Baseball Set for I-94 Matchup with Western Michigan

Baseball at Western Michigan
Date	Friday-Sunday, March 26-28
Venue	Bobb Stadium at Hyames Field \| Kalamazoo, Mich.
Preview Info	EMU Notes
Listen	Bronco Radio Network
Live Stats	StatBroadcast
Twitter	@EMU_Baseball \| @EMUAthletics

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) - Coming off a series split at Akron to open Mid-American Conference play, March 19-21, the Eastern Michigan baseball team heads to the site of the first College World Series for a four-game series with Western Michigan, Friday-Sunday, March 26-28. Friday's game is set to take place at 3 p.m., with Saturday's doubleheader scheduled for 12 and 3 p.m. Sunday's series finale will take place at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
   Fans can listen to the action on the Bronco Radio Network, or follow the action via live stats.Links for both can be found on the baseball schedule page of EMUEagles.com. In addition, updates will be posted on the team's Twitter account, @EMU_Baseball.

HOLY HOMER: Eastern Michigan combined to hit three home runs in its series-opener at Akron, March 19, the most by the team in a single game since it hit the same number against Austin Peay to open the 2020 season, Feb. 15. Seniors Christian Bault and Nick Jones each went long for the first time in their EMU careers (two seasons, five seasons, respectively), while junior Taylor Hopkins sent his sixth-career long ball out of the park against the Zips.
   EMU has hit 12 home runs through its first 13 games, the most in that stretch to start a season since the 2002 season when that squad hit 18 four-baggers during its first 13 contests.

FELDMAN AUTO(MATIC): Senior pitcher Davis Feldman continued to demonstrate his dominance in yet another winning performance Friday, March 19, at Akron. The Warren, Mich. native turned in a stat line that included a season-best seven innings in which he allowed just two runs on six hits. He also dusted a career-best eight opposing hitters.
   Feldman, who is 3-1 on the season, has already marked a new career-high in total wins after previously notching two victories in both 2016 and 2017, respectively. His 2.78 ERA is the best of any starting pitcher for the Green and White this season. He also leads the team in innings pitched (22.2), and strikeouts (20).

MAMBO NUMBER FIVE (INNINGS): The Eastern Michigan pitching staff combined to accomplish something it had not all season against Akron, March 19; it tossed five-consecutive 1-2-3 innings en route to sitting down 15-straight Zips between the fifth and ninth innings, respectively. Senior Davis Feldman took care of innings five through seven before handing the ball to sophomore Cameron Wagoner in the eighth, and senior Justin Reinkall in the ninth, who each faced the minimum and helped the Eagles secure a 9-2 win.

HAMMERIN' HOPKINS: Junior shortstop Taylor Hopkins turned in a team-best hitting display against Akron, March 19. The third-year Eagle went 3-for-5 on the day to record his second three-hit game of the season (at Bellarmine, March 6). Those hits helped Hopkins to record a season-best two RBIs, one of which came via his first home run of the season. Hopkins has now recorded three-or-more hits three times in his career.
   Over the series against the Zips, the junior posted the second-best batting average on the team (.400), tied for the team-high in hits (6), while adding three RBIs and a team-leading three walks, resulting in a team-top .826 slugging percentage and .526 on base percentage. With two home runs in the series, the junior set a new season-best mark in the category (3).

NOT A SINGLE GUY ANYMORE: Senior captain Nick Jones put together his best offensive performance of the young season in the series-opener at Akron, March 19. The Battle Creek, Mich. native recorded his first multi-hit game of the season, finishing 2-for-5 at the plate. The two knocks, a double and a home run, were the first extra-base hits of the season for Jones. His home run was the first of his career. Jones' two RBIs in the game is also a season-best.
   Of his 148 career hits recorded prior to beginning the 2021 season, only 21 (14%) have been extra-base hits. So far in 2021, Jones has recorded nine hits, with two being for additional bags.

HOPKINS HOPPING UP: Junior Taylor Hopkins has been steadily climbing the hitting ranks for the Eagles in 2021. Heading into EMU's four-game set against Akron, March 19-21, the Mason, Ohio native was second on the team in total hits (8), third on the team with a .250 batting average, tied for third in home runs (1), and was tied for third in RBIs (3).
   Following the series at Akron, March 19-21, Hopkins jumped in to the team lead in batting average (.298), hits (14), slugging percentage (.532), and is tied for the team lead in home runs (3).

