RICHMOND, Ky. - The Belmont University baseball starts the final road stretch of the regular season with a three-game series at Eastern Kentucky.
With Belmont currently tied for fifth in the Ohio Valley Conference standings, this weekend is critical for the Bruins to stay in the hunt for a spot in the OVC Tournament. With the top four teams from the conference regular season making the conference tournament, Belmont is currently one game behind fourth place.
Belmont currently leads the series with Eastern Kentucky 14-13, but the Colonels have won the previous three games against the Bruins. With EKU moving to the Atlantic Sun Conference next season, this will be the final regular season meeting between the two teams in the OVC.
Eastern Kentucky currently holds a 17-29 record with a 10-17 record in OVC play. The Colonels are hitting .261 as a team, hitting 43 home runs and 224 RBIs. EKU has an earned run average of 6.51 in addition to 409 strikeouts on the mound and nine saves.
Caleb Upshaw leads the Colonels with a .309 batting average, hitting nine home runs and has driven in 44 runs. Daniel Harris IV holds a .303 batting average with six home runs while Kendal Ewell is hitting .297 in addition with nine doubles, five home runs and 27 RBIs. Probable starters Darren Williams and Garret Simpson old over a 4.00 ERA to go with a combined 100 strikeouts.
Junior Logan Jarvis has already placed himself in the Belmont Baseball record book. Hitting five triples in the 2021 season, he is now tied for fifth in the program's NCAA Era Single Season record book and 10th in the program's All-Time Single Season record book in that category. He needs just one more to move in a tie for third in the NCAA Era Single Season record book and fifth in the All-Time Single Season record book. Jarvis is currently tied for third in triples in NCAA Division I Baseball.
Game Notes
Several players in Belmont's lineups rank in the top 50 in several statistical categories in NCAA Division I. Carson Shacklett ranks 19th in hit by pitch, Jack Rando ranks 35th in sacrifice bunts and Logan Jarvis ranks 44th in on-base percentage, 23rd in RBIs and 31st in sacrifice flies.
Sophomore Carson Shacklett and Logan Jarvis have helped the Bruins this season by getting on base, especially drawing walks. Both are currently in the top 25 in the nation in base on balls with 38 this season, needing just two more to move in the top 10 in the single season program record book for the most walks in a season category.
First pitch for Friday's game is set for 5 p.m. CST. Live stats will be available for all three games courtesy of EKU Athletics and Bruin Sports Network will broadcast Saturday's doubleheader via online radio. No ESPN+ stream will be available for this weekend's games.
