Baseball Ready for MAC-Opening Three-Game Set at Akron

Baseball at Akron
Date	Friday-Sunday, March 10-12
Venue	Skeeles Stadium
Preview Info	EMU Notes (PDF) \| Media Guide (PDF)
Live Stats	Live Stats

AKRON, Ohio. (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University baseball returns to action for a three-game, Mid-American Conference series at the University of Akron, Friday-Sunday, March 10-12 inside Skeeles Stadium.
Eastern Michigan (6-4, 0-0 MAC) is looking for its fifth consecutive victory, while Akron (4-7, 0-0 MAC) is looking to get back on track after three consecutive losses.
First pitch of Friday's game is set for 3 p.m. Saturday's game will follow at 2 p.m, with the Sunday series finale coming at 1 p.m.

FUN RUN: Eastern Michigan is one of the most aggressive base running teams in the nation, ranking 31st nationally and second in the Mid-American Conference with 22 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 21 games to record its 11th stolen base, compared to just 10 this season.

SURE HANDED: Eastern Michigan ranks second in the MAC and 50th nationally in fielding percentage (0.979). 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 23 free bags via hit by pitch this season, the highest total of any Mid-American Conference team. EMU has been 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 22nd highest in of NCAA Division I baseball.

COLOSSAL COMEBACK: The Eagles were down 6-0 through four innings of play Sunday, March 5 versus Towson. After the four innings, the Green and White would come back to win the contest 11-6. This marks the largest deficit overcome to win (6) for Eastern Michigan since they fell behind by the same margin, 7-1, before rallying to defeat Fresno State University, 15-11, March 10, 2017, in Fresno, Calif.

A STREAK OF SIGNIFICANCE: EMU won their fourth game straight in an 11-6 victory versus the Towson Tigers, March 5. The four wins are the longest win streak for the Eagles since they rattled off eight straight victories May 1-11, 2021.

FIRST SWEEP OF THE SEASON: The victory versus Towson, March 5, granted EMU its first series sweep of the 2023 campaign, and their first series sweep since May 7-8, 2021, when they swept a four-game set on the road versus the Bowling Green University Falcons.

SCORING UNANSWERED: EMU scored 11 unanswered runs Sunday, March 5 in an 11-6 comeback victory. The 11 unanswered runs are the most unanswered runs for the Eagles since they scored 13 unanswered in a 20-5 blowout victory versus St. Bonaventure, May 1, 2021.

LATEST AND GREATEST TAYLOR: After being ice-cold at the dish through the first four innings, Cory Taylor got the Eagles on the scoreboard with a single through the left side of the infield to score Kyle Schroedle, trimming the Towson lead to five, making it 6-1. As a much-improved batter in the 2023 campaign, the RBI goes down as Taylor's 10 in his career. With his RBIs, Taylor has now notched at least one RBI in four of the last five games, by far the most efficient stint at the plate in his career. Furthermore, Taylor currently leads the Eagles in batting average (.400), after finishing the season with a .209 average last season, Taylor has made a 191-point improvement in his average for the 2023 campaign.

OUT TO EARLY LEADS: Eastern Michigan's offense got started early in an 11-10 win versus Towson, March 3. With a homer from Matt Kirk, along with RBIs from Aaron Doleny and Blake McRae, the Eagles pushed across four runs in the first inning. The four runs mark the most scored in the first frame this season for EMU, and the most since the Green and White plated five in the top half of the first in a 7-4 victory versus Western Michigan University, April 1, 2022.

SEASON-HIGH IN HITS: The Eastern bats were white-hot as the team notched a season-high 16 hits, six of which being doubles, March 4 in the first game of a doubleheader versus Towson. The 16 hits are the most for EMU as a team since they knocked 20 hits in a 19-4 thrashing of Bowling Green, May 1, 2022.

DOLNEY'S FIRST OF THE YEAR: Aaron Dolney sent his first long ball of the season over the fences in the top half of the seventh inning, March 4 in a 9-0 shutout against Towson. The homer scored Taylor Hopkins to increase the EMU lead to 9 with 2.5 innings to go. Dolney finished the day going 2-for-5 at the dish with a homer and four RBIs. The four RBIs are just one shy of his EMU career high as Dolney sent home five in an 18-6 win versus Akron, March 25, 2022.

A SHUTOUT ON THE ROAD: EMU's 9-0 shutout victory of the Towson Tigers, March 4 marks the first time Eastern Michigan has shut out an opponent since they shut down Butler University 7-0 in the second game of a doubleheader, March 20, 2022.

EYES PEELED AT THE PLATE: The Eagles had 20-20 vision at the dish on March 4 in the second game of a doubleheader versus Towson as the Green and White totaled a season-high in walks with eight. That marks EMU's most walks in a single game since they were issued nine walks in a 14-10 win versus Miami, April 10, 2022. Last season, the Eagles walked five or more times in 12 games. Their record in those games was 6-6.

THREE MILESTONES IN ONE SWING: Cole Wilcox got his Eastern Michigan career started off in a big spot as the former Lake County Lancer notched his first hit, extra-base-hit, and RBIs with one swing of the bat, March 4, in a 9-0 win over Towson. Wilcox doubled in the seventh inning, scoring Logan Milene and Taylor Hopkins, and increasing the EMU lead to four with just a few innings remaining.

MILLER TOUCHES THEM ALL: Glenn Miller cut into the Towson lead in the top half of the fifth when he rocketed a double to right field, March 5 versus Towson. Scoring Cory Taylor and Cole Wilcox, Miller would score as well due to an error by the Towson center fielder. The play would officially go down as a two-RBI-double. Mostly a single-base hitter, the double becomes Miller's second on the season along with his first RBIs of the season. This marks Miller's first multiple-RBI game since the then-sophomore also drove in two in a 14-10 win versus Miami, April 10, 2022.

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 38.0 at bats this season, the sixth-best figure in the nation. Last season, Miller stuck out once every seven at bats. Fellow Eagle Josh Kross also ranks inside the nation's top-50 in the category, ranking 36th with a strikeout just every 17.5 at bats.

HIT HIT, WIN: Eastern Michigan has out-hit its opponents on three occasions this season, winning each of those matchups. Eastern Michigan was 16-4 in games in which it outhit its opponents last season.

ALL-TIME AGAINST THE MAC: Eastern Michigan is 631-621-3 overall against the Mid-American Conference. Head Coach Eric Roof holds a record of 51-83 against opposing MAC programs.

ALL-TIME AGAINST AKRON: EMU and Akron will meet for the 60th time this Friday, March 10. Eastern leads the all-time series by a record of 35-24. After falling in seven of 10 contests between 2014-21, EMU took back series momentum in 2022, winning three of the four games between the Eagles and Zips.

ON THE HORIZON: Eastern heads to Kalamazoo, Mich. for a three-game battle with its in-state and Mid-American Conference rival, Western Michigan University. Game one is set for Friday, March 17 with Saturday and Sunday contests to follow.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Aaron Dolney

Taylor Hopkins

Matt Kirk

Josh Kross

Blake McRae

Logan Milene

Glenn Miller

Kyle Schroedle

Cory Taylor

Cole Wilcox

Eastern Michigan Athletics