It All Comes Down to This Weekend for the EMU Baseball Team

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IT ALL COMES DOWN TO THIS!: With 50 games already in the books, the Eastern Michigan University baseball team has just four games remaining in the 2013 regular season. EMU plays defending Big Ten Conference Champion Purdue University Tuesday, May 14, at 6 p.m. in its final non-conference affair before returning home to face off against the University of Toledo, May 16-18. The three-game Mid-American Conference set versus the Rockets will feature Thursday and Friday starts at 6 p.m. with Saturday's contest projected to start at 3 p.m.
During the final homestand, Eastern Michigan will honor seniors Joe Battistelli (Allen Park, Mich.-Allen Park), Neil Butara (Euclid, Ohio-St. Ignatius), Taylor Dimmerling (Perrysburg, Ohio-Perrysburg), Brian Hill (Flagstaff, Ariz.-Sinagua-Phoenix College), Kendall Lewis (Huntsville, Ohio-Indian Lake), Daniel Russell (Grandville, Mich.-Grandville), Jamie Simpson (Dowagiac, Mich.-Dowagiac-Western Michigan), Brian Valente (Macomb, Mich.-Eisenhower-Saginaw Valley State) and Austin Williams (Spring Hill, Kan.-Gardner Edgerton-Fort Scott C.C.).

THANK YOU SENIORS: EMU's nine-member senior class has made a significant impact on the Eagles during the time in Ypsilanti, racking up 113 victories and three consecutive Mid-American Conference Tournament appearances.
Short biographical sketches of each of the seniors are included in these notes.

ALEXANDER NEARS 300 CAREER WINS: EMU Head Coach Jay Alexander (299-294) is one win away from recording his 300th victory as the head man of a collegiate baseball program. Alexander is in his fifth season coaching the Eagles and has guided his teams to a record of 138-146 (.486). In six seasons at Wayne State, the 1996 graduate of the Division II school led the Warriors to a 161-148 (.521) ledger. The 41-year-old Alexander (3-30-72) became the first African-American head coach in EMU baseball history in 2009 when he took over for current Michigan State Head Coach Jake Boss, Jr.

EAGLES CONTROL THEIR TOURNAMENT FUTURE: With just one series remaining in conference play, Eastern Michigan has the fate of playing in the MAC Tournament in its own hands. Currently, the Eagles are tied with Toledo for the seventh-best record (11-13) in MAC play. Therefore, this weekend's three-game set against the Rockets can be looked at as a play-in series to get to Avon, Ohio.
EMU would lock up a spot in the MAC Tournament by getting out the brooms and taking all three games against UT. If Eastern won 2-of-3 against Toledo, its chances of heading to the conference tournament would be extremely high. However, a series' loss to the Rockets would put the Green and White in danger of missing the MAC Tournament for the first time since 2005; the Eagles would need help from Kent State (vs. Akron) and Western Michigan (vs. Central Michigan) in order to make the field.

BOILER UP: For the first time in 27 years, Eastern Michigan and Purdue will meet on the diamond Tuesday, May 14, at Alexander Field in West Lafayette, Ind. The two teams last met May 11, 1986, when the Boilermakers took a doubleheader, 4-0 and 8-7, from the then-Hurons at Lambert Field.
Purdue holds an 8-3 edge in the all-time series.

NOT SO B1G: The Eagles are 2-2 this season against teams that hail from the Big Ten Conference with a pair of wins over Michigan and a pair of losses to Michigan State.
Eastern Michigan went 3-2 against Big Ten opponents last year which included a home-and-home sweep over Michigan. EMU also split games with Michigan State. Since Jay Alexander took over head coaching duties, EMU has posted a winning record against the B1G in three out of four seasons.

ROCKET POWER: The all-time series between Eastern Michigan and Toledo has been dominated by the Green and White to the tune of an 87-52 mark. However, the Rockets swept a three-game set over the Eagles last season at Scott Park in Toledo, Ohio, May 17-19, 2012.
Since Head Coach Jay Alexander's arrival in 2009, the Eagles own a 5-10 record against their division foes including a 1-2 ledger in MAC Tournament games.

