Eastern Michigan Athletics
Tuesday, April 16
Varsity Field
3 p.m.
Eastern Michigan University
vs
Youngstown State
Photo by: Steve King/KingStudios
EMU Looks to Get Back On-Track at Varsity Field
4/15/2013 2:12:00 PM | Softball
Eastern is set to play six games at Varsity Field this week
| Game Notes | Live Stats vs. All Opponents | Live Audio vs. Youngstown State |
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University softball team (10-25-1; 1-9 MAC), currently on a 13-game losing streak, is looking to turn things around when it returns to Varsity Field for a stretch of 10-straight games at home. The Eagles will play six games at home this week, April 15-21, including four Mid-American Conference tilts.
First, the Eagles will welcome Horizon League foe Youngstown State University to Varsity Field Tuesday, April 16, for a double dip beginning at 3 p.m. The Penguins will serve as EMU's only non-conference opponent this week before four MAC games in-a-row.
The University of Toledo comes calling Friday, April 19, for a doubleheader at Varsity Field. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.
Finally, the Eagles will close out the week with a pair of games against Bowling Green State University. Game one of the two-game set will start at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 20, before the Falcons and Eagles close out the series Sunday, April 21, at 1 p.m.
ALL-TIME AGAINST THE COMPETITION: EMU holds a 3-1 all-time lead in its series with Youngstown State. The last time the Eagles and Penguins squared off was in 1988 when EMU got the best of YSU, 5-1, May 4.
Friday will serve as the 98th and 99th meetings between the Rockets and Eastern. EMU holds an all-time record of 53-44 with Toledo, including splitting a pair of games in Toledo last season. Eastern dropped the first of the two-game series, 8-7, in an extra inning affair, April 14, 2012, before knocking off the Rockets, 6-5, the next day.
Saturday will be the 86th game between Bowling Green and Eastern Michigan. BGSU leads the all-time series at a 49-36 record. Last season, the Eagles were swept in a doubleheader at Bowling Green, 6-1 and 7-1, April 13, 2012. The Green and White had won the previous four meetings between these two teams.
SKIDDING ALONG THE WAY: Eastern is currently on a 13 game losing streak, including losing its last nine straight games in Mid-American Conference contests. As a team, the Eagles are hitting just .244 in the last 13 contests, while its opponents are hitting at a .325 clip. EMU pitching has struggled as well, going 0-13 with an ERA of 5.62, while the Eagles' opponents are posting a 2.31 earned run average in the last 13 games. Eastern has only been able to get on-base in 33.9 percent of its at-bats.
THERE ARE SOME BRIGHT SPOTS: Despite struggling on a 13-game losing streak, the Eagles have multiple student-athletes that have stepped up their game on the diamond. Amanda Stanton is leading the way hitting .350 after starting all 13 of those games. The junior is 14-for-40 with six doubles, a triple and six RBI, while Nellie Coquillard has posted a .314 batting average while slugging at a .600 clip in those 13 losses. Coquillard has gone 11-for-35 with a trio of homers and a double. Amanda Herron has continued to swing a hot stick after batting .341 in the last 13 games with seven RBI, a homer and four doubles.
TOP DOGS IN THE MAC: There are multiple Eagles making their presence known individually in the conference. Nellie Coquillard is tied for fifth in the conference with a career-best seven home runs, while also sitting at 12th in the conference with a slugging percentage of .549. Amanda Herron is currently hitting .346, good for 10th in the conference, while also tying for 10th in doubles with eight on the season. Courtney Nicholson and Jenn Lucas are tied for fourth in the conference with sacrifice bunts. Each has laid down seven this season.
DUFFY HITS HER FIRST DINGER: Freshman catcher, Aoife Duffy, launched the first home run of her young career Sunday, April 14, at Northern Illinois University. The Powell, Ohio native poked a three-run shot over the left field fence at Mary M. Bell Field to put the Eagles up, 7-1, in the third inning in the finale of the two-game set at NIU.
FOURTH INNING IS THE KEY: The Eagles tend to lose games when they cannot grab a lead by the fourth inning. The Green and White is 9-5 in games when they lead after the fourth inning. Eastern is 1-19 when trailing after the fourth and 0-1-1 when tied at that point.
SHE DOES IT IN TWOS: Freshman catcher Aoife Duffy has only seen action in 13 games this season and has four hits this year. Those four hits have come in two separate games where she had a pair of base knocks in each of those games, including a home run and a single in the 8-7 loss at Northern Illinois, April 14.
STARTING TO STREAK: Senior shortstop Katy Blaharski has hit safely in four consecutive games dating back to the Eagles' first game with Western Michigan, April 12. In those four games, Blaharski is 7-for-15, good for a .467 batting average.
