Eastern Michigan Athletics
Friday, February 17
Spartanburg, S.C.
4 p.m.
Eastern Michigan University
at
USC Upstate
Baseball Opens 2012 at USC Upstate Tournament
2/15/2012 1:14:00 PM | Baseball
Eagles open the season with 17 straight road games
Complete Release (.pdf)
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com)– The Eastern Michigan University baseball team kicks off its 63rd season of competition Friday-Sunday, Feb. 17-19, at the USC Upstate Tournament in Spartanburg, S.C. The Eagles will face USC Upstate Friday at 4 p.m., Kentucky Saturday at noon and Dayton Sunday at 11 a.m. EMU is coming off a stellar 2011 campaign where it earned a 37-22 record and posted a .300 batting average in regular season play to lead the Mid-American Conference in hitting.
IT'S WHAT WE'VE WAITED FOR: The 2012 season marks the fourth for EMU Head Coach Jay Alexander. The Eagles return seven starters from a year ago, as well as eight pitchers. The team also welcomes 12 newcomers to the squad.
THIS WEEKEND'S OPPONENTS: EMU and USC Uptate will be meeting for first time in the opening game of the USC Upsrate Tournament at Harley Park Friday, Feb. 17. Junior right-hander Steve Weber will face lefty David Roseboom beginning at 4 p.m. The Spartans were selected to finish 10th in the Atlantic Sun Preseason Coaches' Poll as they enter their first full season of NCAA Division I eligibility.
In game two Saturday, Joe Battistelli will toe the rubber as the Eagles look for their first win against Kentucky since 2004, as the Wildcats have won the last six meetings versus Eastern Michigan. Kentucky went just 8-22 in Southeastern Conference games last year, but made it to the finals of the SEC Tournament before falling to eventual College World Series runner-up Florida.
Sunday's game between EMU and Dayton will mark the first time the two squads have met since 2009. The Eagles are looking for their first win against the Flyers in school history, and will send Brian Valente to the hill against Tim Bury. The Flyers, picked third in the A-10 preseason poll, return a total of 24 players, having posted a 32-27 overall record and a 15-9 A-10 mark last year.
SEASON OPENERS: Since 1949, EMU has an all-time mark of 32-31 in season lidlifters. Last year, the Eagles fell to No. 4 Clemson, 13-4, in the first game of a three-game set. The Green and White responded with a victory in game two, 7-6. Corey Chaffins picked up the win against the Tigers in front of 5,407 fans at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.
2012 EAGLE PROSPECTUS: Eastern Michigan is coming off a 37-22 season; the highest win total for an EMU squad since the 1982 team won 39. The Eagles went 16-11 in MAC play to earn the No. 5 seed in the Conference Tournament, where they went 3-2 with a pair of victories over Northern Illinois and one win over Kent State. The Golden Flashes ultimately knocked EMU out of the tournament in the semifinal game.
EMU returns 19 letterwinners and seven position starters along with eight of its 13 pitchers from a season ago. The Eagles are scheduled to play their first 17 games of the year away from home, and will have 18 scheduled home dates beginning with the Second Annual Oestrike Classic, March 16-18.
The Eagles will enter 2012 needing to make up for some of the offense lost from the graduation of 2011 MAC All-Tournament honorees Ken Battiston and Zack Leonard. Battiston led the 2011 squad in RBI (44) and slugging percentage (.544), while Lenoard paced the Eagles in batting average (.372), hits (87) and runs scored (53).
A big part of that responsibility will rest with Brent Ohrman, Tucker Rubino and Lee Longo. Ohrman is slated to be the Eagles' everyday leadoff hitter, and will try to build off a 2011 campaign in which he hit .339/.382/.444 and stole 20 bases. Rubino returns as the starting shortstop after leading the club with 31 walks and coming in second behind Battiston with 39 RBI in 2011. Longo will need to provide the middle-of-the-lineup power he had last year, when he recorded a second-best team slugging percentage of .471 and four homers.
