Eastern Michigan Athletics
Friday, March 1
Boca Raton, Fla.
1 p.m.
Eastern Michigan University
vs
Jacksonville
Photo by: Steve King/KingStudios
Eagles Head to Florida for 11 Game Road Trip
2/26/2013 4:14:00 PM | Softball
EMU heads to the Sunshine State for FAU Classic
Complete Release
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University softball team started its 2013 campaign with a 2-3 mark, Feb. 8-10, when it competed in the Georgia Tech/Kennesaw State Invitational. After taking their opening game, 6-1, against Butler, Feb. 8, the Eagles were run-ruled by host Georgia Tech in their nightcap, 12-0.
Eastern's fortunes did not turn as it was ousted by Kennesaw State, 7-0, Feb. 9. The Green and White found redemption in the second game by blanking Butler, 8-0.
In their finale of the GT/KSU Invitational, the Eagles came back in the seventh to tie the game with Kennesaw State, 5-5. However, the Owls were able to score in the bottom half to knock off EMU.
EAGLES HEAD TO FLORIDA FOR 11 GAMES: After almost three weeks, the Eagles will travel south to the Sunshine State for 11 games in nine days. The Green and White will be competing in the Florida Atlantic University Classic in Boca Raton, Fla. EMU will play all but two games in Boca Raton, where it will take on Jacksonville, FAU, Ball State, Harvard, Michigan State, Stony Brook, Kansas and Florida A&M.
EMU will square off with FAU in a game, March 4, at 6 p.m. which will not be a part of the FAU Classic.
On Wednesday, March 6, Eastern will take on Florida International as part of a doubleheader beginning at 5 p.m in Miami.
A GLANCE AT THE COMPETITION: EMU holds a 1-2 record against Jacksonville, with all three matchups coming last season. After dropping the Dolphins, 6-2, Feb. 25, 2012, at a tournament at the University of Central Florida, the Eagles were blanked in two-straight games, 8-0 and 2-0, respectively.
Eastern holds a 3-5 mark againt Florida Atlantic, as the teams will square off for the ninth and 10th times during this trip. The last time the Owls and Eagles met, Eastern topped FAU, 3-2, March 5, 2010, but also dropped a 9-5 decision earlier that season, March 3.
EMU will see Ball State for the first of three games this season. The March 2 matchup will be the 91st all-time meeting as Eastern is 35-55 overall against the Cardinals.
Eastern's matchup with Harvard will be just the second time the Eagles and Crimson have met on the diamond. In their first meeting, the Eagles topped Harvard, 5-1, March 2, 2009.
SENIORS STREAK TO START: Senior leaders Katy Blaharski and Courtney Nicholson have started the season out hot. Blaharski and Nicholson are each hitting at a .429 clip after the first four games, going 6-for-14. Nicholson has driven in three with a triple, while Blaharski has scored 26.3 percent of EMU runs this season with five. Blaharski also has one extra base hit, a double.
EAGLES WELCOME NEW ADDITIONS: The Eagles welcome six newcomers in Myranda Barnes, Cassidy Jenkins, Abby Davidson, Mady Hostetler, Elaine Whitbeck, and Aoife Duffy to the 2013 squad and will be looking to make major contributions this season. Barnes, an Ypsilanti, Mich. native was a four-year letterwinner for Belleville High School where she was a three-time Western Wayne Athletic Conference All-Conference selection.
Jenkins was a four-year varsity letterwinnter at Saint Francis DeSales where she was named All-Conference and second team All-District in her senior season.
Davidson hails from Westerville, Ohio where she was a four-year varsity letterwinner at Olentangy Orange. The Olengtangy Orange MVP looks to help the Eagles in the infield this season.
A native of New Haven, Ind., Hostetler played four seasons at Woodlan High School. She was a four-year varsity letterwinner at Woodlan and four-time All-Conference first team selection. Hostetler earned second team All-State honors in her senior year after hitting .510 with a .558 on-base percentage and .740 slugging percentage.
Whitbeck comes to Ypsilanti from Holland, Mich. where she was a four-year varsity letterwinner for West Ottawa High School. She was a three-time first team All-Area award winner and two-time All-Conference award winner, while setting West Ottawa records for most stolen bases and singles in a season. Whitbeck was a three-year varsity captain of the Panthers.
Coming from Powell, Ohio, Duffy was a three-year varsity letterwinner at Olentangy Liberty High School. She earned the honor of Ohio Capitol Conference's Most Valuable Player, while leading the Patriots to a conference championship.
