Eastern Michigan Athletics
Friday, March 21
Akron, Ohio
4:30 p.m.
Eastern Michigan University
at
Akron
Photo by: Walt Middleton Photography
Baseball Begins Conference Play in Akron
3/20/2014 12:43:00 PM | Baseball
Eagles face Zips in a three-game set, March 21-22, to open up MAC play
Complete Notes
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University baseball team will take its four-game winning streak into conference play as the Eagles head to the University of Akron for a three-game set, March 21-22. The series will be the first Mid-American Conference contests for both teams. A doubleheader Friday, March 21, will kick off the series with the first pitch for game one set for 1 p.m. from Lee R. Jackson Baseball Field. The finale between the conference foes is scheduled for 1 p.m on Saturday, March 22.
DOUBLE DIP: Inclement weather has forced Eastern to play four unexpected doubleheaders thus far this season and the series with Akron will mark the fifth twinbill of the 2014 campaign. The Eagles boast a 5-3 record in doubleheaders this year. EMU split with Austin Peay, Feb. 25, before dropping a pair of games at No. 30 Kentucky later that week, March 1. The last time the Green and White took the diamond, March 9, Head Coach Jay Alexander's squad swept a doubleheader down in Cincinnati. The Eagles first took down the host Bearcats, 5-4, and then continued their winning ways with an 11-5 thumping of Youngstown State. Last weekend, EMU out-scored Northern Kentucky, 26-5, sweeping a doubleheader over the Norse, 13-3 and 13-2.
SCOUTING THE ZIPS: Akron enters the opening conference series with a record of 7-10 after dropping a pair of mid-week games at Ohio State and Pittsburgh, March 18-19. Akron ranks third in the MAC in batting average, hitting at a .279 clip behind Miami and Eastern. While UA is behind EMU in average at the plate, the Zips are ahead of the Green and White in team earned run average on the mound. Akron is fifth in the MAC with a team ERA of 4.50 while Eastern Michigan follows with a 4.63 in sixth place. The Zips are also tied with the Eagles in the conference's second spot with eight homers through the start of the 2014 campaign.
At the plate, Akron is led by junior outfielder Devan Ahart who boasts a batting average of .412 as the next closest Zip hits .281. Ahart is the team leader in nearly every offensive category, including runs (17), hits (28), triples (2), home runs (3) and stolen bases (10). He also is second in RBI with 10 while tying for a team-best three doubles. Akron's ace is sophomore John Valek who holds a 2-2 record with a 2.19 ERA in 24.2 innings. Not only does the left-hander pace the Zips in innings and ERA, but he also has punched out the most opposing hitters with 16 strikeouts.
LAST TIME WE MET: Due to the cycling of conference opponents, EMU and Akron have not met on the diamond since the 2011 campaign. During that series three years ago, April 15-17, 2011 at Oestrike Stadium, the Zips took two out of three in the series by winning the first two contests, 5-2 and 14-7, before EMU won the series finale, 11-4. In the previous matchup between these two conference foes, trailing by a score of 4-1 in the second inning, the Eagles scored 10 unanswered runs to cruise to the seven-run victory. Ben Magsig and Sam Ott had tremendous afternoons, each driving in four runs for the Eagles. Magsig was 4-for-5 with the stick, notching a home run and three singles, while also coming around to score each time he was on base. Ott, who was hitless on the season coming into the game, picked up a double and a home run in his four trips to the plate. Steve Weber picked up his fourth victory of the year, going 5.0 innings, allowing six hits and four runs while striking out three. Jordan Glover finished the final 4.0 innings to earn his first save of the season, with the Zips notching just two hits off the junior right-hander.
LEADERS OF THE MAC: Entering conference action, the EMU bats have proven to be a huge threats to opposing pitchers. Eastern leads the MAC in several hitting categories: Runs (121), doubles (42), RBI (107), on base percentage (.381) and walks (73). Moreover, the Eagles rank second in the conference in batting average (.285), slugging percentage (.411), home runs (8) and steals (31). Individually, three Eagles top the MAC charts. Sam Ott leads the league in runs scored (21), and sophomore Mitchell McGeein paces the conference with four homers on the season as well as a .750 slugging percentage that ranks 10th in the nation. Meanwhile, Lee Longo is second in the MAC with 10 doubles and 39 total bases while Adam Sonabend stands in a tie for second with 13 walks.