On the mound, the Eagles lose the services of 2011 strikeout and wins leader Corey Chaffins (70 strikeouts, seven wins) as well as left-handed workhorse Robert Wendzicki (106.2 innings pitched). Fortunately, the Green and White returns one of the top rotations in the conference headed by Steve Weber, Joe Battistelli and Brian Valente. The right-handed trio combined for a 16-6 record last season along with a 3.63 ERA over 173.1 innings of work. Valente is fresh off a 4-0, 1.86 ERA performance in 2011, good for the 15th-best single-season ERA in team history.
EMU VERSUS RANKED OPPONENTS: Since 2003, the Eagles have a 6-18 mark against teams ranked in the top-25. EMU snapped a long skid against top-25 teams with its 3-1 victory over 25th-ranked Kansas in 2010. Prior to that win, their previous win over a ranked opponent was Feb. 7, 2007, when the Eagles claimed a 6-3 win at No. 19 Tennessee. When the Eagles topped No. 4 Clemson last season, 7-6, it marked the highest ranked team the Eagles have beaten since 2003. Prior to that, EMU's top win was against Notre Dame, who was ranked No. 13 when it claimed a 5-3 win over the Fighting Irish, April 15, 2003.
The Eagles will have another chance to face off with a nationally-ranked opponent in 2012, when they travel to Tucson, Ariz. to play Arizona, March 9-11. The Wildcats enter the season ranked as high as fifth and as low as 20th in different polls.
EMU will also face an Oral Roberts team which ended last season ranked 23rd in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper poll, Feb. 24-26, in Tulsa, Okla.
THE BIG (2)50: Jay Alexander earned his 250th win as a collegiate head coach, May 27, in a 4-2 triumph over Kent State University in the MAC Tournament. Alexander reached the milestone after just nine years of coaching, averaging to 27.8 wins per season. In addition, he has coached his team to a MAC Tournament berth in each of his three season at the helm of EMU baseball. Alexander is 250-237 after nine years and is an even 89-89 as the head coach of the Eagles.
WELCOME TO PRIME TIME: This weekend's action at the USC Upstate Tournament will mark the long-awaited arrival of a pair Eagles to the starting lineup who spent 2011 on the bench: Jamie Simpson and Adam Dennison.
Simpson, a redshirt junior, was ineligible to play last season due to NCAA transfer rules, but will be in the lineup as the designated hitter this weekend. The Dowagiac, Mich. native transferred to EMU from Western Michigan following the 2010 season, where he appeared in 33 games and drove in 17 runs.
Dennison will see his first collegiate action behind the plate after redshirting during his freshman season with the Eagles.
RECORD WATCH: Outfielder Brent Ohrman has a chance to work his way up the EMU records list in several offensive categories this season. His 20 stolen bases last season gave him 32 for his career, good for the 17th-most all-time. He is just one swiped bag behind Tim Clouse (2003-07) and two in back of Jeff Hehr (2005-07) and Trumaine Riley (2003-07) for 14th place. The native of Adrian, Mich. also has 28 career doubles to put him at 23rd in EMU laurels for that category.
Ben Magsig's 31 walks last season increased his career total to 67 for 20th all-time. The record is held by EMU great Glenn Gulliver, who received 140 free passes from 1973-76.
Sitting at third on the career-ERA list is Brian Valente, whose 2011 average of 1.86 runs-per-nine-innings is just 0.02 higher than Bob Welch's 1.84 ERA from 1975-77 and 0.21 behind Paul Temple's 1.65 ERA from 1951-54.
TRANSFERS TO EMU: The Eagles have four transfers joining the squad in 2012: Tyler Vavra, Austin Williams, Paul Schaak, and James Burrell.
Vavra and Schaak each played at Southern Idaho Community College, where Vavra was named team captain and garnered an SWAC Honorable mention in 2010. He posted a 6-4 record along with a 3.88 ERA in 2011 with the Golden Eagles. Schaak was named to the 2011 All-SWAC First Team in his one season at Southern Idaho, posting a team-best 6-1 record with a 3.45 ERA over 44.1 innings pitched.
