Baseball Heads to Kentucky for Trio of Games Against Western Michigan

Baseball at Western Michigan (Bowling Green, Ky.)
Date	Saturday-Sunday, March 18-19
Venue	Nick Denes Field \| Bowling Green, Ky.
Preview Info	EMU Notes (PDF) \| Media Guide (PDF)
Live Stats	Live Stats

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University baseball team returns to action for a three-game, Mid-American Conference series against the Western Michigan University Broncos, Saturday-Sunday, March 18-19.
   Eastern Michigan (8-5, 2-1 MAC) is looking to win its second straight conference series after taking two of three from the University of Akron last weekend. Meanwhile, Western Michigan (4-10, 1-2 MAC) is hoping to pick up its first MAC series victory of the 2023 campaign.
   Originally scheduled to be played in Kalamazoo, Mich., the series has been moved to Bowling Green, Ky. and will be played on the campus of Western Kentucky University. The change was made due to forecasted weather conditions in Kalamazoo.

FUN RUN: Eastern Michigan is one of the most aggressive base running teams in the nation, ranking 38th nationally and second in the Mid-American Conference with 29 stolen bases this season. Last season, EMU was 157th in the country with just 52 stolen bags for the season, a 0.96 steals per game average. This year, the Green and White average 2.2 swipes per game, nearly double its 2022 number. Last season, it took EMU 27 games to record its 29th stolen base, compared to just 11 this season.

SURE HANDED: Eastern Michigan ranks second in the MAC and 22nd nationally in fielding percentage (0.982). Eastern went three consecutive games without an error at Evansville, Feb. 24-26, its first such stretch since April 17-20, 2022 in games against Ohio, Siena Heights, and Michigan State.

OBSCURE, YET PAINFUL: Eastern Michigan has earned 30 free bags via hit by pitch this season, the highest total of any Mid-American Conference team. EMU has been hit an average of 2.3 times per game this season, up from 1.44 HBP per contest a season ago. The current number is the 40th highest in of NCAA Divison I baseball.

WINNING IN MARCH: The Eagles have started the month of March red-hot at the plate. In their seven games played in March, the Green and White have plated 59 total runs, leading them to a 6-1 record so far this month. Before dropping an extra-innings affair 6-5 to Akron, March 12, the Eagles had won six straight games, their longest win-streak since rattling off eight straight May 1-11, 2021.

PICK YOUR POISON: The Green and White have displayed the ability to score in bunches in a single inning this season. EMU has scored four runs or more in a single game eight times this season. Furthermore, in their 8-7 win over Akron, March 10, the Eagles scored one or more runs in five straight innings, making them an offense that can attack in a multitude of ways.

DOLNEY THE DEFENSIVE ANCHOR: Aaron Dolney had his eyes peeled on the basepaths in the Eagles' 8-7 victory over Akron, March 10. The senior catcher tabbed two assists on the day as he caught two Zips attempting to steal second base. Additionally, the Plymouth, Mich. native notched 15 putouts, the most on the team in the 2023 season and the second most in his career. Dolney had 17 putouts in a 12-7 win over Miami, April 11, 2022.

ARMS HEATING UP: Behind the arms of Thomas House, Zach Gillig, and Luke Russo, the Green and White threw a season-high 14 strikeouts in their 8-7 nail-biting win over Akron, March 11. This is the most strikeouts as a team in one single game since the Eagles punched out 17 batters in a 12-7 victory over Miami April 11, 2022.

KIRK'S MULTI-HOMER POWER: Matt Kirk and the EMU offense got off to a hot start in a 8-3 win over Akron, March 11, marking the Eagles sixth straight victory. With a homer in each of his first two at-bats, this marks the first multi-homer game of the 2023 campaign for the Milford, Ohio native, and the third overall of his career.

TAYLOR'S DEVELOPING CONSISTENCY: It's no secret Cory Taylor has turned an offensive corner this season, finishing the day 1-for-4 with a long-ball and three RBIs, March 11 versus Akron. The senior set a career high in the contest with three runs driven in. Furthermore, the RBIs mark the third straight game with an RBI for Taylor, the second time he's accomplished the feat in his career as he also had an RBI in three straight games Feb. 26-March 4, 2023.

HOPKINS HITS THE CENTURY MARK: Taylor Hopkins grounded out to shortstop in the top-half of the seventh inning, scoring Matt Kirk in the Eagles' 8-3 win over Akron, March 11. With the RBI, Hopkins regained the team lead for RBIs with 15. More importantly, the RBI went down as the 100 of Hopkins career, which dates back to the 2019 season.

STRONG START TO CONFERENCE PLAY: With their 8-3 victory over Akron, March 11, Eastern Michigan's conference record improved to 2-0. This marks the first time the Eagles have started conference play with two wins in the Head Coach Eric Roof era (2018-present) and the first since they won the first two of a three game set versus Bowling Green March 24-25, 2017.

SEASON-HIGH IN HOMERS: The Eastern Michigan offense tabbed three home runs in their 8-3 win over the Akron Zips, March 11. This marks the most homers in a single game since the Eagles rocketed eight over the wall in a 19-4 domination of Bowling Green, May 1, 2022.

CHITTUM'S CAREER DAY: Nick Chittum had a career day on the bump for the Eagles in a 6-5 loss to Akron, March 12. The senior right-hander pitched 5.1 innings, allowing four hits, and two runs to go along with eight strikeouts. Chittum's eight punch outs are a career high for the Grosse Ile, Mich. native as well as the most from an EMU pitcher in the 2023 campaign, and the most since Luke Russo sat down 11 in a 12-7 victory over Miami University, April 11, 2022.

TWO-HIT HUGO: Sophomore Logan Hugo had two hits and a run in the Eagles' 6-5 extra-inning loss to Akron, March 12. This marks the eighth career multi-hit game for the 6-foot-2 outfielder.

SERIES WIN TO START MAC PLAY: Eastern Michigan picked up the series win over Akron, winning two games against the Zips, March 10-12. This is the first time that EMU has opened Mid-American Conference play with a series victory since 2017, when the Eagles took 2-of-3 from Bowling Green State University, March 24-25.

GOOD EYE GLENN: Senior Glenn Miller is one of the hardest players in the nation to strike out in 2023. The second-year Eagle has fanned just once every 26.0 at bats this season, the 10th-best figure in the nation. Last season, Miller stuck out once every seven at bats.

ALL-TIME AGAINST WESTERN MICHIGAN: EMU and WMU will meet for the 188th time this Friday. Western leads the all-time series by a record of 96-91 The Eagles have played the Broncos the most out of any team in the Mid-American Conference (187). Furthermore, Eastern baseball has only played the University of Michigan more times (188) than the Broncos.

ON THE HORIZON: Eastern will travel to Indianapolis, Ind. for a mid-week game against Butler University, Tuesday, March 21 at 4 p.m.

Baseball Heads to Kentucky for Trio of Games Against Western Michigan

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Players Mentioned

Nick Chittum

Aaron Dolney

Zach Gillig

Taylor Hopkins

Thomas House

Logan Hugo

Matt Kirk

Glenn Miller

Luke Russo

Cory Taylor

Eastern Michigan Athletics