SENIOR LEADERSHIP: Katy Blaharski, Nellie Coquillard, Jenna Ignowski, Courtney Loe and Courtney Nicholson will compete for the Eagles one last season in 2013. The Michigan-dominated senior class consists of two former NFCA All-America Scholar Athlete Recipients reciepients in Blaharski and Ignowski. Blaharski and Ignowski are also former Academic All-MAC award winners. Coquillard led EMU in homers (7) last season, while Ignowski pitched 125 innings and 93 strikeouts, both of which were team highs.
CONFERENCE TOUR: The Eagles will see a slew of representatives from several different conferences this season, taking on opponents from 12 different leagues in 2013. EMU will square off against teams from the American East (Stony Brook), Atlantic 10 (Butler), Atlantic Coast (Georgia Tech and North Carolina), Atlantic Sun (Kennesaw State and Jacksonville), Big East (Louisville and Notre Dame), Big Ten (Michigan, Michigan State and Wisconsin), Big 12 (Kansas), Horizon (Valparaiso and Youngstown State), Ivy (Harvard), Mid-Eastern (Florida A&M), Summit (IPFW and Oakland) and the Sun Belt (Florida Atlantic and Florida International) conferences. In addition to those opponents, the Eagles will take on each of the other 11 Mid-American Conference schools prior to the end of 2013.
CLIMBING THE RANKS: Several players on the EMU squad are making their marks in the program's career records list. Nellie Coquillard sits at sixth in career home runs with 18 round-trippers. In the circle, Jenna Ignowski is slowly climbing the ranks in career wins, as she has posted 31 already, which ties her for fourth all-time. Ignowski also holds the seventh most strikeouts in EMU history with 277, while tossing 329 innings, good for 11th most in Eastern laurels. Also finding her form in a pair of seasons is pitcher Lauren Wells pitching for the Eagles. She has the 10th most punchouts in a career with 198. Defensively, Katy Blaharski was perfect last season, posting a 1.000 fielding percentage.
BAIRD'S BEEN HERE THE LONGEST: In its 33-years of existence the EMU softball team has seen six different head coaches come and go through Ypsilanti. Current Head Coach Karen Baird completed her 10th season at the helm of the softball program in 2012. Completing that season made her the longest-tenured softball coach in EMU history. Current Oakland Head Coach Connie Miner (1988-96) has completed nine seasons as the head woman in Ypsilanti.
EAGLES BOAST NINTH-BEST GPA IN DIVISION I: For the ninth straight year, the Eastern Michigan University softball team has been ranked among the top-20 in all Division I schools in team GPA, the National Fastpitch Coaches Association announced in its 2012 Top 10 All-Academic Teams.
The Eagles earned the ninth-best team grade point average of 3.552 last year. The Eagles have been making the grade since the 2004 season when they recorded a 3.552 GPA, good for the top mark in the country.
In this years poll, Robert Morris University had the highest GPA among Division I schools with a 3.609 GPA followed by University of Northern Colorado (3.603), Kent State University (3.596), Southern Illinois University (3.582) while Central Michigan University (3.572) and Tennessee Technological University (3.572) tied to round out the top-five.
The NFCA Academic Awards program honors both collegiate and high school teams for their submitted GPAs for the 2011-2012 academic year. As a second component of the program, all submitted student-athletes who achieved a 3.50 GPA during last academic year are named as a NFCA All-America Scholar Athlete.
USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll - Feb. 19, 2013
Rank School (1st Place Votes) Record Points Previous
1 Alabama (20) 16-0 764 1
2 Oklahoma (11) 15-0 755 2
3 Arizona State 16-0 712 3
4 Florida 16-1 661 5
5 Texas 16-1 611 6
6 Missouri 9-1 587 7
7 Tennessee 13-2 582 4
8 California 11-2 559 8
9 Texas A&M 17-0 549 10
10 Oregon 13-3 514 9
11 LSU 14-2 470 11
12 UCLA 13-1 439 16
13 Louisiana-Lafayette 12-2 416 12
14 Michigan 10-3 369 15
15 Louisville 12-2 313 18
16 Stanford 14-3 298 20
17 Arizona 10-5 238 14
18 Washington 10-5 215 22
19 Kentucky 11-3 210 21
20 Hawaii 8-4 200 19
21 Tulsa 11-4 166 24
22 Baylor 15-2 139 25
23 Georgia 7-6 134 13
24 Oregon State 13-3 76 NR
25 Florida State 9-6 43 23
Others Receiving Votes: South Alabama (19), Virginia Tech (13), South Florida (9), North Carolina (7), Ohio State (3), Illinois State (3), James Madison (1).
