NASHVILLE, Tenn. – With the Ohio Valley Conference series heating up, Belmont University Baseball hits the road for a three-game series at Tennessee Tech University this weekend. First pitch of the series is slated for 4:00 p.m. CT April 26 at Busch Stadium in Cookeville.
RACE FOR THE OVC
Entering the seventh week of conference play, the race for the OVC regular season title is heating up. The Bruins are currently sitting tied for first place in the OVC with a conference record of 14-7. Belmont is tied with Jacksonville State, who has played one less conference series, but has the same conference winning percentage as BU (0.667). Austin Peay sits just one game back with a 13-8 conference record. Tennessee Tech has a 5-13 OVC record and sits in 10thplace.
COMING HOME
Freshman pitcher Joshua South returns home to play in front of his hometown crowd for the first time this weekend. The weekend starter hails from Cookeville, home of the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles and attended high school right down the road at Cookeville High School. South has been impressive in his freshman campaign. He has thrown two complete games and has been named OVC Pitcher of the Week twice. He leads the BU pitching staff with 60.0 innings pitched.
SCORELESS
Sophomore Kyle Brennan (Franklin, Tenn.) has been impressive as a reliver for the Bruins this season. He has thrown 28-straight scoreless innings, dating back to March 2 against BGSU. In this stretch, including two outings longer than five innings, he has notched 19 strikeouts and has secured five saves.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Brennan was recently named OVC Pitcher of the Week. Monday's honor came after he notched three saves in as many days to secure the series sweep of Murray State that pushed BU back into first place in the conference. In his three innings of work, Brennan gave up just three hits and punched out seven.
ACE
Senior Casey Queener (Brentwood, Tenn.) has been a powerful force on the mound and the leader of the Belmont pitching staff. He leads the OVC with 88 strikeouts with an opponents' batting average of .229. Not only does Queener sit atop the conference in several statistical categories, but he is also among the nation's best. He has struck out the 13thmost batters in the nation and has the ninth best mark in strikeouts per nine innings (13.73).
RECORD BOOK WATCH
Senior Chas Hadden (Morristown, Tenn.) is climbing up the Belmont record book in yet another category. Hadden broke the Belmont record for career walks last year and has moved into fourth place in career stolen bases. He has stolen 45 bags in his career, taking five this season. Queener has also cemented himself as one of BU's best. His 260 career strikeouts put him in third place in Belmont history. In addition, he is on pace to break the single-season punch out record.
FOLLOW ALONG
Live stats will be available for each game of the series. Fans can also follow @belmontbaseball on twitter for live updates.