A LOOK AT THE SITUATIONAL STATS: As a team, the Eagles are struggling at the plate and are really hurting when they face a left-handed hurler. EMU is hitting just .219 when a southpaw is tossing, while hitting .258 against right-handers. However, the Eagles have been stellar when hitting with a runner at third and less than two outs this season. Eastern is hitting .466 in that situation, including Courtney Loe coming through 4-of-5 times. Amanda Stanton is 8-of-15, a .533 average.
The EMU pitchers have struggled this season. Left-handed hitters are hitting .350 against EMU pitching, while righties are knocking the Eagles around at a .308 clip. With runners on base, Eagles' pitchers are being touched at a .347 average, while leadoff batters are getting on 42.1 percent of the time. With two outs, the Eagles are allowing a .326 batting average. None of the EMU pitchers are averaging more than 4.07 innings per appearance.
TWO DAYS, TWO BOMBS: Eastern Michigan senior infielder Nellie Coquillard launched a pair of long balls against the University at Buffalo Saturday and Sunday, April 6-7. Coquillard extended her home run total to six on the season. Coquillard's season high for home runs is seven (2012). In her career, the third baseman has lifted 23 balls over the outfield fence since donning the Green and White.
THOSE ARE SOME TOUGH LUCK LOSSES: Junior pitcher Lauren Wells has yet to pick up her first win of the 2013 campaign and went 0-6 before the Eagles started their 13-game skid. Despite posting a .281 batting average against, the best of any EMU pitcher over the last seven games, Wells has gone 0-9 in 11 appearances.
NEED DEFENSE TO WIN THE GAME: The Eagles dropped a pair at home to Buffalo Saturday and Sunday, April 6-7. In the opener, the Eagles committed four errors which in turn lead to seven unearned runs. Without the errors, EMU would have surrendered just one run in the 8-4 loss. Lauren Wells was stuck with her ninth loss of the season after she surrendered four unearned runs in two innings of work.
CLIMBING THE CAREER RANKS: Several players on the EMU squad are making their marks in the program's career records list. Nellie Coquillard is tied for third in career home runs with 24 round-trippers. Coquillard is also fifth in EMU laurels for runs batted in, knocking in 104 in her career. In the circle, Jenna Ignowski is climbing the ranks in career wins, as she has posted 36 already, which ranks fourth all-time. Ignowski also holds the third most strikeouts in EMU history with 320, while tossing 402 innings, good for eighth most in Eastern laurels. Also finding her form in her third season is pitcher Lauren Wells. She has the ninth most punchouts in a career with 248. Katy Blaharski has legged out 38 career stolen bases which is tied for eighth all-time at Eastern.
First, the Eagles will welcome Horizon League foe Youngstown State University to Varsity Field Tuesday, April 16, for a double dip beginning at 3 p.m. The Penguins will serve as EMU's only non-conference opponent this week before four MAC games in-a-row.
The University of Toledo comes calling Friday, April 19, for a doubleheader at Varsity Field. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.
Finally, the Eagles will close out the week with a pair of games against Bowling Green State University. Game one of the two-game set will start at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 20, before the Falcons and Eagles close out the series Sunday, April 21, at 1 p.m.
ALL-TIME AGAINST THE COMPETITION: EMU holds a 3-1 all-time lead in its series with Youngstown State. The last time the Eagles and Penguins squared off was in 1988 when EMU got the best of YSU, 5-1, May 4.
Friday will serve as the 98th and 99th meetings between the Rockets and Eastern. EMU holds an all-time record of 53-44 with Toledo, including splitting a pair of games in Toledo last season. Eastern dropped the first of the two-game series, 8-7, in an extra inning affair, April 14, 2012, before knocking off the Rockets, 6-5, the next day.
Saturday will be the 86th game between Bowling Green and Eastern Michigan. BGSU leads the all-time series at a 49-36 record. Last season, the Eagles were swept in a doubleheader at Bowling Green, 6-1 and 7-1, April 13, 2012. The Green and White had won the previous four meetings between these two teams.
SKIDDING ALONG THE WAY: Eastern is currently on a 13 game losing streak, including losing its last nine straight games in Mid-American Conference contests. As a team, the Eagles are hitting just .244 in the last 13 contests, while its opponents are hitting at a .325 clip. EMU pitching has struggled as well, going 0-13 with an ERA of 5.62, while the Eagles' opponents are posting a 2.31 earned run average in the last 13 games. Eastern has only been able to get on-base in 33.9 percent of its at-bats.
