Eagles Host Wayne State for In-State Contest

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University baseball team hosts in-state foe Wayne State University in a non-conference matchup Wednesday afternoon, March 25, at Oestrike Stadium. The Eagles are coming off a 1-2 weekend against the University of Akron in the Green and White's first Mid-American Conference series, while the Warriors are coming off a four-game split in their first conference series as well against Walsh University. First pitch between the Eagles and Warriors is slated for 5 p.m.

THE SERIES: Eastern Michigan and Wayne State will be meeting on the diamond for the 78th time on Wednesday, with the Eagles holding a 56-21 series advantage.
    The teams last met in 2010 with the Eagles claiming both matchups against WSU. EMU defeated Wayne State in Detroit by a final score of 10-8 in 10 innings, March 23, before defeating the Warriors 6-4 at Oestrike Stadium, Apr. 6.
    The teams first met in 1951, which was just the third season of EMU baseball. The Eagles won all three matchups against the Warriors that season.

GAME TIME CHANGE: First pitch between the Eagles and Warriors has been pushed back an hour from the original start time of 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Oestrike Stadium.

ON THE MOUND: Head Coach Mark Van Ameyde and the Eagles announced freshman Brent Mattson will make the start against the Warriors Wednesday afternoon. Mattson has made three appearances this season, including a pair of starts at UC Davis and Indiana. The 6-6 righty is 0-1 on the season with an ERA of 9.82.

SCOUTING WAYNE STATE: Wayne State enters the game Wednesday with an overall record of 7-9 and a 1-3 mark in conference play. The Warriors opened up GLIAC play last weekend, splitting a four-game series at Walsh University.
    As a team, WSU is hitting at a .290 clip led by freshman infielder Bradley Baldwin. Baldwin is hitting .361 with nine RBI in his first collegiate season. Redshirt-sophomore Griffin Harms is having a solid season at the plate as well for the Warriors, hitting .333 with a team-high two home runs and a .526 slugging percentage. Left-handed pitcher and first baseman Kyle Zimmerman leads the team in RBI with 16 and is hitting .310 while making four starts on the mound for the Warriors.
    On the mound, Wayne State has compiled a team ERA of 4.94 and is allowing opponents to hit .280. The Warriors have had seven different pitchers make a start this season, led by Alex Kinch and Zimmerman, who have each made four. Redshirt-senior southpaw Jeff Sorenson has made a team-high six appearances and has an ERA of 3.38 to go with his 1-1 record. WSU's staff has struck out 104 batters in 122 innings pitched thus far this season.

ALL-TIME AGAINST THE GLIAC: Eastern Michigan has squared off against teams currently in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) 197 times, compiling a record of 157-39-1. The most common GLIAC opponent for the Eagles has been Wayne State University as the two schools have met on the diamond on 77 different occasions. EMU has squared off against in-state foe Hillsdale College 59 times and holds a 49-9-1 series advantage over the Chargers. Other GLIAC schools the Green and White has faced are Ferris State University (14-0), University of Findlay (5-0), Grand Valley State University (6-3), Malone University (1-0), Northwood University (16-0), Ohio Dominican University (5-2), and Saginaw Valley State University (5-4).

EAGLES ADD GAME AT MICHIGAN, APRIL 7: Eastern Michigan will now play the University of Michigan three times this season. The Eagles and Wolverines have added a single game Tuesday, April 7, at the Wilpon Complex with first pitch scheduled for 4 p.m. Stay tuned to EMUEagles.com for future baseball schedule changes.

LAND DEALS AGAINST THE ZIPS: Senior Charlie Land picked up the victory for the Eagles in the middle game of the series against the Zips Saturday, March 21, at Oestrike Stadium. Land pitched into the eighth inning, allowing only one earned run on seven hits while striking out three. Land recorded the first victory of his senior campaign in the outing and has stuck out at least three batters in every start this seaon.

FRIENDLY CONFINES OF OESTRIKE STADIUM: Since the opening of Oestrike Stadium in 1971, the Eastern Michigan baseball team has posted an all-time record of 500-348-2 (.589) at its home stadium. The home of EMU baseball was built the year following Eastern Michigan's NAIA Collegiate National Championship and four years before its back-to-back NCAA World Series appearances. The stadium is named after EMU Hall of Fame Coach Ron Oestrike, who coached Eastern Michigan from 1965-1987 and collected 657 wins, which is the most by any EMU head coach.

PROVIDING THE LONG BALL: Junior Mitchell McGeein has blasted seven home runs in the Eagles' first 21 contests. McGeein leads the MAC in that category and is tied for ninth among all NCAA Division I hitters entering this week's play. Toledo's A.J. Montoya is in second-place in the MAC with his four long balls. As a team, Ball State leads the conference with 13 homers while the Green and White is right behind with 11 round trippers this season.

MOVING UP THE ALL-TIME RANKS: Senior John Rubino has been a staple in the Eagles' lineup since he stepped foot on campus for his freshman season in 2012. The Scottsdale, Ariz. native has played in 168 career games, starting in 156 of them for the Green and White. Rubino currently ranks 14th in the EMU record book in steals (40) and is tied for 17th in career at bats (615). The infielder needs just four hits to crack into the top-25 in the career hits category and nine runs to rank in the top-20 for career runs scored.

BATTING IN WINS AND LOSSES: In the Eagles' seven victories this season, the Green and White has a team batting average of .323 and has scored 33 runs which is good for 4.7 runs per contest. EMU is batting over 100 points lower in the 14 losses, however, batting at a .204 clip while only scoring 2.5 runs per game.

ON DECK FOR THE EAGLES: Following the midweek contest against Wayne State, the Eagles will hit the road for their first road Mid-American Conference series of the season. EMU travels to Kent, Ohio for a three-game set against Kent State University. The series gets underway Friday, March 27, at 6 p.m. with game two scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. Saturday, March 28. The Golden Flashes and Eagles conclude the series Sunday, March 29, with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

Charlie Land

Brent Mattson

Mitchell McGeein

John Rubino

Eastern Michigan Athletics