Williams transfers from Fort Scott Community College, where he played two seasons and was named to the All-Conference squad on both occasions. Burrell comes to EMU from Morton Community College, where he was nominated to the Skyway Collegiate Conference's All-Conference First Team and the NJCAA Region IV All-Region First Team in 2011.
EDUCATED GUESS: Eric Sorenson, creator of the College Baseball Today blog on eastonbaseball.com, has selected Eastern Michigan to come away with the MAC West Division title in 2012, beating out rival Central Michigan for the top spot. Sorenson cites EMU's offense which hit .300 in the 2011 regular season along with a strong core of returning pitchers as the key components to securing the Eagles' first division title since 2008.
In the East Division, Kent State was projected to finish ahead of Miami, with Northern Illinois predicted to be this year's potential “dark horse” team out of the West.
MAC MOVES NORTH TO AVON: The Mid-American Conference announced that All Pro Freight Stadium, the home of the Frontier League Lake Erie Crushers, will serve as the host site for the 2012-14 MAC Baseball Tournaments. The move to All Pro Freight Stadium in Avon, Ohio will mark the third neutral site venue to host the MAC Baseball Tournament since 1982. VA Memorial Stadium served as the tournament's venue for the previous four seasons.
All Pro Freight Stadium has numerous amenities that sets it apart from other ballparks around the Midwest. It boasts a field made up of artificial turf, Tiger Turf, with the exception of the pitcher's mound, batter's box and bullpens. The stadium has a total capacity of more than 5,000 with 2,600 fixed seats, two club level party areas, 11 private suites and a picnic plaza on the 3rd base line that holds 400.
SUMMER LEAGUE ALL-STAR: Brent Ohrman enjoyed a successful summer away from Ypsilanti, having been named to the second team of the Horizon Air Summer Series for his outstanding performance as a member of the Marysville Gold Sox.
Ohrman batted an impressive .324 with a .424 on-base percentage over 136 at-bats during the 11-week long summer league. He was a terror on the basepaths, stealing 22 bags in 25 attempts and grabbing six triples (both team highs).
Defensively, Ohrman did not commit a single error in 37 games and earned a pair of assists while patrolling center field for the Gold Sox, who finished with a league-best 31-8-1 record.
In all, 21 members of the EMU baseball team competed in summer league action in 2011.
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com)– The Eastern Michigan University baseball team kicks off its 63rd season of competition Friday-Sunday, Feb. 17-19, at the USC Upstate Tournament in Spartanburg, S.C. The Eagles will face USC Upstate Friday at 4 p.m., Kentucky Saturday at noon and Dayton Sunday at 11 a.m. EMU is coming off a stellar 2011 campaign where it earned a 37-22 record and posted a .300 batting average in regular season play to lead the Mid-American Conference in hitting.
IT'S WHAT WE'VE WAITED FOR: The 2012 season marks the fourth for EMU Head Coach Jay Alexander. The Eagles return seven starters from a year ago, as well as eight pitchers. The team also welcomes 12 newcomers to the squad.
THIS WEEKEND'S OPPONENTS: EMU and USC Uptate will be meeting for first time in the opening game of the USC Upsrate Tournament at Harley Park Friday, Feb. 17. Junior right-hander Steve Weber will face lefty David Roseboom beginning at 4 p.m. The Spartans were selected to finish 10th in the Atlantic Sun Preseason Coaches' Poll as they enter their first full season of NCAA Division I eligibility.
In game two Saturday, Joe Battistelli will toe the rubber as the Eagles look for their first win against Kentucky since 2004, as the Wildcats have won the last six meetings versus Eastern Michigan. Kentucky went just 8-22 in Southeastern Conference games last year, but made it to the finals of the SEC Tournament before falling to eventual College World Series runner-up Florida.
Sunday's game between EMU and Dayton will mark the first time the two squads have met since 2009. The Eagles are looking for their first win against the Flyers in school history, and will send Brian Valente to the hill against Tim Bury. The Flyers, picked third in the A-10 preseason poll, return a total of 24 players, having posted a 32-27 overall record and a 15-9 A-10 mark last year.
