Baseball Remains on Road for Pair of Midweek Games

Baseball at Purdue (4-24) and Michigan (21-8)
Date	Tuesday-Wednesday, April 12-13
Location	West Lafayette, Ind. \| Ann Arbor, Mich.
Game Notes	EMU Notes
Live Stats	Purdue \| Michigan
Audio	Eagle All-Access (UM ONLY) \| purduesports.com
Twitter	@EMU_Baseball

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University baseball team gets back into action for the first time in just under a week when it plays a pair of midweek games away from home for the second straight week. Action begins Tuesday, April 12, with a contest in West Lafayette, Ind. against Purdue. First pitch versus the Boilermakers is set for 4 p.m. That game is followed by a game against Washtenaw County rival Michigan, Wednesday, April 13. First pitch against the Wolverines is set for 4 p.m. as well.

   The action can be followed via live stats or by following our Twitter account, @EMU_Baseball. Tuesday's broadcast will be streamed on purduesports.com, while Wednesday's game will be broadcast live on EMU All-Access radio with Chad Bush and Greg Steiner on the call.

ALL-TIME SERIES VS PURDUE: The Eagles and Boilermakers have met 12 times in their respective histories, with Purdue holding an 8-4 advantage. The two schools first met in 1981with Purdue taking both games that season. They last met in 2013 when EMU crushed the Boilermakers with a 20-2 drubbing.

ALL-TIME SERIES VS MICHIGAN: Eastern and UM have met 180 times since EMU began keeping records in 1949, which is the most meetings all-time for Eastern. Michigan holds the 114-64-2 advantage in the series. The two schools have met each season since 1964, and EMU is 7-2 versus the Wolverines since 2011.

BATTLING THE BOILERMAKERS: Purdue enters the week on a large losing skid. They have a 4-24 record on the season, including having lost the last 13 games overall. The Boilermakers are also 0-9 to start Big Ten Conference play, and are a winless 0-4 at home this season.

    Offensively, Purdue hits .251 as a team, and are being outhit by a 303-245 margin. They also hold a 217-98 strikeout to walk ratio. Leading the team this season is everyday starter Kyle Johnson, who holds a .325 batting average. Johnson leads Purdue with 38 hits and 25 RBI's. Fellow starter Kyle Wood also leads the Big Ten, and is 15th in the nation with 10 home runs on the season.

    Defensively is where Purdue runs into trouble, as they hold a 5.84 staff ERA, allowing opponents to hit .310 against them. The hurlers have allowed 116 walks to 140 strikeouts this year in 243.2 innings.

WORKING AGAINST THE WOLVERINES: Michigan enters the week with a 21-8 overall record and 3-2 mark in conference play with a single game against Michigan State coming Tuesday. The Wolverines hold a steady 6-2 record at home as well. Versus common opponents this year, Michigan has defeated Central Michigan and Bowling Green, while they dropped a road contest to Notre Dame. They are coming off a winless weekend against Minnesota, going 0-for-2.

    The Michigan offense hits .302 as a team, and they have five everyday starters hitting .299 or better. Leading the way is Jake Bivens, who hits for a .373 clip with 47 hits.

    Defensively, UM's staff holds a 3.23 team ERA and are holding opponents to a mere .208 batting average. They allow the third fewest hits per game, holding opponents to 6.42 a game.

MC-GOING ON A STERAK: Senior Mitchell McGeein is currently on a 19-game reached base streak, and has recorded a hit in 15 of his last 16 games. In that time, he is hitting .382/.507/.727 with 21 hits, seven doubles, four home runs, 13 RBI's, 14 runs scored, and 13 drawn walks. All of those except home runs are team-high's in that span. The streak has boosted his batting average from .214 to its current .342.

CONQUERING THE SPARTANS: The Eastern Michigan University baseball team knocked off in-state foe Michigan State University with a 4-2 win in non-conference midweek action at McLane Stadium Tuesday afternoon, April 5.

   The pitching staff was the strength once again for EMU, as they allowed just five hits, one earned, on the day. MSU entered the day with the 17th ranked team batting average in the country. Starter sophomore Brent Mattson pitched a career-high 5.2 innings, surrendering three hits and one earned run. In relief, senior Michael Marsinek and junior Sam Delaplane went the final 3.1 innings for EMU. Marsinek earned his first win of the season after pitching 1.1 without allowing a hit, while Delaplane got his second save of the season, ninth of his career, going the final two innings only giving up two hits.

