league-only stats, Ben Magsig ranks third with a .403 average with Ken Battiston right behind at .402. Battiston is tied for the most extra-base hits (10) while he and Magsig each have recorded 17 RBI, second in the league. Zack Leonard ranks seventh in batting average with a .370-clip. Leonard (21), Brent Ohrman (21), Battiston (17) and Magsig (16) are top-4 in the league in runs scored through 18 games.
SHUTTING THE DOOR: The EMU bullpen has been lights out all season and it's evident by its 23-2 record when leading after six innings, 19-0 mark when leading after seven innings and 22-0 mark when leading after eight innings. Not to mention, the Eagles are 9-2 in one run games and 6-1 in games decided by two runs or less.
STREAKS APLENTY: Aside from their 11-game winning streak, which is tied for the longest since 2004, the Eagles also have five players with hitting streaks of eight games or more. They are led by Zack Leonard's 12-gamer in which he is 27-for-51 (.529) during the streak with six doubles, 16 RBI and 16 runs scored with an on-base percentage of .600. Brent Ohrman has a 10-game streak going while Ben Magsig has a nine-game active streak and Ken Battiston and Sam Ott both have eight-game streaks.
DURING THE STREAK: A win over Northern Illinois on Friday would tie for the longest winning streak in school history at 12 games. During their current 11-game win streak, the Eagles are hitting .350 as a team, led by Zack Leonard's .522 (24-for-46) average. Seven-of-nine regular starters are hitting .340 or higher while the team as a whole has outscored its opponents by 56 runs (100-44).
The pitching staff has posted a 3.62 ERA during the streak and held opponents to a .262 batting average over 102 innings pitched. Defensively, the Eagles have committed just seven errors, 13 fewer than their opponents, spanning 441 chances for a .984 fielding percentage.
EMU BASEBALL ON THE WEB: Don't forget to stay up-to-date with Eastern Michigan University baseball all season long online at EMUEagles.com. Listen live to EMU baseball vs. Northern Illinois for just $1this weekend as Chad Bush and Greg Steiner call the action for Saturday's and Sunday's contests.
BEST START IN 35 YEARS: Eastern Michigan is off to its best start since 1976, the last time EMU made an appearance in the NCAA Division I College World Series where it finished runner-up to eventual national champion, Arizona. The Eagles are 30-15 through its first 45 games this season. The last time the Eagles started better was when the then-Hurons went 34-11 in its magical run to the College World Series on the way to a school-record 46-16 overall mark.
HOME AWAY FROM HOME: The Eagles are 19-11 on the road this season. That exceeds the most road wins in a season for an Eagle squad since at least 1998. So far this season, the Eagles have defeated fourth-ranked Clemson, taken two out of three from Kansas, split with West Virginia, swept two games from Louisville and defeated Michigan and Michigan State, all on the road. EMU still has three road games remaining with a three-game MAC series at Toledo set for May 13-15.
VALIENT VALENTE: Eastern Michigan is 6-0 in starts made by right-hander Brian Valente this season. The redshirt sophomore is 3-0 with a 1.71 ERA over nine appearances in 2011. In his last start against Louisville, the Macomb, Mich. native went 5.1 innings and allowed just one run on six hits in what amounted to a 4-3 comeback win for the Eagles in game one of a two-game swee over the Cardinals.
ZACK “RECORD BREAKER”: Senior Zack Leonard added to his historic season as he claimed Mid-American Conference West Division Player of the Week and College Baseball Insider Central Region Player of the Week accolades this week. The Canton, Ohio native batted .667 (12-for-18) with four doubles, a homerun and 12 RBI last week as the Eagles went 4-0 with a road victory at Michigan State and series sweep over Ball State at home.
Leonard has reached multiple career milestones already this season as he has taken over the top spot in career at-bats (869), hits (293), and doubles (61). He is also tied for second all-time in career RBI with Ryan Goleski ('03), who totaled 167. He's taken over third place all-time in career runs scored with 163 and is currently tied for 12th with 24 career home runs.
In Eastern Michigan's 17-15, extra-inning win over Michigan State, Leonard recorded his first career five-hit game. Not only that, but he set what is believed to be the school-record for assists in a game with 14. Dating back to 2000, Leonard is the only player to record double-digit assists, doing so twice. He recorded 10 against Toledo back on May 16, 2010. He didn't commit in error in either occurrence.
MAC SCHOLAR-ATHLETES OF THE WEEK: Ben Magsig, Ken Battiston and Zack Leonard have each been named Mid-American Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Week once so far this year. Magsig, an actuarial science major with a 3.38 GPA, earned the award for the week ending April 8. Battiston, an exercise science major with a 3.40 GPA, claimed the honor for the week ending April 22. And Leonard, an exercise science major with a 3.77 GPA, was honored for the week ending April 29.
