Softball Travels to Ohio in Search of First MAC Road Win

EASTERN HEADS TO OHIO FOR MAC PLAY: The Eastern Michigan University softball team (10-30, 1-11 MAC) will head to Ohio for four Mid-American Conference contest. The Eagles will first take on the University of Toledo (15-31, 6-10 MAC) in a 1 p.m. Friday doubleheader at Scott Park before heading to Bowling Green, Ohio for two cross-divisional contests against the Bowling Green State University Falcons (20-23-1, 6-8 MAC), April 26-27. Saturday's contest from Meserve Field is slated to start at 2 p.m. while the series finale is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. Sunday, April 27.

FINDING THE GAME AT HOME: Fans can follow along with the action from Scott Park by heading to EMUEagles.com. The Rockets will provide live stats for fans, while Saturday and Sunday's single games against Bowling Green will have live stats as well as radio provided by bgsufalcons.com.
   Fans are also encouraged to follow @EMUSB on twitter for live updates and can join in on conversation using #timetoshine.

CLARK'S WALK-OFF SINGLE LIFTS EAGLES TO FIRST MAC WIN: Sophomore transfer Abi Clark led the Eastern Michigan University offense against Northern Illinois University with a walk-off single to left field in the bottom of the eighth inning to secure the 4-3 decision over the Huskies, April 20. The win marked the first Mid-American Conference victory for the Eagles and could not have come on a better day, as the EMU softball team honored three seniors who have helped transform the program. The three seniors that were honored prior to the game were Lindsay Smith, Amanda Stanton and Lauren Wells.
   Clark propelled the Green and White offense, going 2-for-3 at the plate with two RBI and scoring once, while Abby Davidson and Taylor Wagner each had two hits for EMU with Davidson droving in one run. Freshman Alyssa Huntley (3-4) grabbed her third victory of the season, pitching one inning of relief, while Wells got the start in the circle, hurling 6.1 innings with four strikeouts and Abbie Minsker threw 0.2 innings without giving up a hit.

KRIEGSHAUSER DOUBLES DOWN: Freshman Michelle Kriegshauser has turned into somewhat of a double machine for the Green and White offense as of late. The freshman outfielder currently tied the 2014 NCAA single-game record after notching three doubles against Valparaiso University, April 2.
   Since then, Kriegshauser has tacked on five more doubles and ranks 22nd in the nation and fourth in the Mid-American Conference with 0.35 doubles per game. The New Lenox, Ill. native leads the Eagles with her 11 doubles on the season, which also ties for fourth in conference standings.

SACRIFICE FOR THE TEAM: The Eagles have recently started to implement the "get them on, get them over, get them in" style of play when they are at the plate. Against Western Michigan, freshman Taylor Wagner laid down two sacrifice bunts to advance the runner on first and added her third against Northern Illinois, April 19. As a team, Eastern has put down 32 sacrifice bunts, which ties for fourth in the conference.
   Furthermore, the Green and White has found other ways to bring in the runner, using sacrifice hits as junior Jenn Lucas ranks second in the MAC and 49th in the nation with three sacrifice hits on the season. Lucas is just one sacrifice fly behind conference leader Alexandria Basquez of Ohio and five behind national leader Alexa Peterson of Oregon. Lucas is not the only Eagle who ranks nationally for sacrificing herself at the plate as senior Lindsay Smith ranks 64th in the nation and fifth in the conference for her 0.21 sacrifice hits per contest.

STILL LOOKING FOR THE RIGHT FIT: Head Coach Melissa Gentile has continued to switch up the lineup in all 40 games the Eagles have played as she has only handed in the same card on seven occasions.
   Junior Jenn Lucas has made the most appearances in the leadoff spot with 16, while Abby Davidson has batted in the three spot on 14 occasions. Junior pitcher Lindsay Rich has also made 14 appearances on the lineup card in the cleanup spot, while senior Amanda Stanton has hit in the four hole a team-best 15 times.
   Stanton is the only Eagle to have started all 40 games in the field at the same position, while Davidson has made 35 starts at third base. Senior Lindsay Smith has made 38 starts in the field for EMU, 25 in center and 13 in left field, while Mady Hostetler has made an appearance in all three outfield positions, the most coming at center field with seven.
   Furthermore, Michelle Kriegshauser and Smith have been on the card in seven different spots in the order, while seven other Eagles have appeared in six of the nine spots in the batting order.

