Baseball Continues Two-Step Through Texas

Baseball • Feb. 27 at Abilene Christian • March 1-3 at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Date	Wednesday-Sunday, Feb. 27-March 3
Venue	Abilene, Texas \| Corpus Christi, Texas
Preview Info	EMU Notes
Live Stats	ACU Stats \| TAMCC Stats.
Watch	ACU - N/A \| TAMCC - Watch
Listen	N/A
Twitter	@EMU_Baseball \| @EMUAthletics

ABILENE, Texas (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University baseball team continues its stay in the Lone Star State, traveling to Abilene Christian University for the first time. The Wednesday, Feb. 27, contest at Crutcher Scott Field pits the Eagles against Wildcats at 6:30 p.m. CT. From there, EMU makes the nearly 400-mile trek to play a three-game set against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, March 1-3. The weekend series includes games on Friday (6:30 p.m. CT), Saturday, (4 p.m. CT), and Sunday (1 p.m. CT), at Chapman field.
   Make sure to follow the games via Twitter and live stats, at @EMU_Baseball, and EMUEagles.com.

NATIONAL RANKINGS: After leading all of Division I in stolen bases after the first weekend, Eastern now ranks fifth nationally in that category with 21. The Mid-American Conference leader by 10, Eastern Michigan has swiped 21 bases on 23 attempts. Taylor Hopkins and Zachary Owings have four to rank 43rd in the NCAA, while Cameron Cruz is just one behind with three steals in 83rd.
   Furthermore, Owings is tied with Central Michigan's Jacob Crum for the national lead with two triples. He also ranks first in the MAC (42nd NCAA) in hits and home runs (68th NCAA), and third (190th NCAA) in slugging percentage. Nate Jones also cracks the list at ninth in sacrifice flies (2) and 19th in sacrifice bunts (2).

COOKIN' SOMETHING GOOD: Sophomore Holden Cook was outstanding on the mound versus Notre Dame in just the second start of his career, Feb. 22. The Oklahoma City, Okla. native tossed six scoreless innings, allowing just four hits, and striking out three en route to the win. He threw 99 pitches in the longest appearance by an EMU pitcher this season. Redshirt junior Caleb Hester came on in relief to lock down the game, throwing the final 2.1 innings to record the save.

STRONG IN ALAMO DEBUT: Getting a taste of his first collegiate action, freshman Stephen Karis posted a .333 batting average with a 4-for-12 week at the dish in a trio of starts at catcher at the Alamo Irish Classic, Feb. 21-24. In the Eagles' 4-2 victory over Notre Dame, Karis was 2-for-4 with the bat, including a pair of RBI and a run scored. In the sixth inning, Karis singled to right-center to plate what proved to be the winning runs after the Fighting Irish responded with runs in the seventh and ninth innings.
   The victory was the fourth all-time over ND and the first over an Atlantic Coast Conference opponent since 2016. He also added a pinch hit single to drive in a run in the opening game of the weekend against Notre Dame, Feb. 21.

FUN-DAMENTALS: Eastern ranks 15th nationally in fielding percentage with just three errors this season. Doing the small things has been critical for Eastern, as the team ranks 23rd with five sacrifice flies and 79th with three sacrifice bunts.

TEXAS TAKEOVER: The Eagles are in the midst of a 10-day stretch within the Lone Star State. It is the longest stretch of games in the same state since 2017, when EMU played 10 games in an 11-day stretch in Florida, Feb 17-27.
   Later this year, the Eagles play in Fort Worth against TCU, March 15-17.

ALL-TIME VS. ABILENE CHRISTIAN: When the Eagles tangle with Abilene Christian, Feb. 27, it will mark the first meeting between the two programs. A member of the Southland Conference, ACU showed significant improvement as a program in 2018, notching 21 wins, its most since its transition to Division I in 2014. Most recently, the Wildcats (4-3) swept Arkansas-Pine Bluff after averaging 10 runs a contest. They will host UT Arlington Tuesday, Feb. 26, before welcoming in EMU.

ALL-TIME VS. TEXAS A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI: Eastern's three-game set with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, March 1-3, offers the first meeting between the Eagles and Islanders on the diamond. TAMCC (4-4) went 2-1 at the Kleberg Bank Collegiate Classic, Feb. 21-23, with wins over Oral Roberts (5-1) and Ohio State (8-7) and a loss to BYU (6-2). They still will host the Buckeyes, Feb. 25, and travel to Texas State, Feb. 27, before hosting Eastern this weekend.
   A member of the Southland Conference, A&M is coming off a 30-26 season in 2018, including 14 conference wins for the second consecutive year after notching only eight victories of the kind in 2016.

AGAINST THE SOUTHLAND: In recent history, Eastern Michigan has met opponents from the Southland Conference on few occasions. Most recently, the Eagles went 0-2 against Incarnate Word. Prior to their two-game set with UIW, the Eagles last faced a Southland Opponent during the 2018 campaign. That game saw the Eagles dismantle Nicholls State, 11-5, in an extra innings win as part of the Cox Diamond Invitational, March 3, 2018, in Pensacola, Fla.

TEXAS TURNAROUND: With 11 of its first 16 games 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 11 games played in the state, EMU holds a 3-8 record dating back to 2013
   Prior to the current trip, EMU's last venture into the state came in 2018 when it played at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, March 16-17.

CAUTION: OUTBREAK OF OFFENSE: 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. 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 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!: 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.

ON THE HORIZON: Eastern returns home after its spring break trip for a few days before heading back out on the road to Huntington, W. Va. for a four-game series against Marshall University, March 8-10. Former Mid-American Conference rivals, the Eagles hold a 15-9 edge in the all-time series.
    The two schools have not met since 2012, when they split a two-game series as part of the Wake Forest Tournament. EMU won 6-5 the first game, March 2, as Lee Longo went a perfect 3-for-3 with an RBI, while Bo Kinder hit 3-for-4 with an RBI, a walk and a stolen base. Marshall returned the favor a day later with a 6-3 come-from-behind win.

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Players Mentioned

Holden Cook

Cameron Cruz

Caleb Hester

Taylor Hopkins

Nate Jones

Stephen Karis

Lee Longo

Zachary Owings

Max Schuemann

Eastern Michigan Athletics