Live Stats
Live Audio (Saturday/Sunday only)
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University baseball team is tied for first in the Mid-American Conference West Division and carries an 11-game winning streak into its pivotal series with Northern Illinois University this weekend.
The Eagles (30-15, 12-6 MAC) and Huskies (22-21, 10-8 MAC) are slated for a 6 p.m. start in game one, today, May 6. Game two is scheduled for 3 p.m. on Saturday and game three is set for 1 p.m. on Sunday.
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SETTING THE SCENE: Eastern Michigan jumps back into Mid-American Conference play to host Northern Illinois in a three-game series at Oestrike Stadium this weekend after taking two from Louisville on the road to extend its overall win streak to 11 games. The Eagles are 12-6 and in a three-way tie for first place in the MAC West Division after sweeping Ball State last weekend to extend their MAC streak to seven straight wins. The Huskies are 10-8 after dropping all three to West Division favorite, Central Michigan, last weekend.
THE SERIES: The Eagles and Huskies will meet for the 96th time with Eastern Michigan leading the all-time series 60-35. The Eagles have won four of the last five meetings with the Huskies, including two-of-three at home back in 2009.
THE COACHES: EMU Head Coach Jay Alexander enters Friday's contest with a 243-230 career record, including a 82-82 mark in three seasons with the Eagles. Northern Illinois Head Coach Ed Mathey has a 232-255-1 record in this his ninth season at NIU while amassing more than 400 wins over his 17-year career.
WEEK IN REVIEW: After a three-game sweep of Ball State, the Eagles hit the road for a challenging two-game mid-week series with the University of Louisville. Eastern Michigan rose up to the challenge and took both games from the Cardinals including an impressive four-run, eighth inning comeback to take game one.
Ben Magsig and Zack Leonard each recorded four hits during the two-game series while Sam Ott totaled four RBI, including a three-run double that propelled EMU to a 6-2 win over Louisville in game two on Wednesday.
Senior Corey Chaffins pitched 3.2 innings in relief to earn the win, his sixth of the season, in game one on Tuesday, striking out four and becoming the second all-time leader in strikeouts at EMU. Jordan Glover went six strong innings, allowing just two runs on eight hits to help the Eagles to the series sweep. He improved to 3-0 on the year and lowered his ERA to 4.15.
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES: Northern Illinois University enters this weekend's series against the Eagles with a 22-21 overall record with a 10-8 mark in league play. The Huskies won both mid-week games against Valparaiso and UIC after being swept by Central Michigan last weekend, dropping them from the top spot in the MAC West all the down to fourth place.
NIU is hitting .276 as a team and averaging 5.9 runs per contest, tied for fourth in the MAC for most overall runs scored this season. Alex Jones leads the Huskies with a .348 (62-for-178) batting average and 21 extra-base hits including five triples and two home runs to go along with 37 RBI. In league play, Troy White is sixth in hitting with a .371-clip with two home runs and 16 runs driven in.
On the mound, the NIU pitching staff ranks 10th with a 5.33 ERA and an opponent batting average of .293 this season. Staff ace, Zach Oates is 3-5 on the season with a 4.24 ERA in 10 starts spanning 70 innings pitched. He's struck out 47 while walking 18 batters. Kyle Glancy was recently named to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Stopper of the Year watch list as he's third in the league with eight saves and a 2.05 ERA in 17 appearances in 2011.
PITCHING PROBABLES:
Friday, May 6 (6 p.m.)
EMU: Rob Wendzicki, LHP (4-4, 3.50ERA)
NIU: Zach Oates, RHP (3-5, 4.24 ERA)
Saturday, May 7 (3 p.m.)
EMU: Corey Chaffins, RHP (6-3, 4.81ERA)
NIU: Tom Barry, LHP (3-4, 4.11 ERA)
Sunday, May 8 (1 p.m.)
EMU: Joe Battistelli, RHP (5-1, 4.21ERA)
NIU: Tony Manville, RHP (6-1, 5.44 ERA)
MAC ATTACK: The Eagles lead the Mid-American Conference in hitting this season with a .305-clip overall and a .327-clip in league-only games. EMU also paces the MAC in categories such as on-base (.398) and slugging (.448) percentage, at-bats (652), hits (213), runs (131), doubles (43), RBI (119) and stolen bases (30).
