Tennessee Tech Preview

Belmont (19-10, 5-1 OVC) vs. Tennesse Tech (16-10, 1-2 OVC)

Friday, April 8 | 4 p.m. CT

ESPN+ | Bruin Sports Network | Live Stats | Game Notes

Saturday, April 9 | 2 p.m. CT

Bruin Sports Network | Live Stats

Sunday, April 10 | 1 p.m. CT

ESPN+ | Bruin Sports Network | Live Stats

E.S. Rose Park | Nashville, Tennessee

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Looking to build on their conference-leading five OVC wins, the Belmont University baseball team welcomes Tennessee Tech to the Music City this weekend for a crucial three-game series at E.S. Rose Park. 

First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 4 p.m., Saturday's game will start at 2 p.m., and Sunday's series finale will begin at 1 p.m. 

Admission is free. The first 100 fans on Saturday will receive a powder blue Bruins script t-shirt modeled after Belmont's Saturday uniforms. 

Friday and Sunday's games will be streamed on ESPN+. The Bruin Sports Network will carry the live audio play-by-play of Dr. Rich Tiner for all three games of the series. Live stats will be available at BelmontBruins.com and in-game updates and highlights will be posted to Twitter by @BelmontBaseball. 

What's Bruin 

• Belmont is coming off a nailbiter loss to Western Kentucky in Bowling Green, Ky., on Tuesday night. The Bruins led 8-5 in the eighth inning but ended up on the wrong end of a 9-8 result. 

• Belmont has won their first two conference series, taking down Austin Peay in two out of three games at E.S. Rose Park two weekends ago and sweeping Murray State on the road last weekend. 

• At 5-1, the Bruins have the most OVC wins in the conference through the first two weekends of conference play 

• Belmont is 14-6 at home 

• Getting on the scoreboard first is important--the Bruins are 15-5 when scoring first, and 4-5 when their opponent scores first 

• Belmont's projected rotation this weekend is RHP Joshua South (4-1, 4.70 ERA) on Friday, LHP Andy Bean (4-1, 4.54 ERA) on Saturday, and LHP Jalen Borders (2-1, 2.55 ERA) on Sunday 

• In two starts against conference opponents, Borders is 1-0 with a 0.87 ERA, tossing 10.1 innings while allowing just one earned run with six strikeoutsis 1-0 with a 0.87 ERA, tossing 10.1 innings while allowing just one earned run with six strikeouts 

• John Behrends has been one of the main engines in the Belmont offense over the last two weeks. The Chattanooga native is on a ten-game hitting streak and is 14-for-30 with a home run, three doubles, and eight RBIs over his last seven games. 

• The Preseason All-OVC selection and reigning First Team All-OVC pick homered in the seventh inning on Tuesday, blasting a solo shot way over the right-center fence at Nick Denes Field 

• Guy Lipscomb continues to show why he's one of the most dynamic players in the country. The sophomore from Franklin, Tenn., is currently 4th in NCAA Division I in stolen bases (23) 

• Lipscomb leads the team in batting average (.386), on-base percentage (.475), slugging percentage (.554), triples (3), strikeout ratio (just six strikeouts in 101 at-bats), and runs (29). 

• Tommy Crider had the best game of his career last Saturday against Murray State. The junior from Madison, Ala., went 4-for-6 with two home runs, a triple, a double, and five RBIs. 

• Carson Shacklett is currently second on the team in batting average (.358) 

• Belmont outscored Murray State 34-13 last weekend 

• The Bruins are 7th in the country in fielding percentage (.984) and 11th in the country in stolen bases (60) 

• Head coach Dave Jarvis recorded his 1,000th career win on Feb. 23 with an 11-1 victory over Middle Tennessee at home 

About the Golden Eagles 

• Tennessee Tech opened their OVC schedule by losing two out of three to Morehead State on the road last weekend  

• The Golden Eagles are 13th in the country in home runs (47), 9th in home runs per game (1.81), 17th in batting average (.308), and 22nd in slugging percentage (.511)  

• Jason Hinchman is 2nd in the country in home runs (13), and is hitting .374  

• Tennessee Tech appeared in the NCAA Regionals in 2017 as the automatic OVC qualifier and in 2018 as an at-large, the first OVC team ever to get an at-large bid, and won the Oxford Regional on the way to the Super Regional  

• Matt Bragga is back to coach the Golden Eagles after a three-year stint at Rice. The 2022 season marks the 16th season at the helm for Bragga, a four-time OVC Coach of the Year.  

• Tennessee Tech did not play a midweek game this week 

Series History  

• Belmont is 34-48 all-time against Tennessee Tech  

• The Bruins and Golden Eagles have met on 60 occasions in Belmont's Division I-era, whic goes back to 1998. Tennessee Tech leads the Division I-era series, 33-27 

• The first meeting came in 1955  

• Last season, Belmont and Tennessee Tech played five times, with TTU winning three of the five. In addition to the conference series that was played in Cookeville from April 24 to April 25, the Bruins and Golden Eagles also held a home-and-home midweek series that did not count towards the conference standings