Eagles Host Final Homestand This Weekend At Varsity Field

Game Notes.

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) — The Eastern Michigan University softball team will close out its home portion of the 2012 campaign with four games this weekend, April 27-29, as they welcome both Akron University and Ohio University to Varsity Field. The Eagles and Zips will meet Friday, April 27 for a pair of games at 1 p.m. On Saturday, April 28, the Green and White will host the Bobcats in its annual Knock Cancer Out of the Park game at 1 p.m. and again on April 29 for EMU's senior and alumni day slated for 2 p.m.

A LOOK AT THE ZIPS: The Eagles are 15-22 against the Zips all-time and won the two teams' last meeting on April 22, 2011 when the Green and White downed the Zips, 6-4.

This season, Akron will arrive at Varsity Field this Friday owning a 19-26-1 record. The Zips are 3-11 in Mid-American Conference games and will be coming fresh off of a pair of wins against MAC West Division opponent Northern Illinois where Akron topped the Huskies by scores of 8-6 and 12-6 at Lee R. Jackson Field.

Akron is currently hitting .307 on the season, which as of April 22, is the 33rd best average in the NCAA. Alissa Birkhimer's .379 batting average leads the Zips' offense this season.

Akron's pitching staff has thrown a combined 303.0 innings with a collaborative ERA of 4.43 and an opponent batting average of .287. Brittany Maureer has seen the most action in 2012 with 209.2 innings tossed in 42 appearances. She has a 3.99 ERA and has struck out 115 on the season.

SCOUTING THE BOBCATS: EMU will face the Ohio Bobcats for the 77th time in program history, with the Eagles leading the all-time series, 48-28. The two teams previously met on April 23, 2011, when the Bobcats took a 3-1 win at home after heavy rain and lightning in the Athens, Ohio area washed away the Eagles' four-run sixth inning to revert the game's score to the end of the fifth.

The Bobcats will enter its weekend games with a 21-24 record and are fourth in the MAC East Division with an 8-6 mark in conference games. As a team, they are hitting .285 on the year with seven members hitting over .300 this season. Jillian Van Wagnen leads all OU hitters with a .380 average in 45 starts.

KNOCK CANCER OUT OF THE PARK: The Eagles' April 28 contest with Ohio University will also serve as EMU's fourth annual Knock Cancer Out of the Park event. The Green and White have continuously fundraised money for the American Cancer Society since its inception during the 2009 season, raising close to $12,000 for cancer research. The event will host a variety of activities including a silent auction and home run derby. Admission is free to the public.

LAST TIME OUT: The Green and White head into this weekend after suffering four straight losses at the hands of MAC opponents Ball State and Miami, as EMU was swept in both two-game series to falter to 5-11 in conference play.

The Eagles' bats provided plenty of offense against the Cardinals, scoring a combined 12 runs in two games, but Ball State used seven homeruns in the doubleheader to outscore the Green and White in both contests.

Against Miami, the Eagles offense went dormant and was shut out in both games, 8-0 in six innings and 10-0 in five innings of play.

SPEED KILLS: Senior Jessica Richards is making strides in the lastest NCAA Division I statistics release. As of April 22, 2012, Richards is currently sixth in the country for stolen bases. Richards is averaging .74 stolen bases per game (35-of-39 in 47 contests). Richards' 35-of-39 mark in stolen base attempts brings her career total to 79--the second most all-time by any EMU softball player. Richards speed on the base paths has kept her atop the MAC in both overall games (35-of-39) and conference contests (15-of-16). She has also had multiple swipes in nine separate games this season. Against Central Florida (Feb. 26), Drake (March 9), Buffalo (March 30) and Northern Illinois (April 6) the Canton, Ohio native took three bases in each contest to tie a career best. Three stolen bases in a single contest also ties the second most in a single game by an EMU softball player in program history and is one short of the program record set by Dawn Godfrey against Miami on April 6, 1996. Richards efforts have also contributed to the Eagles' 1.45 stolen bases per game average (67-of-81 in 43 games), which currently ranks 39th in the NCAA.

DOUBLE VISION: With her double in the seventh inning against Ball State on April 20, 2012, senior McKenna Russ increased her career doubles total to 43, which ties her with the all-time career record set by former Eagle Melissa Drouillard (93'-96') as she hit 43 in her career at EMU. Russ has averaged 10.75 doubles per season for the Green and White, highlighted by her 16 doubles in her freshman campaign which ties Ann Marie Moss (1994) for the second most in a single season.

Eastern Michigan Athletics

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