Eastern Michigan Athletics
Friday, April 8
Kent, Ohio
3 p.m.
Eastern Michigan University
at
Kent State
MAC Leaders EMU, Kent State Set for Cross-Division Showdown
4/7/2011 3:57:02 PM | Baseball
The EMU baseball team travels to Kent State for a highly-anticipated three-game set April 8-10
Game Notes (.pdf)
Live Stats
Live Audio
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- An early season cross-division showdown will feature the Mid-American Conference West Division leading Eastern Michigan University baseball team against East Division leaders, the Kent State University Golden Flashes, in a three-game series at Schoonover Stadium in Kent, Ohio, April 8-10.
The Eagles and Flashes met three times in the 2010 MAC Tournament with KSU taking the final two on the way to capturing the tournament title. EMU will look to avenge last season's series which saw the Flashes take two-of-three at Oestrike Stadium. Game one on Friday is slated for a 3 p.m. start.
PITCHING PROBABLES:
Friday, April 8 (3 p.m.)
EMU: Rob Wendzicki, LHP (2-2, 4.08 ERA)
KSU: Andrew Chafin, LHP (3-1, 0.65 ERA)
Saturday, April 9 (1 p.m.)
EMU: Corey Chaffins, RHP (4-2, 5.09 ERA)
KSU: Kyle Hallock, LHP (3-4, 2.86 ERA)
Sunday, April 10 (Noon)
EMU: Steve Weber, RHP (3-2, 4.42 ERA)
KSU: David Starn, LHP (4-1, 1.52 ERA)
--
THE SERIES: It will be a matchup of division leaders as the Eagles and Golden Flashes meet for the 90th time in a three-game Mid-American Conference cross-divisional series in Kent, Ohio, April 8-10. Kent State leads the all-time series 49-40 and has won seven of the last nine meetings dating back to 2009. KSU took four out of six contests with the Eagles last season including two-of-three in the 2010 MAC Tournament, both of which were elimination games, on the way to a MAC tournament title.
WEEK IN REVIEW: The Eagles were scheduled to meet Michigan State in a mid-week road contest last Wednesday, April 6, but it was postponed due to rain. The game will be made up as part of a home-and-home series April 26-27.
Last weekend, EMU took two out of three from host Bowling Green to move to 5-1 in the MAC, the team's best start since 2008 when the Eagles started 5-1 en route to a MAC Tournament title. In game one of their series, April 1, the Eagles hung on for the 13-11 win, withstanding a furious six-run Falcon rally in the bottom of the ninth. Senior left-hander Robert Wendzicki picked up the win while catcher Matt Hitt went 4-for-6 at the plate with six RBI and a run scored.
BGSU rebounded for a 13-5 game two victory. The Falcons held the Eagles to just a single hit over the final 3.1 innings to even the series at one win apiece. In the rubber match, sophomore right-hander Steve Weber tossed eight innings, allowing just two runs on six hits as the Eagles won 5-4 to move atop the MAC West Division standings. Three Eagles recorded multi-hit games and Kristian Calibuso picked up his second save of the season by picking up the final three outs of the game.
ON THE HORIZON: Next week, EMU will travel to Cleveland State, April 12, looking to avenge a, 2-1, loss to the Vikings earlier this season. The Eagles will then hop right back into league play to host Akron in a three-game set at Oestrike Stadium April 15-17. Game one of the series on Friday, April 15, will be broadcast on Eagle All-Access with Chad Bush and Greg Steiner on the call, hitting the airwaves at 5:50 p.m.
SCOUTING THE GOLDEN FLASHES: Kent State University enters its series against the Eagles with a 17-10 overall record with a MAC East leading 5-1 record. KSU defeated Penn State (7-6) and Pittsburgh (9-5) in back-to-back midweek games last week.
Offensively, the Golden Flashes are hitting .282 as a team and averaging 5.7 runs per contest. Ben Klafczynski is far and away the team's top hitter with a .404 (42-for-104) average with seven homeruns, 31 RBI and 26 runs scored. Jimmy Rider is the only other Golden Flash hitting above .300 as he comes in with a .311-clip (37-for-119).
