Baseball Heads to Akron for Start of Conference Season

Baseball at Akron
Date	Friday-Sunday, March 19-21
Venue	Skeeles Field \| Akron, Ohio
Preview Info	EMU Notes
Live Stats	EMUEagles.com
Twitter	@EMU_Baseball \| @EMUAthletics

AKRON, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan baseball team begins its 2021 Mid-American Conference slate with a four-game set at the University of Akron, Friday-Sunday, March 19-21. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. Friday, 12 and 3:30 p.m. Saturday, and 11 a.m. Sunday.
   Fans can follow the action via live stats, with the link being found on the baseball schedule page of EMUEagles.com. In addition, updates will be posted on the team's Twitter account, @EMU_Baseball.

NO MORE MR. MEIS GUY: Starting game two of the three-game series against No.3-ranked Mississippi State, March 14, Eastern Michigan junior Justin Meis shined in his third start of the season. Despite the setback to the Bulldogs, Meis pitched a career-high 8.0 innings, faced a career-high 32 batters, recorded three 1-2-3 innings (1st, 3rd, and 8th), struck out four, and allowed only three hits, a season-low for the righty, two of which came in the ninth inning. Forcing MSU to 15 groundouts and four flyouts in addition to the four strikeouts during his time on the mound, Meis no-hit the Bulldogs for 5.2 innings, and held them scoreless for eight full innings, the longest scoring drought by Mississippi State this season.

CAN'T HIT CAM: Second-year pitcher Cameron Wagoner had an impressive outing at Mississippi State, March 14. The Tecumseh, Mich. product pitched two innings of perfect baseball, sitting all six Bulldog batters he faced down in order. The effort was Wagoner's first of the season without surrendering a hit, and third time of his career accomplishing the feat.
   Previously this season, Wagoner recorded his first career save at Bellarmine, March 6, while also having a career-day at Alabama State, Feb. 28, setting new personal-bests in innings pitched (4.0) and strikeouts (5), walking no batters and allowing only three hits in his first career win.

HITTING THE MARK: Continuing his impressive freshman campaign as the team's designated hitter, EMU freshman Mark Kattula had a solid outing at Mississippi State, March 12-14. Kattula led the team in total bases (5) and slugging percentage (.455) while adding two hits, his 10th and 11th of the season.
   In the final game of the series, Kattula put together the best offensive outing by an Eagle, going 2-for-4, including launching his second home run of the season in the top of the third inning.

LOCKED IN THE BAULT: EMU senior Christian Bault helped lead the offense in Eastern Michigan's series at Mississippi State, March 12-14. The Maineville, Ohio native led the team with a .300 batting average, with a team-top three hits, and second-best four total bases.

ZEROS FOR ZACH: EMU junior Zach Fruit worked the eighth inning for Eastern at Mississippi State, March 14, and needed just eight pitches, six of which were strikes, to sit down the home club in 1-2-3 fashion. The outing marked his third scoreless outing of the season for the Green and White, as well as the first time this season he has not surrendered a walk.

MAKING IT REIN, PART II: Senior Justin Reinkall had a stellar outing for the Eagles once again, this time at Mississippi State, March 12. The Superior, Wis. native tossed 2.0 innings, allowing only one hit and one walk while striking out a season-high four batters during his frames.

EASTER SUNDAY: Lining a single with two outs in the fourth at Mississippi State, March 14, senior Shane Easter recorded his first hit of the 2021 season. The Kalamazoo, Mich. native also finished the series with a 1.000 fielding clip.

ON THE HOUSE: Sophomore Trevor House recorded his first action of the young 2021 campaign, at Bellarmine, March 7. Coming in for the seventh and eighth, House twirled two perfect innings, sitting the Knights down in order both times, striking out two and allowing no hits or walks in his appearance.
   Pitching the seventh inning at Mississippi State, March 14, House showed his resilience on the mound, surrendering no runs despite allowing three hits.

PUTTING UP 0'S: In its final two contests at Mississippi State, March 13-14, the Eastern Michigan pitching staff managed to keep the Bulldogs offense quiet in 14 of their 17 innings at the plate. Led by an eight-inning scoreless outing from junior Justin Meis, March 13, the combination of Luke McGuire, Cameron Wagoner, Trevor House, and Zach Fruit combined for six scoreless innings, March 14.

WHAT'S AKRON BEEN UP TO?: Entering the weekend with a 5-1 overall record, Akron has picked up wins two wins over Olivet, while adding wins over Salem, Grand Valley State, and Mercyhurst. Its lone loss came at the hands of Wittenberg.

SERIES HISTORY: Its least-competed against opponent from the Mid-American Conference, the Eagles and Zips will meet for the 52nd time, March 19. Eastern holds the 30-21 advantage in the all-time series, with the last meeting between the two sides occurring March 22, 2015.
   Akron returns to the field for its first full season of play following a four-year hiatus and an abbreviated 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

LAST MEETING: Eastern Michigan and Akron last met for a series March 20-22, 2015, at Oestrike Stadium. The Zips came away with two of the three wins, taking the first game, 6-2, and final game, 3-1. Eastern was able to win its first MAC contest of the season in game two, 3-1.

JONES NAMED TO BUSTER POSEY WATCH LIST: Eastern Michigan senior captain Nick Jones has been named to the Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year Award Watch List, the Greater Wichita Area Sports Commission announced, March 10.
   A four-time team captain, Jones led the team with a .321 batting average, 17 hits, and five multiple-hit games over 14 starts in 2020. So far in 2021, he has recorded two hits and two RBIs, while also drawing four walks, which is tied for the team lead.

#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.

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

CLOSE CONNECTIONS: The Eagles will see a familiar face in the opposite dugout at Akron, March 19-21, as current Akron Associate Head Coach Cory Mee served as the volunteer assistant for Eastern Michigan during the 2020 season.

ON THE HORIZON: The Eagles head west on I-94 to take on Mid-American Conference and in-state rival Western Michigan University, March 26-28. The four-game stretch will take place at Bobb Stadium at Hyames Field, beginning at 3 p.m. Friday, March 26.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Christian Bault

Shane Easter

Zach Fruit

Trevor House

Nick Jones

Mark Kattula

Luke McGuire

Justin Meis

Justin Reinkall

Cameron Wagoner

Eastern Michigan Athletics