Eagles Host Rockets for Midweek Doubleheader

Baseball vs. Toledo
Date	Tuesday, May 11
Venue	Oestrike Stadium \| Ypsilanti, Mich.
Preview Info	EMU Notes
Gameday Program	Toledo Program
Live Stream	Eagle All-Access
Live Stats	EMUEagles.com
Twitter	@EMU_Baseball \| @EMUAthletics

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University baseball team returns to Oestrike Stadium to begin a seven-game homestand, beginning with a Tuesday doubleheader against the University of Toledo, May 11. Games times are set for 3 and 6 p.m., with both contests being seven innings in length.
     Fans can watch the game on Eagle All-Access, or follow the game via live stats, with links being found on the baseball schedule page of EMUEagles.com. Updates will also be posted throughout the game on the team's Twitter account, @EMU_Baseball.

HOW SWEEP IT IS: With its four wins at Bowling Green, May 7-8, Eastern Michigan completed its first series and Mid-American Conference series sweep of the season. The sweep is the first for Eastern since doing so against Toledo, April 26-28, 2019, and first time on the road since its series at Northern Illinois, May 12-14, 2017.

FLIP THE SCRIPT: After defeating Toledo, May 4, and sweeping Bowling Green over four games, May 7-8, Eastern Michigan has claimed five-straight MAC wins for the first time since April 17-May 1, 2011, when the team went on a seven-game MAC win streak.
   In addition, with the two wins at St. Bonaventure, May 1, Eastern Michigan is on a seven-game win streak, the longest since Eastern's 11-game run April 17-May 4, 2011.

SHUTOUTS FOR THE EAGLES: Eastern Michigan shut out Bowling Green twice in the series, 8-0 and 3-0, marking the first time the Eagles have shutout their opponent twice in a series since April 13-14, 2007, defeating Ohio, 2-0 and 1-0, respectively, at Oestrike Stadium.
   In addition, Friday's 8-0 shutout marked the first for EMU since April 7, 2019, a 4-0 win also against the Falcons.

MCGUIRE FIRES: In its 8-0 win at Bowling Green, May 7, Eastern Michigan righty Luke McGuire went the distance in his third-straight win, throwing all seven innings for the Eagles in the shutout victory, the first Eagle pitcher to do so since Brent Mattson in a 4-0 win over Butler, April 2, 2017.
   The Shelby Twp., Mich. native allowed just four hits during his time on the bump, while also tying his season-high with five strikeouts and matching his season-low by allowing no walks in his 7.0 innings pitched, his second-longest outing of the season (8.0 at Ohio, April 10).

DINGERS FOR DAYS: Game two of Friday's doubleheader against the Falcons saw four Eagle home runs, the most deep shots in a game for Eastern since it hit the same number March 27, 2016, in an 8-4 win against Bowling Green.

SCOTTY SMOOTH: Eastern Michigan left-handed pitcher Scott Granzotto compiled a 2-0 record on the mound last week, helping Eastern to wins over Mid-American Conference opponents Toledo and Bowling Green, May 4 and 8, respectively.
    The Northville, Mich. native tossed 11.0 innings over the two games, striking out 11 and walking just one batter during his time on the bump. Granzotto's week was highlighted by his longest outing of the season, a 7.0-inning, three-hit, scoreless showing against Bowling Green, also tallying a season-high six strikeouts. The senior put the Falcons down in order in four-of-seven innings on the way to his second win of the week.
   Earlier in the week, the senior held the Rockets to two runs in his 4.0-inning outing, striking out five over the four frames. With the two wins, Granzotto now sits at 3-0 on the season.

HOPKINS ON OFFENSE: Putting together one of the best offensive series for the Green and White at Bowling Green, May 7-8, was shortstop Taylor Hopkins, who led all Eagles in batting average (.438), hits (7), RBIs (6), runs (5), and stolen bases (4) in the four-game stretch. The junior's four stolen bases tie for the most in a series this season by any EMU player (Will Oberg at Bellarmine, March 5-7).
   Hopkins had one extra-base hit during the series, coming in the form of a home run to leadoff game two, May 7, making him the first Eagle to leadoff the game with a home run since former Eagle Daniel Russell did so at Northern Kentucky, March 17, 2013.

BAULT-ING IT: Eastern Michigan infielder Christian Bault continued to prove he is force to be reckoned with at the plate, finishing the weekend series at Bowling Green with a .375, six hits, and three RBIs. Moreover, the Maineville, Ohio was one-of-two Eagle starters to not record a strikeout all series.

TWICE AS MEIS: Eastern Michigan hurler Justin Meis picked up his second win of the season at Bowling Green, May 7. Tossing five scoreless innings, the Pittsburgh, Pa. native allowed just four hits and struck out seven. The five scoreless innings are the third-longest for Meis this season, after holding Mississippi State scoreless for eight, March 13, and St. Bonaventure scoreless for six, May 1.

WARKENTIN AT WORK: Eastern Michigan third baseman Daniel Warkentin played his first full series of 2021 against Bowling Green, May 7-8, starting all four games for the Green and White.
   Warkentin put together a six-hit, five-RBI, .375-average weekend against the Falcons. Three-of-six hits for the Leamington, Ontario native were a double, triple, and home run, making him the only Eagle to complete the weekend cycle. His three extra-base hits and 12 total bases both led EMU for the series.
   Warkentin's home run, May 7, a two-run shot to left field in the seventh, marked the first of his career in the Green and White, while his triple in the first game of the series marked his second in three games.
   The senior's weekend was highlighted by a 3-for-5 day in game two of the series, marking career single-game highs for the Canadian in hits (3), RBIs (3), and total bases (6).

