Eagles Welcome Ball State to Varsity Field for Three-Game Set

Softball vs. Ball State
Date	Friday-Saturday, April 15-16
Location	Ypsilanti, Mich. \| Varsity Field
Game Notes	EMU Notes
Live Stats	EMUEagles.com
Live Audio	N/A
Twitter	@EMUSoftball \| @EMUAthletics

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University softball team returns to Varsity Field this weekend, April 15-16, when it hosts Ball State University for a three-game Mid-American Conference series. EMU enters the three-game set in third, one slot ahead of BSU, in the MAC West Division standings. The weekend set gets underway Friday afternoon at 3 p.m. and wraps up Saturday with a twin bill. The first leg of Saturday's doubleheader is slated to get started at 1 p.m.
   The Eagles (15-23, 5-6 MAC) split a pair of midweek contests, first falling to Oakland, 6-5, Tuesday, April 12, before bouncing back with an 8-6 MAC win over Toledo Wednesday, April 13. Ball State (18-23, 4-8 MAC) travels to Ypsilanti after dropping a single game to MAC West Division leading, Northern Illinois, at home, April 13. With the loss, the Cardinals were swept for the second time in league play this season.
   Fans can follow both games via Twitter (@EMUSoftball) and live stats.

TALE OF THE TAPE: Eastern Michigan and Ball State have squared off on the diamond 94 times, with the Cardinals holding a 59-35 lead in the all-time series. The two squads first met during the 1982 campaign when EMU took a twin bill sweep over the Cardinals. BSU came away with a win in the latest meeting however, topping the Eagles 11-3 in five innings, May 4, 2014. Last season's doubleheader was cancelled due to weather, meaning this weekend's match up will be the first meeting between the teams since 2014.

COMING FROM BEHIND: Heading into Wednesday's showdown with Toledo, April 13, the Eagles were 0-13 in games in which they trailed after four innings of play. EMU scored seven runs over the final three frames in the series finale to come-from-behind and knock off the Rockets, 8-6. The win marked the first come-from-behind win for the Eagles this season and first since May 3, 2015 when EMU stunned UT, 3-2.

BREAKING OUT THE BATS: In it's 8-6 win over Toledo, April 13, Eastern Michigan cranked out a season-high 14 hits. The total marked the most hits for the Eagles in a road MAC game since 2011 when the Green and White broke out for 15 hits in a 16-0 drubbing of Western Michigan. The Eagles' 14 hits were evenly distributed with six different players picking up multi-hit efforts, the most since 2011.

OFFENSE CONTINUES TO IMPROVE: Under the tutelage of head coach Melissa Gentile, the Eagles have seen their offensive numbers improve in each of her four season's at the helm. This season, the Eagles are hitting at a .278 clip, the best since 2011. Additionally, EMU has registered 10 or more hits on 12 occasions, also the most since 2011. That season, Eastern Michigan recorded double-digit hits 15 times.

REGAINING A HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE: Since the 2006 season, the Eagles have compiled a 65-66-2 record at Varsity Field. Eastern Michigan holds a 10-24 record at its home diamond under head coach Melissa Gentile, including a 2-6 mark this season. With a total of six home games remaining, EMU seeks its fifth winning record at home since 2006 and first since 2011.

UPDATING THE RECORD BOOKS: With a double in the sixth inning of EMU's win over Toledo, April 13, Michelle Kriegshauser moved into a tie for eighth all-time in career doubles. Kriegshauser has also climbed the charts for career home runs, now sitting seventh in EMU laurels with 19 dingers. Kriegshauser's offensive production has been matched by freshman teammate, Amanda Akles. Akles has totaled 35 RBI's this season and is just one shy of cracking the top-10 for single season RBI's in EMU history.

CLIPPING THE CARDINALS: Ball State travels to Ypsilanti having lost four of its last five games and with an overall record of 18-23. Sitting at 4-8 in Mid-American Conference play, the Cardinals rank fourth in the MAC West Division, one slot behind the Eagles.
   BSU's lineup has been outhit .320-.267 at the dish this season, despite having four players hitting above a .300 clip. Emily Dabkowski ranks third on the team with a .325 batting average but has produced 37.2 percent of BSU's offense. Dabkowski leads the team in RBI's (33), runs scored (27), doubles (10), and triples (4). Additionally, she ranks second on the team in home runs with eight long balls and a team-high .693 slugging percentage. Despite Dabkowski's impressive numbers, the Cardinals have a knack for striking out, doing so 189 times this season compared to 101 walks.
   Ball State owns a team ERA of 5.72 with Nicole Steinbach serving as the team's ace with a club-best 3.58 ERA. In league play, Steinbach has started all but three games for the Cardinals and has seen her ERA jump up to 4.57. As a pitching staff, the Ball State has struggled with control as evidence by 29 plunked batters, 17 wild pitches, and 135 walks.

FINDING THE GAPS: The Eagles have had a knack for finding gaps in the defense all season. With 61 doubles racked up through 38 games, EMU averages 1.61 two-baggers per game, first in the conference. Additionally, the Green and White rank 29th in the nation in the category.

EMU IN MAC PLAY: Eastern Michigan owns a 374-482-2 all-time record against teams in the Mid-American Conference. The Eagles have been the most successful against Ohio, Miami, and Toledo. The Green and White lead the series with the Rockets, 57-49, while holding 50-34 and 44-39 edges in series with Ohio and Miami, respectively. Meanwhile, EMU trails in the all-time series with Akron (20-30), Ball State (35-59), Bowling Green (39-55), Kent State (32-48), Northern Illinois (25-35), and Western Michigan (42-63-1).

CONSISTENT CONTACT: Through 38 games, Abby Davidson has proven to be one of the toughest batters to strikeout in all of NCAA Division I. The Westerville, Ohio product has totaled 66 at bats without a single strikeout. Davidson is one of four players in the country that has yet to be called out on strikes this season, joining Brooke Morris (Nicholls St.), Chloe Oro (Delaware St), and Ambrelle Burton (Southern).

SAVING THE BEST FOR LAST: Coming into the season, Aoife Duffy was believed to be the Eagles' third option at catcher but the Powell, Mich. has played her way into the starting lineup. Duffy sports a career-best .306 batting average this season, head-and-shoulders above her previous single season best .231. Additionally, the senior backstop is one RBI shy of tying her career-high and has already doubled her career two-bagger total with three this season in addition to belting a career-best two homers.

Eagles Welcome Ball State to Varsity Field for Three-Game Set

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Players Mentioned

Amanda Akles

Abby Davidson

Aoife Duffy

Michelle Kriegshauser

Eastern Michigan Athletics