Eagles Welcome Rockets for Series Finale

Baseball vs. Toledo
Date	Tuesday, May 18
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 will close out its seven-game homestand as it hosts the University of Toledo for its series finale Tuesday, May 18, at Oestrike Stadium. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.
     Fans can watch the games on Eagle All-Access, or follow 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.

PITCHER OF THE WEEK: Eastern Michigan junior Justin Meis was named the Mid-American Conference's Co-Pitcher of the Week, the league office announced May 17. The honor is the first for the Pittsburgh, Pa. native in his career, and first for the EMU pitching staff since Scott Granzotto won April 8, 2019.
   Meis earned the honor after his 2-0 week, earning wins over Toledo, May 11, and Northern Illinois, May 15.

TWICE AS MEIS: After earning the win against Toledo, May 11, Eastern Michigan hurler Justin Meis completed his 2-0 week with a win over Northern Illinois, May 15.
   Just two outs shy of tossing the complete game, the Pittsburgh, Pa. native went 6.1 innings on the mound, striking out six and allowing just two runs on the way to his fourth win of the season.

BAULT-ING IT: Having his best offensive series of the season against Northern Illinois was Christian Bault, who led the team with a .533 batting average over the four-game set. The senior went 8-for-15, including launching his fifth home run of the season, on the way to driving in four runs against the Huskies, May 14-16. His eight hits led all Eagles, while his four RBI's tied for most on the team.
   The Maineville, Ohio native now holds the second-best batting average on the team (.311), and is tied for second on the team with 38 hits on the season.

CAPTAIN IN MACTION: Eastern Michigan senior Nick Jones continued his strong showings in Mid-American Conference play against Northern Illinois, May 14-16. Recording three hits over the series, the Battle Creek, Mich. native has recorded at least that amount in every MAC series so far this season.
   The captain also accounted for nearly a quarter of the runs crossing the plate for EMU, scoring a team-high five runs of Eastern's 21 against Northern Illinois.

THAT'S A BIG DENT: Posting his first four-game series hitting .500 as an Eagle, newcomer Gabe Denton went 6-for-12 in his four games against Northern Illinois, May 14-16. Denton knocked three extra-base hits, made up of two doubles and a home run, leading to four RBIs and three runs scored for the Clare, Mich. native.
   Denton's two doubles came in game one of Eastern's 3-2 win over Northern Illinois, each driving in a run to account for two-third's of EMU's scoring production in the win. In addition, his home run, May 14, marked his 10th of the season, making him the first Eagle to reach double-digit home runs in a season since John Montgomery hit 12 during the 2017 season.

W FOR MCGUIRE: Earning his fifth win of the season in the series opener against Northern Illinois, May 14, Luke McGuire went 6.0 innings on the mound in the win. The senior tied his season-high with five strikeouts, during his appearance, while also allowing no walks in the 10-4 win Friday night.

BE LIKE MIKE: Designated hitter Mike Monahan had another impressive outing as the designated hitter against Northern Illinois, May 14-16, going 5-for-15 with a .333 batting average, and driving in three runs.
   Monahan holds a .421 batting average through his 18 games played in 2021, and his 24 hits in that frame ranks fourth on the team.

TOP 50: Following its series at Northern Illinois, May 14-16, Eastern Michigan saw three players rank in the top-50 in the NCAA in several categories.
   Gabe Denton ranks 47th across Division I with his .380 batting average, while his .483 on base percentage ranks 48th. The Clare, Mich. native's .31 home runs per game average ranks 36th, and the junior cracks the top-10 with a .760 slugging percentage, ranking eighth in the nation.
   Also at the plate, junior Will Oberg's 14 hit by pitches ranks 33rd, while his .39 hit by pitch per game average ranks 17th.
   On the mound, Davis Feldman's 2.28 ERA ranks 46th in Division I.

MORE 0'S FROM FELDMAN: After tossing three scoreless innings as the game one starter against Toledo, May 11, Eastern Michigan veteran Davis Feldman notched his sixth scoreless outing of the season against Northern Illinois, May 14. Going 3.0 innings for the second-straight game, Feldman struck out four and allowed just two hits in time on the mound. Closing out the game, the graduate student also picked up his first save of the season and fourth of his career.

SCORELESS OUTINGS: Sophomore pitcher Luke Russo had another strong inning of work on the mound against Northern Illinois, May 15. After throwing a scoreless inning against Toledo, May 11, the sophomore tossed a 1-2-3 frame in his one inning of work against the Huskies, May 15.

HOW ABOUT THE HOMERS: After launching four home runs over its series against Northern Illinois, May 14-16, Eastern Michigan surpassed the 30 home run mark as a team for the first time since the 2017 season. Sitting at 33 on the season, the 2021 squad is three shy of the 2017 team's total, 36.

GOING STREAKING: Following its series against Northern Illinois, May 14-16, Eastern Michigan saw improvements to one of it streaks.
   Gabe Denton improved his reached base streak to 13 games, tying Daniel Warkentin for the longest on the team in 2021. Mike Monahan also made it to 13 games, before seeing his streak come to an end, May 15.
   Monahan extended his hitting streak to 13 games after the first two games against the Huskies, but saw his streak come to an end in game two against NIU. The 13 games marked the longest hitting streak by an Eagle this season, and longest since Nick Jones and Jeff Timko put together 13-game streaks during the 2019 season.

WHAT'S TOLEDO BEEN UP TO?: After splitting its doubleheader with EMU, May 11, Toledo won its series against Bowling Green, May 14-16. Taking three-of-four games from the Falcons, the Rockets scored 31 runs over the last two games of the series in its wins.

LAST MEETING: Eastern Michigan and Toledo split its midweek doubleheader Tuesday, May 11, at Oestrike Stadium.
   In game one, the Eagles blanked the Rockets, 6-0, recording back-to-back shutouts for the first time since the 2007 season. EMU fell to the Rockets, 10-2, in game two.

SERIES HISTORY: In the all-time meetings between the two sides, Eastern Michigan holds the advantage in the series, 100-65. Since 1999, the series has been a bit more competitive, with the Eagles edging the Rockets with a 38-34 advantage. EMU also holds a 22-13 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 hits the road for one final time in 2021, heading to Mount Pleasant, Mich. for a four-game series with Central Michigan, May 21-23. Friday's game is set for 3 p.m., while Saturday's doubleheader is scheduled for 1 and 4 p.m. The series is scheduled to conclude Sunday at 1 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

Christian Bault

Gabe Denton

Davis Feldman

Scott Granzotto

Nick Jones

Luke McGuire

Justin Meis

Mike Monahan

Will Oberg

Luke Russo

Jeff Timko

Daniel Warkentin

Eastern Michigan Athletics