Bold members are 2013 EMU opponents
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University softball team started its 2013 campaign with a 2-3 mark, Feb. 8-10, when it competed in the Georgia Tech/Kennesaw State Invitational. After taking their opening game, 6-1, against Butler, Feb. 8, the Eagles were run-ruled by host Georgia Tech in their nightcap, 12-0.
Eastern's fortunes did not turn as it was ousted by Kennesaw State, 7-0, Feb. 9. The Green and White found redemption in the second game by blanking Butler, 8-0.
In their finale of the GT/KSU Invitational, the Eagles came back in the seventh to tie the game with Kennesaw State, 5-5. However, the Owls were able to score in the bottom half to knock off EMU.
EAGLES HEAD TO FLORIDA FOR 11 GAMES: After almost three weeks, the Eagles will travel south to the Sunshine State for 11 games in nine days. The Green and White will be competing in the Florida Atlantic University Classic in Boca Raton, Fla. EMU will play all but two games in Boca Raton, where it will take on Jacksonville, FAU, Ball State, Harvard, Michigan State, Stony Brook, Kansas and Florida A&M.
EMU will square off with FAU in a game, March 4, at 6 p.m. which will not be a part of the FAU Classic.
On Wednesday, March 6, Eastern will take on Florida International as part of a doubleheader beginning at 5 p.m in Miami.
A GLANCE AT THE COMPETITION: EMU holds a 1-2 record against Jacksonville, with all three matchups coming last season. After dropping the Dolphins, 6-2, Feb. 25, 2012, at a tournament at the University of Central Florida, the Eagles were blanked in two-straight games, 8-0 and 2-0, respectively.
Eastern holds a 3-5 mark againt Florida Atlantic, as the teams will square off for the ninth and 10th times during this trip. The last time the Owls and Eagles met, Eastern topped FAU, 3-2, March 5, 2010, but also dropped a 9-5 decision earlier that season, March 3.
EMU will see Ball State for the first of three games this season. The March 2 matchup will be the 91st all-time meeting as Eastern is 35-55 overall against the Cardinals.
Eastern's matchup with Harvard will be just the second time the Eagles and Crimson have met on the diamond. In their first meeting, the Eagles topped Harvard, 5-1, March 2, 2009.
SENIORS STREAK TO START: Senior leaders Katy Blaharski and Courtney Nicholson have started the season out hot. Blaharski and Nicholson are each hitting at a .429 clip after the first four games, going 6-for-14. Nicholson has driven in three with a triple, while Blaharski has scored 26.3 percent of EMU runs this season with five. Blaharski also has one extra base hit, a double.
EAGLES WELCOME NEW ADDITIONS: The Eagles welcome six newcomers in Myranda Barnes, Cassidy Jenkins, Abby Davidson, Mady Hostetler, Elaine Whitbeck, and Aoife Duffy to the 2013 squad and will be looking to make major contributions this season. Barnes, an Ypsilanti, Mich. native was a four-year letterwinner for Belleville High School where she was a three-time Western Wayne Athletic Conference All-Conference selection.
Jenkins was a four-year varsity letterwinnter at Saint Francis DeSales where she was named All-Conference and second team All-District in her senior season.
Davidson hails from Westerville, Ohio where she was a four-year varsity letterwinner at Olentangy Orange. The Olengtangy Orange MVP looks to help the Eagles in the infield this season.
A native of New Haven, Ind., Hostetler played four seasons at Woodlan High School. She was a four-year varsity letterwinner at Woodlan and four-time All-Conference first team selection. Hostetler earned second team All-State honors in her senior year after hitting .510 with a .558 on-base percentage and .740 slugging percentage.
Whitbeck comes to Ypsilanti from Holland, Mich. where she was a four-year varsity letterwinner for West Ottawa High School. She was a three-time first team All-Area award winner and two-time All-Conference award winner, while setting West Ottawa records for most stolen bases and singles in a season. Whitbeck was a three-year varsity captain of the Panthers.
Coming from Powell, Ohio, Duffy was a three-year varsity letterwinner at Olentangy Liberty High School. She earned the honor of Ohio Capitol Conference's Most Valuable Player, while leading the Patriots to a conference championship.
