Eagles Travel to Oxford for Final Conference Road Games of the Season

OXFORD, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) – With only three weekends left until the 2015 Mid-American Conference Tournament, the Eastern Michigan University baseball team travels to Oxford, Ohio for a big three-game series against Miami University this weekend, May 1-3. The Eagles and RedHawks are tied in the standings and both sit two games out of the eighth and final spot in the annual conference tournament.
    The series gets underway Friday night, May 1, with first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m. at McKie Field at Hayden Park. Game two is set for Saturday, May 2, at 3 p.m. while the series concludes at 1 p.m. on Sunday, May 3. Fans can follow live statistics on MURedHawks.com or can watch live for a fee on the RedHawks website.

THE SERIES: Eastern Michigan and Miami will be meeting on the diamond for the 108th time Friday evening, with the Eagles holding a 57-50 all-time series advantage.
    The RedHawks have claimed the last seven meetings between the two teams, dating back to the 2012 season. Eastern is looking for its first regular season series victory over Miami since taking two-of-three from the RedHawks during the 2012 season at Oestrike Stadium.

ON THE MOUND: Head Coach Mark Van Ameyde and the Eagles will run out a trio of seniors on the mound this weekend against the RedHawks. RHP Charlie Land (3-6, 4.12 ERA) will look to build off his first career complete game last weekend on Friday against RHP Gus Graham (0-3, 4.33 ERA). On Saturday, RHP Ryan Lavoie (2-4, 5.85 ERA) will matchup against RHP Jacob Banks (2-7, 4.23 ERA) while the series final on Sunday will see RHP Jake Andrews (2-4, 3.78 ERA) battle RHP Ryan Powers (4-7, 4.35 ERA).

SCOUTING MIAMI: Miami enters the weekend series with an overall record of 9-33 and a 7-11 mark in conference play. The RedHawks dropped both mid-week contests to Eastern Kentucky University this past week.
    At the plate, the RedHawks are hitting .251 as a team with three players over the .300 mark. Senior Matt Honchel leads the team with a .349 batting average and is also the biggest threat on the basepath with eight stolen bases on 10 attempts. Redshirt-sophomore Adam Yacek is having a solid season at the dish as well, hitting .315 with a team-high five home runs. Chad Sedio is the other RedHawk batting over .300, hitting at a .330 clip.
    On the mound, the RedHawks have the worst ERA in the league with a 5.76 mark. The three weekend starters for Miami have a combined record of 6-17 and all support ERA's over 4.23. RHP Will Schierholz has been the most consistent arm out of the bullpen, having appeared in 26 games. The senior is 1-2 with an ERA of 3.13 and has a team-high five saves on the season.

MID-WEEK REVIEW: The Eagles traveled to East Lansing on Wednesday, April 29, looking for their second-straight victory over in-state foe Michigan State. The Spartans used a six-run third and a five-run seventh to pull away from EMU and claim a 13-4 victory. Jordan Peterson and John Rubino were solid at the plate, as the one and two hitters in the lineup both collected three hits in the contest. The Green and White cut the deficit in half with a four-run seventh inning, but the Spartans responded with five runs themselves in the bottom half of the inning to pull away for the nine-run victory in Head Coach Mark Van Ameyde's first trip back to East Lansing since becoming the bench-boss at EMU last summer.

NOTABLE STREAKS: Second baseman John Rubino is making the most of his final opportunity in an Eagle uniform. The senior is currently riding a 12-game hitting streak in which he is hitting .396 (21-for-53) and has stolen 14-of-15 bases in that stretch. The 12-game hitting streak matches a career high. Rubino has also reached base in 19-straight games which is a career best for the Scottsdale, Ariz. native. Junior Mitchell McGeein also enters the weekend with a 19-game reached base streak. McGeein is just three games shy of matching his 22-game reached base streak which he set earlier this season.

LEADING THE CONFERENCE: As of April 27, junior Mitchell McGeein leads the MAC in several different offensive categories. McGeein is tops in the conference in slugging percentage (.571), home runs (10), and total bases (92). The Calgary, Alberta native also leads the team in runs (28), doubles (12), and walks (22).

NATIONAL RANKS: John Rubino's 26 stolen bases currently place the senior in a tie for 12th in the nation among all NCAA Division I players. Buffalo's Nick Sinay is atop of the country with 33 swipes this season. Mitchell McGeein also finds himself in the national ranks as the junior is tied for 35th amongst all NCAA Division I hitters with 10 home runs. There are six players tied for the nation's lead with 14 long balls on the season.

COUNTDOWN TO HISTORY: Senior John Rubino is on his way to setting the single season stolen base record at Eastern Michigan. Rubino currently has 26 stolen bases on the season, which put him in a tie for sixth all-time in the single season record book. He is just six swipes away from tying the single season record of 32 stolen bases that was set by Kyle Rhoad during the 2009 season. Rubino is currently ninth in EMU laurels with 62 career stolen bags.

BIG MIKE: Redshirt-sophomore outfielder Michael Mioduszewski has been a tough out at the plate in the last 15 games for the Green and White. Mioduszewski is hitting .345 with 11 RBI and seven runs scored in that stretch. The Dexter, Mich. native's best game came in the front end of a doubleheader against Ball State, April 18, as he finished with a career-high four hits and four runs driven in to help lead the Eagles to an 8-4 victory.

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.

ON DECK FOR THE EAGLES: Following the weekend series at Miami University, the Eagles close out their eight-game road trip with a mid-week matchup at Oakland University Tuesday, May 5. First pitch against the Golden Grizzlies is scheduled for 3 p.m. at the Oakland Baseball Field. The game against OU was added to the schedule due to several cancellations earlier in the season for EMU.

Eagles Travel to Oxford for Final Conference Road Games of the Season

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Players Mentioned

Jake Andrews

Sam Delaplane

Charlie Land

Ryan Lavoie

Mitchell McGeein

Mike Mioduszewski

Jordan Peterson

John Rubino

Eastern Michigan Athletics