THE QUARTET OF 17: If you are looking for a team leader in runs batted in, you will have a hard time picking out just one Eagle. Four EMU sluggers are currently tied for a team-best 17 RBI and can be found throughout the lineup. Leadoff hitter John Rubino boasts the RBI count as well as Lee Longo who hits in the cleanup spot. Catcher Adam Sonabend has 17 RBI in 15 games while Mitchell McGeein reached the total in just 11 starts.
LUCKY NUMBER 13: In a doubleheader sweep over Northern Kentucky, the Eagles recorded 13 runs in each victory against the Norse. In game one, a seven-inning affair, EMU tallied the mark with the help of 18 hits en route to a 13-3 win. The second contest consisted of a full game of nine innings, and Eastern brought out the brooms for the twinbill with a 13-2 victory back by a pair of home runs from Mitchell McGeein. While the Green and White racked up 34 hits in the two games, the EMU arms limited NKU batsmen to just five runs on 15 hits through 16 innings.
MIGHTY MCGEEIN: EMU sophomore Mitchell McGeein had a huge day against Northern Kentucky, leading the team in almost every statistical hitting category, including batting average (.833), runs (7), RBI (7), home runs (2), walks (3), slugging percentage (2.000) and on-base percentage (.900) as the Eagles outscored NKU 26-5 to earn a doubleheader sweep, March 15. Starting as the designated hitter in game one, McGeein recorded a pair of hits to go along with team-highs in runs (4) and RBI (4). In game two, the Calgary, Alberta native homered twice to become the first Eagle to hit two home runs in one game since Daniel Russell accomplished the feat nearly one year ago, March 16, 2013, coincidentally against Northern Kentucky.
LONGO LEADS THE WAY: First baseman Lee Longo has had an incredible start to his final season as an Eagle. As of March 18, 2014, Longo is fifth in the nation in doubles with 10, just two shy of the country leader in Ball State's Sean Godfrey. Overall, the two-time MAC West Player of the Week is third nationally in doubles per game. Not only do Longo's doubles rank second in the country, but he also is one of the team leaders in nearly every hitting category.
IRON MAN OTT: EMU looks to have its own Cal Ripken, Jr. as one Eagle has emerged as a baseball iron man. Since the end of his redshirt-freshman season in 2011, Sam Ott has started every game for Head Coach Jay Alexander. The Canton, Mich. native started the last 18 games of the 2011 season while starting all 110 games his sophomore and junior campaigns. He got in the lineup for all 56 games in 2012 primarily as the designated hitter while he had 54 starts in 2013, with the majority of them coming in right field. To kick off the 2014 slate, Ott has started all 16 games in right field to total 144 straight starts and counting for the EMU redshirt-senior.
Ott is one-of-29 NCAA Division I baseball players that boats an active streak of over 100 starts. His 144 consecutive starts rank ninth in that category behind: Ryan Lindemuth, William & Mary (190); Aaron Attaway, Western Carolina (188); Justin Glass, Cincinnati (187); Jordan Betts, Duke (185); Ethan Gross, Memphis (177); Ross Kivett, Kansas State (170); Nick Favatella, Rutgers (161) and John Howell, Binghamton (157).
FINDING THE NATIONAL RANKS: Not only are the EMU sluggers leading the Mid-American Conference in multiple categories, but the Eagles are also moving up the charts in the national ranks. Eastern's highest rank is third with 2.63 doubles per game, trailing nation-leading Cornell who averages 2.90 per contest. In terms of total doubles, EMU's 42 two-base hits are 17th in the country, 11 behind the top mark. Tallying a whopping 7.6 runs per game, the Green and White is the 18th-best scoring team in the nation. The Eagles also have been effective on the base path, stealing 1.94 bases per game, which stands at No. 19 in all of NCAA Division I baseball.
