COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - The Belmont University baseball team returns to action on Tuesday, traveling to Cookeville to take on Tennessee Tech at 3 p.m.
The game will not count towards the Ohio Valley Conference standings and will be treated like a regular non-conference mid-week game in the overall standings.
Tennessee Tech leads the all-time series with Belmont 45-32, with the Bruins winning two of the previous three matchups. Belmont is eyeing its second consecutive win in Cookeville, winning the last game at Tennessee Tech 9-5 on April 28, 2019.
Tennessee Tech is off to a solid start in 2021, co-leading the OVC standings with a 4-2 record in conference play and an 8-6 overall record. The Golden Eagles are second in the OVC in batting average with a .282 mark, collecting 17 home runs to with 85 RBIs. Tennessee Tech holds a 5.72 earned run average, coming up with 126 strikeouts in the process.
Ed Johnson is coming off OVC Player of the Week honors, leading the Golden Eagles with a .432 batting average to go with three home runs and 17 RBIs. Brett Roberts leads the OVC in doubles with eight to go with a .377 batting average and 12 RBIs. Cody Littlejohn adds power with a .311 batting average while Jason Hinchman is still a force with 13 hits and a preseason All-OVC honor to his belt.
Tuesday's mid-week game against Tennessee Tech will not count for either team in the OVC standings and will be treated as a regular non-conference mid-week game in the overall standings. Before Belmont moved into the OVC, the Golden Eagles were a familar foe in mid-week competition. This will be the two's first meeting in a non-conference matchup since the 2012 season when the Bruins were members of the Atlantic Sun. The teams split the series that year, with Belmont winning the game at Rose Park and Tennessee Tech claiming the win in Cookeville.
Game Notes
Pitchers Andy Bean and Joshua South dominated the mound last weekend against SIUE, combining for 14 strikeouts and only allowing one run. Both Bean and South pitched complete games, with South collecting the complete game shutout without giving up a walk. Their performances mark the first time two Belmont pitchers recorded complete games in back-to-back games since Chase Brookshire and Matt Hamann on May 4-5, 2012 against North Florida.
South was named OVC Pitcher of the Week for the third time in 2021, the conference announced Monday. South earned OVC Pitcher of the Week honors on March 1 and March 15 this season, becoming the first Belmont Baseball pitcher to receive OVC Pitcher of the Week honors multiple times in the same year. The Cookeville, Tenn. native already has five career OVC Pitcher of the Week honors, the most by a Belmont Baseball pitcher. The two-time Preseason OVC Pitcher of the Year recorded his second complete game shutout in the last three seasons on Friday against SIUE, last doing so on March 10, 2019 against Morehead State. South only allowed four hits while collecting six strikeouts, not allowing a walk in the process.
Belmont Baseball has several players in the top 100 in NCAA Division I statistical categories. Joshua South is in the top 100 in seven statistical categories in NCAA Division I Baseball, ranking in the top 50 in complete games (#11, 1), games started (#2, 5), victories (#30, 3) and WHIP (#44, 0.77). John Behrends is ranked in doubles (#79) and doubles per game (#96). Both South and Andy Bean are 11th in complete games with one, with Bean ranking 84th in hits allowed per nine innings with 5.06. Logan Jarvis is 68th in sacrifice flies with two while Kyle Brennan's two saves rank 76th in the country.
First pitch is set for 3 p.m., with ESPN+ scheduled to broadcast the game.
