Baseball Prepped for Pair of Mid-Week Contests

Michigan: Live Stats // Bowling Green: Live Stats Live Audio

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – After claiming the first series victory of the season, the Eastern Michigan University baseball team heads into this week having won three of its last four games. After dropping a game at the University of Notre Dame, the Eagles posted a 10-5 victory over Michigan State University before taking two out of three from Western Michigan University in their weekend Mid-American Conference series.
    The Eagles make the trip to Ann Arbor Tuesday, April 7, before hosting Bowling Green at Oestrike Stadium Wednesday night, April 8. First pitch against the Wolverines is scheduled for 4 p.m. while the rare non-conference matchup against the Falcons is slated to begin at 6 p.m. Fans can listen to the game against BGSU live on the airwaves of Eagle All-Access.

THE SERIES: Eastern Michigan and Michigan will be meeting on the diamond for the 178th time Tuesday, with the Wolverines holding a 112-63-2 series advantage. The Eagles have won the last seven matchups against their Washtenaw County neighbor.
    Eastern and Bowling Green will be squaring off for the 164th time Wednesday night, with the Eagles leading the all-time series 93-70. The Falcons claimed the teams non-conference matchup last year at Oestrike Stadium in extra innings by a final score of 11-8, April 30.

LISTEN LIVE ON EAGLE ALL-ACCESS: Fans that cannot attend the game against BGSU Wednesday evening can listen live on the airwaves of Eagle All-Access free of charge at EMUEagles.com/watch. Veteran play-by-play voice of the Eagles Chad Bush and Greg Steiner will have the call beginning at 5:50 p.m.

ALL-TIME AGAINST THE BIG TEN: In the 66-year history of the Eastern Michigan baseball program, the Eagles have faced off against members of the Big Ten Conference 374 times, compiling a record of 142-227-5. Throughout the 2015 campaign, Head Coach Mark Van Ameyde and his team are scheduled to face three different opponents from the Big Ten: Indiana, Michigan, and Michigan State. Washtenaw County neighbor Michigan has been the Eagles' most common Big Ten opponent as the two have met on the diamond 177 times. EMU and Michigan State have clashed on 131 different occasions, while the Eagles and Indiana have squared off in seven meetings now.

LOOKING TO CONTINUE THE WINNING STREAK: The Eagles have defeated the University of Michigan in the teams past seven meetings, dating back to the 2011 season. The Wolverines last defeated the Eagles in the Oestrike Classic March 20, 2011. During the streak, Eastern has recorded three wins at the Wilpon Complex in Ann Arbor including a 4-3 extra inning victory last season, April 16.

SCOUTING MICHIGAN: The Wolverines enter the contest having won six of their last seven games and carry an overall record of 18-13. Michigan has posted two series victories the past two weekends over the University of Maryland and Indiana University.
    Michigan enters the mid-week contest with a team batting average of .294. The Wolverines have four batters hitting over .300 led by senior outfielder Jackson Glines who is hitting a team-best .368. The other Wolverines hitting over .300 are Carmen Benedetti (.339), Jacob Cronenworth (.331), and Cody Bruder (.300). Cronenworth leads the team with four home runs while Benedetti has driven in a team-high 34 runs in 31 games for the Maize and Blue.
    On the hill, the Wolverines have compiled a team ERA of 3.68. The staff has recorded 236 strikeouts in 264 innings. Mac Lozer and Bryan Pall are the first ones out of the bullpen having pitched in 13 and 12 games, respectively.

TAKING A LOOK AT BOWLING GREEN: The Falcons enter the game with an overall record of 9-17 and are coming off a series victory over Miami University last weekend.
    The Falcons are hitting .274 as a team led by sophomore Greg Basalyga who is hitting a team-best .354. Trey Keegan (.322), Matt Smith (.315), and Addison Rospert (.300) are also hitting over .300 for BGSU. Keegan has knocked in a team-high 21 runs and has also scored 27 runs, which leads the team.
    On the mound, the Falcons have a team ERA of 5.69. Brett Fitzwater, Andrew Lacinak and Devin Daugherty have collected a pair of wins this season. Daugherty has appeared in a team-high 12 games out of the bullpen for the Falcons.

VICTORY OVER MSU: Eastern Michigan defeated Michigan State by a final score of 10-5 at Oestrike Stadium Wednesday night, April 1. It was the first time the Eagles have defeated the Spartans since the 2012 season when EMU posted a 13-5 victory over MSU in East Lansing, April 11. It also marks the first victory for first-year head coach Mark Van Ameyde over his old team. Van Ameyde was an assistant coach at Michigan State for the past six seasons before taking the head coaching job at Eastern.

COMEBACK VICTORY: Eastern Michigan trailed by scores of 5-0 and 6-1 before coming all the way back to defeat Western Michigan in game two of the series, Saturday, April 4, at Oestrike Stadium. The Broncos took a 6-1 lead in the top of the sixth, but the Eagles responded four runs in the bottom half of the inning to pull within one. The Green and White then added two more in the bottom of the eighth to take its first lead of the game and then was able to hold on in the top of the ninth to secure the 7-6 victory.

LAND DEALS IN DEFEAT: Senior Charlie Land was stellar once again for the third straight game, but this time took the loss. Land (2-4) tossed a career-high 8.2 innings before being pulled from the game after throwing 120 pitches. He gave up four hits, two runs, and struck out a season-high seven strikeouts. The seven strikeouts matches Sam Delaplane's seven against Santa Clara, March 1, for the team-high in punch outs in a game this season. The righty is now 2-1 in three conference starts with a 2.22 ERA and is allowing opponents to only hit at a .226 clip against him.

KNOCKING IT AROUND THE PARK: The Eagles collected a season-high 16 hits in the 11-10 series finale victory over Western Michigan on Easter Sunday, April 5, at Oestrike Stadium. John Rubino led the way with his second four-hit performance of the week while Mitchell McGeein (2-for-3), Jordan Peterson (2-for-4), Michael Mioduszewski (2-for-5), and Adam Dennison (2-for-3) each collected multiple hit performances as well. All nine starters reached base in the game and eight different Eagles scored runs.

ALL EAGLES FLOCK TO ANN ARBOR ON APRIL 7TH: The Eastern Michigan baseball team added a game against the University of Michigan Tuesday, April 7, at the Wilpon Complex with first pitch scheduled for 4 p.m. The Eagles softball team is scheduled to play in Ann Arbor Tuesday as well, taking on the Wolverines in a 6 p.m. contest at the Wilpon Complex.

FAMILY TIES: Eastern Michigan and Bowling Green will be squaring off for the first of two meetings this season Wednesday, April 8, at Oestrike Stadium. The Falcons are coached by former EMU baseball student-athlete Danny Schmitz. Danny Schmitz is the father of first year Eastern Michigan assistant coach, Spencer Schmitz. Schmitz played for his father at BGSU before beginning his coaching career. He was an assistant coach under his father for six years (2008-2013) before serving as the assistant at the University of Akron last season.

ON DECK FOR THE EAGLES: Following the mid-week games against Michigan and Bowling Green, the Eagles travel to Mount Pleasant for a three-game Mid-American Conference series with Central Michigan University. The series gets underway Friday, April 10, with first pitch scheduled for 3:05 p.m. at Theunissen Stadium. The teams continue the three-game set Saturday, April 11, at 2:05 p.m. before concluding the series Sunday, April 12, at 1:05 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

Sam Delaplane

Adam Dennison

Charlie Land

Mitchell McGeein

Mike Mioduszewski

Jordan Peterson

John Rubino

Eastern Michigan Athletics