Baseball Opens Season with Four-Game Set in Georgia

Baseball vs Nebraska-Omaha/NJIT
Date	Friday, Feb. 19- Sunday, Feb. 21
Venue	Emerson, Ga. \| Perfect Game Complex
Game Notes	EMU Notes
Live Stats	Trackman.com
Live Stream	N/A
Twitter	@EMU_Baseball

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University baseball team gets the 2016 season underway this weekend with a four-game set in Emerson, Ga. against the University of Nebraska-Omaha and NJIT. Opening Day is Friday, Feb. 19 with a 2 p.m. game versus UNO. Saturday will see a double-header with a noon game versus UNO, followed by a game with NJIT. The series concludes Sunday with a second noon game with the Mavericks.

ALL-TIME SERIES: EMU has seen action against Nebraska-Omaha just twice in its 67-year history. The meetings came in the 1975 season, when EMU's season opener was a 12-1 win, March 22. The second meeting came the next day, when UNO got revenge in a 9-4 win. Coincidentally, EMU's season ended in Omaha that year when the 1975 team made it to the College World Series.

Meanwhile, EMU has never faced NJIT in program history. The Highlanders have only been a NCAA Division I program since 2006.

MEETING THE MAVERICKS: Nebraska-Omaha is coming off a 21-31 record in 2015, which saw them finish fourth in the Summit League. That is also the place they were picked to finish in the preseason poll this offseason. The Mavericks return 18 letterwinners from last season, including four All-Summit honorees.

SAYING HELLO TO THE HIGHLANDERS: NJIT put together a winning season in 2015, finishing with a mark of 24-23-1. This was the first winning season in their Division I history.

RACKING UP THE FLYER MILES: As with most northern based teams, EMU is forced to play its early season games in warmer climates before it can play games at home. After traveling to Georgia to start the year, the Eagles will jump down to Florida for series against Florida and South Florida. The following week they will flock to Arizona for a three-game set against the Arizona State Sun Devils. EMU's home opener is not until Friday, March, 25 when they open MAC play against Bowling Green.

NEW LOOK ROTATION: The biggest question mark for EMU headed into the season is who will lock down the weekend starting rotation slots. After graduating all three members of that rotation last season, EMU will use a mix of veterans and rookies to fill the void. As of now, the only spot filled is this Friday's starter, junior righty Sam Delaplane. He served as EMU's closer last season, notching seven saves, while striking out 48 batters.

SAME LOOK IN THE FIELD: While the rotation is being re-tooled, the position players have much of the same look. The only loss from last season's usual lineup is second-baseman John Rubino, a second-team All-MAC honoree. Replacing him will be easier than usual, as redshirt-junior Marquise Gill returns to the lineup in 2016 after medically redshirting in 2015. He'll look to lock-down the shortstop role, while last years primary shortstop, sophomore David Lett, will shift to second base.

HELLO MY NAME IS...: Eastern Michigan, as it goes through the building process under second-year Head Coach Mark Van Ameyde, sees many new faces join the ranks in 2016. A total of 16 newcomers will grace the roster for EMU this season, including 11 'true' freshman and five junior college transfers.

RUBY ANNIVERSARY: The 2016 season sees a milestone anniversary for Eagle baseball, as it has been 40 years since the 1976 EMU squad finished the season as College World Series runners-up. The 2016 team will honor that team throughout the season by wearing jerseys inspired by the one they wore in '76. This includes the return of the "Scrpit E" to the uniform and official team gear.

SCHEDULE BREAKDOWN: In 2016 EMU will see a wide range of opponents from many conferences. These include games from teams in the Summit, Atlantic-Sun, SEC, AAC, Pac-12, Horizon, Atlantic-10, Big-10, Big-12, and ACC. In addition, EMU squares-off with seven teams who went to the Division-I Baseball Tournament in 2015. These include Florida, Notre Dame, Arizona State, Michigan, South Florida, Lipscomb, Wright State. Florida was also a College World Series participant in 2015, and is the preseason number one team by numerous polls.

PLAYING LIKE THE PROS: Eastern will have a unique opportunity this season to play two of it's games as if they were suiting up for a Major Leage team. First, when EMU faces Florida, Feb. 24, they will play at the spring training home of the Detroit Tigers, Joker Marchant Stadium, in Lakeland, Fla. Then later in the season when they meet up with Michigan State, May 11, the Green and White ball clubs will square off at the regular season home of the Tigers, Comercia Park in Detroit.

MIKE FRANK ADDED TO STAFF: The Eastern Michigan University baseball team and Head Coach Mark Van Ameyde announced the hiring of new volunteer assistant coach Mike Frank for the upcoming 2016 season, Sept. 14. He will work alongside Coach Van Ameyde and work with the pitchers.

Frank joins the program after spending the previous season as the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at Rochester College in Rochester Hills, Mich. Prior to coaching, Frank was a student-athlete at Bowling Green State University where he graduated in 2014.

EAGLES PICKED SIXTH IN WEST DIVISION: The Eastern Michigan University baseball team was picked to finish sixth in the West Division in a poll of Mid-American Conference head coaches, the conference announced, Wednesday, Feb. 17. EMU finished last season with a 9-18 mark in MAC play, finishing in sixth in the West and missing out on the Tournament. The Eagles will be looking to make their first appearance in the MAC Tournament since the 2012 season.

MAC Baseball East Division Predictions
1. Kent State Golden Flashes - 63 points (9 1st place votes)
2. Ohio Bobcats - 55 points (2)
3. Bowling Green Falcons - 43 points
4. Miami RedHawks - 37 points
5. Buffalo Bulls - 22 points

MAC Baseball West Division Predictions
1. Central Michigan Chippewas - 56 points (6)
2. Ball State Cardinals - 53 points (3)
3. Western Michigan Broncos - 42 points (1)
4. Toledo Rockets - 41 points
5. Northern Illinois Huskies - 24 points (1)
6. Eastern Michigan Eagles - 15 points

GATORS ON THE HORIZON: After the opening weekend series in Georgia, the Green and White make the short jaunt south to meet up with the preseason No. 1 Florida Gators. UF is coming off a season in which they made their eighth trip to the College World Series. They concluded the season with a 52-18 record, falling in the semifinals to Virginia. Eastern will play two mid-week games against the Gators, first Tuesday, Feb. 23 at 7 p.m. in Gainseville, followed by the game at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland, Fla. That game's first pitch is also set for 7 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 24.

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Players Mentioned

Sam Delaplane

Marquise Gill

David Lett

John Rubino

Jake Weiss

Eastern Michigan Athletics