WHAT GOES AROUND...: In the final series of the 2012 season, the visiting Eagles were swept by Toledo, including a 12-5 series finale loss, May 19, to end the Eagles' regular season unceremoniously during the Rockets' senior day celebration. This year, the Green and White will be playing host to the Rockets for the final series of the regular season and will conversely be celebrating the achievement of its nine seniors on Saturday, May 18.

LIFT OFF IN TOLEDO: The feature game from the 2012 series versus the Midnight Blue and Gold was the 4-3, 12-inning setback during the opening contest of the series. Eastern saw a pair of one-run leads disappear as UT won in walk-off fashion Thursday, May 17, 2012.
The Eagles committed three-straight errors to load the bases for the Rockets, who scored two runs on a single to right field to end the game. Lee Longo gave the Green and White a 2-1 lead in the sixth inning with a bases-loaded single to left field. Neil Butara gave the Eagles an incredible performance on the mound over seven innings in which he gave up just one earned run on three hits. Jordan Glover then came on to throw a solid eighth inning before allowing the tying run to score in the ninth by way of two walks and two hit batsmen.

THUNDERING THIRTY: In the weekend's series in DeKalb, Ill., May 10-12, the Green and White tallied a whopping 30 runs. The most recent time EMU scored 30 or more runs in a series was April 6-8, 2012 against Western Michigan University. The Eagles swept the three-game slate in Kalamazoo scoring a combined 37 runs.

ROUNDING THE BASES: The 17 runs scored on May 11 against Northern Illinois were the most scored in a single outing by the Eagles this season. During the 2012 campaign, EMU plated 19 in a March 16 victory over Niagara University. The 27 runs scored during an April 8, 2009, rout of Bowling Green are the most scored against a Division 1 team in the program's 64 year history.

COMING OUT SWINGING: As of May 5, true freshman Nick Rotola had 12 hits and a batting average of .179. After going 8-for-11 against Northern Illinois, he has doubled his number of knocks since then and now has 24 hits this season. During the recent five-game stretch, including games against Michigan and Michigan State, Rotola has a batting average of .647, an on-base percentage of .667, and a .706 slugging percentage.
Adam Sonabend and Lee Longo also got into a hitting groove during the Eagles' latest road trip. Sonabend went 10-for-18 with a slugging percentage of .889, hitting 3 doubles and his second home run of the season. Longo tallied two round trippers, bringing the junior's season count to seven. John Robino drove in 10 RBI during the Eagles' hitting spree.

HILL FINDING HIS STRIDE: Friday starter Brian Hill has shut down opponents in his last seven outings, collecting quality starts in six of them. Hill's season earned run average has dropped from 5.46 to a rotation-best 3.67 since the streak started. The redshirt senior southpaw has only allowed 12 earned runs in 44.0 innings for a 2.45 ERA during his 5-1 stretch.

