EMU Renews Washtenaw County Rivalry with Michigan

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University baseball team will play five games in seven days for the third consecutive week with a pair of non-conference contests before MAC play during the weekend. The Eagles (12-21, 2-10 MAC) will have a home-and-home series with the University of Michigan (16-19-1, 6-6 B1G) in a battle of Washtenaw County, April 15-16. The Wolverines will host the first game on Tuesday, April 15, at Ray Fisher Stadium before the two teams return to Oestrike Stadium for the series finale, April 16. Following back-to-back games against U-M, Head Coach Jay Alexander and company will host Miami University in a MAC cross-divisional series, April 18-20.

LISTEN LIVE ON EAGLE ALL-ACCESS: The mid-week series between the Eagles and Wolverines can be heard live on the airwaves of Eagle All-Access free of charge on EMUEagles.com/showcase. Veteran play-by-play voice of the Eagles Chad Bush and Greg Steiner will call for both contests in the home-and-home series. The duo will go on air from Ray Fisher Stadium at the Wilpon Complex beginning at 3:50 p.m., April 15. Eagle All-Access will return along with the EMU baseball team to Oestrike Stadium, April 16, for the conclusion of the battle of Washtenaw County, with the pregame show starting at 5:50 p.m.

MICHIGAN SCOUTING REPORT: The Wolverines enter the mid-week home-and-home series with a 16-19-1 mark after taking two-of-three against the University of Illinois over the weekend. Jackson Glines leads the team at the plate, hitting at a .346 clip with team highs in nearly every statistical category: Runs (26), hits (45), doubles (13), triples (3), RBI (22), slugging percentage (.492) and on base percentage (.456). On the mound, Michigan will look to right-hander Ben Ballantine for the series opener. The redshirt-senior is 2-2 in nine starts on the year, holding a 4.29 ERA over 42 innings. Ballantine also has the most strikeout on the U-M staff, sending down 35 hitters while walking just 17.

BATTLE OF WASHTENAW COUNTRY HISTORY: Michigan leads the all-time series between the two neighbors, 112-62-2. However, the Green and White has been in control of the series as of late, winning the last six meetings. In those contests, EMU has outscored U-M 58-21 to average nearly 10 runs per game. The last time the Wolverines defeated the Eagles was March 20, 2011, when Michigan left Oestrike Stadium as 5-2 victors. Under the guidance of Head Coach Jay Alexander, Eastern Michigan is 8-4 against its county rival.

LAST SEASON'S SERIES: In last year's battle of Washtenaw County, the Eagles earned the season sweep of the Wolverines with a pair of victories. First, EMU won an entertaining high-scoring matchup, 15-10, at Oestrike Stadium, April 23, 2013. Each of the nine offensive players in Head Coach Jay Alexander's lineup had at least one hit on the evening including Adam Sonabend, who led the way with a 3-for-5, two-RBI effort. Daniel Russell (2-for-4) provided speed on the basepaths with a trio of stolen bases. In the second game of the series, May 7, 2013, Eastern soared past the Wolverines for a 13-4 win. The Eagles took advantage of the Wolverines' inability to throw strikes, as the Michigan pitching staff walked eight and hit four more batters during the contest. Eastern Michigan responded with the gift runners to blow the contest wide open by exploding in the fifth inning for seven runs on just three hits. For the game, EMU finished with eight two-out RBI in the non- conference affair.

ALL-TIME AGAINST THE BIG TEN: In the 65-year history of the Eastern Michigan baseball program, the Eagles have faced off against members of the Big Ten Conference a whopping 369 times, compiling a record of 140-224-5. Throughout the 2014 campaign, Head Coach Jay Alexander and his club are scheduled to face four different opponents from the Rosemont, Ill.-based conference: Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern and Ohio State. Washtenaw County neighbor Michigan has been the Eagles' most common Big Ten opponent as the two have met on the diamond for 176 games. The Green and White of both Michigan State and EMU clashed on 130 different occasions, while the Eagles and the team from Columbus, Ohio have squared off in 16 meetings. Eastern and Northwestern have each won once in their series as the Eagles took this year's contest, 9-8, March 26, 2014.

