Eagles Return to Oestrike for Four Games in Four Days

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) --Concluding a five-game road trip, the Eastern Michigan University baseball team returns to the friendly confines of Oestrike Stadium for four games in as many days. The Eagles added a game to their schedule this week and will host Siena Heights in a Thursday evening contest, April 10, at 5 p.m. The non-conference matchup will set the stage for a three-game series against MAC West Division foe Northern Illinois, April 11-13. The Eagles and Huskies will battle under the lights in game one, April 11, at 6 p.m., before a Saturday afternoon affair, April 12, with a 3 p.m. first pitch. The series wraps up on Sunday, April 13, starting at 1 p.m.

EAGLES UNITE GAME: The Saturday, April 12 contest against Northern Illinois will serve as EMU baseball's Eagles Unite game for the 2014 athletic season. The new mantra of the Eastern Michigan University Department of Athletics – "Eagles Unite" – is more than just a catchy slogan, but a campaign of support that pervades all of EMU's 21 varsity sports. The athletic department is encouraging student-athletes to attend specific sporting events, wearing their "Eagles Unite" t-shirts, that serve as the opportunity for them to show their school pride both on and off the field while building camaraderie amongst other student athletes. The baseball game will be the second of two "Eagles Unite" events as the EMU tennis team hosts Miami, April 11, in its "Eagles Unite" match.

LISTEN LIVE ON EAGLE ALL-ACCESS: The weekend series between the Eagles and Huskies 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 the opening game of the three-game set, April 11 at 5:50 p.m., as well as the series finale, April 13, at 12:50 p.m. Providing coverage of game two will be Sean Hostetter and Adam Kuffner, beginning at 2:50 p.m. Saturday, April 12.

EASTERN FALLS TO OHIO STATE: In the first-of-five games for the Green and White this week, the Eagles could not find success at the plate, mustering just three hits in an 8-1 setback to Ohio State University, April 8. In just the second start of his career, freshman Sam Delaplane held the OSU bats at bay through the first two innings, keeping the Buckeyes off the scoreboard. Delaplane got out of a bases-loaded in jam in the second, but OSU would get to the right-hander in the third for five runs. Fellow freshman Tyler Russell pitched the final four innings of the contest, allowing just one run while striking out four Buckeyes. Sam Ott collected two of the Eagles' three hits while also scoring EMU's only run on a sacrifice fly by Mitchell McGeein. Defensively, Eastern was perfect in the field with an error-free ballgame.

SCOUTING THE SAINTS: NAIA member Siena Heights will make the 37-mile trip to Ypsilanti for Thursday's contest, squaring off against the Eagles for the first time in seven years. Eastern Michigan has controlled the series by winning 10 out of the 11 contests between the two programs. The Saints boast a 12-11 record and will host Adrian, April 9, before facing the Eagles. Siena Heights has been effective at the plate this season as eight Saints are hitting at over a .300 clip. Dennis Sharp and Joe Williams hold batting averages of .415 and .412, respectively. Dan Muller adds power to the lineup with 12 extra-base hits (eight doubles, three triples, one home run). Senior Mike Lollo has knocked in the most runs for the Saints with 14 RBI.

LAST TIME WE MET: The Green and White will hope for similar success from the last time these two programs took the diamond as the Eagles powered past the Saints, 20-0, May 2, 2007. The EMU offense offense had a field day against Saints' pitching as seven different Eagles recorded a RBI. Michael Boyd led the way going 5-for-5 at the plate with two home runs and six RBI, while Andrew Marshall also had a breakout day at the plate going 3-for-5 with four RBI. Marshall also hit the first two home runs of his career. Aaron Crooks and Kyle Rhode had multiple RBI games for the Eagles. As hot as the Eagles bats were, the EMU pitching staff was equally dominant. Eagle pitchers held Siena Heights to two hits while striking out five. Kevin Wammes picked up his first win of the season throwing five innings of one hit ball. John Ballarin and Jeff Robinson combined for four strong innings of relief to preserve the shutout.

A NOTICE OF NORTHERN ILLINOIS: The Huskies will travel to Oestrike Stadium after a pair of mid-week contests at home. NIU (7-21-1, 3-6 MAC) defeated Illinois State, 7-6, on Tuesday, April 8, and faces Milwaukee, April 9, to wrap up a five-game homestand. The start of that homestand for NIU was a three-game conference set against the University of Toledo in which the Huskies took two-of-three. Eastern owns the advantage in the series between the two MAC West Division rivals, 66-40, as well as a 10-7 mark under Head Coach Jay Alexander.

