Eastern Michigan Athletics
Saturday, February 27
Montgomery, Ala.
6 p.m. CT
Eastern Michigan University
at
Alabama State
Baseball Set to Start 2021 Campaign at Alabama State
2/25/2021 3:00:00 PM | Baseball
EMU takes the field after a shortened 2020 season
| Baseball at Alabama State | |
| Date | Saturday-Sunday, Feb. 27-28 |
| Venue | Wheeler-Watkins Baseball Complex | Montgomery, Ala. |
| Preview Info | EMU Notes |
| Live Stats | EMUEagles.com |
| @EMU_Baseball | @EMUAthletics | |
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (EMUEagles.com) - After 356 days since last taking the field, the Eastern Michigan University baseball team returns to the diamond to open the 2021 campaign, Feb. 27, at Alabama State. The two-game series will be played at 6 p.m. Saturday, and 1 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 28.
Follow along via the links that are available on EMUEagles.com. Fans can also follow the team's Twitter account, @EMU_Baseball, for updates throughout the games.
EMU IN SEASON OPENERS: Eastern Michigan is entering its 73rd season in 2021, with its start dating back to 1949. In its 72 previous seasons, Eastern is 35-37 in season openers. The Eagles are looking for two-straight opening day wins after defeating Austin Peay, 16-8, to open the 2020 season, Feb. 14. A win would mark back-to-back lid-lifting victories for Eastern for the first time since the 2016-17 seasons.
NEW YEAR, NEW FACES: With every year, a crop of new talent arrives in Ypsilanti. This season, the Eagles will welcome a total of nine new players to campus, consisting of six freshmen and three junior college transfers. In all, the Eagles have added four infielders, three right-handed pitchers, one left-handed pitcher, and one catcher. A total of 34 players will don the "Script E" in 2021.
KEEPING THEM IN THE MITTEN: Over half of Eastern Michigan's roster features players from its home state. 19-of-34 members of the Green and White hail from Michigan, with the next largest represented group coming from neighboring Ohio, with seven.
THE SEASON AHEAD: The Eagles are scheduled to play 54 contests in 2021, with 21 games at Oestrike Stadium. EMU will begin the season with a 10-game non-conference slate, visiting Alabama State, Bellarmine, and Mississippi State, before beginning Mid-American Conference play at Akron, March 19.
LATE START: EMU's first game being played on Feb. 26 marks the latest start to an EMU baseball season since the 1991 campaign, which began on March 2, and is one day later than the previous latest start since 1991, which was the 2000 season beginning on Feb. 26.
PBR'S PICKS: Five of Eastern Michigan's newcomers earned prospect rankings from Prep Baseball Report. In Ohio, Evan Sines was rated the No. 2 second baseman. In Michigan, Nick Chittum was selected as the No. 1 RHP and No. 4 overall player in the state, while Alex Forry was picked as the No. 9 right-hander and No. 27 overall player in the state. Jeremy Fuchs was tabbed the No. 3 LHP in the mitten, and Mark Kattula was ranked the No. 1 first baseman and No. 10 overall player in the state.
All five were ranked in the top 10 positionally, and top 30 overall. In addition, Fuchs was selected as the No. 4 LHP and No. 29 overall player in Michigan by Perfect Game.
RETURNING PRODUCTION: Due to the changes brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, Eastern Michigan is situated to take full advantage of the extra eligibility granted to players due to the shortened season.
Returning is senior captain Nick Jones, who started all 14 games for EMU in 2020 and compiled team-best marks in batting average (.321), hits (17), and runs scored (11).
Staples of EMU's 2020 lineup in junior Daniel Warkentin, redshirt junior Jeff Timko, and junior Nate Jones also return in 2021, with each starting all 14 games for the Green and White a year ago. Warkentin and Timko finished with 14 and 13 hits, good for second and third on the team, respectively. Jones tallied 10 hits, and also knocked the only EMU triple of the campaign.
On the mound, Eastern brings back graduate student Davis Feldman, sophomore Justin Meis, and junior Scott Granzotto from the 2020 season, among other new and returning faces.
Feldman made two starts for the Eagles in the condensed 2020 season, striking out one in 6.2 innings pitched. Meis started all four games he appeared in for EMU in 2020, leading the team with 20.2 innings pitched and 29 strikeouts, while Granzotto made three starts and one relief apperance, notching 16 strikeouts over 12.0 innings pitched in 2020.
Junior Luke McGuire, EMU's pitcher of record for the lone 2020 win, also returns in 2020, along with freshman Cameron Wagoner, who was finding his rhythm on the mound when the season was cut short.
A LOOK BACK AT 2020: Tied for the second-shortest season in Eastern Michigan baseball history, the 2020 campaign was made up of only 14 games. The number marked the same amount of games played in the 1950 and 1965 seasons, while the shortest season for EMU was 11 games in 1957.
EMU finished with an overall record of 1-13, clinching the lone victory on opening day at Austin Peay, 16-8, Feb. 14.
A YEAR AGO ON OPENING DAY: A 16-8 win over Austin Peay, Feb. 15, 2020's opening day was one to remember for multiple members of the EMU baseball team. Eastern Michigan earned the win with 16 runs on 16 total hits, garnering offensive production from seven different players, and marked the most runs by an EMU team since May 7, 2016, vs. Ball State.
Junior right-hander Luke McGuire came on in relief and pitched the final six innings of the contest, facing 26 batters and allowing just five hits along with collecting four strikeouts. The six-frame outing is the second-longest of his career, and earned him his sixth-career win.
Junior captain Shane Easter belted his first-career home run, coming in the form of a grand slam, and becoming the first Eagle to hit a grand slam since former Eagle Zachary Owings did so against Concordia, March 28, 2019.
