NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Belmont baseball kicks off postseason play as the No. 3 seed in the 2017 OVC Tournament taking place at Choccolocco Park in Oxford, Ala. May 23-28. The Bruins will face No. 6 Murray State in game three on Wednesday, May 24 at 3 p.m. CT. This will be the second time that the Bruins have earned a three-seed going into postseason play and the first time that they will face the Racers. BU compiled a 28-27 overall record on the year, and finished league play 17-13.
Offensively, Belmont has been led primarily by three bruins - Nick Egli (Brentwood, Tenn.), Rafael Bournigal (Mulberry, Fla.) and Matt Cogen (Franklin, Tenn.). While Egli leads the squad in nearly every statistical category, both Borunigal and Cogen have been heating up at the plate as of late. Cogen has registered multiple hits in seven of BU's last ten contests while Bournigal connected on 11 hits last week. Egli boasts a batting average of .360, while Bournigal (.339) and Cogen (.330) follow close behind. Belmont sits atop the league with 70 stolen bases as senior Tyler Walsh (Evansville, Ind.) leads the charge, having robbed 19 bases in his 23 attempts. Collectively, the team has registered 513 hits, 329 runs and 296 RBIs.
On the mound, Belmont's pitching staff has disrupted their opponents all season long. Dylan King (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) leads the team with an ERA of 3.71 (ranking second in OVC) while Tyler Vaughn (Jonesboro, Ill.) sits second the conference having logged 88.2 innings in his junior campaign. The Bruins have also seen extensive production from their bullpen with 11 different pitchers taking the hill for Belmont. Sophomore Kyle Klotz (Fairview, Tenn.) leads the nation and OVC with 42 appearances, tossing 56.1 innings and earning a record of 3-3 on the mound. Senior closer Dom Veltri (Clarksville, Tenn.) has earned eight of Belmont's 13 saves this season - ranking third in the league.
POSTSEASON PLAY
Since transitioning from NAIA into a NCAA Division I school in 1998, Belmont baseball has been a member of both the Atlantic Sun and Ohio Valley conferences. The Bruins have made nine postseason appearances between the two leagues - six in the ASUN and currently making their fourth in the OVC. They have compiled an overall record of 20-14 in conference tournaments while garnering back-to-back ASUN championships in 2011 and 2012. BU was also the ASUN runner-up in 2007. During their time in the OVC, BU has recorded a 5-6 mark and made their deepest run in 2015.
LAST TIME AGAINST THE RACERS
The Bruins dropped their series against the Racers previously this year, losing the first two games before claiming a 14-4 victory in a weather-shortened contest. Ben Kocher (Zionsville, Ind.) and Clay Payne (Powell, Tenn.) led the team offensively in the series, each registering five hits. BU also endured their first extra inning contest, falling to Murray State, 6-4, in a 12-inning game two. Dylan King tossed one of his five double-digit strikeout performances in the second game, fanning a career-best 12 batters in 7.0 frames. This will be the first time that the two squads face each other in the conference tournament.
MASTERFUL MATT
Redshirt-freshman Matt Cogen has found a way to register multiple hits all season long, having registered 24 multi-hit outings in his rookie campaign and boasting a .330 batting average. He leads the squad with 71 hits on the season and is second with 30 RBIs.
CONGER COLLECTS
Kyle Conger (Brentwood, Tenn.) has been nearly unstoppable at the plate in Belmont's recent contests. He's currently riding an 11-game hitting streak that dates back to BU's game at Tennessee Tech on May 7. Since then he has registered 18 hits and batted .375 while collecting 11 runs for the Bruins.
SAVING THE DAY
Veltri has recorded eight of the Bruins 13 saves on the hill this season. Eight saves are the most he's garnered in a single season during his four-year career. He's been their go-to hurler in the final innings of closely contested games, throwing 35.0 innings in 23 closing appearances. The Clarkesville, Tenn. recently earned his first start of the year and produced a career day on the hill, logging 6.0 innings and striking out seven batters - both career marks. He's combined for 41.0 innings and a team-best 3.29 ERA while striking out 28 batters.
HOLLAND GETTING HOT
Hunter Holland (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.) has been heating up at the plate during the second half of the season, launching seven home runs including a grand slam at Lipscomb (4.25) and going yard in consecutive at bats against SEMO (5.14). The sophomore finished the season leading the team in batting average in conference play (.385), largely contributed by a career-best 5-for-5 day in the OVC finale versus the Redhawks. He has recorded a batting average of .298 on the season and registered 24 RBIs.
LOTZ OF KLOTZ
Klotz has been the go-to hurler in the Bruins bullpen all season long, making 42 appearances on the mound while compiling 56.1 innings of work. The right-handed reliever has tallied an ERA of 4.47 on the year, striking out 39 batters. In his nation leading 42 appearances, Klotz boasts a 3-3 record on the hill for Belmont. He also currently sits second all-time in both Belmont and the Ohio Valley Conference record book in single season appearances, behind Jesse Snodgrass' 44 appearances in 2013.
FOLLOWING ALONG
All OVC Tournament games will be streamed live on the OVC Digital Network and can be followed along with live stats – links for both are provided on the OVC Tournament Central site (link provided below). In addition, each of the Belmont games will be broadcasted on the Bruin Sports Network as well as have in-game coverage on twitter @BelmontBaseball.