WEATHER CAUSES CHANGES: Weather has wreaked havoc on the early baseball season as the Green and White has had to make several changes to the original schedule. First, unplayable field conditions at UT Martin forced the three-game series to be moved to a neutral site in Nashville, Tenn., Feb. 21-23. Two days later, Feb. 25, the Eagles faced Austin Peay in a doubleheader that was supposed to be two games on back-to-back days. Remaining in the south, EMU was scheduled to play three games over three days against No. 30 Kentucky. While the three games were played, the series finale was moved up one day, making the two teams play a doubleheader Saturday March 1.
The two-game set against Morehead State, scheduled March 4-5, was called off due to snow covering the field as well as the three-game series at Evansville, March 7-9. However, EMU did find a place to play for the weekend, traveling down to Cincinnati to face Youngstown State in two games as well as the host Bearcats on one occasion. Within the past week, two more games were cancelled. The series finale against Northern Kentucky was called off, March 16, due to inclement weather; moreover, the contest against Bowling Green, scheduled for March 18, could not be played due to poor field conditions.
NOTABLE STREAKS: Two-time MAC West Player of the Week Lee Longo extended his streak to 25-straight games of reaching base, dating back to last season. Catcher Adam Sonabend has the next longest streak with 13 in-a-row as the team co-captain is one of the conference leaders in walks. Teammate Mitchell McGeein also has found a way to get on base in the past 12 contests.
LEFT FIELD PLATOON: While Head Coach Jay Alexander has been comfortable with the majority of his starting lineup this season, there is one position where changes have been made frequently. Four different Eagles have started in left field through the first 14 games of the season. Michael Mioduszewski lead the platoon with seven starts, and Dae Bowden has followed with five. While he has been the team's primary designated hitter, Adam Dennison has made three starts in left field while teammate Jackson Martin earned a start against UT Martin, Feb. 22.
HOPING TO OPEN THE HOME SCHEDULE: After the conference-opening series against Akron, the Eagles will hope to begin the 2014 home campaign at Oestrike Stadium. EMU is scheduled to play four home contests next week, beginning with Big Ten Conference opponent Northwestern, March 26, with a 3 p.m. first pitch. Eastern will conclude the week with a three-game series versus defending MAC regular season champion Kent State, March 28-30.
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University baseball team will take its four-game winning streak into conference play as the Eagles head to the University of Akron for a three-game set, March 21-22. The series will be the first Mid-American Conference contests for both teams. A doubleheader Friday, March 21, will kick off the series with the first pitch for game one set for 1 p.m. from Lee R. Jackson Baseball Field. The finale between the conference foes is scheduled for 1 p.m on Saturday, March 22.
DOUBLE DIP: Inclement weather has forced Eastern to play four unexpected doubleheaders thus far this season and the series with Akron will mark the fifth twinbill of the 2014 campaign. The Eagles boast a 5-3 record in doubleheaders this year. EMU split with Austin Peay, Feb. 25, before dropping a pair of games at No. 30 Kentucky later that week, March 1. The last time the Green and White took the diamond, March 9, Head Coach Jay Alexander's squad swept a doubleheader down in Cincinnati. The Eagles first took down the host Bearcats, 5-4, and then continued their winning ways with an 11-5 thumping of Youngstown State. Last weekend, EMU out-scored Northern Kentucky, 26-5, sweeping a doubleheader over the Norse, 13-3 and 13-2.
SCOUTING THE ZIPS: Akron enters the opening conference series with a record of 7-10 after dropping a pair of mid-week games at Ohio State and Pittsburgh, March 18-19. Akron ranks third in the MAC in batting average, hitting at a .279 clip behind Miami and Eastern. While UA is behind EMU in average at the plate, the Zips are ahead of the Green and White in team earned run average on the mound. Akron is fifth in the MAC with a team ERA of 4.50 while Eastern Michigan follows with a 4.63 in sixth place. The Zips are also tied with the Eagles in the conference's second spot with eight homers through the start of the 2014 campaign.