SENIOR LEADERSHIP: Katy Blaharski, Nellie Coquillard, Jenna Ignowski, Courtney Loe and Courtney Nicholson will compete for the Eagles one last season in 2013. The Michigan-dominated senior class consists of two former NFCA All-America Scholar Athlete Recipients reciepients in Blaharski and Ignowski. Blaharski and Ignowski are also former Academic All-MAC award winners. Coquillard led EMU in homers (7) last season, while Ignowski pitched 125 innings and 93 strikeouts, both of which were team highs.
CONFERENCE TOUR: The Eagles will see a slew of representatives from several different conferences this season, taking on opponents from 12 different leagues in 2013. EMU will square off against teams from the American East (Stony Brook), Atlantic 10 (Butler), Atlantic Coast (Georgia Tech and North Carolina), Atlantic Sun (Kennesaw State and Jacksonville), Big East (Louisville and Notre Dame), Big Ten (Michigan, Michigan State and Wisconsin), Big 12 (Kansas), Horizon (Valparaiso and Youngstown State), Ivy (Harvard), Mid-Eastern (Florida A&M), Summit (IPFW and Oakland) and the Sun Belt (Florida Atlantic and Florida International) conferences. In addition to those opponents, the Eagles will take on each of the other 11 Mid-American Conference schools prior to the end of 2013.
CLIMBING THE RANKS: Several players on the EMU squad are making their marks in the program's career records list. Nellie Coquillard sits at sixth in career home runs with 18 round-trippers. In the circle, Jenna Ignowski is slowly climbing the ranks in career wins, as she has posted 31 already, which ties her for fourth all-time. Ignowski also holds the seventh most strikeouts in EMU history with 277, while tossing 329 innings, good for 11th most in Eastern laurels. Also finding her form in a pair of seasons is pitcher Lauren Wells pitching for the Eagles. She has the 10th most punchouts in a career with 198. Defensively, Katy Blaharski was perfect last season, posting a 1.000 fielding percentage.
BAIRD'S BEEN HERE THE LONGEST: In its 33-years of existence the EMU softball team has seen six different head coaches come and go through Ypsilanti. Current Head Coach Karen Baird completed her 10th season at the helm of the softball program in 2012. Completing that season made her the longest-tenured softball coach in EMU history. Current Oakland Head Coach Connie Miner (1988-96) has completed nine seasons as the head woman in Ypsilanti.
EAGLES BOAST NINTH-BEST GPA IN DIVISION I: For the ninth straight year, the Eastern Michigan University softball team has been ranked among the top-20 in all Division I schools in team GPA, the National Fastpitch Coaches Association announced in its 2012 Top 10 All-Academic Teams.
The Eagles earned the ninth-best team grade point average of 3.552 last year. The Eagles have been making the grade since the 2004 season when they recorded a 3.552 GPA, good for the top mark in the country.
In this years poll, Robert Morris University had the highest GPA among Division I schools with a 3.609 GPA followed by University of Northern Colorado (3.603), Kent State University (3.596), Southern Illinois University (3.582) while Central Michigan University (3.572) and Tennessee Technological University (3.572) tied to round out the top-five.
The NFCA Academic Awards program honors both collegiate and high school teams for their submitted GPAs for the 2011-2012 academic year. As a second component of the program, all submitted student-athletes who achieved a 3.50 GPA during last academic year are named as a NFCA All-America Scholar Athlete.
USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll - Feb. 19, 2013
Rank School (1st Place Votes) Record Points Previous
1 Alabama (20) 16-0 764 1
2 Oklahoma (11) 15-0 755 2
3 Arizona State 16-0 712 3
4 Florida 16-1 661 5
5 Texas 16-1 611 6
6 Missouri 9-1 587 7
7 Tennessee 13-2 582 4
8 California 11-2 559 8
9 Texas A&M 17-0 549 10
10 Oregon 13-3 514 9
11 LSU 14-2 470 11
12 UCLA 13-1 439 16
13 Louisiana-Lafayette 12-2 416 12
14 Michigan 10-3 369 15
15 Louisville 12-2 313 18
16 Stanford 14-3 298 20
17 Arizona 10-5 238 14
18 Washington 10-5 215 22
19 Kentucky 11-3 210 21
20 Hawaii 8-4 200 19
21 Tulsa 11-4 166 24
22 Baylor 15-2 139 25
23 Georgia 7-6 134 13
24 Oregon State 13-3 76 NR
25 Florida State 9-6 43 23
Others Receiving Votes: South Alabama (19), Virginia Tech (13), South Florida (9), North Carolina (7), Ohio State (3), Illinois State (3), James Madison (1).
Bold members are 2013 EMU opponents
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