Justin Fletcher leads the NIU sluggers with a .299 average, including four triples that rank in a tie for second out of all MAC hitters. On the mound, Alex Klonoski holds a team-best 2.94 ERA while limiting opposing hitters to just a .190 clip at the plate, a mark that is the fourth-lowest average in the conference. In his last outing, the senior tossed a one-hit complete game shutout to go along with nine strikeouts in a victory over Toledo, April 6. The right-hander was named the MAC West Pitcher of the Week for his performance.

LAST SEASON'S SERIES: EMU took two-of-three games in the 2013 series between the two divisional foes in DeKalb, Ill., May 10-12. The hometown Huskies took the opener, 2-1, before the Eastern bats broke out for a combined 29 runs on 32 hits in the final two games. The Eagles downed NIU in game two, 17-12, while soaring to victory in the final game of the series, 12-7. Then-freshman Nick Rotola paced the EMU offense, hitting at a .727 clip (8-of-11), including picking up six runs and five RBI en route to earning MAC West Division Player of the Week honors. His fellow comrade in the middle of the infield, John Rubino, also had huge games at the dish in the two victories, smacking five hits that led to eight RBI.

DOUBLING DOWN: Two current Eagles are climbing up the program's all-time doubles list. Seniors Sam Ott and Lee Longo have recorded 46 and 45 doubles, respectively, throughout their careers at Eastern, ranking fifth and sixth in EMU laurels. Longo leads the team in doubles this season with 12 while Ott has smacked eight two-baggers throughout the 2014 campaign. With a double against Ohio State, April 8, Ott tied Steve Bradshaw for fifth on the career charts, sitting just one behind the fouth-highest total held by Scott Barrett. Eastern Michigan hit king Zack Leonard holds the all-time record with 63 doubles during his four-year career.

FINDING THE NATIONAL RANKS: The EMU sluggers have found the charts in the the latest national rankings (April 7, 2014). Eastern's highest rank is 24th with 2.04 doubles per game, trailing nation-leading William & Mary which averages 2.93 per contest. In terms of total doubles, EMU's 57 two-base hits are 48th in the country, 31 behind the top mark. Tallying 5.9 runs per game, the Green and White is the 67th-best scoring team in the nation. The Eagles also have been effective on the base path, stealing 1.54 bases per game, which stands at No. 43 in all of NCAA Division I baseball.

CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR: Eastern Michigan nearly pulled off remarkable comebacks last week in a pair of games. Against Dayton, April 2, the Eagles trailed 7-0 through five innings before coming alive in the sixth with a pair of runs. Eastern kept the momentum going with four runs in the seventh to make it a one-run ballgame, 7-6. However, the umpires decided to call the game after the Eagles were retired in the seventh due to darkness, giving the Flyers a one-run victory. Then, against Ball State, April 6, the Green and White rallied from down five to tie the game, scoring twice in the seventh and three times in the eighth. However, the Cardinals secured the win with a walk-off double in the ninth.

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 8-1 when leading after the sixth as well as 2-0 when tied with its opponent through the first two-thirds of the game. In contrast, Eastern is 0-18 when they are behind through six innings of play. Moreover, Eastern is currently outscoring the opposition, 23-12, in the sixth inning.

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 29 games in right field to total 157 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 157 consecutive starts rank sixth in that category behind: Ryan Lindemuth, William & Mary (201); Justin Glass, Cincinnati (198); Ethan Gross, Memphis (184); Ross Kivett, Kansas State (183); Nick Favatella, Rutgers (172).

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 .295 clip with Eagles on the base path, including a .310 average with the bases loaded. When the bases are empty, Eastern is hitting .227 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 April 7, 2014, Longo is 27th in the nation in doubles with 12, just five shy of the country's leader in Pepperdine's Hutton Moyer. Overall, the two-time MAC West Player of the Week is 30th nationally in doubles per game. Not only do Longo's doubles per game rank 30th in the country, but he also is one of the team leaders in multiple hitting categories, pacing the Green and White in batting average (.371), hits (39), RBI (26), total bases (54), hit by pitch (9) and on base percentage (.433). Another impressive stat is Longo's clutch hitting; with two outs in the inning, he has hit at a .556 clip with 16 RBI.

TAKING ON THE M'S: EMU 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 will have a home-and-home series with the University of Michigan 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.

Eastern Michigan Athletics

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