Baseball Opens Home, Conference Slate Versus Miami

Baseball vs Miami (11-6, 0-0 MAC)
Date	Friday-Sunday, March 23-25
Venue	Ypsilanti, Mich. \| Oestrike Stadium
Game Notes	EMU Notes
Live Stats	EMUEagles.com
Twitter	@EMUBaseball

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University baseball team opens its 46th Mid-American Conference season and 48th season at Oestrike Stadium this weekend when it plays host to Miami University, Friday-Sunday, March 23-25. The series begins Friday with a 2 p.m. first pitch, followed by a 3 p.m. contest on Saturday, and concluding with a 1 p.m. game on Sunday.
The action can be followed live on Twitter by following @EMU_Baseball. Fans can also track the game through live stats. Links can be found on the schedule page of EMUEagles.com.

ALL-TIME VS. THE REDHAWKS: EMU and MU have met 114 times in the series that dates back to 1969. Eastern holds the slight advantage in the all-time tally, 59-55. The two teams met last season in Oxford, Ohio, a series won by the Eagles as they took both the opener, 7-5, in 10 innings, as well as the rubber match, 10-6. Additionally, this marks the first time Miami has ventured up to Ypsilanti since 2014, a series the RedHawks swept.

ALL-TIME AT OESTRIKE: Friday marks the start of the 48th season at the friendly confines of Oestrike Stadium since its opening in 1971. In its long-standing history, EMU holds a 524-371-2 record at the stadium. Of the 47 previous seasons, 34 have resulted in winning home records for Eastern.

ALL-TIME IN THE MAC: Friday also sees the beginning of the 46th season EMU has participated in the Mid-American Conference as a program. Eastern holds a 580-538-3 all-time record in conference play. The program has five regular season championships, as well as four tournament championships, most recently in 2008.

BLISTERING OFFENSIVE NUMBERS: Heading into conference play, the EMU offense is at or near the top in the MAC in the biggest offensive categories, including first in batting average (.291), hits (188), runs (115), steals (48), second in on-base percentage (.367) and scoring (6.4), and third in slugging percentage (.403).

ZOOM ZOOM: In each of the last three seasons, EMU has finished in the top-60 nationally in stolen bases, including third in the NCAA in 2016 and 11th in 2015. This season, Eastern is off to a fast start on the base paths, as it has swiped 48 bags in the first 18 games, good for sixth in the country. Additionally, Max Schuemann's 13 steals are ninth in the nation.

WRANGLING THE COWBOYS: EMU took two games of a three game series at Oklahoma State, March 9-11, to win its first three-game series over a 'Power 5' opponent since taking two-of-three from the University of Kansas in 2011. After dropping game one, 8-3, EMU won the next two, 9-7 and 6-5, to win the series against the storied OSU program.

ON THE HORIZON: EMU will remain at home when it plays host to Youngstown State for a midweek contest Tuesday, March 27. First pitch against the Penguins is set for 6 p.m. at Oestrike Stadium.

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Players Mentioned

Max Schuemann

Eastern Michigan Athletics