Eagles Look to Avenge Earlier Season Loss to Spartans

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- In between playing Mid-American Conference in-state rivals Western Michigan University and Central Michigan University, the Eastern Michigan University baseball team will head to East Lansing, Mich. for its final non-conference game of the 2014 campaign. The Eagles will look to avenge an earlier season loss to the Michigan State University Spartans, May 7, at McLane Baseball Stadium at Kobs Field with a first pitch time scheduled for 3 p.m. On April 1, the Spartans downed Eastern, 5-3, at Oestrike Stadium.

SCOUTING THE SPARTANS: Michigan State is currently 24-20 on the season after getting swept by Illinois in Big Ten Conference play, May 2-4. Prior to hosting the Eagles, the Spartans travel to where EMU just came from, Kalamazoo, Mich., for a mid-week showdown against Western Michigan. Jimmy Pickens and Blaise Salter pace the Spartan bats as the top two in nearly every hitting category, including batting averages of .342 and .341, respectively. Both have provided power at the plate, but it has been Salter who boasts team bests in RBI (44), doubles (19), home runs (5) and slugging percentage (.545). Michigan State has a balanced lineup as six Spartans have each recorded 40-or-more hits as well as five scoring at least 20 runs throughout the season. MSU will not be an easy team to beat at home, posting an 11-2 record in its own friendly confines of McLane Baseball Stadium.

SEEKING REVENGE: The Eagles and Spartans will be meeting for the 131st time Wednesday. MSU holds a 73-55-2 advantage in the series. The Eagles have dropped three straight to the Spartans, including a 5-3 setback earlier this year on April 1 as both teams wore blue socks for "Knock Autism Out of the Park" night at Oestrike Stadium. The game's only runs were scored in the fourth inning. The EMU arms were able to strike out 14 Spartans on the evening, but also allowed 12 to reach base via walk or hit by pitch. Left-handers Devon Bronson and Ben Dartnell combined to pitch the final four innings, keeping Michigan State off the scoreboard. Dartnell threw the last 3.1 scoreless innings, striking out four and allowing four hits. Redshirt-freshman Michael Mioduszewski went 2-for-4 at the dish with an RBI, while four other Eagles recorded one hit apiece for their total of six. Michigan State tallied five runs on nine hits, leaving 13 runners on base throughout the contest. Right fielder Chase Toth led the MSU bats by going 3-for-4 with a double as well as a run and RBI. Two Spartans recorded a pair of hits, including Dan Durkin who also knocked in two runs.

LAST WEEK IN REVIEW: The Eagles posted a 2-3 mark last week by defeating Madonna, falling to Bowling Green and taking one-of-three from Western Michigan in a weekend MAC series. Against Madonna, April 29, EMU found themselves behind 7-0 but rallied to score 11 unanswered runs to pick up the program's 500th win at Oestrike Stadium, 11-7. In the 11-8 setback at the hands of the Falcons, April 30, the Eagles committed five errors that proved costly, leading to four unearned runs in a rare non-conference matchup against the Mid-American Conference foe. After splitting a pair of mid-week matchups, Eastern looked to continue its recent success versus the in-state rival Broncos. However, Western got two complete games out of its starting pitchers to claim the series. WMU took game one by a 5-1 tally, May 2, before the Eagles responded with a 6-3 victory to even the series, May 3. In the weekend win, John Rubino led the way at the plate with a 3-for-4 performance, while Paul Schaak limited the Broncos to two unearned runs on four hits. In the rubber match between the two squads, May 4, Western Michigan silenced the EMU bats for a 6-1 decision as the Eagles mustered only three hits thorughout the contest.

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 370 times, compiling a record of 141-224-5. Throughout the 2014 campaign, Head Coach Jay Alexander scheduled 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 177 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.

A FAMILIAR FACE IN THE OPPOSING DUGOUT: When the Eagles and Spartans take the field Wednesday, May 7, a familiar face to EMU will be in the MSU dugout. Michigan State is coached by Jake Boss, Jr., who is in his sixth season at the helm of the Spartans baseball program. Prior to coaching at MSU, Boss was the head man at Eastern Michigan, leading the Eagles to the team's fourth MAC Tournament Championship in 2008. That season, Boss led the Eagles to a 24-34 record and a 15-8 mark in MAC games.

NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS: Despite their struggles in MAC play, the Eagles have found success in non-conference matchups, sporting a record of 13-12 this season. EMU knocked off then-No. 13 Clemson University to kick off the season, while also defeating Big Ten opponents Michigan and Northwestern through the middle portion of the 2014 campaign. As a team, the Green and White is hitting at a .282 clip in non-conference action compared to its overall season team batting average of .268. While three Eagles are hitting over .300 on the season, six EMU sluggers are hitting at that rate against non-conference competition. Lee Longo leads all Eagles with a .409 average in those contests as John Rubino follows at .354. Sam Ott is a regular at batting better than .300, but Mitchell McGeein (.323), Michael Mioduszewski (.321) and Nick Rotola (.318) all hit better in non-conference games.

FINDING THE NATIONAL RANKS: The EMU sluggers have found the charts in the the latest national rankings (May 5, 2014). The Eagles rank eighth in the nation in stolen bases (83), trailing nation-leading Wofford with 126. In terms of total doubles, EMU's 87 two-base hits are 37th in the country, while the Eagles' 1.89 doubles per game rank 38th nationally. Head Coach Jay Alexander's squad leads the MAC in base on balls with 199, a mark that stands at No. 40 in NCAA Division I baseball. Tallying 5.9 runs per game, the Green and White is the 58th-best scoring team in the nation, moving up 25 spots from last week. Eastern also cracks the top-60 in triples, settling in at No. 57 with 13 on the season.

DOUBLING DOWN: Two current Eagles are climbing up the program's all-time doubles list. Seniors Lee Longo and Sam Ott have recorded 50 and 49 doubles throughout their careers at Eastern, respectively, ranking fourth and fifth in EMU laurels. Longo leads the team in doubles this season with 17 while Ott has smacked 11 two-baggers throughout the 2014 campaign. The duo is chasing Derrick Peterson, who sits in third with 54 career doubles, looking to reach his total before season's end. Eastern Michigan hit king Zack Leonard holds the all-time record with 63 doubles during his four-year career.

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 13-3 when leading after the sixth as well as 4-1 when tied with its opponent through the first two-thirds of the game. In contrast, the Eagles are 0-25 when they are behind through six innings of play. Moreover, Eastern is currently outscoring the opposition, 46-20, 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 .367 average at the plate, the Mayfield, Ohio native thrives in pressure situations. With runners in scoring position, Longo is batting an impressive .484 (31-for-64), including a .733 clip of knocking in the runner on third with less than two outs (11-for-15). Another impressive stat is Longo's clutch hitting; with two outs in the inning as he has hit at an incredible .491 rate (28-for-57) with 22 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 46 games in right field to total 174 straight starts and counting for the EMU redshirt-senior. Ott is one-of-20 NCAA Division I baseball players that boasts an active streak of over 150 starts. His 174 consecutive starts rank fifth in that category behind: Justin Glass, Cincinnati (214); Ethan Gross, Memphis (203); Ross Kivett, Kansas State (200); Nick Favatella, Rutgers (190).

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 .327 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 final season as an Eagle. He is the team leader in multiple hitting categories, pacing the Green and White in batting average (.367), hits (62), RBI (42), total bases (86), doubles (17), hit by pitch (13), slugging percentage (.509) and on-base percentage (.444). Moreover, Longo's stats have found the top of the Mid-American Conference rankings. The EMU slugger is tied with Kent State's Zarley Zalewski as the MAC's leading hitter with a .367 batting average. Meanwhile, he ranks third in the MAC in doubles and fourth in RBI, hits and on-base percentage. Longo is also fifth in hit by pitch, getting plunked 13 times throughout this season.

EXTRA-INNING AFFAIRS: EMU baseball has played six extra-inning contests this year, holding a 2-4 record in games extending past the ninth inning. The Eagles started the season with a 6-5 victory over nationally-ranked Clemson, Feb. 14, in a 10-inning ballgame. In Eastern's most recent game that went extras, April 30, the Green and White dropped an 11-8 decision to Bowling Green in 10 innings. EMU is just one-of-30 teams in NCAA Division I baseball to have competed in at least six extra-inning affairs throughout the 2014 campaign thus far. Southern Illinois has played in the most baseball games needing extra innings with 11, while Hartford, Central Floria and UConn follow with nine games apiece.

FINAL HOMESTAND OF THE 2014 SEASON: The Green and White wraps up the home portion of the schedule with a three-game set against rival Central Michigan University, May 9-11. The series begins Friday, May 9, at 6 p.m. under the lights of Oestrike Stadium. The following day, May 10, eight seniors will be recognized on the field before the game as part of Senior Day festivities; first pitch for Saturday afternoon is slated for 3 p.m. The final game at Oestrike Stadium for the 2014 campaign will be Military Appreciation Day as well as a Mother's Day celebration. The Eagles and Chippewas will take the diamond for the series finale at 1 p.m., May 11.

Eastern Michigan Athletics

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