Baseball to Take on Oakland in Midweek Clash

Baseball at Oakland (6-26, 4-8 Horizon)
Date	Tuesday, April 18
Venue	Rochester, Mich. \| OU Baseball Field
Game Notes	EMU Notes
Live Stats	goldengrizzlies.com
Audio	N/A
Twitter	@EMUBaseball

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University baseball team takes a brief pause in Mid-American Conference play when it takes on the Oakland University Golden Grizzlies in game two of the home and home series, Tuesday, April 17. First pitch from OU Baseball Field is set for 2 p.m.
   The action can be tracked live on Twitter by following @EMU_Baseball. Live stats will be available through goldengrizzlies.com.

ALL-TIME VS THE GOLDEN GRIZZLIES: The Eagles and Golden Grizzlies have met 59 times in their respective histories, with EMU holding the all-time advantage, 45-14. The two teams met just three weeks ago at Oestrike Stadium, when OU used a three-run sixth inning to escape with a 3-2 victory.

SO WE MEET AGAIN...: Since the two teams met three weeks ago, Oakland has gone just 3-8 for an overall ledger of 6-26, including 4-8 in the Horizon. Tuesday marks OU's home opener, after their original scheduled home opener against Central Michigan was canceled.
   Offensively, OU hits at a .251 clip, but are being out-hit, 347-275, and out-scored, 253-164. Leading the way is Zach Sterry, who is hitting an impressive .355 on the year with 10 home runs and 30 RBIs.
   The defense is where Oakland struggles most, pitching to a 7.23 ERA. The Golden Grizzlies allow opponents to hit at a .313 rate, and have struck out 201 batters compared to 140 walks. Tuesday's probable starter, Aaron Dehn, sports a 5.40 ERA in 10 innings, including one start.

BIG SWEEP OF THE BOBCATS: EMU swept the weekend series over the Ohio Bobcats, winning 8-2, 12-9, and then 12-11 on Sunday. With the sweep, EMU is off to a 7-2 start in MAC play, its best start since 2008, which was the last time EMU won the MAC Championship.

EAGLES ARE HEATING UP: Following the sweep of Ohio, Eastern Michigan is 13-5 in its last 18 games after starting 3-15 on the year. In that stretch, the offense has hit .262, while the pitching staff has thrown to a 3.65 ERA. EMU has also held opponents to six runs or less in 16 of the 18 games.

COMPLETE GAMES ARE CONTAGIOUS: Senior Sam Delaplane had a career-outing in an 8-2 win over Ohio, April 14. The righty tossed the first complete game of his EMU career, striking out a career-high 12 Bobcats in the process, while not giving up a walk. It was the most K's recorded in a single-game by an EMU pitcher in the modern statistical era (since 1999). Overall, he gave up eight hits and just one earned run, after runs scored on a wild pitch and passed ball. It was the third complete game by an EMU hurler this season, as the other two weekend starters, Brad Allen and Brent Mattson, both tossed complete game shutouts earlier this season.

DELAPLANE NAMED MAC WEST PITCHER OF THE WEEK: For his efforts, Delaplane was named the Mid-American Conference West Division Baseball Pitcher of the Week, April 17. It is the second weekly award of his career, and the third of the season for EMU, as Brad Allen and Brent Mattson have also earned the conference accolade in 2017.

BREAKING OUT THE BIG BATS: In the weekend sweep of Ohio, EMU's offense, brought out the big guns, going for 32 runs on 42 hits, including six home runs. This included a season-high 18 hits in the 12-9 win on Saturday, as well as back-to-back 12-run outputs on Saturday and Sunday, the first time EMU has gone back-to-back games with 12 runs since 2014. John Montgomery hit three home runs on the weekend, including two in one game, the second time an EMU player has done that this season. Jeremy Stidham hit two, three-run homers in back-to-back games, while Brennan Williams notched a three-run dinger himself in the series finale.

WINNING IN DRAMATIC FASHION: In the 12-11 win in the series finale over Ohio, April 16, EMU won the game on a walk-off single from Brennan Williams. It marked the fifth lead change of that game, and sealed the second walk-off win of the season for EMU. Nick Jones delivered a game-winning hit against Bowling Green in the home opener, March 24.

DELAPLANE DELIVERING THE GOODS: Senior Sam Delaplane is putting together a fine final season in the Green and White. The closer turned Friday night starter leads EMU with a 2.86 ERA and 51 strikeouts in 13 appearances (five starts) and 44.0 innings. His ERA ranks fifth in the conference, while his strikeout total is third in the MAC. His 169 career strikeouts rank 12th in Eastern Michigan laurels. In his last three outings, Delaplane has recorded 30 K's, including a career-high 12 against Ohio, April 14. Delaplane is also ranked tied for fourth in all-time saves with 10.

MASHING MONTGOMERY: Senior John Montgomery has been the spark plug in the EMU offense in his final season, leading EMU in six offensive categories. He is also the team leader with 11 multi-hit games, and 10 multi-RBI games. He enters the week with a 14-game reached base streak. After his big weekend against Ohio University, Montgomery is tied for first in the MAC with eight home runs, while also ranking third with 31 RBIs.

GOING STREAKING: Over the hot streak for EMU, a few players have gone on season-high streaks for the Eagles. Nick Jones is currently riding a 10-game hitting streak, which has upped his average from .217 to .268, as well as an 11-game reached base streak. Jeremy Stidham is on a 19-game reached base streak himself, and his OBP sits at .383. John Montgomery is also riding a 14-game reached base.

IMPACT FRESHMEN IN THE INFIELD: So far this season, EMU has relied early and often on 'true' freshmen in starting roles. In 36 games, freshmen have combined to make 98 starts in the infield, led by Nick Jones who has 27 starts at third base and catcher.

BRONCOS ON THE HORIZON: EMU will look to make it four straight MAC series wins when it heads west to take on in-state rival Western Michigan in a three-game series, April 21-23. The series begins with a 3 p.m. first pitch on Friday from Kalamazoo.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Brad Allen

Sam Delaplane

Nick Jones

Brent Mattson

John Montgomery

Jeremy Stidham

Brennan Williams

Eastern Michigan Athletics