Eagles Conclude Regular Season vs Toledo

Baseball vs Toledo (15-37, 8-13 MAC)
Date	Thursday-Saturday, May 18-20
Venue	Ypsilanti, Mich. \| Oestrike Stadium
Game Notes	EMU Notes
Live Stats	EMUEagles.com
Audio	Eagle All-Access
Twitter	@EMUBaseball

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University baseball team completes its 2017 regular season when it welcomes the University of Toledo to Oestrike Stadium for a three-game set, May 18-20. The series begins Thursday with a 6 p.m. first pitch, followed by another 6 p.m. game Friday evening. The regular season finale will begin at 1 p.m., and will be preceded with the Senior Day ceremonies, where EMU will honor its nine-man senior class.
   The action can be tracked live on Twitter by following @EMU_Baseball. Live stats will be available through EMUEagles.com. Audio will also be streamed through Eagle All-Access with Chad Bush and Greg Steiner on the call.

ALL-TIME VS THE ROCKETS: EMU and UT have met 152 times in their respective histories. EMU leads the all-time series by a 92-60 tally. The two schools have met every season since 1977. Last season, Toledo swept the regular season series, winning three games at Scott Park. EMU had the last laugh though, eliminating UT from the 2016 MAC Tournament with a 6-1 win.

RECON ON THE ROCKETS: Toledo enters the weekend sitting in eighth place in the MAC with an 8-13 record, as well as an overall mark of 15-37. The Rockets are just 6-26 in true road games in 2017. In UT's previous seven MAC series, they gave won three, taking two-of-three from Western Michigan and Bowling Green, while sweeping Buffalo. In turn, it has lost series to Northern Illinois, Kent State, Ball State, and Central Michigan, with the NIU, KSU, and BSU series ending in sweeps.
   The Rockets rank second to last in the MAC in total offense, hitting .246 as a team. They are being out-scored, 382-240, and out-hit, 528-430. The Rockets have some pop though, hitting 34 home runs and slugging .374 as a team. Nobody on the offense hits above .285
   The pitching staff also ranks second to last in the conference with a staff ERA of 6.01. UT allows opponents to hit at a .294 clip, while striking out 328 batters to 281 walks. The projected weekend rotation has ERA's of 3.36, 5.87, and 9.00 ,respectively.

THANK YOU SENIORS!: Saturday will mark the final home game for nine EMU seniors. Marquise Gill, Jordan Peterson, Mike Mioduszewski, Matthew Beaton, Justin Thompson, Sam Delaplane, John Montgomery, Kevin Shul, and Jeremy Stidham will all be honored prior to Saturday's game. In addition, since all nine seniors missed the EMU graduation ceremony due to the series at Western Michigan, they will be recognized for all of their hard work in the classroom after the game on Saturday with a mock graduation commencement.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!: In addition to Senior Day, EMU will also host its annual Alumni Weekend when it welcomes players from the 1982 and 2007 MAC Championship teams to celebrate their 35th and 10th anniversaries. Both teams will be honored prior to and throughout Friday's game.

HOW SWEEP IT IS: EMU swept its second MAC series of the season with three consecutive wins over Northern Illinois, May 12-14. The Eagles won their fourth MAC series of the season, and currently sit in third overall with a 12-9 record. The wins also clinched a spot in the 2017 MAC Tournament, EMU's first consecutive tournament appearances since going to seven straight from 2006-12. The 12 conference wins are also the most in Head Coach Mark Van Ameyde's three-year tenure, and are the most for EMU since 2013.

PETERSON'S MONSTER WEEKEND: Redshirt senior Jordan Peterson had a huge game in the 14-3 sweep clinching victory over NIU, May 14. The outfielder finished the day with four hits, three home runs and a double, while setting the EMU program record for RBIs in a single game with nine. One of his dingers was a grand slam as part of a two-home run inning in the third. It was the first grand slam for an Eagle player since the 2010 MAC Tournament. Additionally, Peterson is one of just 13 players in the country to have nine or more RBIs in a game this season, as well as one of just 38 to hit three or more home runs in a single game. In total on the weekend, Peterson hit .412 with 11 RBIs.