Three individuals rank in the top-10 in batting average in both overall and league-only games. In league-only stats, Ben Magsig ranks third with a .403 average with Ken Battiston right behind at .402. Battiston is tied for the most extra-base hits (10) while he and Magsig each have recorded 17 RBI, second in the league. Zack Leonard ranks seventh in batting average with a .370-clip. Leonard (21), Brent Ohrman (21), Battiston (17) and Magsig (16) are top-4 in the league in runs scored through 18 games.
SHUTTING THE DOOR: The EMU bullpen has been lights out all season and it's evident by its 23-2 record when leading after six innings, 19-0 mark when leading after seven innings and 22-0 mark when leading after eight innings. Not to mention, the Eagles are 9-2 in one run games and 6-1 in games decided by two runs or less.
STREAKS APLENTY: Aside from their 11-game winning streak, which is tied for the longest since 2004, the Eagles also have five players with hitting streaks of eight games or more. They are led by Zack Leonard's 12-gamer in which he is 27-for-51 (.529) during the streak with six doubles, 16 RBI and 16 runs scored with an on-base percentage of .600. Brent Ohrman has a 10-game streak going while Ben Magsig has a nine-game active streak and Ken Battiston and Sam Ott both have eight-game streaks.
DURING THE STREAK: A win over Northern Illinois on Friday would tie for the longest winning streak in school history at 12 games. During their current 11-game win streak, the Eagles are hitting .350 as a team, led by Zack Leonard's .522 (24-for-46) average. Seven-of-nine regular starters are hitting .340 or higher while the team as a whole has outscored its opponents by 56 runs (100-44).
The pitching staff has posted a 3.62 ERA during the streak and held opponents to a .262 batting average over 102 innings pitched. Defensively, the Eagles have committed just seven errors, 13 fewer than their opponents, spanning 441 chances for a .984 fielding percentage.
EMU BASEBALL ON THE WEB: Don't forget to stay up-to-date with Eastern Michigan University baseball all season long online at EMUEagles.com. Listen live to EMU baseball vs. Northern Illinois for just $1this weekend as Chad Bush and Greg Steiner call the action for Saturday's and Sunday's contests.
BEST START IN 35 YEARS: Eastern Michigan is off to its best start since 1976, the last time EMU made an appearance in the NCAA Division I College World Series where it finished runner-up to eventual national champion, Arizona. The Eagles are 30-15 through its first 45 games this season. The last time the Eagles started better was when the then-Hurons went 34-11 in its magical run to the College World Series on the way to a school-record 46-16 overall mark.
HOME AWAY FROM HOME: The Eagles are 19-11 on the road this season. That exceeds the most road wins in a season for an Eagle squad since at least 1998. So far this season, the Eagles have defeated fourth-ranked Clemson, taken two out of three from Kansas, split with West Virginia, swept two games from Louisville and defeated Michigan and Michigan State, all on the road. EMU still has three road games remaining with a three-game MAC series at Toledo set for May 13-15.
VALIENT VALENTE: Eastern Michigan is 6-0 in starts made by right-hander Brian Valente this season. The redshirt sophomore is 3-0 with a 1.71 ERA over nine appearances in 2011. In his last start against Louisville, the Macomb, Mich. native went 5.1 innings and allowed just one run on six hits in what amounted to a 4-3 comeback win for the Eagles in game one of a two-game swee over the Cardinals.
ZACK “RECORD BREAKER”: Senior Zack Leonard added to his historic season as he claimed Mid-American Conference West Division Player of the Week and College Baseball Insider Central Region Player of the Week accolades this week. The Canton, Ohio native batted .667 (12-for-18) with four doubles, a homerun and 12 RBI last week as the Eagles went 4-0 with a road victory at Michigan State and series sweep over Ball State at home.
Leonard has reached multiple career milestones already this season as he has taken over the top spot in career at-bats (869), hits (293), and doubles (61). He is also tied for second all-time in career RBI with Ryan Goleski ('03), who totaled 167. He's taken over third place all-time in career runs scored with 163 and is currently tied for 12th with 24 career home runs.
In Eastern Michigan's 17-15, extra-inning win over Michigan State, Leonard recorded his first career five-hit game. Not only that, but he set what is believed to be the school-record for assists in a game with 14. Dating back to 2000, Leonard is the only player to record double-digit assists, doing so twice. He recorded 10 against Toledo back on May 16, 2010. He didn't commit in error in either occurrence.
MAC SCHOLAR-ATHLETES OF THE WEEK: Ben Magsig, Ken Battiston and Zack Leonard have each been named Mid-American Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Week once so far this year. Magsig, an actuarial science major with a 3.38 GPA, earned the award for the week ending April 8. Battiston, an exercise science major with a 3.40 GPA, claimed the honor for the week ending April 22. And Leonard, an exercise science major with a 3.77 GPA, was honored for the week ending April 29.
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