HOW A(BAULT) THAT: Over four games at Akron, March 19-21, Eastern Michigan senior Christian Bault notched his second series of the season in the Green and White with multiple RBIs, finishing the weekend with two. In addition, the Maineville, Ohio marked another 'first,' launching his first home run in an Eastern Michigan uniform in the series-opener, March 19.

OH MY OBERG: EMU newcomer Will Oberg found success at the plate in Eastern's series at Akron, March 19-21. The Wayzata, Minn. knocked four hits, tying his season-best for hits in a series (at Bellarmine, March 5-7), recording his first multi-hit game of the season, March 20, along with his third multiple-RBI game of 2021 in the same contest.
   The junior also sent the ball out of the park for the first time in the Green and White and added a double for two extra-base hits on the weekend. After getting on base in each of the four games, Oberg leads the Eagles with a four-game reached base streak, after previously reaching a team-leading six games.

MCGUIRE GOES THE DISTANCE: In his fourth start of the season, senior Luke McGuire had an impressive outing at Akron, March 20. Pitching a season-high six innings, the right-hander also tallied a season-best four strikeouts, while allowing no walks for the second time this season.

GO GORA: At Akron, March 19-21, Eastern Michigan senior Eli Gora appeared in three games, with two being starts, and posted a .364 batting average with four hits over 11 at-bats, two of which were doubles, adding two RBIs and scoring one run in his outing against the Zips.

TIMKO AT THE TOP: EMU senior Jeff Timko helped pave the way for Eastern's offense at Akron, March 20-21. In his three games, the Rochester Hills, Mich. native compiled a team-best .417 batting average, recording five hits, driving in two runs, scoring four runs of his own, and blasted his third home run of the season.

FREE BASEBALL: With its 8-6 win over Akron, March 21, Eastern Michigan competed in its ninth extra inning contest in the Eric Roof era (2018-Pres.) and first since the 2018 season.
   The Eagles are now 4-5 all-time in games with free baseball, after picking up its first extra inning win since 2018 at Akron, March 21.

MAKING IT REIN: Senior Justin Reinkall continued his impressive 2021 campaign at Akron, March 19-21. Appearing in two games, the Superior, Wis. recorded 2.0 innings on the mound, allowing only one hit, while striking out three over the two appearances. In addition, Reinkall walked no batters for the second and third time of the season in his outings.
   The senior came off a stellar outing at Mississippi State, March 12, tossing 2.0 innings, allowing only one hit and one walk while striking out a season-high four batters during his frames.

WATCH OUT FOR WAGONER: Taking over for starter Davis Feldman to start the eighth inning at Akron, March 19, the Tecumseh, Mich. product recorded his third consecutive outing without allowing a walk, and second without surrendering a hit.
   Taking the mound again in the fourth game of the series, the sophomore tied his season-high with five strikeouts in his 4.2 innings on the bump.

WHAT'S WESTERN MICHIGAN BEEN UP TO?: Entering the weekend with a 1-9 overall record, Western Michigan earned its first victory of the season in its final game of its series at Ball State, March 21, defeating the Cardinals, 15-12. Earlier in the season, the Broncos dropped series to Kansas State and Cincinnati, along with the first three games to Ball State.

SERIES HISTORY: The only Mid-American Conference teams Eastern holds a losing record to, Western holds the advantage in all-time matchups, 92-87. Since 1999, the Eagles are 20-15 in Kalamazoo, and last swept a series there in the 2012 season.
   Western has won five of the last six matchups, and the last two series between the two sides. Eastern managed to take a game from Western April 28, 2018, at Oestrike Stadium, 6-1.

LAST MEETING: An early May meeting between the two sides, the Eagles and Broncos last met May 3-5, 2019, at Bobb Stadium at Hyames Field. Western came away with the series sweep, winning 4-2, 12-2, and 7-6 over the three games.

#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

ON THE HORIZON: The Eagles will get to play at Oestrike Stadium for the first time since the 2019 season when it welcomes Miami University, April 2-4, for an Easter weekend, Mid-American Conference series. Friday's first pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m., with the Saturday doubleheader set for 1 and 4 p.m., with Sunday's contest at 1 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

Christian Bault

Davis Feldman

Eli Gora

Taylor Hopkins

Nick Jones

Luke McGuire

Will Oberg

Justin Reinkall

Jeff Timko

Cameron Wagoner

Eastern Michigan Athletics