Just as the big-league teams are getting ready to head south for spring training, the season has already started for the Eastern Michigan University baseball team.
Eastern Michigan (3-8) started the season on the weekend of Feb. 17-19 in Spartanburg, S.C. for the USC Upstate/Wofford College Tournament. The 2012 campaign started off with a 12-1 loss to the USC Upstate Spartans, followed by a 10-2 loss to Kentucky. The Feb. 19 game versus Dayton was rained out. EMU tried to schedule a game at home against Madonna University for Feb. 22, but was canceled due to inclement weather.
Oral Roberts was the next opponent for the weekend of Feb. 24-26 in Tulsa. Oral Roberts took the first game 11-6, despite EMU outfielder Bo Kinder getting four RBI during the contest.
EMU then grabbed its first win of the season with a 3-1 victory. Designated hitter Lee Longo was 2-for-5 at the plate with 2 RBI. Junior pitcher Steve Weber pitched six and two-thirds innings of a two-hit performance. Weber struck out four and gave up one run, with junior pitcher Neil Butara getting the Eagles’ first save. Oral Roberts took the series with a 14-1 win in the rubber match.
Eastern Michigan made a two-game stop in Durham, N.C., with games against Duke and North Carolina Central. EMU lost 9-8 against Duke after giving up four runs in the ninth inning as a result of a walk-off three-run double. The Eagles put that loss behind them, with an 8-4 win over North Carolina Central.
A four-game weekend series on Mar. 2-4 in Winston-Salem, N.C. was the next stop for the Eagles. The weekend began with a doubleheader on March 2 versus Marshall and Wake Forest. The Eagles split the twin bill with a 6-5 win versus Marshall and an 8-7 loss to Wake Forest. EMU lost to Marshall 6-3 the next day and 12-3 to Wake Forest to close out the series.
Redshirt sophomore Sam Ott leads the team in batting average (.351) and has hit two home runs and four doubles so far. Lee Longo had a career-high nine-game hitting streak that stretched from Feb. 17 to Mar. 2. Longo also leads the team in RBI (seven).
Weber has a 1-1 record with a 1.02 ERA,12 strikeouts and has a .203 batting average against him.
Coach Jay Alexander is disappointed with how the team has played. He sees a lot of areas that need to improve.
“Defense has sadly been not very good,” Alexander said. “I got a big question mark about that because I don’t know where exactly to pinpoint [the problem].”
Some newcomer pitchers such as freshman Ben Dartnell and junior college transfers Paul Schaak and Tyler Vavra have seen some action on the mound for the Eagles. Coach Jay Alexander sees the newcomers trying to fit in to the team.
“All the newcomers are trying to gel in and try to understand what I expect of them,” Alexander said.
The Eagles head to Tucson, Ariz. for a three game series against 12th-ranked Arizona this weekend. Eastern Michigan’s first home series will be the Oestrike Classic in a three-game series versus Niagara University Friday at 3 p.m.
