Eagles Travel to East Lansing for Mid-Week Contest Against Michigan State

EAST LANSING, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University baseball team will look to defeat Michigan State University for the second time this season as the Eagles travel to East Lansing for a mid-week non-conference showdown with the Spartans. The Green and White is coming off a pair of losses at Northern Illinois last Sunday, April 26, as the Huskies claimed both games of the doubleheader to win the Mid-American Conference series.
    First pitch against the Spartans is set for 3:05 p.m. at McLane Baseball Stadium at Kobs Field. Fans that cannot attend the game listen live on the airwaves of Eagle All-Access with veteran play-by-play voice of the Eagles Chad Bush and Greg Steiner on the call.

THE SERIES: Eastern Michigan and Michigan State will be squaring off on the diamond for the 133rd time on Wednesday afternoon, with the Spartans holding a 74-56-2 all-time series advantage.
    The Eagles snapped a three-game losing streak to the Spartans this season, defeating MSU by a final score of 10-5, April 1, at Oestrike Stadium.

ON THE MOUND: Head Coach Mark Van Ameyde and the Eagles have announced that RHP Brent Mattson (1-1, 7.75 ERA) will get the start on the hill against the Spartans on Wednesday. It will be Mattson's fourth start of his freshman campaign. The Spartans will start LHP Keegan Baar (0-0, 2.89 ERA) on the bump.

SCOUTING MICHIGAN STATE: Michigan State enters the week with an overall record of 25-17 and a conference mark of 9-6 in the Big Ten, which places them in sixth. The Spartans, ranked No. 31 in the latest RPI poll, are coming off a doubleheader sweep at Indiana University Sunday, April 26, as MSU took 2-of-3 from the Hoosiers in the weekend series.
    The Spartans are hitting .286 as a team, with four regular starters over the .300 mark. Cam Gibson leads the way, hitting at a .325 clip with a team-high 54 hits, 44 runs scored, and 15 stolen bases. Ryan Krill (.322), Mark Weist (.318), and Anthony Cheky (.315) are also hitting over the .300 mark on the season, while Krill is leading the team in home runs and RBI with six and 38, respectively.
    On the hill, the MSU pitching staff has compiled a team ERA of 3.87. Wednesday's starter, Keegan Baar will be making his second start of the season and sixth appearance overall. Baar has an ERA of 2.89 and has racked up 10 strikeouts in 9.1 innings pitched for the Spartans.

LAST TIME WE MET: Eastern Michigan and Michigan State met earlier this season, April 1, at Oestrike Stadium. The Eagles pounded out a then-season-high 13 hits in the contest to defeat the Spartans by a final score of 10-5. Senior John Rubino went 4-for-5 at the plate with a pair of runs scored while Jordan Peterson recorded three hits and one RBI in the contest. Freshman Kyle Huckaby was credited with his first collegiate victory after not allowing an earned run and pitching the first three innings. Sam Delaplane closed out the victory, pitching a perfect 1.2 innings with three strike outs to snap a four-game losing streak to MSU.

LOOKING FOR TWO IN A ROW: Eastern Michigan is looking to defeat Michigan State for the second consecutive time on Wednesday afternoon. The last time EMU defeated MSU in back-to-back meetings was during the 1998 and 1999 seasons. The Eagles are also looking to defeat the Spartans twice in the same season since the 1989 campaign.

EAGLE/SPARTAN TIES: Eastern Michigan Head Coach Mark Van Ameyde will be returning to his old stomping grounds when the Eagles travel to East Lansing Wednesday. Van Ameyde was an assistant coach for the Spartans for the past six seasons before returning to Ypsilanti to take the head job at EMU. Michigan State is led by sixth year Head Coach Jake Boss Jr. Boss took the head job at MSU after leading the Eagles to a MAC West and Tournament Championship as well as an appearance in the NCAA Regionals in 2008. Boss was an assistant coach at EMU for seven seasons before taking the assistant job at Michigan for three years before returning to Eastern in 2008.

GOING THE DISTANCE: Senior Charlie Land tossed his first career complete game against Northern Illinois University in the series opener against the Huskies Friday, April 24, as the Green and White blanked the Huskies by a final score of 8-0. Land was stout in his 10th start of his senior campaign, shutting out the Huskies and allowing just four hits while striking out four. NIU had just six men reach base and never had a base runner get to third. At one point during the game, Land had retired 13-straight Huskies. After allowing a pair of singles in the bottom of the ninth, Land got a 6-4-3 double play to finish the complete game shutout and preserve the eight-run victory for the Eagles. Land's complete game was the second of the season for the Eagles, as Jake Andrews went the distance against Saint Mary's in a 5-1 victory on Feb. 22. Land was the first EMU pitcher to toss a complete game shutout since the 2012 season when Steve Weber blanked Ball State 4-0, April 21.

LAND NAMED MAC WEST PITCHER OF THE WEEK: Following his first career complete game, Charlie Land was named MAC West Tri-Pitcher of the Week, April 27. Land and the Eagles blanked the Huskies by a final score of 8-0 in the series opener. The award is the first of the senior's career, but the third from the Eagles pitching staff this season. Land shares the accolade with Western Michigan's Keegan Akin and Toledo's Steven Calhoun, who also pitched complete game victories over the weekend. Jake Andrews and Sam Delaplane each captured MAC West Pitcher of the Week honors earlier in the season for Eastern Michigan.

NOTABLE STREAKS: Senior John Rubino has continued his solid play at the dish for the Green and White, as he ran his hitting streak out to 11-straight games and reached base streak to a new career-high 18 games following this weekend's action at Northern Illinois. Rubino recorded a pair of multi-performances against the Huskies as well to run his multiple hit game total to 12 games. Junior Mitchell McGeein also extended his reached base streak to 18 games over the weekend against the Huskies.

JUST A SINGLE SHORT: Junior Mitchell McGeein had a big day at the plate for the Eagles in the series opener against Northern Illinois Friday afternoon, April 24, as he fell just a single shy of hitting for the cycle. McGeein was 3-for-5 with a run scored and 2 RBI while recording a double, triple, and home run. The homer was his league-leading 10th of the season. McGeein leads the team in doubles (12), homers (10), RBI (30), total bases (92), and slugging percentage (.571).

ON DECK FOR THE EAGLES: Following the mid-week showdown against the Spartans, the Eagles get back into MAC play with another three-game road series this weekend, May 1-3, at Miami University. The series against the RedHawks gets underway Friday evening, May 1, with first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m. at McKie Field at Hayden Park.

Eagles Travel to East Lansing for Mid-Week Contest Against Michigan State

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Players Mentioned

Jake Andrews

Sam Delaplane

Kyle Huckaby

Charlie Land

Brent Mattson

Mitchell McGeein

Jordan Peterson

John Rubino

Steve Weber

Eastern Michigan Athletics