The pitching staff, which is tops in the MAC with a .298 ERA and more than 7.5 strikeouts per nine innings. KSU's number one pitcher, sophomore Andrew Chafin, has put together an impressive season to date after missing last season due to Tommy John surgery. He has a 3-1 record with a 0.65 ERA, striking out 49 batters over 41.1 innings. In his first MAC start against Toledo, Chafin struck a career-high 15 batters en route to a 1-0 complete game shutout victory. The team's number two hurler, Kyle Hallock has a 3-4 record with a 2.86 ERA in 44 innings pitched.
MATCHUP OF DIVISION LEADERS: Eastern Michigan and Kent State enter this weekend's highly-anticipated series as leaders of their respective divisions, sporting 5-1 records through six league games thus far this season. The Eagles swept Buffalo in the season's first MAC series before taking two-of-three against Bowling Green last weekend. Meanwhile, Kent State took two-of-three against Toledo before earning the sweep against Western Michigan last weekend.
The Golden Flashes took two-of-three in a three-game set at Oestrike Stadium last year, April 9-11, with a 16-1 win in game one, an 8-6 loss in game two and a 5-0 win in the rubber match.
BEST START IN 23 YEARS: Eastern Michigan is off to its best start in 23 years after going 18-10 through its first 28 games this season. The last time the Eagles started better was in 1988 when the then-Hurons went 19-8-1 on the way to a 35-22-1 overall record and a MAC runner-up finish. The Eagles are 17-6 over their last 23 contests.
MAGSIG TURNS IT ON: Junior infielder Ben Magsig has found his stroke at the plate of late as he is registering a .500 (11-for-22) batting average with at least one hit per game over his last six games. Magsig has tallied five multi-hit contests and has raised his average 48 points, from .253 to .301, over that span. He led the Eagles in 2010 with a .331 average.
CLIMBING THE CHARTS: Seniors Zack Leonard and Corey Chaffins are putting up impressive career numbers at Eastern Michigan University, ranking among the all-time greats at EMU in several offensive and pitching categories, respectively.
Leonard sits just six at-bats shy of passing Derrick Peterson's record of 806, while his 261 career hits also ranks second to Peterson's 274. He has 146 career RBI, good for fourth on the all-time list and needs just nine more to catch Audie Cole for third all-time. Leonard is also seventh in runs (146) and second in doubles (55), just four behind Greg Ryan's 59.
Chaffins ranks 10th all-time with 252 career innings pitched and is fourth on the all-time list with 244 career strikeouts, just five behind Anthony Tomey for third all-time.
Live Stats
Live Audio
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- An early season cross-division showdown will feature the Mid-American Conference West Division leading Eastern Michigan University baseball team against East Division leaders, the Kent State University Golden Flashes, in a three-game series at Schoonover Stadium in Kent, Ohio, April 8-10.
The Eagles and Flashes met three times in the 2010 MAC Tournament with KSU taking the final two on the way to capturing the tournament title. EMU will look to avenge last season's series which saw the Flashes take two-of-three at Oestrike Stadium. Game one on Friday is slated for a 3 p.m. start.
PITCHING PROBABLES:
Friday, April 8 (3 p.m.)
EMU: Rob Wendzicki, LHP (2-2, 4.08 ERA)
KSU: Andrew Chafin, LHP (3-1, 0.65 ERA)
Saturday, April 9 (1 p.m.)
EMU: Corey Chaffins, RHP (4-2, 5.09 ERA)
KSU: Kyle Hallock, LHP (3-4, 2.86 ERA)
Sunday, April 10 (Noon)
EMU: Steve Weber, RHP (3-2, 4.42 ERA)
KSU: David Starn, LHP (4-1, 1.52 ERA)
--
THE SERIES: It will be a matchup of division leaders as the Eagles and Golden Flashes meet for the 90th time in a three-game Mid-American Conference cross-divisional series in Kent, Ohio, April 8-10. Kent State leads the all-time series 49-40 and has won seven of the last nine meetings dating back to 2009. KSU took four out of six contests with the Eagles last season including two-of-three in the 2010 MAC Tournament, both of which were elimination games, on the way to a MAC tournament title.
WEEK IN REVIEW: The Eagles were scheduled to meet Michigan State in a mid-week road contest last Wednesday, April 6, but it was postponed due to rain. The game will be made up as part of a home-and-home series April 26-27.