At the plate, Akron is led by junior outfielder Devan Ahart who boasts a batting average of .412 as the next closest Zip hits .281. Ahart is the team leader in nearly every offensive category, including runs (17), hits (28), triples (2), home runs (3) and stolen bases (10). He also is second in RBI with 10 while tying for a team-best three doubles. Akron's ace is sophomore John Valek who holds a 2-2 record with a 2.19 ERA in 24.2 innings. Not only does the left-hander pace the Zips in innings and ERA, but he also has punched out the most opposing hitters with 16 strikeouts.
LAST TIME WE MET: Due to the cycling of conference opponents, EMU and Akron have not met on the diamond since the 2011 campaign. During that series three years ago, April 15-17, 2011 at Oestrike Stadium, the Zips took two out of three in the series by winning the first two contests, 5-2 and 14-7, before EMU won the series finale, 11-4. In the previous matchup between these two conference foes, trailing by a score of 4-1 in the second inning, the Eagles scored 10 unanswered runs to cruise to the seven-run victory. Ben Magsig and Sam Ott had tremendous afternoons, each driving in four runs for the Eagles. Magsig was 4-for-5 with the stick, notching a home run and three singles, while also coming around to score each time he was on base. Ott, who was hitless on the season coming into the game, picked up a double and a home run in his four trips to the plate. Steve Weber picked up his fourth victory of the year, going 5.0 innings, allowing six hits and four runs while striking out three. Jordan Glover finished the final 4.0 innings to earn his first save of the season, with the Zips notching just two hits off the junior right-hander.
LEADERS OF THE MAC: Entering conference action, the EMU bats have proven to be a huge threats to opposing pitchers. Eastern leads the MAC in several hitting categories: Runs (121), doubles (42), RBI (107), on base percentage (.381) and walks (73). Moreover, the Eagles rank second in the conference in batting average (.285), slugging percentage (.411), home runs (8) and steals (31). Individually, three Eagles top the MAC charts. Sam Ott leads the league in runs scored (21), and sophomore Mitchell McGeein paces the conference with four homers on the season as well as a .750 slugging percentage that ranks 10th in the nation. Meanwhile, Lee Longo is second in the MAC with 10 doubles and 39 total bases while Adam Sonabend stands in a tie for second with 13 walks.
THE QUARTET OF 17: If you are looking for a team leader in runs batted in, you will have a hard time picking out just one Eagle. Four EMU sluggers are currently tied for a team-best 17 RBI and can be found throughout the lineup. Leadoff hitter John Rubino boasts the RBI count as well as Lee Longo who hits in the cleanup spot. Catcher Adam Sonabend has 17 RBI in 15 games while Mitchell McGeein reached the total in just 11 starts.
LUCKY NUMBER 13: In a doubleheader sweep over Northern Kentucky, the Eagles recorded 13 runs in each victory against the Norse. In game one, a seven-inning affair, EMU tallied the mark with the help of 18 hits en route to a 13-3 win. The second contest consisted of a full game of nine innings, and Eastern brought out the brooms for the twinbill with a 13-2 victory back by a pair of home runs from Mitchell McGeein. While the Green and White racked up 34 hits in the two games, the EMU arms limited NKU batsmen to just five runs on 15 hits through 16 innings.
MIGHTY MCGEEIN: EMU sophomore Mitchell McGeein had a huge day against Northern Kentucky, leading the team in almost every statistical hitting category, including batting average (.833), runs (7), RBI (7), home runs (2), walks (3), slugging percentage (2.000) and on-base percentage (.900) as the Eagles outscored NKU 26-5 to earn a doubleheader sweep, March 15. Starting as the designated hitter in game one, McGeein recorded a pair of hits to go along with team-highs in runs (4) and RBI (4). In game two, the Calgary, Alberta native homered twice to become the first Eagle to hit two home runs in one game since Daniel Russell accomplished the feat nearly one year ago, March 16, 2013, coincidentally against Northern Kentucky.
LONGO LEADS THE WAY: First baseman Lee Longo has had an incredible start to his final season as an Eagle. As of March 18, 2014, Longo is fifth in the nation in doubles with 10, just two shy of the country leader in Ball State's Sean Godfrey. Overall, the two-time MAC West Player of the Week is third nationally in doubles per game. Not only do Longo's doubles rank second in the country, but he also is one of the team leaders in nearly every hitting category.
