Eagles Head to South Carolina for College of Charleston Invitational

Softball at College of Charleston Invitiational
Date	Friday, March 18- Sunday, March 20
Location	Mt. Pleasant, S.C. \| Patriots Point Athletics Complex
Game Notes	EMU Notes
Live Stats	CofCStat.com
Live Stream	vs. CofC - Saturday, March 19
Twitter	@EM USoftball

CHARLESTON, S.C. (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University softball team continues non-conference play on the road in Charleston, S.C. this weekend, March 18-20, at the College of Charleston Inivtational. The Green and White will take on five different opponents over the three-day span, looking to bounce back from a midweek loss to No. 2 Michigan. Eastern will open the weekend against Brown and Central Connecticut Friday, March 18, before clashing with UCONN and the College of Charleston Saturday. EMU's weekend comes to a close Sunday, March 20, with a early taste of Mid-American Conference competition against Miami.

DROPPING BOMBS: Junior Michelle Kriegshauser crushed a 1-0 delivery from Michigan's Sara Driesenga well-over the centerfield fence at Alumni Field, March 16. Soaring off the bat up and out of the field, Kriegshauser's homer came down in centerfield of the UM Baseball field, an estimated 315 feet away from home plate. The New Lenox, Ill. product boasts a .500 career batting average at the home of the Wolverines with two homers.

KEYS TO VICTORY: Through the first 18 games on the season, several things have proven to be indicators of Eastern Michigan's success. The Green and White hold a 4-0 record when scoring in the first inning and sit at 6-1 on the year when outhitting its opponent. Additionally, the Eagles are 4-0 when leading after six innings and 5-2 when scoring six or more runs.

TALE OF THE TAPE: Eastern Michigan enters the weekend with a 44-40 all-time record against its College of Charleston Invitational opponents. The overall mark is skewed however, as 82 of the 84 games have come against Mid-American Conference foe, Miami., while the Green and White have never played Brown, Central Connecticut, or College of Charleston. The Eagles hold a 44-38 lead in the all-time series with the RedHawks after dropping a 9-4 contest, March 29. The only other opponent on this weekend's slate that the Eagles have played previously is UConn, battling the Huskies twice. UConn has come away victorious in each of those meetings, most recently handing the Eagles a 3-2 setback March 7, 2010.

CONFERENCE OPPONENTS IN THE NON-CONFERENCE SEASON: Sunday's meeting with Miami pits the Eagles against a conference opponent in non-conference play for the first time since 2013. The Green and White dropped a 9-1 clash with the Cardinals of Ball State, March 2, 2013 in its third game of the FAU Tournament.

LAST TIME OUT: Eastern Michigan is coming off a 14-1 setback at the hands of No. 2 Michigan. The Wolverines scored in every inning while the Eagles' lone run came courtesty of a Michelle Kriegshauser homer.

BATTLING BROWN: The Bears are off to their best start since the 2010 season, carrying a 7-3 overall record into this weekend's tournament. Winners of three of their past four games, the Bears have won seven of their first 10 games for the second time since 1992.
   Brown is led by reigning Ivy League Players of the Week, Julie Shoenewald and Gina Chieffallo. Shoenewald leads Brown's offensive effort, hitting at a .600 clip with 15 hits in 25 at bats while driving in six. Meanwhile, Janet Leung and Yeram Park have 10 RBIs each through BU's first 10 games. Chieffallo is part of a pitching staff featuring three hurlers. Chieffalo has racked up a 2-0 record in the circle with a team best 1.17 earned run average.
   As a team, the Bears are hitting at a .333 clip and averaging north of five runs per game. Meanwhile, Brown is holding opponents to less roughly three runs per game and a .251 batting average.

