Eagles Open Season with Four-Game Set Against Missouri

Baseball vs Missouri (0-0, 0-0 SEC)
Date	Friday-Sunday, Feb. 17-19
Venue	Ft. Myers, Fla. \| City of Palms Park
Game Notes	EMU Notes
Live Stats	StatBroadcast
Audio	KTGR ESPN Radio
Twitter	@EMUBaseball

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University baseball team opens the 2017 season with a four-game series against the University of Missouri, Friday-Sunday, Feb. 17-19 at City of Palms Park in Ft. Myers, Fla. The weekend begins with a 7 p.m. game on Friday, followed by a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. Saturday, and concludes with a Sunday morning contest at 11 a.m.
   The action can be followed live on Twitter by following @EMU_Baseball. Live stats can be followed on mutigers.com, while radio coverage will be provided by Missouri's KTGR ESPN Radio.

EMU IN SEASON OPENERS: Eastern Michigan is entering its 69th season as a varsity program since its first season in 1949. In those 68 previous seasons, Eastern is 33-35 in season openers. The Eagles won their season opener in 2015, a 16-3 drubbing of Nebraska-Omaha on their way to a 3-1 start, the programs best since 1994.

ALL-TIME VS MISSOURI: The Eagles and Tigers have met 16 times previously in their respective histories. MU owns the decisive advantage, with a 12-4 mark. The first meeting between the two teams came back in 1978, when the then-Hurons knocked off Missouri, 4-2, in an NCAA Regional game in Tulsa, Okla. Both teams met most recently in 2013 when Missouri swept a doubleheader from EMU, 1-0 and 7-1.

ALL-TIME VS THE SEC: Eastern has a long history of facing off against teams from the Southeastern Conference. EMU holds a 21-108 all-time record against teams from the Birmingham, Ala. based conference.

TRACKING THE TIGERS: The Missouri Tigers are coming off of a 26-30 2016 campaign, including a 9-21 mark in the tough SEC. They enter the season under new leadership with first-year bench boss, Steve Bieser, taking the head coaching reigns. MU is one of the youngest teams in the country with 15 newcomers (8 freshman, 7 JUCO transfers) and just one senior. They will be led by junior starting pitcher Tanner Houck, a First-Team Preseason All-American.

RACKING UP THE FLYER MILES: As with most northern based teams, EMU is forced to play its early season games in warmer climates before it can play games at home. The Eagles will play its first 19 games away from Ypsilanti this season. EMU travels to Florida to start the year, competing in its first 10 contests. Following that, EMU will play three consecutive weekend series at Louisville, Fresno State and Samford. The home opener at Oestrike Stadium will be Friday, March 24, against Bowling Green.

SOMETHING OLD: The Eagles have nine seniors on the roster in 2017, including three players who are fifth-year seniors. Furthermore, EMU returns 20 letterwinners, six starters, and eight pitchers from the 2016 team.

SOMETHING NEW: Eastern enters the 2017 season with plenty of unknowns, as 11 newcomers will look to make an impact in their first season in the Green and White. The nine freshmen and two JUCO transfers could see plenty of playing time early in the season.

BUILDING UPON LAST SEASON: The Eagles had a successful 2016 campaign in Head Coach Mark Van Ameyde's second season. The team picked up 23 wins on their way to a Mid-American Conference tournament semifinal appearance, the programs first since 2011.
   On top of improving the team's overall win total by three and conference win total by one, the team also saw major improvements in its offensive and defensive statistics, primarily on the pitching mound. EMU improved its team ERA from 5.98 to 4.80 from 2015 to 2016, which was the best team ERA since 2011. The Eagles' hurlers baffled opponents all season long, totaling 381 strikeouts, tying the 1975 College World Series team for the third-most in program history.
   Offensively, EMU collected 19 more hits and scored 43 more runs in 2016 than in 2015. The team saw a power surge, slugging 35 points better last season, including clubbing 47 home runs, 28 better than 2015 and the most since 2010. The home run total ranked third in the MAC and 51st in the country. EMU was once again near the top in the nation in stolen bases, finishing third in swipes with 127 total. That figure surpassed 2015's total of 105, and ranked tied for fifth in program history with the 1976 College World Series runners-up.

SCHEDULE BREAKDOWN: EMU will play a wide variety of opponents in the 2017 season, including teams from the Atlantic Sun, Atlantic-10, Atlantic Coast, Big 10, Big 12, Horizon, Ivy, Mountain West, Southeastern, Southern, and Western Athletic conferences. Additionally, EMU will play a pair of non-conference teams who made the 2016 NCAA tournament in Ohio State, Louisville. The Cardinals are also ranked No. 8 in the preseason coaches poll.

EAGLES ROLL TO 18-3 WIN IN FALL EXHIBITION: EMU scored eight runs in the first and eight in the second to blow away the Ontario Blue Jays, 18-3, in an exhibition game, Thursday afternoon, Oct. 6, at Oestrike Stadium.
   The Eagles totaled 20 hits on the day, led by Mike Mioduszewski, who had two hits, including a three-run home run, and five RBI's. He also scored three runs.
   Elsewhere for EMU, a pair of freshman had solid Eagle debuts, first by freshman Zachary Owings, who finished with two singles, a walk, an RBI, and two runs scored. Fellow freshman Drake Peggs had a three-hit game to go along with two RBI's and two runs scored.
   On the mound, the Eagles used a new pitcher for each of the 10 innings. The hurlers combined to only allow three runs, and struck out 12 batters. Leading the way was sophomore Davis Feldman, who struck out the side in his only inning of work.

OESTRIKE STADIUM HAS NEW DIGS: Eastern completed renovations on its new turf field just in time this past fall. The new field features the "Script E" behind home plate and "Eastern Michigan" around the edge of the infield.
   The project is the culmination of weeks of hard work to replace the old stadium turf, which was installed prior to the 2007 season. In addition to the new playing surface, the bullpens were expanded to include three mounds. The field also got a facelift, with new coats of paint in the dugouts, as well as on the outfield fence.

FGCU ON THE HORIZON: Following the opening weekend of the season, EMU remains in Ft. Myers for a midweek contest against Florida Gulf Coast University. First pitch against the Eagles is set for 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 22.

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Players Mentioned

Davis Feldman

Mike Mioduszewski

Zachary Owings

Drake Peggs

Eastern Michigan Athletics