Eastern Michigan Athletics
Saturday, March 28
Kent, Ohio
2 p.m.
Eastern Michigan University
at
Kent State
Photo by: Steve King/KingStudios
Baseball Travels to Kent State For Weekend MAC Series
3/26/2015 3:01:00 PM | Baseball
The Eagles look to claim their first regular season series victory over Kent State since 1988
| Game Notes |
KENT, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University baseball team travels to Kent State University for its first road Mid-American Conference series this weekend, March 27-29. The Eagles (8-14, 1-2 MAC) dropped two-of-three games last weekend to the University of Akron to begin conference play before defeating Wayne State Wednesday, March 25, at Oestrike Stadium by a final score of 10-6. The Golden Flashes (10-10, 1-2 MAC) host the Eagles for their first home conference series of the season after opening up in Toledo last weekend.
The series gets underway Friday afternoon, March 27, at 2 p.m. with the second game of the three-game set beginning at 2 p.m. as well on Saturday, March 28. The teams conclude the series Sunday, March 29, with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m at Schoonover Stadium.
THE SERIES: Eastern Michigan and Kent State will be meeting for the 101st time on Friday, with the Golden Flashes holding a 58-42 all-time series advantage.
The schools last met last season with KSU claiming two out of three games in the weekend series at Oestrike Stadium, March 28-30. The last time the Eagles travelled to Kent, Ohio was in 2011 when the Golden Flashes took all three games from the Green and White.
LOOKING TO CHANGE RECENT HISTORY: Kent State has dominated the series against the Eagles since the 1988 season, which is the last time the Green and White have claimed a regular season series victory over the Golden Flashes. Since the 1988 season, the teams have met 61 times with KSU posting a record of 44-17. The teams have met 13 times in the MAC Tournament since 1988, with the Flashes claiming 8 of the 13 meetings in the annual conference tournament. The last time EMU won in Kent, Ohio was a 6-5 victory in the first game of a doubleheader April 11, 1999.
START TIMES CHANGED: Eastern Michigan and Kent State has bumped up the start times of the Friday and Saturday games. The series opener Friday, March 27, originally scheduled for 6 p.m. has been moved to a 2 p.m. start time. First pitch for the second game of the series Saturday, March 28, will now be 2 p.m. as well instead of the originally scheduled time of 4 p.m. The series finale Sunday, March 29, is still slated to begin at the original time of 1 p.m.
ON THE MOUND: Head Coach Mark Van Ameyde and the Eagles have changed up the weekend starters for the three-game series at Kent State. Junior Augie Gallardo (1-1, 3.86 ERA) will make his third start of the season to open up the three-game set against the Golden Flashes, squaring off against right-hander Nick Jensen-Clagg (4-2, 2.52 ERA). On Saturday, senior Charlie Land (1-3, 3.94 ERA) will match up with southpaw Eric Lauer (1-2, 1.84 ERA) while the series finale Sunday will see Jake Andrews (2-2, 1.26 ERA) battle Andy Ravel (2-1, 3.00 ERA).
SCOUTING KENT STATE: Kent State enters the weekend with an overall record of 10-10 and a 1-2 mark in conference play. The Golden Flashes split a pair of midweek contests this week, defeating Purdue 4-3 Tuesday, March 24, and a dropping a 9-4 decision to #17 Illinois Wednesday, March 25. KSU dropped two-of-three games last weekend at Toledo to open up Mid-American Conference play.
As a team, the Golden Flashes are hitting .285 with four players hitting over .300. Junior infielder Zarley Zalewski is hitting a team-best .397 with 12 runs batted in. Luke Burch is right behind hitting at a .377 clip with a team-high 17 runs scored. Sawyer Polen and Jeff Revesz are each batting .347 and .313, respectively.
On the mound, KSU has compiled a team ERA of 3.26 and allows opponents to hit at a .235 clip. Dan Kopcak has made a team-high seven appearances out of the bull pen while Zach Willeman has recorded three saves in six outings while allowing opposing hitters to only hit .133. The Golden Flashes pitching staff has struck out 182 hitters in 179.1 innings.
STEALING YOUR WAY INTO THE RECORD BOOK: The Eagles stole a program record 11 bases in the 10-6 victory over Wayne State Wednesday, March 25, at Oestrike Stadium. The previous record was 10 swipes, which the Green and White accomplished against Boston College March 1, 1986. Six different players stole a base against the Warriors, including four who recorded multiple stolen bases in the contest. Jordan Peterson led the way with three, while Brennan Williams, John Rubino, and Austin Wilson each recorded two. Mitchell McGeein and Tony DiLeo posted the other stolen bases for EMU.
THAT'S A FIRST: Junior Austin Wilson made his first career appearance on the mound for the Green and White against the Warriors Wednesday, March 25. The junior outfielder pitched a scoreless eighth inning, allowing one walk and striking out one. Wilson was 2-for-4 in the contest at the dish, including a pair of stolen bases and a run scored.
ON DECK FOR THE EAGLES: Following the three-game conference series at Kent State, the Eagles travel to South Bend, Ind. for a matchup with Notre Dame Tuesday, March 31. The Green and White then return home to host Michigan State at Oestrike Stadium Wednesday, April 1, with first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m.
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