Eagles Set For Midweek Showdown with FGCU

Baseball vs FGCU (3-1, 0-0 A-Sun)
Date	Wednesday, Feb. 22
Venue	Ft. Myers, Fla. \| Swanson Stadium
Game Notes	EMU Notes
Live Stats	StatBroadcast
Audio	N/A
Twitter	@EMUBaseball

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University baseball team remains in Ft. Myers this week for a Wednesday night contest against Florida Gulf Coast University, Feb. 22. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. at Swanson Stadium against the Eagles. The action can be followed live on Twitter by following @EMU_Baseball. Live stats can be followed on fgcuathletics.com as well.

ALL-TIME VS FGCU: This marks the first all-time meeting between the two programs in their respective histories. FGCU has only fielded a team since 2003, and just became a full-time Division-I program in 2010.

ALL-TIME VS THE A-SUN: Eastern Michigan is 4-4 all-time against the Atlantic Sun Conference. Eastern faced a pair of teams from the Macon, Ga. based conference a season ago, winning a single game against NJIT, and going 1-2 in a weekend series against Lipscomb.

EAGLES VS EAGLES: Florida Gulf Coast is off to a 3-1 start on the season after winning a four-game weekend series against Sacred Heart. Last season, FGCU tallied a 27-32 ledger, taking fifth place in the A-Sun. The team has seen much turnover, losing seven starters and bringing in 22 newcomers.
This past weekend, the Eagles hit .261 as a team, scoring 32 runs. Three players hit above .300 on the weekend, with all three batting above the .400 mark. The pitching staff tossed a 4.50 ERA, allowing 22 runs total on 40 hits.

ALL OVER THE ALL-AMERICAN: In EMU's lone win over Missouri in the opening weekend, the Eagles had to face a preseason All-American in Tanner Houck. The Eagles were not overmatched, tagging Houck for five runs on eight hits in just 5.2 innings to saddle him with the loss.

MONTGOMERY'S MONSTER WEEKEND: Senior John Montgomery got his final season in the Green and White off to a great start in the opening weekend series against Missouri. The Anaheim Hills, Calif. native led the team, going 6-for-13 (.462) with two doubles, and four RBI's. His three-RBI game on Opening Day matched his career-high and helped EMU defeat Mizzou, 6-2.

CLUB 100: A pair of Eagles reached a career milestone in the opening weekend series against Missouri. Redshirt senior Marquise Gill and junior Brennan Williams both reached the 100 career hit milestone. They joined redshirt senior Mike Mioduszewski for active players in the 100 hit club. Mioduszewski is the active leader in hits with 148 career knocks. In addition, senior John Montgomery is just one hit shy of reaching the 100 career hit plateau as well.

NOTABLE DEBUTS: Coming into the season, it was well known that the squad would have to rely heavily on newcomers to pick up early innings of work. Through the first four games of the season, four true freshman saw starts in the infield, including three with multiple starts. Additionally, three new pitchers also saw time against Missouri.
These EMU rookies had some notable accomplishments, including Drake Peggs, who went 4-for-10 (.400) with an RBI and three runs in his four appearances (three starts). Nick Jones and Zachary Owings also picked up their first collegiate hits as well. On the mound, JUCO transfer Brad Allen made his first EMU start, and despite taking the loss, he struck out six batters in just five innings.

SPEED KILLS: After finishing the season ranked third in the county in stolen bases last year, the Eagles will once again look to rank near the top of that category in 2017. After the first four games of the year, EMU has stolen six bases, which is good for 27th in the country.

SENIOR STOPPERS: The back of the EMU bullpen is one of the strongest parts of this 2017 squad, as two seniors have the end of games on lockdown. Both Matthew Beaton and Sam Delaplane are also at the top of career statistical categories for their efforts, as the two rank tied for 17th and fifth, respectively, in saves with five and 10. Beaton also currently ranks seventh all-time with an ERA of 2.99.

FINAL WEEKEND IN FLORIDA ON THE HORIZON: Eastern remains in Florida for its final weekend in the Sunshine State this Friday-Monday, Feb. 24-27, with five games against three teams in two different cities. The weekend begins with single games against St. Bonaventure and Dartmouth in Port Charlotte, Fla., Friday and Saturday. EMU then travels to Winter Haven, Fla. for a three-game set against UW-Milwaukee, Sunday and Monday.

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Players Mentioned

Brad Allen

Matthew Beaton

Sam Delaplane

Marquise Gill

Nick Jones

Mike Mioduszewski

John Montgomery

Zachary Owings

Drake Peggs

Brennan Williams

Eastern Michigan Athletics