DOUBLING DOWN: Two current Eagles are climbing up the program's all-time doubles list. Seniors Sam Ott and Lee Longo have recorded 47 double apiece throughout their careers at Eastern, ranking fourth in EMU laurels. Longo leads the team in doubles this season with 14 while Ott has smacked nine two-baggers throughout the 2014 campaign. The duo is tied for fourth with Scott Barrett and are chasing Derrick Peterson, who sits in third with 54 career doubles. Eastern Michigan hit king Zack Leonard holds the all-time record with 63 doubles during his four-year career.

COMEBACK KIDS: The Eagles had to rally back twice to earn both of their victories last week. Against Siena Heights, April 10, EMU scored the first three runs of the ballgame before the Saints countered with eight straight to take a five-run lead. However, the Green and White battled back to knot the contest at eight after six innings. In their next at-bat, the Eagles chalked up seven runs to put the game out of reach for Siena Heights, winning by a final 15-9 count. Eastern found itself trailing 3-0 after the top of the first, April 13, versus Northern Illinois. After cutting the margin to two at the end of the first, EMU scored three in the fourth and four in the sixth to hold a five-run cushion. The Eagles surrendered just one run in the final three innings to take an 8-4 victory.

WILSON'S WEEK: EMU sophomore Austin Wilson led the Eagles offensively and defensively in the Eastern's two victories last week. In the EMU win over Siena Heights, April 10, the Valrico, Fla. native went 1-for-2 with three runs and two RBI, reaching base four times throughout the night. He continued to produce throughout the weekend, primarily in the 8-4 victory over Northern Illinois, April 13. Wilson did it all for EMU going 2-for-3 with three RBI and one run, while also using his speed to steal one base and track down two balls in the outfield. The sophomore went up against the wall to make a catch, and he also snagged a sinking ball in shallow center field. Moreover, his RBI double in the bottom of the fourth put the Eagles ahead for good. In EMU's two victories, Wilson knocked in five runs to record over twice as many RBI as he had through the other 31 games this season; aside from those contests, the center fielder tallied just four RBI in the other 31 contests in 2014.

THE MOST IMPORTANT INNING: A good indicator of the outcomes of EMU baseball games this season is to see how the Eagles fare after the sixth inning. The Green and White is 9-1 when leading after the sixth as well as 3-1 when tied with its opponent through the first two-thirds of the game. In contrast, the Eagles are 0-19 when they are behind through six innings of play. Moreover, Eastern is currently outscoring the opposition, 31-12, in the sixth inning.

LEE'S CLUTCH HITTING: When the Eagles need a hit with runners on base, there is not anyone that Head Coach Jay Alexander would rather have at the plate than senior first baseman Lee Longo. While he leads the team with a .372 average at the plate, the Mayfield, Ohio native thrives in pressure situations. With runners in scoring position, Longo is batting an impressive .457 (21-for-46), including a .636 clip of knocking in the runner on third with less than two outs (7-for-11). Another impressive stat is Longo's clutch hitting; with two outs in the inning as he has hit at an incredible .575 rate (23-for-40) with 18 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 33 games in right field to total 161 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 161 consecutive starts rank sixth in that category behind: Ryan Lindemuth, William & Mary (206); Justin Glass, Cincinnati (203); Ethan Gross, Memphis (189); Ross Kivett, Kansas State (188); Nick Favatella, Rutgers (179).

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 .302 clip with Eagles on the base path, including a .313 average with the bases loaded. When the bases are empty, Eastern is hitting .230 as a team.

LONGO LEADS THE WAY: First baseman Lee Longo has had an incredible start to his final season as an Eagle. He is the team leader in multiple hitting categories, pacing the Green and White in batting average (.372), hits (45), RBI (32), total bases (62), hit by pitch (9), slugging percentage (.512) and on base percentage (.423). Moreover, Longo's stats have found the top of the Mid-American Conference rankings. His 14 doubles are tied for second in the conference while he ranks fourth in the MAC with 32 RBI. Longo is also tied for sixth in MAC laurels in hits, total bases and slugging percentage.

READY FOR THE REDHAWKS: Following back-to-back games against U-M, Head Coach Jay Alexander and company will host Miami University in a MAC cross-divisional series, April 18-20. The opening game at Oestrike Stadium will begin at 6 p.m. Friday, April 18. The middle contest will follow on Saturday, April 18, with a 3 p.m. first pitch before the two MAC squads take the field on Easter Sunday, April 20, at 1 p.m.

Eastern Michigan Athletics

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