SEASON OPENERS: Since 1949, EMU has an all-time mark of 32-31 in season lidlifters. Last year, the Eagles fell to No. 4 Clemson, 13-4, in the first game of a three-game set. The Green and White responded with a victory in game two, 7-6. Corey Chaffins picked up the win against the Tigers in front of 5,407 fans at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.
2012 EAGLE PROSPECTUS: Eastern Michigan is coming off a 37-22 season; the highest win total for an EMU squad since the 1982 team won 39. The Eagles went 16-11 in MAC play to earn the No. 5 seed in the Conference Tournament, where they went 3-2 with a pair of victories over Northern Illinois and one win over Kent State. The Golden Flashes ultimately knocked EMU out of the tournament in the semifinal game.
EMU returns 19 letterwinners and seven position starters along with eight of its 13 pitchers from a season ago. The Eagles are scheduled to play their first 17 games of the year away from home, and will have 18 scheduled home dates beginning with the Second Annual Oestrike Classic, March 16-18.
The Eagles will enter 2012 needing to make up for some of the offense lost from the graduation of 2011 MAC All-Tournament honorees Ken Battiston and Zack Leonard. Battiston led the 2011 squad in RBI (44) and slugging percentage (.544), while Lenoard paced the Eagles in batting average (.372), hits (87) and runs scored (53).
A big part of that responsibility will rest with Brent Ohrman, Tucker Rubino and Lee Longo. Ohrman is slated to be the Eagles' everyday leadoff hitter, and will try to build off a 2011 campaign in which he hit .339/.382/.444 and stole 20 bases. Rubino returns as the starting shortstop after leading the club with 31 walks and coming in second behind Battiston with 39 RBI in 2011. Longo will need to provide the middle-of-the-lineup power he had last year, when he recorded a second-best team slugging percentage of .471 and four homers.
On the mound, the Eagles lose the services of 2011 strikeout and wins leader Corey Chaffins (70 strikeouts, seven wins) as well as left-handed workhorse Robert Wendzicki (106.2 innings pitched). Fortunately, the Green and White returns one of the top rotations in the conference headed by Steve Weber, Joe Battistelli and Brian Valente. The right-handed trio combined for a 16-6 record last season along with a 3.63 ERA over 173.1 innings of work. Valente is fresh off a 4-0, 1.86 ERA performance in 2011, good for the 15th-best single-season ERA in team history.
EMU VERSUS RANKED OPPONENTS: Since 2003, the Eagles have a 6-18 mark against teams ranked in the top-25. EMU snapped a long skid against top-25 teams with its 3-1 victory over 25th-ranked Kansas in 2010. Prior to that win, their previous win over a ranked opponent was Feb. 7, 2007, when the Eagles claimed a 6-3 win at No. 19 Tennessee. When the Eagles topped No. 4 Clemson last season, 7-6, it marked the highest ranked team the Eagles have beaten since 2003. Prior to that, EMU's top win was against Notre Dame, who was ranked No. 13 when it claimed a 5-3 win over the Fighting Irish, April 15, 2003.
The Eagles will have another chance to face off with a nationally-ranked opponent in 2012, when they travel to Tucson, Ariz. to play Arizona, March 9-11. The Wildcats enter the season ranked as high as fifth and as low as 20th in different polls.
EMU will also face an Oral Roberts team which ended last season ranked 23rd in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper poll, Feb. 24-26, in Tulsa, Okla.
THE BIG (2)50: Jay Alexander earned his 250th win as a collegiate head coach, May 27, in a 4-2 triumph over Kent State University in the MAC Tournament. Alexander reached the milestone after just nine years of coaching, averaging to 27.8 wins per season. In addition, he has coached his team to a MAC Tournament berth in each of his three season at the helm of EMU baseball. Alexander is 250-237 after nine years and is an even 89-89 as the head coach of the Eagles.
WELCOME TO PRIME TIME: This weekend's action at the USC Upstate Tournament will mark the long-awaited arrival of a pair Eagles to the starting lineup who spent 2011 on the bench: Jamie Simpson and Adam Dennison.
