LA GRANDE, Ore. – After spending two months on the road, Mountaineers Baseball is finally home this weekend! Eastern Oregon welcomes new baseball member Bushnell University to Optimist Field at Pioneer Park for the team's 2022 home opener.

OPPONENT
Bushnell Beacons (6-20, 4-0 CCC)

WHERE
La Grande, Ore. - Optimist Field at Pioneer Park

WHEN
Saturday-Sunday, March 26-27
Saturday, March 26 - 11 a.m. & 2 p.m.
Sunday, March 27 - 11 a.m. & 2 p.m.

First Pitch
• The Mountaineers (7-22, 0-4 CCC) will look to secure their first conference series win this weekend when they host the Beacons.
• Eastern will also look to snap a six-game skid and get back into the winner's circle.
• EOU is home for the first time in 2022 after spending the last eight weeks on the road to start the year.
• Following the weekend home series, Eastern will head north to Canada for a four-game series at British Columbia.

How to Watch/Follow
• Live video coverage for this weekend's series can be found on the Mountie Sports Network at www.eousports.com/watch. 
• Live stats coverage for this weekend can be accessed by clicking the respective link above and by going to the EOU Baseball schedule page.
• All home games this year will be webcast on the Mountie Sports Network at www.eousports.com/watch. All EOU home games will be Pay-Per-View and can be purchased for $7.95 per game or $11.95 for a day pass of doubleheaders. Fans can also purchase an Eastern Oregon All-Access pass to watch all 2021-22 EOU home sporting events for $100.
• Livestreams for all home games will begin 15 minutes prior to first pitch.
• Live stats coverage for EOU Baseball games this season can be accessed at www.eousports.com/livestats.

Story Lines
• The Mountaineers are home for the first time in 2022 this weekend.
• This will be the first ever match-up between Eastern and Bushnell.
• This weekend's home series will be the first of just three for EOU in La Grande.
• Entry to the Mountaineers home baseball games this year are FREE for all fans.

Quick Hits
Last Time Out
• The Mountaineers went 0-4 in their CCC opener, dropping four close games against Oregon Tech.
• Day one action saw the Hustlin' Owls take down EOU by scores of 6-5 and 3-0.
• Day two was another close fight as OIT held off the Mounties by scores of 2-1 and 6-3.

Series History vs. Bushnell
• This weekend will mark the first ever match-up between the Mountaineers and Beacons.

Longest Road Trip Ever…
• The Mountaineers played 29 straight games away from home to start the 2022 season.
• EOU's games this weekend are the team's first at Optimist Field since last season.
• Eastern still has eight more games left to play on the road this season.

Batter Up!
• EOU has tallied five or more hits in 21 of their 29 games played this season.
• Eastern had a season best 19 hits in the win over Oklahoma Panhandle State.
• McKlane Elgin leads the bats with a .273 average in 25 games played.
• Hector Carreon has a team leading three home runs.

It's Not Stealing If You Don't Get Caught
• EOU has done well this season when it comes to stolen bases, going 28-40.
• Austin Gerding leads the way in stolen bases with seven on 10 attempts in 18 starts.
• Garret Kollar is second in stolen bases with five on seven attempts.

Doing Work on the Mound
• The Mountaineers have racked up six more strikeouts in 15 games this year.
• Eastern racked up a season best 12 strikeouts in game one of their series at Pacific.
• Jaydon Yancey continues to lead the pitching staff in strikeouts with 27 in seven games played.
• Davis Brown is second in total strikeouts with 26 in eight games played.
• Nick Jennings is climbing up the ranks and is third in strikeouts with 18 in four games played.

Stat Leaders (As of March 23)
• The Mountaineers rank fourth in the CCC in overall fielding percentage at .956.
• Matt Garcia is tied for second in triples hit with four on the year.
• McKlane Elgin is tied for fourth in triples hit with three. 
• Davis Brown is seventh in the league in innings pitched with 37.1.

Scouting the Beacons
• Bushnell comes to La Grande with a 6-20 overall record and is off to a 4-0 start in CCC play. In true road games this season, they are winless at 0-14.
• Bushnell is currently batting .271 as a team and has tallied 188 hits. They have scored 111 runs, have 93 RBI, and have smacked 14 home runs.
• Defensively, the Beacons have a .950 fielding percentage. They have committed 42 errors and turned 16 double plays.
• On the bump, Bushnell sports an 8.09 ERA and has thrown 154 strikeouts. They have surrendered 20 home runs and are allowing a .317 batting average.
• Jeff Fripp leads the bats with a .312 batting average. He has 24 hits on the year, including five for home runs to lead the team. He has tallied 11 RBI and scored a team best 18 runs.
• Noah Montoya is second in hitting with a .296 average. He has tallied 21 hits, drawn 11 walks and racked up six RBI.
• Jacob Stoner has the most RBI for the team with 15 and hits .256. He has hit a pair of home runs and a team best seven doubles.
• Adam Sabatino is the team leader on the hill in strikeouts with 22. He also leads the team in innings pitched at 28.2.
• Abbott Haffar and Ethan Sachs are tied for second in strikeouts with 21, respectively. Sachs is tied for second in innings pitched at 25.2, while Haffar is fourth at 23.2.

Up Next
• The Mountaineers will begin the month of April on the road for a four-game series at British Columbia in Canada. Eastern will face UBC April 2-3 with day one action beginning at 1 p.m., while day two will start at 11 a.m.

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