THERE ARE SOME BRIGHT SPOTS: Despite struggling on a 13-game losing streak, the Eagles have multiple student-athletes that have stepped up their game on the diamond. Amanda Stanton is leading the way hitting .350 after starting all 13 of those games. The junior is 14-for-40 with six doubles, a triple and six RBI, while Nellie Coquillard has posted a .314 batting average while slugging at a .600 clip in those 13 losses. Coquillard has gone 11-for-35 with a trio of homers and a double. Amanda Herron has continued to swing a hot stick after batting .341 in the last 13 games with seven RBI, a homer and four doubles.
TOP DOGS IN THE MAC: There are multiple Eagles making their presence known individually in the conference. Nellie Coquillard is tied for fifth in the conference with a career-best seven home runs, while also sitting at 12th in the conference with a slugging percentage of .549. Amanda Herron is currently hitting .346, good for 10th in the conference, while also tying for 10th in doubles with eight on the season. Courtney Nicholson and Jenn Lucas are tied for fourth in the conference with sacrifice bunts. Each has laid down seven this season.
DUFFY HITS HER FIRST DINGER: Freshman catcher, Aoife Duffy, launched the first home run of her young career Sunday, April 14, at Northern Illinois University. The Powell, Ohio native poked a three-run shot over the left field fence at Mary M. Bell Field to put the Eagles up, 7-1, in the third inning in the finale of the two-game set at NIU.
FOURTH INNING IS THE KEY: The Eagles tend to lose games when they cannot grab a lead by the fourth inning. The Green and White is 9-5 in games when they lead after the fourth inning. Eastern is 1-19 when trailing after the fourth and 0-1-1 when tied at that point.
SHE DOES IT IN TWOS: Freshman catcher Aoife Duffy has only seen action in 13 games this season and has four hits this year. Those four hits have come in two separate games where she had a pair of base knocks in each of those games, including a home run and a single in the 8-7 loss at Northern Illinois, April 14.
STARTING TO STREAK: Senior shortstop Katy Blaharski has hit safely in four consecutive games dating back to the Eagles' first game with Western Michigan, April 12. In those four games, Blaharski is 7-for-15, good for a .467 batting average.
A LOOK AT THE SITUATIONAL STATS: As a team, the Eagles are struggling at the plate and are really hurting when they face a left-handed hurler. EMU is hitting just .219 when a southpaw is tossing, while hitting .258 against right-handers. However, the Eagles have been stellar when hitting with a runner at third and less than two outs this season. Eastern is hitting .466 in that situation, including Courtney Loe coming through 4-of-5 times. Amanda Stanton is 8-of-15, a .533 average.
The EMU pitchers have struggled this season. Left-handed hitters are hitting .350 against EMU pitching, while righties are knocking the Eagles around at a .308 clip. With runners on base, Eagles' pitchers are being touched at a .347 average, while leadoff batters are getting on 42.1 percent of the time. With two outs, the Eagles are allowing a .326 batting average. None of the EMU pitchers are averaging more than 4.07 innings per appearance.
TWO DAYS, TWO BOMBS: Eastern Michigan senior infielder Nellie Coquillard launched a pair of long balls against the University at Buffalo Saturday and Sunday, April 6-7. Coquillard extended her home run total to six on the season. Coquillard's season high for home runs is seven (2012). In her career, the third baseman has lifted 23 balls over the outfield fence since donning the Green and White.
THOSE ARE SOME TOUGH LUCK LOSSES: Junior pitcher Lauren Wells has yet to pick up her first win of the 2013 campaign and went 0-6 before the Eagles started their 13-game skid. Despite posting a .281 batting average against, the best of any EMU pitcher over the last seven games, Wells has gone 0-9 in 11 appearances.
NEED DEFENSE TO WIN THE GAME: The Eagles dropped a pair at home to Buffalo Saturday and Sunday, April 6-7. In the opener, the Eagles committed four errors which in turn lead to seven unearned runs. Without the errors, EMU would have surrendered just one run in the 8-4 loss. Lauren Wells was stuck with her ninth loss of the season after she surrendered four unearned runs in two innings of work.
CLIMBING THE CAREER RANKS: Several players on the EMU squad are making their marks in the program's career records list. Nellie Coquillard is tied for third in career home runs with 24 round-trippers. Coquillard is also fifth in EMU laurels for runs batted in, knocking in 104 in her career. In the circle, Jenna Ignowski is climbing the ranks in career wins, as she has posted 36 already, which ranks fourth all-time. Ignowski also holds the third most strikeouts in EMU history with 320, while tossing 402 innings, good for eighth most in Eastern laurels. Also finding her form in her third season is pitcher Lauren Wells. She has the ninth most punchouts in a career with 248. Katy Blaharski has legged out 38 career stolen bases which is tied for eighth all-time at Eastern.
Thank You, Team 38
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