Sophomore shortstop Taylor Hopkins posted a career-best game, finishing with single-game career highs in hits (3), RBIs (6), and runs scored (4). He also had a career-high two home runs in the game.
SERIES HISTORY: Eastern Michigan and Alabama State will meet for the first time in each of their respective histories when the Eagles take the field in Montgomery, Ala., Feb. 27.
WHAT'S ASU BEEN UP TO?: Alabama State enters the weekend series with a 1-3 overall record. Dropping its first three contests to Jacksonville State (5-3), Tennessee Tech (5-3), and Southern Illinois (13-1), the Hornets defeated Samford, 11-9, to earn their first win of the season.
AGAINST THE SWAC: EMU has just four meetings with members of the Southwestern Athletic Conference before taking on Alabama State. Meeting Alabama A&M once and Jackson State three times, Eastern holds a .500 record in those matchups, going 1-0 against the Bulldogs and 1-2 against the Tigers.
IN THE HEART OF DIXIE: Since the 1998 season, Eastern Michigan has made just three prior trips to the State of Alabama, and compiling a record of 2-6-1 in that time. In 2010, EMU traveled to Mobile, Ala. for the Coke Classic, falling to South Alabama, 5-11, and Wichita State, 1-11, before picking up the win against North Florida, 10-8. EMU and South Alabama met for one more contest in Mobile, with the Jaguars coming away with the 15-14 victory.
A season later, EMU trekked to Huntsville, Ala., taking on Alabama A&M in a single contest and earning the win, 13-1.
The Eagles returned to the Heart of Dixie in 2019, taking on NJIT in a four-game series in Hoover, Ala., falling 4-5, 4-10, and 9-10 in the first three games and ending in a tie, 9-9, after eight innings in the final contest.
MAC PRESEASON POLL: Eastern was selected to finish ninth overall in the Mid-American Conference preseason poll, as announced by the league office, Feb. 17. EMU finished with 36 points, while Central Michigan finished in the top spot for the second consecutive season with 111 points and four first-place votes. Kent State garnered five first-place votes and finished just shy of CMU with 110 points.
MAC Baseball Preseason Poll
1. Central Michigan (4) – 111 points
2. Kent State (5) – 110 points
T3. Miami (1) -- 96 points
T3. Ball State – 96 points
5. Northern Illinois (1) – 72 points
6. Western Michigan - 63 points
7. Ohio - 56 points
8. Toledo - 45 points
9. Eastern Michigan – 36 points
10. Bowling Green – 28 points
11. Akron – 13 points
#MACTION MATTERS: The Mid-American Conference announced that, due to circumstances onset by the COVID-19 pandemic, it would be eliminating conference tournaments for eight sports, with baseball being one of them. The result? The MAC regular season champion will receive the conference's automatic bid to a NCAA Regional. With the conference also adapting a 40-game schedule consisting of four-game series, every contest proves critical to staying in the hunt for the league crown.
GOLDEN GLOVES OF THE MAC: EMU finished the 2020 season with a Mid-American Conference-leading .973 fielding percentage. Eastern had just 13 errors in 477 chances last season, in addition to being one of two MAC teams with no passed balls.
THE LEAGUES THE EAGLES WILL FACE: The Eagles will face Division I competition from a total of five different conferences this season. While the Eagles' schedule is made up of 54 games, 42 of those contests will be against Mid-American Conference opponents with the league adapting a four-game series model for the 2021 season. 40 of those games will count towards the team's MAC record, while EMU and Akron will play an additional two-game, non-conference series. In other non-conference action, the Green and White will face teams from the Atlantic 10, ASUN, Southeastern (SEC), and Southwestern (SWAC) conferences.
GETTING HOME TO OESTRIKE: Although Eastern Michigan was 14 games into its season at its conclusion in 2020, it did not get to play a home game in that time. In the Mid-American Conference, six other teams were in the same boat, with only Akron, Ball State, Miami, and Ohio managing to get at least one game in at home before the season ended. Eastern will play its first home game Friday, April 2, against Miami University.
THE WARKENTIN WAY: After starting the 2020 season 0-for-15 through the first four games, junior transfer Daniel Warkentin found his groove at the plate. The Leamington, Ontario native finished the abbreviated 2020 campaign on a 10-game reached base streak, and seven-game hitting streak. Both streaks were the longest by any Eagle in 2020.
MAKE WAY FOR THE MEIS-STER: Sophomore righty Justin Meis made four starts for Eastern Michigan in 2020, throwing for 20.2 innings and racking up 29 strikeouts, 11 of which were looking. The Pittsburgh native's total strikeouts ranked third in the Mid-American Conference, while his 11 backwards k's led the league at the conclusion of the season.
WE SEE YOU, MIKEY!: Redshirt junior Mike Monahan made the most of his opportunities during the 2020 season, setting new personal-bests in single-game RBIs (2) and season RBIs (3). Monahan also recorded his second career start at Cincinnati, March 8, 2020, notching Eastern's only RBI of the contest and leading the team in batting average for the series (.400).
ON THE HORIZON: Eastern will stay south of Michigan, heading to Louisville, Ky. to matchup with Bellarmine University in a four-game series, slated for March 5-7.
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ Baseball
IF/OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
IF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
C/IF
/ Baseball
IF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
1B
/ Baseball
IF
/ Baseball
IF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
IF
/ BaseballInside the Ride Episode 2: Katie Condon
Thursday, October 16
16th Annual EMU Baseball Golf Outing
Sunday, October 05
Oestrike Stadium Turf Replacement Time lapse
Friday, October 03
Oestrike Stadium Upgrades Reveal
Thursday, October 02