Spartans Face Eastern Michigan At Oldsmobile Park Wednesday

April 4, 2006

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State (12-10) baseball will play host to Eastern Michigan (12-11) in a non-conference match up this Wednesday, April 5 at Oldsmobile Park. Game time is set for 5:30 p.m. Having met 136 times since 1896, MSU owns an 82-53-1 record against EMU.

Last Meeting Between MSU and EMU: In the two schools last meeting on April 13, 2004, Eastern Michigan slipped by with a 3-2 victory. Alan Cattrysse went 2-for-3 from the plate for the Spartans.

Last Time Out For MSU: Back-to-back doubles by Sean Walker and Oliver Wolcott in the 10th inning lifted Michigan State (12-10) baseball past Indiana, 9-8, on April 2 at Oldsmobile Park. The extra-inning affair improved MSU's Big Ten record to 3-1 and sealed the series win over the Hoosiers (8-13, 1-3).

Eagles On An Eight-Game Winning Streak: Eastern Michigan completed a three-game series sweep against Buffalo with a 4-2 victory on April 2, marking the eighth consecutive for the Eagles (12-11, 5-1 MAC). The win moved EMU into a first-place tie with Ball State in the MAC West Division standings.

On The Bump: Junior right-hander Matt Dillard (1-1, 9.58 ERA) will get the nod for Eastern Michigan, while sophomore right-hander Mike Takashima (0-0, 6.75 ERA) will take the hill for MSU.

Entering The Contest: Entering the midweek match up, MSU owns a team batting average of .320 and a team ERA of 4.80. Seven batters in State's starting lineup are hitting .300 or better.

Next On The Slate: Michigan State returns to Big Ten action April 7-9 with a four-game series at Purdue.