SENIORS BID FAREWELL: On Saturday, May 18, the EMU baseball program honors nine seniors who have helped the transform the Eagles in their time on campus. During their tenure at EMU, the team has posted 113 victories..
#5 - Joe Battistelli. Having appeared in 78 career games for the Eagles, Battistelli has posted a career earned run average of 4.85 in 180 innings pitched. His15 career saves rank him second in EMU history. The Allen Park, Mich. native has struck out 124 batters in his career, while only walking 61. Against Northern Illinois, May 7, 2011, Battistelli went the distance for a complete game six-hit shutout, striking out seven in the 1-0 victory over the Huskies. This season, Joe has four saves along with a 2-5 record in 36.1 innings with a 5.70 ERA.
#6 - Taylor Dimmerling. Having played in 69 career games for EMU, Dimmerling has pitched in 64 games in relief along with pinch running in five games while at Eastern. A native of Perrysburg, Ohio, he has improved this season, tallying a 3.81 ERA in 28 innings to go along with a 2-1 record.
#7 - Jamie Simpson. After transferring from Western Michigan University, Simpson has played in 87 career games for the Green and White in the last two seasons of his collegiate career. A career .257 hitter, Simpson has 70 hits to go along with 47 runs and 45 RBI. This season, the Dowagiac, Mich. native has 25 extra base hits, including five triples and five home runs, while also leading the team in stolen bases with12. He played left field before moving to third base halfway through this season. Jamie has recorded a career-high 4 RBI on two separate occasions with both taking place during the 2012 season.
#10 - Brian Valente. Having appeared in 42 career games for Eastern, Valente has started 18 of them, posting a 4.72 ERA in 120.1 innings pitched. A native of Macomb, Mich., Brian has an impressive career strikeout-to-walk ratio, fanning 75 batters compared to only walking 30 while donning the Green and White.
#20 - Austin Williams. Having played in 57 career games for the Eagles, Williams has started in 38 games, batting at a .241 clip. On March 16, 2012, the Spring Hill, Kan. native notched three hits along with four RBI in a 19-10 victory over Niagara. This year, Williams has played third base after splitting time at second base a season ago.
#22 - Neil Butara. Having played in 60 career games for EMU, Butara has made 22 starts on the mound, posting a 10-12 record. A native of Euclid, Ohio, Butara has thrown 199 innings throughout his time at Eastern, holding a 4.70 ERA and striking out 133 hitters while only walking 68. Number 22 has struck out a single-game high 8 batters twice in his career, most recently against Ohio University this season.
#24 - Daniel Russell. Having played in 189 career games for the Green and White, Russell has started 165 of them, tallying 168 career-hits. The Grandville, Mich. native has 17 career triples for second in EMU laurels and just two away from the school record. A career .270 hitter, he has appeared in every game this season, belting two home runs along with seven doubles and seven triples. Those two home runs came in the same game earlier this season a 15-9 shellacking of Northern Kentucky. Russell's 42 runs scored this season has him near the top of the MAC along with teammate Sam Ott.
#25 - Kendall Lewis. Having appeared in 35 games while at Eastern Michigan, Lewis has made 28 starts on the mound, posting a 4.85 ERA. The Huntsville, Ohio native pitched an11-inning complete game shutout versus Western Michigan, April 24, 2010, giving up just three hits and one walk, while striking out a career-high 10 batters. That career performance was known throughout the nation, earning him the following accolades: MAC West Pitcher of the Week ,“Louisville Slugger” National Player of the Week, National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association National Pitcher of the Week, College Baseball Insider Central Region Pitcher of the Week and the CBF National All-Star Lineup. Also during the 2010 season, Lewis was named first-team All-MAC honors with a 7-4 record. This season, Kendall made four starts, boasting a 1.84 ERA in 14.2 innings before being lost for the season due to injury
#31 - Brian Hill. Having transferred from Phoenix College, Hill has started in 12 games for Eastern this season, his only season donning the Green and White. A native of Flagstaff, Arizona, Hill has been the ace of the pitching staff, boasting a 6-2 record with a 3.67 ERA in 73.2 innings. Earlier this season, Hill took a no-hitter into the ninth inning, giving up two hits and one run in a 7-1 victory over in-state rival Western Michigan. In March, Hill also struck out a career-high seven against Kansas in a no-decision effort. He has nine quality starts out of 12 this season.

BEST TO BE AHEAD AFTER FOUR: When the Eagles have the lead after four innings this season, they have gone on to a 16-4 record. That mark improves to 19-2 after five, 20-3 after six and 21-2 after seven. Perhaps not coincidentally, the Green and White does most of its offensive damage in the fourth and fifth innings with run totals of 36 and 50, respectively.
Conversely, the Eagles are 2-19 when trailing after four frames, 2-20 after five, 3-19 after six, 0-20 after seven and 1-21 after eight.

BEST TEAM IN WASHTENAW COUNTY?: The Eagles have defeated the Wolverines six consecutive times dating back to 2011 campaign. Since Head Coach Jay Alexander took over the program in 2009, Eastern Michigan is 8-4 against its Washtenaw County rival.

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