Baseball Ready For Two Mid-Week Contests

and lefty Michael Marsinek shut down the Golden Flashes, whose bats were hot through the first two games of the series. The two EMU pitchers threw a combined eight innings while retiring 22-straight hitters in the process. After giving up two hits that led to a run in the top of the first, Weber got back-to-back Golden Flashes to ground out to second base to the end the inning. The redshirt-senior found a groove by retiring the side in the next five innings. Exiting after six innings with a line of one run on two hits, Weber closed out his day by sending down 17 in a row. Marsinek entered the contest in the seventh and continued the streak left by Weber. The southpaw retired the first five KSU hitters he faced before issuing a walk with two outs in the eighth.

LEADERS OF THE MAC: Through the first 20 games of the season, the EMU bats have proven to be huge threats to opposing pitchers. Eastern leads the MAC in doubles (50) while ranking second in the conference in runs (143) and RBI (128) Individually, three Eagles top the MAC charts. Sophomore Mitchell McGeein paces the conference with four homers on the season, and Lee Longo's 12 doubles are tied for a MAC best.

YOUNG GUNS: Against Northwestern, Head Coach Jay Alexander went with four true freshman pitchers to toss the first 5.1 innings in the Eagles' 9-8 victory over the Wildcats, March 26. Sam Delaplane made his first career start, while Sterling Sharp, Layne Gusler and Tyler Russell all made relief appearances. After Delaplane pitched his scheduled two innings, Sharp picked up the first win of his career by tossing four innings of relief and letting just one run cross the plate. Gusler pitched to one batter before Russell relieved him, lasting 1.1 innings and surrendering one run on two hits.

Four true freshmen pitching in one game is a rare occurrence as Eastern is just one-of-17 NCAA Division I baseball teams to do so throughout the 2014 season. The other schools having four freshmen pitchers in one game include: Bethune-Cookman, Coastal Carolina, Florida, Georgia Tech, Holy Cross, James Madison, Navy, Nebraska, Northwestern State, Saint Joseph's, Saint Louis, San Jose State, Santa Clara, South Carolina, Western Kentucky and Wichita State.

BETTER WITH DUCKS ON THE POND: With runners on the base, the pressure may seem to rise for hitters as they try to find a way to get their teammates around to score. However, the Eagles welcome the pressure by hitting at a better average with runners on than with the bases empty. EMU sluggers are hitting at a .292 clip with Eagles on the base path, including a .320 average with the bases loaded. When the bases are empty, Eastern is hitting .231 as a team.

LONGO LEADS THE WAY: First baseman Lee Longo has had an incredible start to his final season as an Eagle. As of March 31, 2014, Longo is 10th in the nation in doubles with 12, just three shy of the country's leader in Texas Tech's Adam Kirsch. Overall, the two-time MAC West Player of the Week is fourth nationally in doubles per game. Not only do Longo's doubles per game rank fourth in the country, but he also is one of the team leaders in multiple hitting categories, pacing the Green and White in batting average (.384), hits (33), RBI (23), total bases (48), hit by pitch (8), slugging percentage (.558) and on base percentage (.449). Another impressive stat is Longo's clutch hitting; with two outs in the inning, he has hit at a .567 clip with 14 RBI.

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 23 games in right field to total 151 straight starts and counting for the EMU redshirt-senior.

Ott is one-of-27 NCAA Division I baseball players that boasts an active streak of over 100 starts. His 148 consecutive starts rank seventh in that category behind: Ryan Lindemuth, William & Mary (196); Aaron Attaway, Western Carolina (195); Justin Glass, Cincinnati (192); Ethan Gross, Memphis (181); Ross Kivett, Kansas State (179); Nick Favatella, Rutgers (167).

MIODUSZEWSKI GRABS LEFT FIELD: After Head Coach Jay Alexander used four different Eagles to start in left field through the first 12 games of the season, a primary starter has emerged out of that group. Redshirt-freshman Michael Mioduszewski has been penciled in on the lineup card for 10 of the past 11 due in large part to his power at the plate. Eight of Mioduszewski's 13 hits have been for extra bases, including his first career home run against Youngstown State, March 8. Making 13 starts in left, the Dexter, Mich. native boasts a slugging percentage of .489.

ON THE MAC ROAD AGAIN: The Eagles will wrap up the week with a trip to Muncie, Ind. to battle the Ball State Cardinals in a three-game MAC West showdown. First pitch for the opening game of the series is set for 3 p.m. Friday, April 4, while the other two games will begin at 1 p.m., April 5-6.