Eagles Travel to Mt. Pleasant for Weekend MAC Series

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MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – Winners of four of their last six games, the Eastern Michigan University baseball team will look to claim its second consecutive Mid-American Conference series victory this weekend when the Eagles travel to Central Michigan University for a three-game series. EMU took the final two games last weekend, April 3-5, to win the series over Western Michigan University at Oestrike Stadium.
    The series gets underway Friday afternoon, April 10, at 3:05 p.m. with the middle game to begin at 2:05 p.m. Saturday, April 11. The teams conclude the series Sunday, April 12, with first pitch scheduled for 1:05 p.m. at Theunissen Stadium. Live statistics will be available all series with live video also available for a charge on CMUChippewas.com.

THE SERIES: Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan will be meeting on the diamond for the 155th time on Friday, with the Chippewas holding a 89-65 all-time series advantage.
    The teams last met a season ago with CMU claiming a three-game sweep at Oestrike Stadium, May 9-11. The Eagles last trip to Mount Pleasant resulted in a 2-1 series victory for the Chippewas.

ON THE MOUND: Head Coach Mark Van Ameyde and the Eagles announced two of their probable starting pitchers for this weekend's games at Central Michigan. Senior Charlie Land (2-4, 3.47 ERA) will get the ball in the series opener on Friday against LHP Nick Deeg (5-2, 1.73 ERA) while Jake Andrews (2-2, 2.28 ERA) will square off against RHP Sean Renzi (0-1, 2.75 ERA) in the second game on Saturday. The Eagles have not named a starting pitcher for the series finale on Sunday, as CMU will start LHP Adam Aldred (2-1, 3.79 ERA).

SCOUTING CENTRAL MICHIGAN: Central Michigan enters the weekend series with an overall record of 21-12 and a 7-2 mark in Mid-American Conference play. The Chippewas defeated Oakland University by a final score of 12-4 Wednesday, April 8, and have now won eight out of their last 11 games.
    At the plate, the Chippewas are hitting .262 as a team led by junior outfielder Logan Regnier who is batting a team-best .360. Regnier leads the team in hits (41), doubles (8), triples (5), RBI (27), total bases (62), and slugging percentage (.544). Senior Pat MacKenzie (.339) and sophomore Alex Borglin (.312) are also hitting over .300 for CMU.
    On the mound, CMU has compiled a team ERA of 3.26 and is allowing opponents to hit at a .249 clip. The three weekend starters for the Chippewas have been solid all year long, having a combined record of 7-4. Nick Deeg has made a team-high eight starts and is 5-2 with a 1.73 ERA while holding opponents to a .211 batting average against. Senior closer Tim Black has made 14 appearances out of the bullpen and has racked up eight saves.

MID-WEEK REVIEW: The Eagles took to the field against the University of Michigan Tuesday, April 7, at the Wilpon Complex in Ann Arbor. The Wolverines put on an impressive offensive performance to defeat the Eagles by a final score of 18-4. The Green and White had defeated its Washtenaw County rival the previous seven meetings before Tuesday's matchup. Tony DiLeo was the lone Eagle to record multiple hits (2-for-4), while Adam Dennison finished 1-for-2 with two RBI. The Eagles and Wolverines are scheduled for two more meetings this season in Ann Arbor, April 15 and May 12.
    EMU responded the next night, however, defeating Bowling Green State University in a rare non-conference matchup at Oestrike Stadium Wednesday night, April 8. The Falcons jumped on the board early with a first inning run but the Green and White scored four unanswered runs, including a three-run sixth inning, to claim a 4-1 victory. Kyle Huckaby and Matthew Beaton combined to give up no earned runs and allowed only three hits. Beaton picked up his first career save, pitching a hitless final 2.2 innings with three strikeouts. Adam Dennison led the offense with three hits and one RBI.

NOTABLE STREAKS: Redshirt-senior Adam Dennison ran his hitting streak to nine games and his reached base streak to 10 with a 3-for-3 performance against BGSU Wednesday night, April 8. The nine-game hitting streak is a career long for Dennison. During the streak, he is batting .467 (14-for-30) and has driven in six runs. Tony DiLeo enters the weekend with a five-game hitting streak while Mitchell McGeein, Jordan Peterson, and John Rubino have all reached base in seven-straight games.

BEGINNING TO FIND HIS GROOVE: John Rubino did not get off to the start he wanted in his final season for the Green and White, but the senior has picked it up in the last 10 games. Rubino has recorded three four-hit performances over that span and has collected 16 hits. He is hitting at a .364 clip, while scoring seven runs, knocking in five, and recording four doubles.

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.

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 179 games, starting in 167 of them for the Green and White. Rubino currently ranks 13th in the EMU record book in steals (48) and is 15th in career at-bats (663). The infielder's four hit performance against the Golden Flashes cracked him into the top-25 in the career hits category as he now sits 22nd in that category (188). He is just two runs away to rank in the top-20 for career runs scored.

THE DIFFERENCE AT THE PLATE: In the Eagles' 13 victories this season, the Green and White has a team batting average of .325 and has scored 79 runs which is good for about six runs per contest. EMU has belted nine home runs in those games as well. Eastern Michigan is hitting over 100 points lower in the 19 losses, however, batting at a .213 clip while only scoring 2.6 runs per game.

WHERE THE EAGLES RANK: Taking a look at the Mid-American Conference statistics for conference games only, there are several Eagles that rank at or near the top in a few categories. Sophomore Sam Delaplane leads the conference with four saves, while Charlie Land is tied atop the league having pitched 24.1 innings in his three conference starts.  John Rubino currently sits in second in the stolen base category with six, trailing only Nick Sinay from Buffalo who has nine. As a team, the Eagles lead the conference in stolen bases (13) and are fifth in batting average (.277).

ON DECK FOR THE EAGLES: Following the weekend series against Central Michigan, the Eagles will matchup with the same two teams as a week ago. This time the Green and White travel to Bowling Green, Ohio for another non-conference showdown with the Falcons Tuesday, April 14, at 3 p.m. before returning to Ann Arbor to face the Wolverines Wednesday, April 15, with first pitch scheduled for 4 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

Jake Andrews

Matthew Beaton

Sam Delaplane

Adam Dennison

Tony DiLeo

Kyle Huckaby

Charlie Land

Mitchell McGeein

Mike Mioduszewski

Jordan Peterson

John Rubino

Eastern Michigan Athletics