Baseball Opens 10-Day Texas Trip with Alamo Irish Classic

Baseball vs. Alamo Irish Classic
Date	Thursday-Sunday, Feb. 21-24
Venue	San Antonio, Texas \| Nelson Wolff Stadium
Preview Info	EMU Notes
Live Stats	ND Stats \| UIW Stats.
Watch	N/A
Listen	N/A
Twitter	@EMU_Baseball \| @EMUAthletics

SAN ANTINIO, Texas (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University baseball team heads to Texas for a weekend series, in which it takes on two different opponents. The Eagles will play the University of Notre Dame and University of Incarnate Word in an alternating four-game series as part of the Alamo Irish Classic. Hosted by Notre Dame, the tournament will see EMU play a doubleheader Thursday, Feb. 21, with games against both ND and UIW. On Friday, Feb. 22, the Eagles will battle the Fighting Irish, before enjoying an off-day Saturday. EMU finishes the weekend with a Sunday game, Feb. 24, against the Cardinals.
   Make sure to follow the game via Twitter and live stats, at @EMU_Baseball, and EMUEagles.com

STEALING (ON) DIAMONDS: During its season opening series with NJIT, played Feb. 15-17, Eastern Michigan stole a whopping 18 bases on 19 attempts, notching a near perfect .947 stolen base percentage. Leading the way for EMU in their swiping efforts were seniors Zachary Owings (4), and Cameron Cruz (3), along with freshman Taylor Hopkins (4). MAC leaders in steals this season, the Eagles are 11 paces ahead of the next-best thieves in the MAC, as Central Michigan has notched seven stolen bags in the young season.
   The Eagles will have a good opportunity to add to their impressive numbers, as Incarnate Word has allowed 10 stolen bases in 12 attempts by their opponents in 2019. Notre Dame will present a challenge for EMU, as the Fighting Irish have allowed just one successful stolen base in 2019.

ALL TIME VS. NOTRE DAME: When the Eagles battle Notre Dame Thursday, Feb. 21, it will mark the ninth all-time clash between the two programs, with Notre Dame holding a 5-3 edge. In their last meeting, the Fighting Irish bested EMU, 5-0, in a game played April 26, 2017, in South Bend, Ind. The Eagles provided strong pitching in that midweek contest, tossing seven scoreless frames, while only giving up one run through the first seven innings played.

ALL TIME VS. THE ACC: Entering the Alamo Irish Classic, Eastern Michigan has played in 51 contests against the Atlantic Coast Conference, compiling a 20-31 record. The Eagles last played against an ACC team on April 26, 2017, in a 5-0 setback to Notre Dame, in South Bend, Ind. Earlier in 2017, the most recent season in which EMU has faced ACC opponents, the Eagles battled then-No. 6 Louisville in a three-game set played in Louisville, Ky. Most notably, EMU matched the Cardinals for 12 innings, eventually losing, 3-2, in a 13-inning thriller, March 5, 2017. Despite its recent misfortunes, Eastern holds winning records against three of the ACC's most notable members, including Florida State (2-0), Boston College (2-0), and Pittsburgh (2-1).

ALL TIME VS. INCARNATE WORD: When EMU meets Incarnate Word Friday, Feb. 22, it will mark the first time that the two schools have competed against each other on the diamond. Incarnate Word, who transitioned from NCAA Division II to NCAA Division I during the 2013 season, is a member of the Southland Conference. Although only its seventh season in collegiate baseball's highest level, Incarnate Word has shown success, finishing its 2018 season with a 29-6 record, including a 3-1 record against the Mid-American Conference, as it took 3-of-4 from Northern Illinois in an early season series.

AGAINST THE SOUTHLAND: Since UIW joined the Southland in 2013, the Eagles have met an opponent from the Southland Conference just once. A victory, the game saw the Eagles dismantle Nicholls State, 11-5, in an extra innings win, March 3, 2018, as part of the Cox Diamond Invitational at Blue Wahoos Stadium in Pensacola, Fla.

(NOT SO) SWEET HOME ALABAMA: Coming into the Alamo Irish Classic, Eastern Michigan dropped three-of-four in its season opening series against NJIT, played Feb. 15-17, in Hoover, Ala. Despite a solid week offensively, EMU was unable to overcome its pitching inconsistencies, giving up 34 runs in the weekend clash. Of the games, the Feb. 17 series finale was the sourest of all, as an epic comeback by the Eagles, in which they rallied from both a 4-0, and 9-7 deficit to tie the game at 9-9 in the eighth inning, was cut short. Due to travel arrangements, the game was ended abruptly to ensure that NJIT could board its flight back to New Jersey in time. The tie, EMU's first since 1999, left the Eagles without an opening series win for the second straight year, as EMU was swept by Florida Gulf Coast University in a four-game series to begin the 2018 season.

CAUTION: OUTBREAK OF OFFENSE: While not reflective in its record, the EMU offense began the 2019 season with a bang, racking up some of the most impressive numbers of any team in the MAC, during opening weekend. After its first series, the Eagles lead the MAC in runs scored (26), hits (37), RBIs (18), home runs (3), total bases (53), and steals (18). EMU's game-high hit total came Sunday, Feb. 17, when the Eagles torched NJIT pitching for nine runs on 12 hits, in a game that ended in a 9-9 draw.

ZACH ATTACK!: Returning First Team All-MAC selection, senior Zachary Owings, had an opening series to remember, as the offensive star picked up right where he left of in 2018. Owings, during the series with NJIT, notched eight hits, including two home runs, tallying a total of six RBIs, and 14 total bases in his effort against the Highlanders. In addition to his stellar offensive numbers, Owings recorded four stolen bases for the Eagles, and made no errors defensively. Owings tops the MAC in all of the offensive categories listed above (hits, HR, RBI, SB, TB), showing why he is one of the top players the league has to offer in 2019.
   For his efforts, Owings was named Mid-American Conference Scholar Athlete of the Week, becoming the first Eagle to earn the award since Max Schuemann, Feb. 28, 2018

TEXAS TURNAROUND: With 11 out of its next 16 games scheduled to be played in the "Lone Star State," Eastern Michigan will hope to turnaround its recent track record when playing in Texas. In its last seven games played in the state, EMU holds just a 2-5 record. Most recently, the Eagles were swept by the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, in a three-game series played March 16-17, 2018, in Edinburg. Prior to 2018, the Eagles last played in Texas when it took two games of a four-game set from Kansas, March 1-3, 2013, in Grand Prairie.

DOUBLE DINGER: With his two home runs against NJIT on Sunday, Feb. 17, in Hoover, Ala. senior infielder Zachary Owings became the first Eagle hitter to blast two home run's in a single game since Kolton Schenker hit two against Dayton, May 6, 2018.

ON THE HORIZON: Upon completion of its four-game stint in the Alamo Irish Classic, Eastern will remain in Texas for its next four contests, as it battles Abilene Christian in a single game Feb. 27, in Abilene, Texas, followed by a four-game set with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, March 1-3. in Corpus Christi, Texas.

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Players Mentioned

Cameron Cruz

Taylor Hopkins

Zachary Owings

Kolton Schenker

Max Schuemann

Eastern Michigan Athletics