Eagles Welcome Ball State for Home Series

Baseball vs. Ball State (14-13, 3-3 MAC)
Date	Friday-Sunday, April 6-8
Venue	Ypsilanti, Mich. \| Oestrike Stadium
Game Notes	EMU Notes
Live Stats	EMUEagles.com
Radio	Eagle All-Access (Fri/Sun)
Twitter	@EMUBaseball

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University baseball team returns to the friendly confines of Oestrike Stadium when it plays host to Ball State University for a weekend series, April 6-8. The three-game set begins Friday with a 2 p.m. first pitch, followed by another 2 p.m. start time on Saturday, and concluding with a 1 p.m. game on Sunday.
The action can be tracked live on Twitter by following @EMU_Baseball. Fans can also track the game through live stats, while Eagle All-Access returns to the airwaves for the Friday and Sunday games, with veteran broadcasters Greg Steiner and Chad Bush on the call. Links can be found on the schedule page of EMUEagles.com.

PLUCKING THE FALCONS: In the series win over Bowling Green State University, EMU accomplished a pair of feats versus the rival Falcons. First, in the series opening win, March 30, EMU won its 100th game over BGSU all-time. It was the first time in program history Eastern has reached the 100-win plateau over any team. Secondly, the series win marked the ninth-straight over Bowling Green, dating back to 2005.

LIGHTS OUT BULLPEN: A key component to the series win over Bowling Green was the effort of EMU's bullpen, as six pitchers combined to toss 10.1 innings while only yielding one earned run, for an ERA of 0.89. The six pitchers also allowed just five hits, while striking out eight Falcon batters.

REACHING THE CENTURY MARK: Junior Max Schuemann reached a career milestone against Bowling Green, March 31, as the infielder notched the 100th hit of his EMU career with a bloop single in the first inning. Schuemann leads the Eagles with 39 hits this season, which already surpasses the total hits recorded in each of his first two seasons. He totaled 29 his freshman year and 34 as a sophomore. In addition, Schuemann has a hit in 22-of-25 games this season, including a team-best 12 multi-hit games.

EASTER BREAKING OUT ON EASTER: As fate would have it, freshman Shane Easter had the best game of his young EMU career against Bowling Green on Easter Sunday, April 1. The outfielder got the start and went 2-for-4 with an RBI bunt single and a run scored. It was the first two-hit game and RBI of his EMU career.

ALL-TIME VS. THE CARDINALS: EMU and BSU have met 151 times in their respective histories, with EMU leading the all-time series 77-73-1. The two have not squared off since the 2016 season, after having a hiatus for the 2017 season. In 2016, Ball State took two of three at Ball Diamond in Muncie, Ind. The last time the Cardinals came to Ypsilanti was 2015 when EMU won the series, 2-1.

FOR THE GREATER GOOD: When EMU get runners on base, almost no other team is more unselfish when it comes to advancing them an extra base. Thus far this season, EMU is 13th in the nation and first in the MAC with 25 sacrifice bunts. In addition, sophomore Devin Hager is sixth in the country with nine sac bunts, just two behind the national leaders.

DEVENNEY HEATING UP ON THE MOUND: Despite being a senior, Luke DeVenney is in just his second season as a pitcher at EMU. After being a primary bullpen/midweek arm in 2017, DeVenney has found his way into the weekend rotation in 2018 as the Sunday starter. In his last five outings, DeVenney has a 2.64 ERA in 30.2 innings, including a 2-0 record and 19 strikeouts. For the season, he leads the EMU staff with a 3.40 ERA in 39.2 innings and 24 Ks.

BLISTERING OFFENSIVE NUMBERS: After the first two weekends of conference play, the EMU offense is at or near the top in the MAC in the biggest offensive categories, including first in batting average (.286), steals (56), and on-base percentage (.368), second in hits (251) and slugging percentage (.395), third in scoring (5.8), and fourth in runs scored (146).

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 near the top once again, as it has swiped 56 bags in 25 games, good for tenth in the country. Additionally, Max Schuemann's 15 steals are 23rd in the nation and first in the MAC.

ALL-TIME AT OESTRIKE: 2018 marks the 48th season at the friendly confines of Oestrike Stadium since its opening in 1971. In its long-standing history, EMU holds a 525-374-2 record at the stadium. Of the 47 previous seasons, 34 have resulted in winning home records for Eastern.

ON THE HORIZON: Eastern remains at home when it hosts Oakland University for a midweek contest, Tuesday, April 10. First pitch against the Golden Grizzlies is set for 6 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

Luke DeVenney

Shane Easter

Devin Hager

Max Schuemann

Eastern Michigan Athletics