Last weekend, EMU took two out of three from host Bowling Green to move to 5-1 in the MAC, the team's best start since 2008 when the Eagles started 5-1 en route to a MAC Tournament title. In game one of their series, April 1, the Eagles hung on for the 13-11 win, withstanding a furious six-run Falcon rally in the bottom of the ninth. Senior left-hander Robert Wendzicki picked up the win while catcher Matt Hitt went 4-for-6 at the plate with six RBI and a run scored.
BGSU rebounded for a 13-5 game two victory. The Falcons held the Eagles to just a single hit over the final 3.1 innings to even the series at one win apiece. In the rubber match, sophomore right-hander Steve Weber tossed eight innings, allowing just two runs on six hits as the Eagles won 5-4 to move atop the MAC West Division standings. Three Eagles recorded multi-hit games and Kristian Calibuso picked up his second save of the season by picking up the final three outs of the game.
ON THE HORIZON: Next week, EMU will travel to Cleveland State, April 12, looking to avenge a, 2-1, loss to the Vikings earlier this season. The Eagles will then hop right back into league play to host Akron in a three-game set at Oestrike Stadium April 15-17. Game one of the series on Friday, April 15, will be broadcast on Eagle All-Access with Chad Bush and Greg Steiner on the call, hitting the airwaves at 5:50 p.m.
SCOUTING THE GOLDEN FLASHES: Kent State University enters its series against the Eagles with a 17-10 overall record with a MAC East leading 5-1 record. KSU defeated Penn State (7-6) and Pittsburgh (9-5) in back-to-back midweek games last week.
Offensively, the Golden Flashes are hitting .282 as a team and averaging 5.7 runs per contest. Ben Klafczynski is far and away the team's top hitter with a .404 (42-for-104) average with seven homeruns, 31 RBI and 26 runs scored. Jimmy Rider is the only other Golden Flash hitting above .300 as he comes in with a .311-clip (37-for-119).
The pitching staff, which is tops in the MAC with a .298 ERA and more than 7.5 strikeouts per nine innings. KSU's number one pitcher, sophomore Andrew Chafin, has put together an impressive season to date after missing last season due to Tommy John surgery. He has a 3-1 record with a 0.65 ERA, striking out 49 batters over 41.1 innings. In his first MAC start against Toledo, Chafin struck a career-high 15 batters en route to a 1-0 complete game shutout victory. The team's number two hurler, Kyle Hallock has a 3-4 record with a 2.86 ERA in 44 innings pitched.
MATCHUP OF DIVISION LEADERS: Eastern Michigan and Kent State enter this weekend's highly-anticipated series as leaders of their respective divisions, sporting 5-1 records through six league games thus far this season. The Eagles swept Buffalo in the season's first MAC series before taking two-of-three against Bowling Green last weekend. Meanwhile, Kent State took two-of-three against Toledo before earning the sweep against Western Michigan last weekend.
The Golden Flashes took two-of-three in a three-game set at Oestrike Stadium last year, April 9-11, with a 16-1 win in game one, an 8-6 loss in game two and a 5-0 win in the rubber match.
BEST START IN 23 YEARS: Eastern Michigan is off to its best start in 23 years after going 18-10 through its first 28 games this season. The last time the Eagles started better was in 1988 when the then-Hurons went 19-8-1 on the way to a 35-22-1 overall record and a MAC runner-up finish. The Eagles are 17-6 over their last 23 contests.
MAGSIG TURNS IT ON: Junior infielder Ben Magsig has found his stroke at the plate of late as he is registering a .500 (11-for-22) batting average with at least one hit per game over his last six games. Magsig has tallied five multi-hit contests and has raised his average 48 points, from .253 to .301, over that span. He led the Eagles in 2010 with a .331 average.
CLIMBING THE CHARTS: Seniors Zack Leonard and Corey Chaffins are putting up impressive career numbers at Eastern Michigan University, ranking among the all-time greats at EMU in several offensive and pitching categories, respectively.
Leonard sits just six at-bats shy of passing Derrick Peterson's record of 806, while his 261 career hits also ranks second to Peterson's 274. He has 146 career RBI, good for fourth on the all-time list and needs just nine more to catch Audie Cole for third all-time. Leonard is also seventh in runs (146) and second in doubles (55), just four behind Greg Ryan's 59.
Chaffins ranks 10th all-time with 252 career innings pitched and is fourth on the all-time list with 244 career strikeouts, just five behind Anthony Tomey for third all-time.
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