RAKING IN THE AWARDS: For his efforts, Jordan Peterson was named both the MAC West Division Player of the Week, as well as a Collegiate Baseball News National Player of the Week. It was the first weekly award of Peterson's career, and the fifth time EMU has been tabbed for a MAC Player of the Week in 2017. That marks the most for the Eagles since 2012. Peterson's highlights were also featured on the NCAA's official baseball social media accounts, garnering thousands of views and shares across the country.

COMPLETE WEEKEND DOMINATION: EMU was firing on all cylinders in the three-game sweep, with both the offense and defense coming through with clutch performances. The offense had three straight double-digit hitting performances, batting .289 as a team with 33 hits, while also scoring 30 runs over the three-game span. The pitching staff, meanwhile, held NIU to a .173 batting average, and just six runs, five earned, resulting in a staff ERA of 1.67. The defense was also steady, only recording two errors, for a sterling .983 fielding percentage.

ALL-TIME IN THE MAC: 2017 marks the 45th season EMU has participated in the Mid-American Conference as a program. Eastern holds a 577-532-3 all-time record in conference play. The program owns five regular season championships, as well as four tournament championships, most recently in 2008.

ALL-TIME AT OESTRIKE: 2017 marks the 47th season at the friendly confines of Oestrike Stadium. In the long standing history of the field, EMU holds a 522-370-2 record at the stadium. Of the 46 previous seasons, 33 have resulted in winning home records for Eastern. In 2017, EMU is 6-5 at home.

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 2.69 ERA and 77 strikeouts in 17 appearances (nine starts) and 70.1 innings. His ERA ranks third in the conference, while his strikeout total is second in the MAC. His 195 career strikeouts rank 11th in Eastern Michigan laurels. In six of his last seven outings, Delaplane has recorded at least six K's, totaling 56 overall. Delaplane is also ranked tied for fourth in all-time saves with 10.

MIODUSZEWSKI REWRITING THE RECORD BOOK: Redshirt senior Mike Mioduszewski has been one of EMU's top offensive threats in his four years at EMU, and he is beginning to see it pay off by seeing his name etched in the EMU record book in multiple offensive categories. Currently he ranks in the top-25 for hits (t-22nd, 189), RBIs (t-17th, 109), doubles (t-17th, 35), and home runs (t-24th, 18). He has done this in the seventh most at bats in EMU history with 718.

MASHING MONTGOMERY: Senior John Montgomery has been the spark plug in the EMU offense in his final season, leading EMU in five offensive categories. He is also the team leader with 13 multi-RBI games, as well as six three-hit contests. Additionally, Montgomery is second in the MAC with 11 home runs. His 19 career homers ranks 22nd all-time at EMU.

GOTTA EARN THOSE RUNS: Since entering MAC play, Matthew Beaton has been almost unhittable. The senior relief pitcher has not allowed an earned run in 10.1 MAC innings, the highest inning total without yielding an earned run in conference this season. For his career, Beaton holds a 3.36 ERA in 101.2 innings pitched.

TAKE YOUR BASE: Thus far on the season, EMU has taken what the opposing pitching staffs have offered, drawing 211 walks as a team, which ranks fourth in the MAC and 87th in the country. The Eagles have already shattered last year's walk total, as EMU had just 175 bases on balls in 2016. The program record for walks in a single season was 286, set by the 1982 team.

IMPACT FRESHMEN IN THE INFIELD: This season, EMU has often relied on 'true' freshmen in starting roles. In 53 games, freshmen have combined to make 145 starts in the infield, led by Nick Jones, who has 41 starts at third base and catcher.

MAC TOURNAMENT ON THE HORIZON: Eastern has locked up its spot in the 2017 MAC Tournament, held at Sprenger Stadium in Avon, Ohio. EMU does not know it's seed yet, however, as that will be determined at the end of the day Saturday. The tournament begins Wednesday, May 24, with all EMU games being broadcast on ESPN 3 and Eagle All-Access.

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Players Mentioned

Matthew Beaton

Sam Delaplane

Marquise Gill

Nick Jones

Mike Mioduszewski

John Montgomery

Jordan Peterson

Kevin Shul

Jeremy Stidham

Justin Thompson

Eastern Michigan Athletics