Baseball Closes Out Spring Break Trip in Corpus Christi

March 1-3 at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Date	Friday-Sunday, March 1-3
Venue	Corpus Christi, Texas \| Chapman Field
Preview Info	EMU Notes
Live Stats	Fan Stats \| Media Stats.
Watch	GoIslanders.com (FREE)
Listen	N/A
Twitter	@EMU_Baseball \| @EMUAthletics

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University baseball team wraps up it stay in the Lone Star State with 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 10th nationally in that category with 21. The Mid-American Conference leader by 10, Eastern Michigan has swiped 21 bases on 24 attempts. Taylor Hopkins and Zachary Owings have four to rank 57th in the NCAA, while Cameron Cruz is just one behind with three steals in 117th.
   Furthermore, Owings is tied with Central Michigan's Jacob Crum for third nationally in triples. He also ranks second in the MAC (61st NCAA) in hits and home runs (87th NCAA), and third (209th NCAA) in slugging percentage. Nate Jones also cracks the list at ninth in sacrifice flies (2) and 26th in sacrifice bunts (2).

QUICK START + TIMELY HITTING = ROAD WIN: Timely hitting was the story early on for EMU in a 6-5 victory over Abilene Christian, Feb. 27, in non-conference action at Crutcher Scott Field. The Eagles built a 6-4 edge in the sixth inning, before the Wildcats clawed back with runs in the sixth and eighth innings to get within a run. However, ACU would get no closer, as Thomas House picked up his fifth career save with a strikeout to end the game with a runner aboard.
   Overall, Eastern put the leadoff hitter on base five times throughout the night en route to equaling its season-high with 12 hits. The Green and White were also 13-for-28 (.464) advancing runners to go along with a 3-of-5 performance with runners on third with less than two out.
   Scott Granzotto was nearly flawless in his second start of the season, tossing three innings of scoreless, one hit baseball. He evened his record to 1-1 on the year, after he struck out three Wildcats to lower his ERA to 2.92 through three appearances. Five different Eagles pitched in the contest, with House tossing the final inning to grab his first save of the season.
   Cameron Cruz posted his fourth career three hit night, while also driving in two and scoring twice. Cruz pushed his batting average to .389 and extended his hitting streak to six consecutive games with two singles and a double. John Rensel Jr. and Jeff Timko also had multi-hit nights, with Timko collecting a pair of RBIs.
CRUZIN' OVER HIS LAST SIX: Cameron Cruz has been on a terror over his last six games, posting a .474 batting average with a six-game hitting streak since Feb. 17. During the stretch, the Chandler, Ariz. native has a pair of three-hit contests with four runs scored and three RBIs. Offensively, he is slugging .522 with an on-base percentage of .480.

FUN-DAMENTALS: Eastern ranks 14th nationally in fielding percentage with just three errors this season. Doing the small things has been critical for Eastern, as the team ranks 31st with five sacrifice flies and 69th with four 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. 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 (6-4) 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 followed it up with a 3-2 win over the Buckeyes, Feb. 25, and a 12-5 road win at Texas State, Feb. 27.
   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.

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.

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 before picking up a 6-5 win over Abilene Christian. Prior to this season, 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 12 games played in the state, EMU holds a 4-8 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.

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

Scott Granzotto

Caleb Hester

Taylor Hopkins

Thomas House

Nate Jones

Stephen Karis

Lee Longo

Zachary Owings

John Rensel Jr.

Jeff Timko

Eastern Michigan Athletics