Baseball Treks South to Battle Houston Christian

Baseball at Houston Christian
Date	Thursday, Feb. 29-Saturday, March 2
Venue	Houston, Texas \| Husky Field
Preview Info	EMU Notes (PDF) \| Media Guide (PDF)
Live Stats	Fan Stats
Listen	N/A
Social Media	@EMU _Baseball \| @EMUAthletics

HOUSTON, Texas (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University baseball team remains on the road with a trip to Space City to battle Houston Christian University in a four-game-set Thursday-Saturday, Feb. 29-March 2, at Husky Field. Thursday's game will begin at 2 p.m. CT, with Saturday's starting at 12 p.m. CT, and Sunday's first pitch being thrown at 2 p.m. CT.
   Eastern enters the series with a 2-5 (0-0 Mid-American) mark following a series setback at the University of Southern Indiana, Feb. 23-25. Meanwhile, the Huskies are 4-5 (0-0 Southland) following a 14-3 midweek loss at Sam Houston State in Huntsville, Texas.
   There is no video stream for the series, however, fans can follow along with the action in all three games via live stats.

FIRST PITCHES
» The series between the Eagles and Huskies will mark the first time the two have met on the baseball diamond. Previously known as Houston Baptist, HCU joined the Southland Conference July 1, 2013.
» For the 10th time, Eastern Michigan will play a game on a leap day. The Green and White are 3-6 on Feb. 29 with the last occurrence falling during the 2020 campaign.
» EMU treks to the Lone Star State for the first time since the 2019 season, that year the Eagles played eight games in the state of Texas posting a 2-6 record.
» Eastern returns to Nashville, Tenn. for a Tuesday, March 5, contest at No. 9 Vanderbilt before opening Mid-American Conference play March 8-10 at Ball State.

STRONG IN THE MAC RANKINGS
Through its first seven contests, Eastern Michigan ranks inside the Mid-American Conference top-four in 13 statistical categories, including leading the league in doubles per game (2.4), doubles (17), and WHIP (1.46).

LEAP DAY
The natural phenomenon which repeats every four years returns this week - Leap Day. EMU is 3-6 all-time on Feb. 29, last playing a pair of contests against Villanova (L, 1-4) and Northeastern (L, 1-6) on the date during the 2020 season at the Snowbird Classic in Port Charlotte, Fla.
   Eastern Michigan also played on Leap Day during the 1984, 1992, 2000, 2004, 2008, and 2012 seasons. The program's wins on the extra date have come against Michigan (W, 8-7; 1992), Rollins (W, 2-0; 2000), and North Carolina Central (W, 8-4; 2012).

QUITE THE TRIP
   Amid winter break on campus, EMU will log more than 2,640 miles with games at Southern Indiana, Feb. 23-25, Houston Christian, Feb. 29-March 2, Vanderbilt, March 5, and Ball State, March 8-10.

STRONG ON THE BUMP
   Senior Nick Chittum was stellar in the finale at Southern Indiana, Feb. 25, posting the longest outing by an EMU hurler since 2021 (a streak of 142 games). The righty threw a complete game, scattering just four hits while striking out four in 8.0 innings of work. He allowed no walks and just three runs, none of which were earned while limiting the Screaming Eagles to a .143 batting average.
   It marked the first complete game for Eastern Michigan since the 2022 season, however, all four of those CGs were just seven-inning affairs. The last EMU pitcher to complete 8.0 innings of work was Luke McGuire at Ohio, April 10, 2021.

COMPLETE GAMES NATIONWIDE
Senior Nick Chittum is one of just 13 pitchers in Division I baseball to have notched a complete game so far in the 2024 season. He is the only Mid-American Conference student-athlete on the list.

RUN, RUN, RUN
Junior Logan Hugo leads the MAC and ranks 30th nationally with five stolen bases in the team's first seven games.
   EMU ranks second in the MAC and 83rd nationally with 11 swiped bags.

COMING UP HUGE
Junior Logan Hugo posted a .462 batting average (6-for-13) with four runs scored, a double, and a home run in the weekend series at Southern Indiana, Feb. 23-25. He pushed his hitting streak to six consecutive contests, with the season opener the only time he has failed to reach base via a hit. Hugo drove in a pair of runs while swiping three bases against the Screaming Eagles. He also played a flawless centerfield, going a perfect 16-for-16 on putouts. In Sunday's finale, he was 3-for-3 with a home run while swiping a pair of bases. On Saturday, Hugo posted a 2-for-5 day, with a pair of runs scored. During Friday's contest, he was 1-for-5 with a double and an RBI.

TEXAS TURNAROUND
   With its next four games scheduled to be played in the "Lone Star State," Eastern Michigan will hope to turn around its recent track record when playing in Texas. In its last 18 games played in the state, EMU holds just a 4-14 record. Most recently, the Eagles were swept by TCU, in a three-game series played March 15-17, 2019, in Fort Worth. Prior to 2018, the Eagles last played in Texas when it took two games of a four-game set from Kansas, March 1-3, 2013, in Grand Prairie.

AGAINST THE SOUTHLAND
Since HCU joined the Southland in 2013, the Eagles have met an opponent from the Southland Conference just twice. In 2018, Eastern rolled past Nicholls State, 11-5, in an extra innings win as part of the Cox Diamond Invitational at Blue Wahoos Stadium in Pensacola, Fla., March 3. More recently, Eastern dropped a pair to Incarnate Word (L, 3-8, Feb. 21, 2019; L, 0-4, Feb. 24, 2019) in San Antonio.

SEVERAL FIRSTS IN EVANSVILLE
Freshman Nathan Ball collected his first collegiate hit with a single up the middle in the second inning at USI, Feb. 24. He finished the day 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored in the team's 7-4 triumph.
   Junior Drew Beckner earned his first EMU victory in the same contest, Feb. 24, after posting 5.2 innings of work, giving up two runs on six hits and striking out five. Sophomore Ty Stolarski also saw his first action in an EMU uniform, Feb. 23, as did freshman hurler Jack Topolski Feb. 24.

GETTING ON BASE IN EVANSVILLE
   Every EMU starter produced a hit in the Feb. 24 win at Southern Indiana. It marked the first occurrence this season, after every started reached base safely in game one of the series, Feb. 23.

VANCE MUSCLES UP
In EMU's 7-4 victory over USI, Feb. 24, Cooper Vance led the Eagles at the plate, going 2-for-5 with a double, a home run, and three RBI. Vance, who compiled two extra base hits in the ballgame, recorded his first career homer, a two-run bomb over the left field fence.

ON THE HORIZON
Upon completion of its four-game stint in Houston, Eastern returns to Nashville, Tenn. for a Tuesday, March 5, contest at No. 9 Vanderbilt before opening Mid-American Conference play March 8-10 at Ball State.
   Head Coach Robbie Britt has a long-standing relationship with Vandy's Tim Corbin, having worked numerous camps for the Commodores.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Nathan Ball

Drew Beckner

Nick Chittum

Logan Hugo

Jack Topolski

Cooper Vance

Eastern Michigan Athletics