IRON MAN OTT: EMU looks to have its own Cal Ripken, Jr. as one Eagle has emerged as a baseball iron man. Since the end of his redshirt-freshman season in 2011, Sam Ott has started every game for Head Coach Jay Alexander. The Canton, Mich. native started the last 18 games of the 2011 season while starting all 110 games his sophomore and junior campaigns. He got in the lineup for all 56 games in 2012 primarily as the designated hitter while he had 54 starts in 2013, with the majority of them coming in right field. To kick off the 2014 slate, Ott has started all 16 games in right field to total 144 straight starts and counting for the EMU redshirt-senior.
Ott is one-of-29 NCAA Division I baseball players that boats an active streak of over 100 starts. His 144 consecutive starts rank ninth in that category behind: Ryan Lindemuth, William & Mary (190); Aaron Attaway, Western Carolina (188); Justin Glass, Cincinnati (187); Jordan Betts, Duke (185); Ethan Gross, Memphis (177); Ross Kivett, Kansas State (170); Nick Favatella, Rutgers (161) and John Howell, Binghamton (157).
FINDING THE NATIONAL RANKS: Not only are the EMU sluggers leading the Mid-American Conference in multiple categories, but the Eagles are also moving up the charts in the national ranks. Eastern's highest rank is third with 2.63 doubles per game, trailing nation-leading Cornell who averages 2.90 per contest. In terms of total doubles, EMU's 42 two-base hits are 17th in the country, 11 behind the top mark. Tallying a whopping 7.6 runs per game, the Green and White is the 18th-best scoring team in the nation. The Eagles also have been effective on the base path, stealing 1.94 bases per game, which stands at No. 19 in all of NCAA Division I baseball.
WEATHER CAUSES CHANGES: Weather has wreaked havoc on the early baseball season as the Green and White has had to make several changes to the original schedule. First, unplayable field conditions at UT Martin forced the three-game series to be moved to a neutral site in Nashville, Tenn., Feb. 21-23. Two days later, Feb. 25, the Eagles faced Austin Peay in a doubleheader that was supposed to be two games on back-to-back days. Remaining in the south, EMU was scheduled to play three games over three days against No. 30 Kentucky. While the three games were played, the series finale was moved up one day, making the two teams play a doubleheader Saturday March 1.
The two-game set against Morehead State, scheduled March 4-5, was called off due to snow covering the field as well as the three-game series at Evansville, March 7-9. However, EMU did find a place to play for the weekend, traveling down to Cincinnati to face Youngstown State in two games as well as the host Bearcats on one occasion. Within the past week, two more games were cancelled. The series finale against Northern Kentucky was called off, March 16, due to inclement weather; moreover, the contest against Bowling Green, scheduled for March 18, could not be played due to poor field conditions.
NOTABLE STREAKS: Two-time MAC West Player of the Week Lee Longo extended his streak to 25-straight games of reaching base, dating back to last season. Catcher Adam Sonabend has the next longest streak with 13 in-a-row as the team co-captain is one of the conference leaders in walks. Teammate Mitchell McGeein also has found a way to get on base in the past 12 contests.
LEFT FIELD PLATOON: While Head Coach Jay Alexander has been comfortable with the majority of his starting lineup this season, there is one position where changes have been made frequently. Four different Eagles have started in left field through the first 14 games of the season. Michael Mioduszewski lead the platoon with seven starts, and Dae Bowden has followed with five. While he has been the team's primary designated hitter, Adam Dennison has made three starts in left field while teammate Jackson Martin earned a start against UT Martin, Feb. 22.
HOPING TO OPEN THE HOME SCHEDULE: After the conference-opening series against Akron, the Eagles will hope to begin the 2014 home campaign at Oestrike Stadium. EMU is scheduled to play four home contests next week, beginning with Big Ten Conference opponent Northwestern, March 26, with a 3 p.m. first pitch. Eastern will conclude the week with a three-game series versus defending MAC regular season champion Kent State, March 28-30.
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Oestrike Stadium Upgrades Reveal
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