NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Belmont baseball team (14-9, 2-1) will host No. 15 Stetson (15-6, 0-0) in its first home conference series of the season this weekend. The Bruins got the better of the Hatters in three out of four meetings last year, including a 15-3 victory in the first game of the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament.
Stetson will come to Nashville ranked 15th in the nation by Collegiate Baseball, and receiving votes in polls by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers and USA Today. The Hatters are 15-6 on the year and have yet to play a conference contest. SU won the Atlantic Sun Conference regular season title last year, and was picked to win the conference in this spring's 2012 preseason poll.
The Hatters are hitting .271 as a team, while Mitchel Brennan leads the squad with a .328 batting average, 19 runs scored, six doubles, and two home runs. Stetson has recorded a team ERA of 3.61 thus far in 2012, as A-Sun Preseason Pitcher of the Year - and scheduled Friday starter - Kurt Schluter holds a 4-0 record with an ERA of 1.53 in five starts on the mound.
The Bruins, meanwhile, have won six of their last eight games, and took two out of three contests at ETSU in their first A-Sun series of the year. Belmont recently split a pair of road non-conference tilts, defeating Western Kentucky by a score of 6-5, and falling at Murray State, 11-5.
BU is hitting only .241 as a team, but a couple of Bruins are leading a recent charge of offensive momentum. Senior captain Zac Mitchell (Cordova, Tenn.) holds an average of .373 with a league-leading 26 runs scored, eight doubles, and three triples, which are also tied for the conference-best. Senior Dylan Craig (Signal Mountain, Tenn.) adds a .317 batting average with a team-best 20 runs batted in.
Belmont's pitching has remained stellar throughout the season, currently holding a team ERA of 3.74. Friday starter junior Chase Brookshire (Chattanooga, Tenn.) and Sunday starter James Buckelew (Lawrenceville, Ga.) are off to great starts on the mound with ERAs of 2.35 and 1.65, respectively. Senior Garrett Fanchier (Lebanon, Tenn.) has already accumulated seven saves in 2012.
All three games of the weekend will have live audio via the Bruins Sports Network, while Friday and Saturday contests will be the first of the season to be streamed live on ASun.TV. Live Stats and the Belmont Baseball Twitter feed will also be available for updates throughout the games.