APRIL SNOW SHOWERS BRING...?: Despite the calendar turning the page into the month of April, mother nature still thought it was November this past weekend, as both of EMU's non-conference games versus Valparaiso were postponed because of frigid conditions and snow showers. This means the Eagles have not played a game in almost a full week, the last coming April 6, against West Virginia.

ALL ABOUT THAT MACTION BOSS: Following EMU's series win over Buffalo, April 1-2, the Eagles are now out to their best start in conference play since 2011, with a 5-1 mark. EMU is looking for their first appearance in the MAC tournament since 2012.

CLOSE TO THE CENTURY MARK: A pair of Eagles are close to surpassing some significant milestones in their respective careers. Mitchell McGeein is five RBI's and five runs scored away from reaching 100 in his career, while Sam Delaplane needs three more strikeouts to get to 100 for his career. They would join redshirt junior Michael Mioduszewski who notched his 100th career hit earlier in the season, March 5, versus Arizona State.

MOVING UP THE RECORD BOOK: A trio of Eagles are rewriting the record books in 2016 with their season and career performances. Senior Mitchell McGeein is on the career list for home runs with 23 (T-15th), walks with 75 (T-17th), and doubles with 35 (T-16th). Junior closer Sam Delaplane is eighth on the career saves list with nine in his three years, while redshirt junior Marquise Gill is already tied for seventh in single-season stolen bases with 26, with his career total of 36 ranking 16th all-time.

RUN EAGLES RUN: EMU has been alert and impactful on the base paths this season, as the team currently ranks third in the country in steals (77). In addition, redshirt junior Marquise Gill is fourth in the nation in steals with 26 on the season, while three Eagles are in the top-eight in the conference. The team will aim to break the program record of 147 stolen bags, set in 1981, and tied in 2004.

GOTTA EARN THOSE RUNS: Freshman Tyler Butzin leads the team with a 2.11 ERA, and has not allowed an earned run in his last four starts, totaling 28.0 innings. Additionally senior Michael Marsinek's ERA sits at a career-low 2.84, and he has not allowed an earned run to score in his last seven trips to the mound, totaling 12.2 innings.

EAGLES DIG THE LONG BALL: EMU currently ranks 81st in the nation and third in the MAC, in home runs with 22 as a team this season. Individually, senior Jackson Martin has hit a team-high six so far, which is tied for sixth in the MAC and 106th in the nation. The Eagles hit a season-high four home runs in the win over BGSU, March 27.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER: Senior Jackson Martin is making the most of his final season in the Green and White. The Ontario native is hitting .268 on the year with 26 hits and team-highs in RBI's (22) and home runs (6). In the first 18 games of the year, he matched the amount of starts he had all of last season, while his 19 hits, four home runs, four doubles, four steals and 19 RBI's were more than he had in his first three seasons combined.

TRACKING THE TATERS: Senior Mitchell McGeein entered his final season with 19 career homers, good for 20th on the all-time EMU list. He currently has four home runs this season, putting him in a tie for 15th-place all-time.

WORKHORSE OUT OF THE PEN: Senior lefty Michael Marsinek has been the go-to guy in relief so far this season for the Eagles. The veteran leads EMU in appearances (12) and in innings pitched out of the bullpen (19.0). Against Dayton, March 16, Marsinek struck out a career-high five batters in three innings without allowing an earned run. His ERA sits at a career-low 2.84, and he has not allowed an earned run in his last 12.2 innings of work (seven appearances).

PUTTING ON THE HITS: Despite the team being outscored this season, 165-141, the Eagles are outhitting opponents by four, 239-235. They have also lost five games this season in which they have either tied or outhit an opponent.

FANTASTIC FRESHMEN: A trio of freshmen have proven they will make significant contributions for the Eagles in 2016. Pitchers Davis Feldman and Tyler Butzin have already locked in spots in the weekend rotation, and are one-two in team ERA. Meanwhile in the field, Max Schuemann has seen his name in the starting lineup 20 times this season, splitting time between second and third base.

GOLDEN FLASHES ON THE HORIZON: Eastern plays its first home game in 16 days when it hosts MAC leader Kent State University in a weekend set at Oestrike Stadium. The three-game series begins Friday, April 15, with a 6 p.m. first pitch.

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Players Mentioned

Tyler Butzin

Sam Delaplane

Davis Feldman

Marquise Gill

Michael Marsinek

Jackson Martin

Brent Mattson

Mitchell McGeein

Mike Mioduszewski

Max Schuemann

Eastern Michigan Athletics