Baseball Set to Battle Santa Clara

Complete Notes

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University baseball team has split both series thus far on its 10-game swing in the state of California against Saint Mary's and UC Davis. The Eagles look to claim their first series victory of the season and end the road trip with a winning record when the Green and White take on Santa Clara University in a four-game set this weekend, Feb. 27-March 1.
    Eastern and the Broncos will begin the series on Friday, Feb. 27, at 6 p.m. PT before starting a doubleheader at 3 p.m. PT on Saturday afternoon. The Eagles will conclude the series with Santa Clara Sunday, March 1, at Stephen Schott Stadium at 12 p.m. PT.

THE SERIES: Eastern Michigan and Santa Clara will be meeting on the diamond for the first time in 2015.
    The Broncos are the second West Coast Conference opponent the Eagles have faced this season, as EMU split a four-game series at St. Mary's College, Feb. 20-22.
    The four contests conclude a stretch of 10-straight in the state of California for the Green and White. Live video and statistics of the games can be found on SantaClaraBroncos.com.

ON THE MOUND: Eastern will go with the same rotation this weekend as its four-game series against St. Mary's with Ryan Lavoie (1-1, 3.46 ERA) getting the nod to start the series on Friday, Feb. 27. Charlie Land (0-1, 6.10 ERA) takes the mound for the first game of the doubleheader on Saturday, Feb. 28, while Head Coach Mark Van Ameyde has yet to announce a starter for the nightcap. Senior Jake Andrews (1-1, 0.61 ERA) will get the ball for the series finale on Sunday, Feb. 29, after throwing the Green and White's first complete game against the Gaels, Feb. 22, since Brian Hill against Western Michigan, Apr. 19, 2013.
    Santa Clara will send out junior Jacob Steffens (1-1, 4.50 ERA) in game one of the series, Feb. 27. Steven Wilson (0-0, 4.50 ERA) gets the ball for the Broncos in the first game of the doubleheader, Feb. 28, while Peter Hendron (1-0, 5.40 ERA) takes the hill for the nightcap. Senior southpaw Evan Brisentine (0-0, 2.70 ERA) gets the start in the series finale, Feb. 29.

LEADING THE CONFERENCE: Junior Mitchell McGeein leads the Mid-American Conference with three long balls heading into play on Friday, Feb. 27. McGeein hit his first homer of the 2015 campaign in the series finale against Arizona, Feb. 15, before belting a pair of home runs in the first two games of the series against Saint Mary's, Feb. 20-21. The Calgary, Alberta native is hitting .279 with a team-best .576 slugging percentage while starting in all nine games at third base. He heads into the series against the Broncos supporting a seven-game hitting streak.

MUTUAL OPPONENT: Eastern Michigan and Santa Clara have both faced the UC Davis Aggies in the early non-conference portion of their schedules. EMU is coming off a two-game split against the Aggies, while UC Davis defeated the Broncos, Feb. 17 at the Dobbins Baseball Complex by a final score of 4-1.

TAKING A LOOK AT THE BRONCOS: Santa Clara enters the weekend series with a record of 4-3, having won its previous three games. The Broncos swept the visiting Cincinnati Bearcats in a three-game series last weekend, Feb. 20-21, at Stephen Schott Stadium.
    SCU opened its season on the road in Nashville, Tenn. with a three-game series against the defending national champion and No. 1 Vanderbilt Commodores. Vanderbilt blanked Santa Clara in the first game 4-0, but the Broncos responded by winning the first game of a doubleheader, Feb. 14, before losing a 5-2 lead in the nightcap and falling 6-5 in 10 innings in the finale.
    The Broncos have five batters hitting over .300 to begin the 2015 campaign, including a trio of guys hitting .400 or better. Junior Kyle Cortopassi leads the team with a .444 average, while recording three doubles and five RBI. Shortstop Jose Vizcaino, Jr. enters the series with an even .400 average and leads the team in runs (8), hits (10), homeruns (2), RBI (8), and slugging percentage (.760). Vizcaino comes from a baseball family as his dad and uncle were both MLB players.
    As a pitching staff, the Broncos have compiled an ERA of 4.87. Kevin George (0-0, 5.40 ERA) leads the team in appearances with five while Jacob Steffens, Steven Wilson, and Peter Hendron have all made a pair of starts and have each given up six earned runs in those starts.

BIG MIKE DELIVERS AT THE PLATE: Redshirt-sophomore Michael Mioduszewski was 4-for-7 in the brief two-game midweek set at UC Davis, Feb. 24-25. He scored a pair of runs and drove one in the first game before scoring another run and knocking in the game-winner in the eighth inning of game two. Mioduszewski drilled a 1-1 pitch through the box in the top of the eighth against the Aggies, Feb. 25, to give the Eagles a 3-2 lead. EMU went on to win the game 4-2, to salvage the split against UC Davis. The Dexter, Mich. native bumped his average up to .227 entering the series against Santa Clara.

FIRST COLLEGIATE STARTS: A pair of EMU freshman pitchers made their first collegiate starts in the series against UC Davis. Brent Mattson was given the ball in game one, while Kyle Huckaby took the hill for the Eagles in the second game. Mattson went five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and striking out two. Huckaby was solid as well, going 6.2 innings while giving up only one earned run and striking out three.

ANDREWS NAMED MAC WEST PITCHER OF THE WEEK: EMU pitcher Jake Andrews was named the MAC West Pitcher of the Week on Monday, Feb. 23. The award was the first of his career and the first of the season for the Eagles. The last member of the Green and White to earn pitcher of the week accolades was in 2012, when Steve Weber was named the MAC West Co-Pitcher of the Week, May 7. Andrews tossed a complete game victory over St. Mary's, Feb. 23, allowing just one run on five hits while striking out five. In two starts this year, the Chandler, Ariz. native has thrown a team-high 14.2 innings with an ERA of 0.61 and is holding opponents to just a .222 batting average against.

GAME TO REMEMBER: Head Coach Mark Van Ameyde picked up his first win in memorable fashion on Friday, Feb. 20, against the Gaels. EMU held a 2-1 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth, needing just three outs to record Van Ameyde's first victory. Saint Mary's put runners on second and third with one out, when the SMC coaching staff decided to go with the suicide squeeze on a 2-2 count. The batter missed the bunt attempt, striking out, and catcher Tony DiLeo was able to put the tag on the runner for the final out of the game to preserve the one-run victory.

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Players Mentioned

Jake Andrews

Tony DiLeo

Kyle Huckaby

Charlie Land

Ryan Lavoie

Brent Mattson

Mitchell McGeein

Mike Mioduszewski

Steve Weber

Eastern Michigan Athletics