Baseball Flies South for Weekend Series at TCU

March 15-17 at TCU
Date	Fri.-Sun., March 15-17
Venue	Fort Worth, Texas \| Lutpon Stadium
Preview Info	EMU Notes
Live Stats	Fan Stats \| Media Stats.
Watch	GoFrogs.com
Listen	N/A
Twitter	@EMU_Baseball \| @EMUAthletics

FORT WORTH, Texas (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University baseball team is flying south to Texas for its final rodeo in the Lone Star State this season, this time clashing with Texas Christian University in a three-game series, Fri.-Sun., March 15-17, at Lupton Stadium. A second home of sorts, EMU has played eight games in Texas this season, spending 10 total days in the state.
   The series at TCU gets underway Friday, March 15, when the two schools square-off at 6:30 p.m. CT. A single game will be played Saturday, March 16, at 2 p.m., with the series finale scheduled for Sunday, March 17, at 1 p.m.
   Make sure to follow the games via Twitter and live stats, at @EMU_Baseball, and EMUEagles.com. Video streaming for the contest can be found courtesy of TCU, at GoFrogs.com

HOT HITTING: When Eastern takes the field against TCU, March 15, it does so after its best performance of the season, March 12, at Dayton. Scoring 10 runs for the first time in the 2019, the Eagle offense was electric, notching 10 hits in the contest. After establishing a first inning lead, 2-0, the EMU bats stayed hot throughout, scoring in four of the final eight innings, including four runs in the ninth.
   Individually, four players for the Green and White turned in multi-hit performances. Redshirt sophomore Jeff Timko notched his second home run of the season during his two-hit effort. Elsewhere, sophomore Nate Jones, junior Zachary Owings, and senior Cameron Cruz all tallied two hits for EMU.

FRESHMAN WITH HIS FIRST: Leading 5-1 in the top of the sixth inning against Dayton, March 12, freshman Taylor Hopkins stepped to the plate and delivered his most memorable at-bat to date. The sure-handed shortstop cracked his first collegiate home run, extending the Eagles' lead to five late in the game. While the home run highlights the young infielder's season thus far, he has certainly contributed to the EMU offense, scoring four runs and swiping five bags to date.

McGUIRE ON FIRE: Earning the win for Eastern in their midweek battle against Dayton was sophomore Luke McGuire. His first win of the year, McGuire was locked-in from the start, beginning his outing with a 1-2-3 first inning. After relinquishing a solo home run in the second inning, McGuire rebounded and shut down the Flyer offense for the next five frames, allowing just one hit and no runs. In all, McGuire tossed seven innings for EMU, finishing his day with no walks and a strikeout.

TRIPLE TAKE: While the Eastern offense has been strong in many categories throughout the season, their three-bagging efforts are especially noteworthy, both individually and as a collective unit. Currently, EMU is ranked 46th nationally in triples this season, and has two players ranked inside the top 40 in that category. Jeff Timko, a redshirt sophomore, ranks 39th nationally with two triples on the season, good for fourth in the MAC. Ranking sixth nationally is Zachary Owings, who's three triples lead the EMU offense and rank second in the MAC this year.

GETTING ON OFTEN: While batting average is crucial, superb hitters get on base in multiple ways. This year, redshirt sophomore Jeff Timko has done just that. Leading the MAC and ranking 28th nationally, Timko has compiled an on base percentage of .547 this season. Timko's presence on the base paths has been rewarded, as he has crossed the plate 10 times for EMU during 2019.

ALL TIME VS. TCU: When Eastern Michigan takes the field against TCU on Friday, March 15, it will mark the first meeting between the Eagles and Horned Frogs. TCU, a member of the BIG 12 conference, is a historically strong opponent. In 2017, TCU reached the national semifinals before losing to Florida at the College World Series. After a 33-23 season in 2018, the Horned Frogs are off to a 9-6 start in 2019.

AGAINST THE BIG 12: While Eastern has not seen regular action against the BIG 12 in recent years, playing just four games against its members since 2016, it has plenty of confidence facing opponents from the conference. While only 2-2 against BIG 12 foes in that time period, both wins came against national powerhouse Oklahoma State during a three game set played March 9-11, 2018. After dropping game one to the Cowboys, Eastern took the next two, defeating OSU 6-5 in the series finale, in Stillwater. The Eagles will look to rekindle their success in Fort Worth this weekend.

YOU CAN'T CATCH ME: In each of the last four seasons, EMU has finished in the top-60 nationally in stolen bases, including 21st nationally in 2017, third in 2016, and 11th in 2015. This season, Eastern is approaching the top once again, as it has swiped 24 bags, good for 57th in the country and third in the MAC.

FUN-DAMENTALS: Eastern ranks inside the top 100 nationally in fielding percentage (.973) with just 15 errors this season. Doing the small things has been critical for Eastern, as the team ranks 51st nationally with eight sacrifice flies and 135th with six sacrifice bunts.

BACK WITH A BANG: Returning to the field for the first time since being injured in late-February, junior captain Nick Jones has been impressive in his last four games against Marshall and Dayton. Jones has posted a .400 batting average, going 6-for-15, with six RBI during the stretch.

TIMKO TERROR CONTINUES: Redshirt sophomore Jeff Timko is in the midst of a nine game stretch to remember, as he has terrorized opponent pitching during that timeframe. Timko leads the EMU offense during the stretch, compiling a .517 batting average, (15-for-29) with nine runs scored and nine RBIs.
   In the series finale against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Timko delivered a perfect hitting effort, going 4-for-4 on the afternoon. With his monster day at the plate, he is the first Eagle to notch four hits in a contest in 2019. Timko is also the last EMU player to have notched four-or-more hits in a contest, doing so in a 11-5 victory over Nicholls State, exactly one year ago to the day (of the game), on March 3, 2018.

Timko followed that performance with another impressive series finale against Marshall, March 10, going 3-for-4, with a walk.
In his latest game, against Dayton (March 12), Timko bombed his second home run of the year, en route to a 2-for-3 effort at the plate. With his stellar day, Timko has moved his batting average to third in the MAC, at .429 on the year.

SAC IT TO EM': While fellow EMU star Maxx (Saxx) Crosby is busy working his way up the NFL draft boards, Eastern Michigan center-fielder, sophomore Nate Jones, has quickly notched the most sacrifice flies in the MAC (4) and ranks third nationally in that category. Jones' efforts have been key for the Eagles offense thus far. In all, the second-year stud has driven in five for the Green and White, and continues to impact the EMU defense as a go-to outfielder.

ON THE HORIZON: Following their three-game set with TCU, Eastern will return home before making the trek to Indianapolis, where it will play a midweek game against Butler, Wed., March 20, at 4 p.m. Following their battle with the Bulldogs, the Eagles are slated to begin Mid-American Conference play Fri.-Sun, March 22-24, at Northern Illinois.

Eastern Michigan Athletics

Related News

Players Mentioned

Cameron Cruz

Taylor Hopkins

Nate Jones

Nick Jones

Luke McGuire

Zachary Owings

Jeff Timko

Related Videos