Baseball Preps for Three-Game Series at Butler

Baseball at Butler
Date	Friday-Sunday, March 18-20
Venue	Bulldog Park \| Indianapolis, Ind.
Preview Info	EMU Game Notes
Live Stats	Game 1 \| Game 2 \| Game 3
Twitter	@EMU_Baseball \| @EMUAthletics

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University baseball team will continue its non-conference slate with a four-game series against Butler University starting Friday, March 18, at 4 p.m. The two teams will face off Saturday, March 19, starting at 2 p.m. while the series concludes on Sunday, March 20, with first pitch set for 1 p.m. All contests can be followed via live stats on StatBroadcast.com.
   Eastern (3-10, 1-3 MAC) finished its most recent series, dropping three of four games to Ball State University, March 13-14. Butler (8-8) fell to the University of Illinois, 13-4, on Tuesday, March 15 in its most recent contest.

DROPPIN' TANKS: The Eagles belted seven home runs in the series against Ball State, March 13-14. Eastern has not hit seven home runs in a Mid-American Conference series since the beginning of the 2021 conference slate, when it took Akron deep seven times during a four-game stretch between March 19-21.
   Eastern Michigan has hit 22 home runs in its first 13 games of the 2022 season. That number equates to a 1.69 home runs per game average. EMU has not had a season with a home runs per game average of better than 1.0 since 2009, when the Eagles belted 100 total home runs, a 1.69 per game average.
   Additionally, the Eagles' 1.69 home runs per game mark is good for 15th nationally. Tennessee leads the nation with 2.71 round-trippers per contest. EMU leads the MAC in homers per game and total home runs (22). Senior Gabe Denton paces Eastern, rounding the pillows six times this season.
   Furthermore, three Eastern Michigan batters sit inside the top-10 in home runs in the league. Denton (6) and junior Matt Kirk (5) sit first and second, respectively, while senior Christian Bault is tied for seventh in the conference with three home runs.

LEADING BY EXAMPLE: Captain Shane Easter is currently second on the squad in batting average (.292), hits (14), and tied for the team lead in triples (1). Additionally, in all 13 games started and played, Easter has yet to record a fielding error (1.000 FLD%).

MATT'S BAT: Junior Matt Kirk has begun his EMU career on fire at the plate. The outfielder currently leads the team in batting average (.451), hits (23), slugging percentage (.863), total bases (44), and extra base hits (11). Additionally, Kirk is second on the squad with five home runs.
   The junior belted two home runs in the third game of the series against Ball State, March 14. Kirk has left the yard multiple times in two games this season, at Tennessee Tech, Feb. 26, and at Ball State, March 14. He is the first player to notch multiple two-homer games in the same season since 2016, when Mike Mioduszewski did so in games against Northern Illinois, May 15, and Dayton, May 16, respectively.
   Kirk's .451 batting average (23-for-51) ranks second in the Mid-American Conference, while his 23 hits lead the league. The Milford, Ohio native's five homers also ranks second in the MAC.
   Furthermore, the junior has averaged 1.77 hits per game through the first four weeks of the season. That number is good for 29th in the nation. Richmond's Dom Toso leads the nation with 2.29 hits per game.

HITTING FOR POWER: EMU has hit home runs in six consecutive games, spanning back to March 5. It is the second stretch of at least five-straight games with at least one home run this season. Prior to this season, EMU had not seen multiple five-contest home run streaks since 2009, when the team put together three streaks of five-or-more consecutive games (12 games, 6 games, 6 games) with a home run.

GOOD EYE!: The Eagles have been disciplined at the plate as the Green and White currently sit second in the Mid-American Conference in fewest strikeouts (95). Additionally, EMU currently ranks sixth in the league in on-base percentage (.358) and leads the league in home runs (22).

FALLING TO FALINSKI: Freshman hurler Adam Falinski had one of his best outings to date against BSU, March 14. The Howell, Mich. native tossed a seven-inning complete-game. He is the first EMU hurler to do so since Justin Meis, who accomplished the feat at Central Michigan, May 22, 2021. The 7.0 innings of work ties his career-high, which he hit in his first collegiate appearance, at Winthrop, Feb. 20. Falinski's effort included a personal-best five consecutive no-hit innings to start the game, and earned him his team-best second win this season. In his two victories this year, he has combined to allow just one earned run on five totals hits, while striking out 11.
   Falinski earned his first collegiate victory over Winthrop, Feb. 20, in his collegiate debut, allowing no earned runs on just two hits, fanning six batters in 7.0 innings of work. Falinski helped his pitching staff record its first shutout victory of the season.
   The right-hander's performance earned recognition by the Mid-American Conference, tabbing the Co-Pitcher of the Week honor the league announced, Feb. 21. The selection was the first of his collegiate career.

HELP FROM HOUSE: Senior pitcher Thomas House got the ball to start game four of EMU's series at Ball State, March 14. He went 3.0 innings, his fourth straight appearance hitting that mark. He relinquished a season-low two hits in the effort.
   House's four consecutive outings of three-or-more innings is a career-best stretch. He is in his fourth season as a member of the team's pitching staff.

RED HOT RUBNER: After going hitless in his two games with the Green and White, freshman Coltrane Rubner has been dialed in as of late. He has recorded hits in seven of his last eight games, including a season-best two knocks against Ball State in the final game of EMU's four-game set with the Cardinals, March 14.

KEEPING THE GLOVE DOWN: Eastern committed an error in the first game of the doubleheader against Ball State, March 14, bringing an end to the Eagles' three-game errorless streak. That was the best stretch of zero-mistake baseball for the club since it went four games without an error between Feb. 27-March 6, 2021

ALL-TIME AGAINST THE BIG EAST: Eastern Michigan is 9-9 overall against the Big East Conference. The last meeting versus a Big East opponent came against Villanova University in the Snowbird Classic (Port Charlotte, Fla.), Feb. 29, 2020. The Wildcats defeated the Eagles, 4-1.

ALL-TIME AGAINST BUTLER: EMU and Butler will meet for the sixth time this weekend, March 18-20. Butler leads the all-time series by a record of 3-2.

LAST GAMES VERSUS BUTLER: The two programs last met for a midweek matchup, May 5, 2018, at Oestrike Stadium. The Bulldogs defetead the Eagles, 11-6. Then-freshman Shane Easter played right field and pitched for EMU in the game, tallying an RBI double while tossing two scoreless innings.

LAST TIME IN INDIANAPOLIS: Eastern and Butler have never played each other in Indianapolis. The two teams have played one contest at Oestrike Stadium while the previous four contests were all played at neutral sites.

EMU ROOTS IN INDIANAPOLIS: Eastern Michigan University President James M. Smith, Ph.D. has spent time at Butler. Smith served as the Director of the Experiential Program for Preparing School Principals during his time in Indianapolis, Ind.

ON THE HORIZON: Eastern Michigan will return to Oestrike for its home-opening contest versus Concordia University Tuesday, March 22.

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Players Mentioned

Christian Bault

Gabe Denton

Shane Easter

Adam Falinski

Thomas House

Matt Kirk

Justin Meis

Coltrane Rubner

Eastern Michigan Athletics