PUTTING IN EXTRA WORK: Eastern Michigan has played an EMU record-high six extra-inning contest through its first 40 games. The Eagles post a 2-4 record in extra-inning games with its most recent victory coming over Northern Illinois University, April 20.
   In the Green and White's weekend contests against Western Michigan and Northern Illinois, Eastern played three extra-inning games in four total contests, falling once to both WMU and NIU before picking up the eight-inning victory over the Huskies on Senior Day.

CLIMBING THE ALL-TIME RANKINGS: The pitching duo of Lauren Wells and Lindsay Rich is making its way up the Eastern Michigan all-time pitching lists.
   Wells's 337 career strikeouts rank fourth all-time at Eastern Michigan, while her 363.1 innings of work rank 10th in EMU laurels. The senior left-handed hurler needs just 38 strikeouts in the Green and White's final 11 contests to break into the top three in strikeouts and tie with former EMU ace Jenna Ignowski.
   Rich has been making a name for herself this season as the Eagles' ace pitcher with a team-high 30 appearances and 13 starts. The junior right-hander has thrown 121 innings this season and has tallied 75 strikeouts to bring her career total to 199. Those 199 strikeouts rank 11th all-time in EMU laurels.

TOLEDO AT A GLANCE: The Rockets, much like the Eagles, have struggled to come away with wins in the month of April. Toledo heads into the Friday doubleheader with a 4-12 record in the month of April and a 15-31 overall record. The Rockets rank just above the Eagles in the West with a 6-10 conference record.
   Despite struggling to come up with wins, the Rockets have been a force at the plate with four batters hitting .300 or better and posting a .277 team batting average. UT has shared the wealth at the plate this season with five different Rockets leading eight hitting categories. Freshman Celeste Fidge has shown she has power in her first season as a Rocket with a team-high four home runs and a .522 slugging percentage, while Lani Ernst has a team-high 13 doubles which ranks third in the conference and her .425 on-base percentage ranks ninth in the MAC. Freshman Chandler Rice boasts a team-best .382 batting average and ties for first with one triple on the season. Senior Erin Wright has driven in a team-high 27 runs on the season and has notched one triple, along with Ernst.
   Freshman Emily Anderson (13-17) anchors the Toledo pitching staff, having made 36 appearances and 30 starts with a team-best 2.81 ERA and a MAC-best 197 strikeouts in 206.2 innings of work.

SERIES HISTORY: Eastern holds the slight 54-45 advantage over Toledo in the all-time series after splitting a pair of contests at Varsity Field in the 2013 season.
   In last season's doubleheader, the two teams combined for 56 hits in 15 innings of softball with UT outhitting the Eagles 29-27. After dropping game one, 13-8, the Green and White knotted the score at 13-13 in the bottom of the seventh inning in game two before then-sophomore Jenn Lucas launched the game-winning solo home run over the left center wall at Varsity Field to seal the Eastern victory.

SCOUTING BOWLING GREEN: The Falcons come into the weekend series with a 20-23-1 overall record and a 6-8 Mid-American Conference record with their latest conference victory coming over the University at Buffalo, April 18.
   Senior Katie Yoho propels the BGSU offense in almost all hitting categories including: Batting average (.319), hits (45), triples (1), home runs (9), RBI (34), slugging percentage (.567) and runs (21). Freshman Chelsea Raker is the only other Falcon hitter with a batting average above .300, posting a .306 batting average with 41 hits and six homers.
   Sophomore Jamie Kertes (12-17) has been the ace for the Falcons with a team-best 2.53 ERA in 42 appearances, 25 starts and 120 strikeouts. Sophomore Braiden Dillow has made 37 apperances and 19 starts with eight wins and 63 strikeouts for a 3.02 season ERA.

LAST TIME OUT AGAINST FALCONS: Bowling Green holds a 51-36 all-time record over the Eagles, sweeping Eastern in the two game series during the 2013 season.
   BGSU shut out Eastern in game one, 4-0, as both teams both tallied four hits on the afternoon, and Katie Yoho had a three run homer in the bottom of the fifth for the Falcons. In game two, Eastern first got on the scoreboard with a Jenn Lucas fly out to center field, but BGSU quickly answered back with six runs to take the 6-1 victory over EMU.
   The Eagles will be looking to get their first victory over Bowling Green since the 2011 season when they swept the Falcons on Varsity Field.

ON DECK: Eastern will be back in action for its final mid-week contest when it takes on IPFW Tuesday April 29 at Varsity Field. The doubleheader is slated to start a 3 p.m.

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