Eagles Host Rockets for Tuesday Matchup

Baseball vs. Toledo
Date	Tuesday, May 4
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) - Following a doubleheader sweep of St. Bonaventure, May 1, the Eastern Michigan University baseball team returns to Oestrike Stadium for the first-of-four scheduled make-up games against the University of Toledo, May 4. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.
   Fans can watch and listen to the game on Eagle All-Access, where Greg Steiner and Alex Jewell will have the call. Live stats will also be available, with links for both 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.

SEASON-HIGHS FOR WIN ONE: Eastern Michigan's 20-2 victory over St. Bonaventure, May 1, was made up of some team and individual season-high performances.
   As a team, Eastern registered season-highs in at-bats (51), runs (20), hits (23), and RBIs (18). In addition, the 11 Eagle batters and six with multiple hits mark season-highs this season for EMU.
   Individually, four hits from Taylor Hopkins and Mike Monahan marked season-highs for each, while Gabe Denton's four hits tied his season high. Denton also drove in a team-leading six runs in the first game, a season-high for the transfer and most in a single game by an EMU player this season.
   The 20 runs marked the first time EMU has scored that many in a game since it scored the same number in a 20-2 win over Purdue, May 14, 2013. The 23 hits are also the most since the 24 recorded in the same game.

FOUR STRAIGHT: In its first game against St. Bonaventure, May 1, Eastern Michigan accomplished two feats it had not all season. First, it scored in each of the first three innings. EMU had previously scored in three consecutive innings twice (vs. Ball State, April 16 - 2, 3, 4 and at Akron, March 19 - 7, 8, 9), but this was the first time it opened the game with three straight innings putting runs on the board. Moreover, Eastern also scored in the fourth, marking the most consecutive scoring innings for the Eagles in 2021.
   In its last meeting with St. Bonaventure, EMU also scored in each of the first four innings on the way to a 12-7 win over the Bonnies, Feb. 24, 2017.

HALF GAME, WHOLE HOPKINS: Despite only playing five innings in the first game against St. Bonaventure, Taylor Hopkins put up one of the best offensive performances of the game, going 4-for-4 with two RBIs, while also scoring two runs. The four hits in a game mark a career-high for the Mason, Ohio native, while the outing marked his eighth multiple-hit game and third multiple-RBI game of the season.

PROGRAM RECORD BOOK-WORTHY: In addition to setting season-highs in its 20-2 win at St. Bonaventure, May 1, Eastern Michigan also found itself writing new entries on the program's all-time single game records list.
   The 51 at-bats rank 10th all-time, taking the spot of 50 at Purdue, May 14, 2013. The 20 runs tie for 10th all-time, matching the number scored against New Mexico, Feb. 25, 1996, Siena Heights, March 2, 1997, and at Purdue, May 14, 2013. Finally, the 23 hits became the fifth entry to tie for sixth all-time in a single game, most recently being recorded against Toledo, May 13, 2011.

LOTS OF RUNS: Over its two games against St. Bonaventure, Eastern Michigan scored 33 runs on 38 hits. The 33 runs mark the most in a two-game span since the 2014 squad scored 35 in two games against UT Martin, Feb. 21-22, 2014. It was also the first time Eastern has scored at least 12 runs in back-to-back games since scoring 12 in each of its games against Ohio, April 15-16, 2017.
   Meanwhile, the 38 hits in two games were the most since 39 were tallied at Northern Illinois (15) and at Purdue (24), May 12-14, 2013.

TWO IN ONE: The third inning of game one against St. Bonaventure saw the Eagles garner eight hits and a season-high nine runs during the frame. The nine runs in an inning marked the most since the 2016 Eagles scored 12 in the seventh inning at Lipscomb, March 18.
   The Eagles sent 14 batters to the plate, highlighted by some two-time occurrences: Nick Jones not only reached base twice in the inning, but scored both times as well. Gabe Denton launched two extra-base hits in the same frame, coming in the form of a home run and double. Christian Bault was the only other Eagle to record two hits in the frame, knocking singles both times, while Shane Easter reached base twice in the inning with a single and fielder's choice.

NO MORE MR. MEIS GUY: Putting together one of his best starts of the season, Eastern Michigan right-hander Justin Meis tossed 6.0 innings of scoreless baseball to earn his first win of the season against St. Bonaventure, May 1. The Pittsburgh, Pa. native allowed only two hits and one walk during his time on the mound, tying his season-low in hits allowed and recording his second-lowest number of walks allowed on the season. The outing also marked the fourth time he has thrown at least 6.0 innings, previously throwing the same number against Miami, April 3, 7.1 at Ohio, April 10, and 8.0 at Mississippi State, March 13.
   The junior also tied his season-high with four 1-2-3 innings, three of which consisted of striking out the side in order.
   The 6.0 innings without a run are the most for Meis since holding Mississippi State scoreless for eight full innings, March 14, where he no-hit the Bulldogs for 5.2 innings and only allowed one hit in the eight scoreless innings, which marked the longest scoring drought of the season for Mississippi State in 2021.