HOUSE DON'T FALL: Finishing out the third game of the series to improve to 2-0 on the season was lefty pitcher Trevor House, who pitched a career-high 2.2 innings and tied his career-best with four strikeouts against Bowling Green, May 8.

EASY FOR EASTER: Quietly doing his job at the plate for the Eagles is centerfielder Shane Easter, who finished the weekend batting .375 with six hits. Putting together a pair of multiple-hit contests over the series at Bowling Green, May 7, Easter posted a 2-for-4 performance to open the series, and followed with a 3-for-5 showing in game two of the day, scoring a run in each contest.

MIKEY MAGIC: Continuing to impress at the plate is designated hitter Mike Monahan, who once again put together a strong offensive performance in Eastern Michigan's sweep over Bowling Green, May 7-8. The Saline, Mich. native finished with a .429 batting average with six hits and four runs scored, marks that all ranked second-best on the team for the series, while also driving in three runs over the four-game span.

GOING STREAKING: After its series at Bowling Green, May 7-8, Eastern Michigan saw improvements to two of its streaks.
   Mike Monahan currently holds a nine-game hitting streak, the longest by any Eagle so far this season and longest since Nick Jones and Jeff Timko put together 13-game streaks during the 2019 season.
   Daniel Warkentin improved his reached base streak to 11 games, holding the longest active streak and tying Jones and Christian Bault for the season-high. The Leamington, Ontario native was on a team-leading 10 game reached base streak when the 2020 season was called due to COVID-19.

SIX STRAIGHT: After notching its longest scoring stretch of the season at St. Bonaventure, May 1, scoring in the first four innings of game one, Eastern Michigan exceeded the stretch in the second game of the series at Bowling Green, May 7. EMU put a run on the board in six straight innings, from the third to the eighth for its new season-high scoring stretch. Eastern also plated a run in the first to score in seven-of-nine innings against the Falcons.

MAKING CONTACT: After marking its lowest number of strikeouts at the plate against Toledo, May 4, Eastern Michigan matched that figure with only three strikeouts in the series finale at Bowling Green, May 8. Moreover, EMU set a new season-low strikeout total, only getting K'd twice in the series opener against the Falcons.
   Eastern has had five-or-less strikeouts six times this season, at Bowling Green, May 7 (2) vs. Toledo, May 4 (3), at Bowling Green, May 8 (3), at Western Michigan, March 29 (4), at Ohio, April 10 (4), and at St. Bonaventure, May 1 (5).

BALL MAGNET: Eastern Michigan newcomer Will Oberg has shown he will take one for the team to get on base, having been hit by a pitch a team-leading 13 times this season. The 13 HBP's rank first in the Mid-American Conference and 37th in the NCAA, while his .43 hit by pitch per game is also the leading mark in the conference and 11th across Division I.

TWO-OR-MORE FROM THREE-OR-MORE: The first two games of Eastern Michigan's series at Bowling Green, May 7, saw three-or-more Eagles record multiple-hit contests. Taylor Hopkins, Shane Easter, and Eli Gora each picked up two hits in the first contest. Six Eagles had multiple-hit performances in game two, tying for most this season after having the same number do so against St. Bonaventure, May 1. Hopkins once again had two hits, while Christian Bault, Gabe Denton, and Mike Monahan each added two of their own. Easter and Daniel Warkentin paced the Green and White with three hits.
   Moreover, after having three-or-more multi-hit days in both games at St. Bonaventure, May 1, against Toledo, May 4, and in the first two games at Bowling Green, May 7, Eastern recorded five-straight games with three-or-more multiple-hit performances for the first time in 2021.
   EMU added one more contest of the sorts in the series finale at Bowling Green, May 8, for 11 total multiple-hit games.

PRODUCTION ON THE RISE: Through the first 29 games of Eastern Michigan's season, it had averaged 4.1 runs per game, while allowing an average of 4.9 runs per game to its opponents. In Eastern's last seven games, the Green and White has seen a drastic improvement, improving to a 10.4 runs per game average, while keeping opponents to 3.1 runs per game. In total, EMU has outscored its opponents, 191-165, on the season.

WHAT'S TOLEDO BEEN UP TO?: Since its meeting one week ago, Toledo was swept by Virginia Tech, May 8-9, in Blacksburg, Va. The losses dropped the Rockets to 15-26 overall on the season, however, they are 13-12 in Mid-American Conference play.
   Toledo has not lost its last four Mid-American Conference series, splitting two, 2-2, winning one, 3-1, and sweeping the fourth, 4-0.

LAST MEETING: Just one week ago, Eastern Michigan defeated Toledo, 13-2, May 4 at Oestrike Stadium. EMU posted its highest-scoring inning of the season, putting up 12 runs in the first inning and adding one in the fifth en route to the win. Scott Granzotto earned the win, tossing 4.0 innings, while Cameron Wagoner and Trevor House added 2.0 and 1.0 innings on the mound, respectively, before the mercy rule came in to effect.

SERIES HISTORY: In the all-time meetings between the two sides, Eastern Michigan holds the advantage in the series, 99-64. Since 1999, the series has been a bit more competitive, with the Eagles edging the Rockets with a 37-33 advantage. EMU also holds a 21-12 record playing the Rockets at Oestrike since the 1999 season.

#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: Eastern Michigan continues its homestand Friday-Sunday, May 14-16, hosting Northern Illinois University for a four-game series. Saturday will also be the celebration of the 1970 NAIA National Championship team, whose planned 2020 celebration was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Players Mentioned

Christian Bault

Gabe Denton

Shane Easter

Eli Gora

Scott Granzotto

Taylor Hopkins

Trevor House

Nick Jones

Luke McGuire

Justin Meis

Mike Monahan

Will Oberg

Jeff Timko

Cameron Wagoner

Daniel Warkentin

Eastern Michigan Athletics