The University of Akron Athletics
Eastern Michigan, Central Michigan Visit Zips in Last Home Weekend
April 21 | Softball
- In the final weekend of home games, The University of Akron softball team welcomes Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan to Lee Jackson Field for Mid-American Conference action. The Zips (18-19, 2-8 MAC) will play a doubleheader against EMU (21-11, 7-5) on Friday, April 22 and conclude the weekend against CMU (24-13, 8-4) on Saturday and Sunday.
Akron is happy to return home, as they have suffered eight consecutive losses on the road, including four by just one run. At Lee Jackson Field, the Zips are 6-2 and have won their last five contests in front of the home crowd. Saturday will mark Strike Out Cancer Day, where all proceeds will benefit the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation.
Despite the recent losses, UA's Olivia Hegedus has had great success at the plate, earning her MAC East Player of the Week honors on April 19. She hit three home runs last weekend in MAC road games and now leads the league in homers with 12 on the season. She also stands fifth with 29 RBIs and a .689 slugging percentage.
As a team, the Zips are hitting .283 and slugging .421 with 29 home runs, good for second in the MAC. Akron leads the league with 86 stolen bases and 43 sacrifices, excelling at small ball. In the circle, their 3.13 team ERA is fifth-best in the conference and is holding opposing batters to a .260 average.
Eastern Michigan is coming off a sweep at the hands of Miami in Ypsilanti but has fared well on the road, going 8-4 this season. The Eagles are hitting .311 as a team and slugging .465 with 26 home runs. They rank third in the league with a 2.55 ERA, led by Jenna Ignowski, who owns a 12-4 record and a 1.71 ERA with six shutouts. At the plate, McKenna Russ leads the league with a .432 average.
Last weekend, Central Michigan went 3-1 at home, sweeping Miami and splitting with Ball State. The Chippewas will play a doubleheader at Ohio before heading up to Akron. At home, CMU is 9-1, but on the road they are just 1-6. Their pitching staff ranks second in the league with a 2.27 ERA and leads all teams by holding opponents to a .214 average.
Friday's doubeheader will start at 1 p.m. ET. The first game will be available to watch live on TV on campus channel 45 and on the internet through GoZips.com. First pitch on Saturday is set for 2 p.m., while the home finale on Sunday starts at 1 p.m. Live stats for all games will be available on GoZips.com.