DON'T FIX THE DENT(ON): Leading the Eagles' offense against St. Bonaventure was transfer Gabe Denton, who finished the two-game series with a team-leading .700 batting average, tying for the team lead with seven hits. The Clare, Mich. native also led the Green and White with 10 RBIs, including a season-high six in the first game. Four of Denton's hits were extra-base, consisting of one double and three home runs. Moreover, in his 10 at-bats against the Bonnies, Denton did not strikeout.
   Two of Denton's home runs came in game two, marking the first time an EMU player has hit two home runs in one game since Taylor Hopkins did so in the 2020 season-opener at Austin Peay, Feb. 15.

BE LIKE MIKE: Making his second and third starts of the season against St. Bonaventure, May 1, Mike Monahan made the most of his time as the designated hitter. The Saline, Mich. native tied for the team lead with seven hits over two games, accumulating a .636 batting average (7-for-11). Monahan also knocked his first-career triple on the way to nine total bases, the second-most on the team. Also driving in runs, Monahan became just the second Eagle in 2021 to record a game with four-or-more RBIs, notching his first of the season in game one and four in game two for five total over the series, a season-best total for the fifth-year. Additionally, the seven hits are a season-high for Monahan, and just one short of the eight career hits he had totaled heading in to the series.

MCGUIRE KEEPS FIRING: Earning his second-straight win for the Eagles was Luke McGuire, who pitched 6.0 innings in his start against St. Bonaventure, May 1. McGuire allowed just two runs on two hits to the Bonnies in his six innings, while only walking one and striking out four to help the Eagles to a 20-5 win in the series-opener.

CAN'T HIT NICK: Eastern Michigan freshman Nick Chittum had one of his best outings of the season at St. Bonaventure, May 1. Taking over for Luke McGuire at the start of the seventh, the Grosse Ile, Mich. native tossed a season-high 2.0 innings, allowing no hits and no runs to the Bonnies. The freshman also racked up a season-high four strikeouts, striking out SBU in order in the seventh for the second inning of that sort by the EMU pitching staff to that point.

0'S ON THE BOARD: In its two games against St. Bonaventure, the Eastern Michigan pitching staff found success on the mound. Of the 18 innings pitched to the Bonnies, 10 were 1-2-3, with four of the three-up, three-down frames coming via striking out the side in order, something that had only been done once prior to the series.
   In the second game, EMU hurlers kept the Bonnies off the board for seven-straight innings, the most since holding both Bellarmine and Mississippi State to eight scoreless innings, March 5 and 14, respectively.
   Five total pitchers for the Green and White also had scoreless outings in Justin Meis, Tyler Helgeson, Justin Reinkall, and Zach Fruit in game one, and Nick Chittum in game two.

WHAT'S TOLEDO BEEN UP TO?: Toledo comes to Ypsilanti having not lost its last four Mid-American Conference series, splitting two, 2-2, winning one, 3-1, and sweeping the fourth, 4-0. The Rockets are 13-11 in MAC play, winning its last two against Western Michigan.

LAST MEETING: Completing its only sweep of the 2019 season, and first since 2017, Eastern Michigan defeated Toledo, 6-5, 5-3, 6-5 at Oestrike Stadium. Thomas House earned his first win as an Eagle in game two, while Justin Meis picked up his third win of the season in the series finale.
   Winning game one in walk-off fashion, it was Jeff Timko with a bases-loaded single to win the game for EMU.

SERIES HISTORY: In the all-time meetings between the two sides, Eastern Michigan holds the advantage in the series, 98-64. Since 1999, the series has been a bit more competitive, with the Eagles edging the Rockets with a 36-33 advantage. EMU also holds a 20-12 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 heads to Bowling Green, Ohio for a four-game set with Bowling Green, Friday-Sunday, May 7-9. Game times are set for 3 p.m. Friday, 12 p.m. and 3 p.m. Saturday, and 1 p.m. Sunday.

Eastern Michigan Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Christian Bault

Nick Chittum

Gabe Denton

Shane Easter

Zach Fruit

Tyler Helgeson

Taylor Hopkins

Thomas House

Nick Jones

Luke McGuire

Justin Meis

Mike Monahan

Justin Reinkall

Jeff Timko

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