Eagles Baseball Treks West for Weekend Series with WMU

Baseball vs. Western Michigan (9-24, 2-7 MAC)
Date	Friday-Sunday, April 22-24
Location	Kalamazoo, Mich. \| Robert J. Bobb Stadium
Game Notes	EMU Notes
Live Stats	wmubroncos.com
Live Audio	N/A
Twitter	@EMU_Baseball

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University baseball team hits the road for a weekend Mid-American Conference set versus in-state rival Western Michigan University, April 24-26. The three-game series begins Friday with a 3 p.m. first pitch. Saturday sees a 1 p.m. start time while the series wraps up Sunday with another 1 p.m. start.

    The action can be followed via live stats or by following our Twitter account, @EMU_Baseball. Links can be found on the schedule page of EMUEagles.com.

ALL-TIME SERIES VS WESTERN MICHIGAN: The Eagles and Broncos have met 165 times in their respective histories, marking the second most common opponent for EMU all-time. The series is in a virtual deadlock, with EMU owning the lead 83-82. When the two squads met last season, EMU took the season series by winning 2-of-3 against WMU.

BREAKING DOWN THE BRONCOS: Western Michigan enters the weekend bringing up the rear in the MAC West division, with an overall record of 9-24, and a conference mark of 2-7. WMU does own a win over MAC leader Kent State, while the other victory came last weekend over Northern Illinois. The Broncos swept Bowling Green in a four-game non-conference set, but were swept by Ball State in conference play as well.

    Offensively, the Broncos hit for a solid .260 clip, racking up 288 hits on the season. They have the fifth best batting average in the MAC. Leading WMU is Evan Nelson, who bats for a .333 clip in 84 at-bats including a team-high three home runs.

    Defensively is where the Broncos tend to struggle, as WMU is last in the MAC in team pitching with a 7.00 team ERA. They allow opponents to hit for a .322 average, and have walked 160 batters, to 227 strikeouts. The staff is led by Keegan Aiken, who has a stout 1.88 ERA in nine starts. Beyond him though, no other pitchers have an ERA better than 4.95.

THREE-BAG BACKSTOP: Junior Jeremy Stidham leads EMU and is T-29th in the nation with four triples on the season. The catcher is one of just six backstops in the country to have four triples on the year.

RUN EAGLES RUN: EMU has been alert and impactful on the base paths this season, as the team currently ranks third in the country in steals (88). In addition, redshirt junior Marquise Gill is fourth in the nation in steals with 29 on the season, while three Eagles are in the top-eight of the conference. With 88 steals this season, the team aims to break the program record of 147 stolen bags, set in 1981, and tied in 2004.

GOTTA EARN THOSE RUNS: Senior Michael Marsinek has not allowed an earned run to score in his last nine trips to the mound, totaling 16.2 innings. His ERA sits at a team-low 2.35. Meanwhile freshman Caleb Hester has not been tagged for a single earned run in his first five times to the mound for his career, totaling eight innings.

CLOSE TO THE CENTURY MARK: Senior Mitchell McGeein is close to surpassing some significant milestones in his respective career. McGeein is two RBI's and four runs scored away from reaching 100 in his career. Meanwhile, junior Sam Delaplane struck out three batters against Purdue, April 12, to get to 100 for his career. He joined redshirt junior Michael Mioduszewski at the century mark after he notched his 100th career hit earlier in the season, March 5, versus Arizona State.

MOVING UP THE RECORD BOOK: A trio of Eagles are rewriting the record books in 2016 with their season and career performances. Senior Mitchell McGeein is on the career list for home runs with 24 (T-12th), walks with 77 (T-15th), doubles with 35 (T-16th) and at-bats with 565 (25th). Junior closer Sam Delaplane is eighth on the career saves list with nine in his three years, while redshirt junior Marquise Gill is already tied for fifth in single-season stolen bases with 29, with his career total of 39 ranking 15th all-time.

EAGLES DIG THE LONG BALL: EMU currently ranks 83rd in the nation and fourth in the MAC, in home runs with 25 as a team this season. Individually, senior Jackson Martin has hit a team-high six so far, which is eighth in the MAC. The Eagles hit a season-high four home runs in the win over BGSU, March 27.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER: Senior Jackson Martin is making the most of his final season in the Green and White. The Ontario native is hitting .281 on the year with 32 hits and team-highs in RBI's (23) and home runs (6). In the first 18 games of the year, he matched the amount of starts he had all of last season, while his 19 hits, four home runs, four doubles, four steals and 19 RBI's were more than he had in his first three seasons combined.

TRACKING THE TATERS: Senior Mitchell McGeein entered his final season with 19 career homers, good for 20th on the all-time EMU list. He currently has five home runs this season, putting him in a tie for 12th-place all-time.

WORKHORSE OUT OF THE PEN: Senior lefty Michael Marsinek has been the go-to guy in relief so far this season for the Eagles. The veteran leads EMU in appearances (14) and in innings pitched out of the bullpen (23.0). Against Dayton, March 16, Marsinek struck out a career-high five batters in three innings without allowing an earned run. His ERA sits at a team-low 2.35, and he has not allowed an earned run in his last 16.2 innings of work (nine appearances).

FIGHTING IRISH ON THE HORIZON: The Eagles will play a single mid-week game next week with a road trip to South Bend to take on the Fighting Irish of Norte Dame. First pitch vs UND is set for 6 p.m., Wednesday April 27.

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Players Mentioned

Sam Delaplane

Marquise Gill

Caleb Hester

Michael Marsinek

Jackson Martin

Mitchell McGeein

Mike Mioduszewski

Jeremy Stidham

Eastern Michigan Athletics