Eagles Host Three Teams This Week at Varsity Field

Get To Know Senior Courtney Nicholson

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) - After starting the conference slate 1-1, the Eastern Michigan University softball team will continue both the non-conference and Mid-American Conference schedule this week by playing host to three separate teams at Varsity Field Wednesday-Saturday, April 3-7.
First, the Eagles will welcome Valparaiso University to Varsity Field Wednesday, April 3. The matchup with the Crusaders will be a doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m. which is an hour earlier than previously scheduled due to the threat of darkness.
Next, Eastern will continue the grueling MAC schedule Friday, April 5, with a twinbill against Kent State University, beginning at 1 p.m. at Varsity Field.
Following the double-dip with Kent State, EMU will host the University at Buffalo Saturday, April 6, and Sunday, April 7, for a pair of single games. Saturday's contest is slated to begin at 2 p.m., while first pitch on Sunday is set for 1p.m.

ALL-TIME AGAINST THE COMPETITION: EMU holds a 1-0 all-time record against Valparaiso. The Eagles and Crusaders have only met once on the softball diamond. The Eagles topped Valpo, 3-1, in an April 11th matchup back in 1987.
     Kent State and Eastern have squared off a few more times than EMU and Valpo. The Eagles are 30-44 all-time against the Golden Flashes. Last season in a pair of games against the Flashes, EMU and Kent split. The Eagles dropped the first game, 6-1, March 31, 2012, with Jenna Ignowski being charged with the loss, while Lindsay Rich picked up the win in a 7-4 victory April 1, 2012 in Kent, Ohio.
    Saturday will serve as the 16th all-time meeting between Buffalo and EMU. The Eagles hold a commanding 11-4 edge in the series history, including a pair of victories last season. Rich picked up a win in the 13-4 decision at Buffalo, March 30, 2012, while Ignowski earned a win in the second game of a twinbill at Nan Harvey Field in Buffalo, N.Y.

A LOOK AT THE CRUSADERS: Valparaiso is 15-12 on the season, while going 2-1 in Horizon League play. Pitching has been the key to this point in the season for the Crusaders. As a team they hold a 3.20 earned run average. Taylor Weissenhofer has led the way for Valpo, tossing 74.2 innings and going 7-6 in 20 appearances.     Weissenhoffer has a 2.81 ERA on the season and is holding batters to a .183 clip, while Sierra Pico has also done exceptionally well for the Crusaders, posting an ERA of 2.86 in 51.1 innings of work.
    Offensively, Brittany Duncan is leading the Crusaders with a .390 batting average, while knocking in 17 runs. She has a team-high four homers and is slugging .623.
Information Current as of March 25, 2013

A LOOK AT THE FLASHES: Kent State has started the season 12-12 overall and 3-1 in MAC play. Emma Johnson is making things happen for the Golden Flashes, appearing in 18-of-24 games for KSU. Johnson is 9-6 with an ERA of 1.91 in 95.1 innings of work with 99 strikeouts. As a team, Kent State has a team ERA of 3.24 with 157 punchouts in 162 innings this season.
     Offensively, the Golden Flashes are struggling with a team batting average of .235. Opposing pitchers have an ERA of 2.02 against the Flashes.

A LOOK AT THE BULLS: Buffalo has struggled early on in the 2013 campaign, going 6-20 overall and 1-3 in MAC games. As a team, UB has struggled on both sides of the ball, posting a lowly .219 batting average, while also posting a team ERA of 6.33.
Individually, Alexis Curtiss is leading the Bulls hitting at a .338 clip, while the next closest batting average is Sammi Gallardo at .256.

STANTON STARTS IT UP AT HOME: Eastern Michigan junior infielder Amanda Stanton turned up her offensive production when the Eagles hit the diamond at Varsity Field. In four home games last week, Stanton hit at a blistering .385 clip, including a pair of doubles and four RBI. Prior to starting the home schedule, Stanton was hitting .245 in the first 20 games of the season. She raised her batting average to .273 after the Eagles went 2-1-1 at home last week.

WELLS' STRONG SHOWING: Junior pitcher Lauren Wells appeared in a pair of games at home last week and allowed just one earned run in 6.1 innings of work, while striking out seven. Despite going 0-1 in a pair of appearances, Wells posted a 1.11 earned run average at home last week.

IN THE MAC RANKINGS: There are a few Eagles making a splash individually within the ranks of the Mid-American Conference. Senior outfielder Courtney Nicholson is tied for second in the conference in triples with two, while fellow senior Nellie Coquillard is tied for ninth in long balls with four round trippers. Sophomore Jenn Lucas has laid down five sacrifice bunts which is tied for sixth in the conference. Jenna Ignowski is tied for third in the conference for striking out batters looking with 19, while her six wins is tied for eighth in the MAC.

THE LOWLY LEADOFF: Eastern Michigan pitching has struggled to get the leadoff hitter out to start innings this season. Leadoff batters have reached base on 61-of-151 attempts this season. That is good for 40.4 percent of their attempts. The Eagles have only reached base safely 32.7 percent of the time in 150 leadoff attempts this season.

CLIMBING THE CAREER RANKS: Several players on the EMU squad are making their marks in the program's career records list. Nellie Coquillard sits at fourth in career home runs with 21 round-trippers. Coquillard is also fifth in EMU laurels for runs batted in, knocking in 98 in her career. In the circle, Jenna Ignowski is slowly climbing the ranks in career wins, as she has posted 36 already, which ranks fourth all-time. Ignowski also holds the sixth most strikeouts in EMU history with 307, while tossing 383.1 innings, good for eighth most in Eastern laurels. Also finding her form in a pair of seasons is pitcher Lauren Wells. She has the ninth most punchouts in a career with 222. Katy Blaharski has legged out 37 career stolen bases which is good for ninth all-time at Eastern.

TEARING THE COVER OFF: The Eagles' Amanda Herron has started her sophomore campaign on the right foot, hitting .333 to lead the Green and White through the first 24 games of the season. Herron has hit four doubles and driven in 11 runs this season, while reaching base at a .421 clip and slugging .394. With runners on base, Herron has gone 15-for-33, a .455 batting average. In her attempts to advance runners, the Columbus, Ohio native has been successful in 22-of-35 attempts (62.9 percent).

Eastern Michigan Athletics

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