Baseball Set For Midweek Game at Oakland

Baseball at Oakland
Date	Tuesday, March 28
Venue	Oakland Baseball Field \| Rochester, Mich.
Preview Info	EMU Notes (PDF) \| Media Guide (PDF)
Live Stats	Live Stats

ROCHESTER, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University baseball team will play a midweek, non-conference game against Oakland University Tuesday, March 28, at 2:30 p.m. The game will take place at Oakland Baseball Field in Rochester, Mich.
Eastern (10-10, 4-5 MAC) is looking to snap a four-game losing skid after most recently being swept in a three-game series against Ball State University, March 24-26. Oakland (8-13, 2-4 Horizon) comes into the game on a three-game slide of its own.
The game can be followed through live stats by visiting EMUEagles.com/livestats or on EMU's Twitter, @EMU_Baseball.

HOME OPENERS: Eastern Michigan heads to Oakland after getting its 2023 home slate underway against Ball State, March 24-26. EMU dropped a 2-1 heartbreaker in the home opener, Friday, March 24, moving the team's record to 7-6 over its last 13 tries in lid-lifters.

EIGHT FOR ERIC: Eastern Michigan has eight wins so far this March, the most in the month for Head Coach Eric Roof, in his fifth season at the helm of the program (2018-Pres.). Prior to 2023, Roof's best month-of-March total was seven, which came in 2022. EMU has not had eight wins in March since the 2013 season, when the team recorded 11 wins en route to a 26-28 season.

FUN RUN: Eastern Michigan is one of the most aggressive base running teams in the nation, ranking 21st nationally and second in the Mid-American Conference with 47 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 2.4 swipes per game, more than double its 2022 number. Last season, it took EMU 48 games to record its 47th stolen base, compared to just 20 this season.

SURE HANDED: Eastern Michigan ranks second in the MAC and 75th nationally in fielding percentage (0.975). 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 36 free bags via hit by pitch this season, the second highest total of any Mid-American Conference team. EMU has been hit an average of 1.8 times per game this season, up from 1.4 HBP per contest a season ago. The current number is the 64th highest in NCAA Division I baseball.

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 inning 12 times this season. Eastern's best single inning of the season came in its series against Western Michigan, where it pushed across seven runs in the third inning of the series finale, March 19.

DOUBLE TROUBLE: Eastern Michigan has had no problem finding second base this year. The Green and White average 2.3 doubles per contest in 2023, which ranks 33rd in the nation. Eastern averaged just 1.8 doubles per game a season ago.

COMEBACK KIDS: EMU has come back to win four games when trailing by four or more runs this season. The most recent came against WMU, March 18, when the Eagles erased a five-run deficit to secure a 12-11 victory. Last season, EMU did not come back from any such deficits, and only came back from a deficit (one run or more) to win in six total games.

GOOD EYE JOSH: Josh Kross is one of the hardest players in the nation to strike out in 2023. The first-year Eagle has fanned just once every 15.6 at bats this season, the 18th-best figure in the nation.

KING KIRK DELIVERS AGAIN: Graduate Student Matt Kirk was a combined 9-for-15 (.600 average) against Butler, March 21, and Ball State, March 24-26, driving in four RBIs and scoring a trio of runs. Overall, he had five extra-base hits with four doubles and a home run. All told, Kirk slugged 1.067 with an OBP of .667.
On Sunday, March 26, Kirk had an RBI double in the first inning for Eastern Michigan. Scoring Glenn Miller, it was Kirk's team-leading 13th double of the season, which also leads the Mid-American Conference. Furthermore, the reigning MAC Player-of-the-Year nabbed a stolen base in the first inning, marking his third stolen bag of the year and continuing his perfect steal percentage. Moreover, Kirk had three hits Sunday, marking his fifth three-hit game this year. By also knocking three hits in consecutive contests, the graduate student has tallied three hits in back-to-back games for the first time in his career.

ROCKIN' RUSSO: Senior Luke Russo threw 8.1 innings against Ball State in a pair of contests (Friday, March 24; Sunday, March 26), allowing just two runs to the defending MAC regular season champions. Russo struck out 10 while not walking a batter in the two appearances. On Sunday, he started the ballgame and went six innings, surrendering one run on five hits, walking none, and striking out eight. The eight punchouts tied the season-best of any EMU hurler this season. On Friday, the righty made an impact on the mound for the Eagles, throwing 2.1 innings, giving up one run on two hits, with no walks and two strikeouts.

MILLER HITS HIS FIRST: Senior Glenn Miller came up big for the Green and White against BSU Sunday, March 26. With the game tied at two, Miller blasted his first EMU home run, a shot to left field, to put the Eagles in front. Miller notched two home runs as a student-athlete at Spring Arbor University before making the jump to EMU.

BIG ON THE BASE PATHS: The Eagles were aggressive on the base paths March 267 as they set a new season high with five bags swiped against BSU. Furthermore, EMU stole 11 total bases throughout the three-game series, tying their series-high in stolen bags as the Green and White also nabbed 11 bases in their series sweep versus Towson University, March 3-5. The game was the first for Eastern Michigan with five or more steals since the Green and White stole the same number at Northern Illinois, May 7, 2022.

ON THE HORIZON: Eastern Michigan returns to Mid-American Conference play when it travels to Athens, Ohio for a three-game set against the Ohio University Bobcats, March 31-April 2.

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Players Mentioned

Matt Kirk

Josh Kross

Glenn Miller

Luke Russo

Eastern Michigan Athletics