Simpson, a redshirt junior, was ineligible to play last season due to NCAA transfer rules, but will be in the lineup as the designated hitter this weekend. The Dowagiac, Mich. native transferred to EMU from Western Michigan following the 2010 season, where he appeared in 33 games and drove in 17 runs.
Dennison will see his first collegiate action behind the plate after redshirting during his freshman season with the Eagles.
RECORD WATCH: Outfielder Brent Ohrman has a chance to work his way up the EMU records list in several offensive categories this season. His 20 stolen bases last season gave him 32 for his career, good for the 17th-most all-time. He is just one swiped bag behind Tim Clouse (2003-07) and two in back of Jeff Hehr (2005-07) and Trumaine Riley (2003-07) for 14th place. The native of Adrian, Mich. also has 28 career doubles to put him at 23rd in EMU laurels for that category.
Ben Magsig's 31 walks last season increased his career total to 67 for 20th all-time. The record is held by EMU great Glenn Gulliver, who received 140 free passes from 1973-76.
Sitting at third on the career-ERA list is Brian Valente, whose 2011 average of 1.86 runs-per-nine-innings is just 0.02 higher than Bob Welch's 1.84 ERA from 1975-77 and 0.21 behind Paul Temple's 1.65 ERA from 1951-54.
TRANSFERS TO EMU: The Eagles have four transfers joining the squad in 2012: Tyler Vavra, Austin Williams, Paul Schaak, and James Burrell.
Vavra and Schaak each played at Southern Idaho Community College, where Vavra was named team captain and garnered an SWAC Honorable mention in 2010. He posted a 6-4 record along with a 3.88 ERA in 2011 with the Golden Eagles. Schaak was named to the 2011 All-SWAC First Team in his one season at Southern Idaho, posting a team-best 6-1 record with a 3.45 ERA over 44.1 innings pitched.
Williams transfers from Fort Scott Community College, where he played two seasons and was named to the All-Conference squad on both occasions. Burrell comes to EMU from Morton Community College, where he was nominated to the Skyway Collegiate Conference's All-Conference First Team and the NJCAA Region IV All-Region First Team in 2011.
EDUCATED GUESS: Eric Sorenson, creator of the College Baseball Today blog on eastonbaseball.com, has selected Eastern Michigan to come away with the MAC West Division title in 2012, beating out rival Central Michigan for the top spot. Sorenson cites EMU's offense which hit .300 in the 2011 regular season along with a strong core of returning pitchers as the key components to securing the Eagles' first division title since 2008.
In the East Division, Kent State was projected to finish ahead of Miami, with Northern Illinois predicted to be this year's potential “dark horse” team out of the West.
MAC MOVES NORTH TO AVON: The Mid-American Conference announced that All Pro Freight Stadium, the home of the Frontier League Lake Erie Crushers, will serve as the host site for the 2012-14 MAC Baseball Tournaments. The move to All Pro Freight Stadium in Avon, Ohio will mark the third neutral site venue to host the MAC Baseball Tournament since 1982. VA Memorial Stadium served as the tournament's venue for the previous four seasons.
All Pro Freight Stadium has numerous amenities that sets it apart from other ballparks around the Midwest. It boasts a field made up of artificial turf, Tiger Turf, with the exception of the pitcher's mound, batter's box and bullpens. The stadium has a total capacity of more than 5,000 with 2,600 fixed seats, two club level party areas, 11 private suites and a picnic plaza on the 3rd base line that holds 400.
SUMMER LEAGUE ALL-STAR: Brent Ohrman enjoyed a successful summer away from Ypsilanti, having been named to the second team of the Horizon Air Summer Series for his outstanding performance as a member of the Marysville Gold Sox.
Ohrman batted an impressive .324 with a .424 on-base percentage over 136 at-bats during the 11-week long summer league. He was a terror on the basepaths, stealing 22 bags in 25 attempts and grabbing six triples (both team highs).
Defensively, Ohrman did not commit a single error in 37 games and earned a pair of assists while patrolling center field for the Gold Sox, who finished with a league-best 31-8-1 record.
In all, 21 members of the EMU baseball team competed in summer league action in 2011.
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