CLASHING WITH CCSU: Central Connecticut has clawed its way back to a 6-7 record after losing six of its first seven games to open the season. The Blue Devils most recently fell, 1-0, at Elon, snapping a five-game win streak.
   With a team batting average of .240, CCSU has struggled for consistency at the plate. In its seven losses, Central Connecticut has averaged less than one run per game (0.71) while plating 6.5 per contest in wins. The Blue Devils' lineup has not displayed much power this season, hitting just three homeruns through 13 games. Additionally, CCSU has recorded just 19 extra-base hits this season.
   Defensively, the Blue Devils are led by a pair of underclassmen in the circle. Emily Sargent and Alex Casanas have combined to compile a 2.76 earned run average while striking out 42 over 86.1 innings of work.

HUNTING THE HUSKIES: Amid a season of ups and down, UConn looks to improve upon its 6-17 record at the College of Charleston Invite.
   The Huskies hit .240 as a squad, led by Lexi Gifford's .303 batting average. Gifford also paces UConn with 17 runs and 20 hits. She's also the Huskies' top threat on the bases, successfully swiping 6-of-8 attempts.
   A trio of hurlers make up the Huskies' pitching staff that has compiled a 3.65 ERA while giving up 101 runs on 185 hits in 155.1 innings in the circle. Chelsea Eckert has struck out a team-high 38 while also being tapped for six homers in 65.2 innings.

TAKING ON THE TOURNAMENT HOSTS: College of Charleston hosts the Eagles and several others for this weekends' tournament after sweeping a doubleheader against the Univeristy at Buffalo, March 15. The Cougars most notable win of the season came last weekend, 2-1, over No. 10 Georgia.
   C of C is hitting at a .304 clip through 25 games with both Taylor DuPree and Rebecca Mueller boasting averages above .400. DuPree leads the team with a .429 clip, with 36 hits in 84 at bats. Mueller is just behind her, owning a .424 batting average with a team-high 21 RBIs and eight doubles.
   The Cougars' pitching staff is headlined by Samantha Martin's 2.00 earned run average. Martin also leads C of C with 65 strikeouts in 84.0 innings while holding opponents to a miniscule .206 batting average.

MASTERING MIAMI: The RedHawks come into their final weekend tournament of the season with a 10-11 record after a split with Butler, March 15.
   Miami's lineup features two hitters that carry batting averages above .300. Taylor Shuey sits just south of .400, with a team-best .391 average, while Kat Lee sits at .321. Shuey is the team's RBI leader with 17, followed by a trio of players tied with 13. Michaela Shlattman has belted a team-high seven homers, nearly one third of RedHawks long balls this season.
   In the circle, MU owns a 4.36 earned run average with opponents hitting .289 against the RedHawks' hurlers. Of the 159 hits surrendered by Miami, 44 of which have been extra-base hits.

LATE INNING BREAKDOWN: Late innings have proven to be a thorn in the side of the Green and White this season. While the Eagles have outscored opponents 56-53 in innings two through four, EMU has been outscored 43-18 in the final three frames through the first 18 games.

GROWING PAINS: The young Eagles squad committed 35 errors through the first 18 games of the season.

NO SHORTAGE OF OFFENSE: The Eagles had scored a total of 22 runs in the three games leading up to the battle of Washtenaw County, providing a young pitching staff with 7.33 runs per contest. EMU's offense pieced together its best three-game stretch of the season, hitting .355 at the plate over the time-frame. The Green and White recorded 33 hits, nine of which have been two-baggers, to go along with 20 RBIs and 11 walks.

LIFE ON THE ROAD: Living life on the road has become the norm for the Eagles, and most northern schools in the early part of the season. EMU will spend nine of the next 11 days on the road, taking on seven different opponents, heading into the stretch with a 7-11 record away from Ypsilanti.

ON DECK: Following this weekend's trip to the east coast, the Eagles return to the midwest to take on No. 23 Notre Dame. Eastern will travel to South Bend, Ind., March 22, to take on the Fighting Irish.

Eagles Head to South Carolina for College of Charleston Invitational

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Players Mentioned

Michelle Kriegshauser

Eastern Michigan Athletics