Eastern Illinois Preview

Belmont (32-17, 13-5 OVC) vs. Eastern Illinois (30-15, 10-8 OVC)

Friday, May 13 | 5 p.m.

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

Saturday, May 14 | 2 p.m.

ESPN+ | Bruin Sports Network | Live Stats

Sunday, May 15 (Senior Day) | 1 p.m.

ESPN+ | Bruin Sports Network | Live Stats

E.S. Rose Park | Nashville, Tennessee

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Belmont University baseball team will welcome Eastern Illinois to the Music City this weekend for a crucial three-game series at E.S. Rose Park. 

The weekend marks the final three home games of the season for the Bruins, who close out the regular season with four road contests before making the trip to Lexington, Ky., on May 25 for the start of the OVC Tournament. 

At 13-5, Belmont is currently tied for first in the OVC with Southeast Missouri with six conference games to play. Eastern Illinois is currently tied for third in the conference standings with Morehead State, at 10-8. 

All three games in the series will be streamed on ESPN+, and live audio play-by-play will be simulcast on the Bruin Sports Network. 

Sunday's series finale will also be Senior Day. 

What's Bruin 

• At 32-17, Belmont has their most wins in a season since finishing 33-27 in 2016 

• Belmont started off their final homestand of the season by splitting a pair of non-conference midweek games with Lipscomb and North Alabama. The Bruins fell on Tuesday, 3-2, in the Battle of the Boulevard before rebounding with an 18-2 run-rule rout over the Lions on Wednesday. 

• Belmont scored 14 runs in the third inning of their game with North Alabama, the most runs in a single frame since they scored a then-NCAA-record 20 runs in the sixth inning against UT Martin on March 29, 2015 

• Junior second baseman Jack Capobianco has been the hottest hitter for the Bruins since a three-hit game against No. 24 Alabama on April 12. The switch-hitter is 22-for-50 (.440) over his last sixteen games with three home runs and 17 RBIs 

• Sophomore outfielder Guy Lipscomb is currently 15th in the country in batting average (.407) and 3rd in the country in stolen bases (38). The native of Franklin, Tenn., currently leads the OVC in on-base percentage (.493) 

• Sophomore first baseman Brodey Heaton is the reigning OVC Player of the Week. The native of Newburgh, Ind., earned his first career honor after going 9-for-15 (.600) with three home runs and nine RBIs against UT Martin last weekend 

• Belmont is currently tied for 3rd in the country in fielding percentage (.984), behind only No. 2 Oregon State and No. 22 Texas 

• The Bruins' pitching staff is near the top of the OVC in nearly every statistical category, and leads the conference in ERA (4.26), opposing batting average (.246), and hits allowed (387), while being 2nd in the OVC in walks allowed (179), and home runs allowed (44) 

• The projected pitching matchups for this weekend are: Belmont LHP Andy Bean (8-1, 3.73 ERA) vs. Eastern Illinois LHP Trevor Nicholson (5-0, 3.79 ERA) on Friday, Belmont RHP Joshua South (7-2, 4.95 ERA) vs. Eastern Illinois RHP Cameron Doherty (4-5, 5.04 ERA) on Saturday, and Belmont LHP Jalen Borders (5-2, 3.29 ERA) vs. TBD on Sunday 

• Sophomore pitcher Andy Bean has gone at least six innings in each of his eight starts, and is the reigning OVC Co-Pitcher of the Week after throwing a complete game with a career-high 13 strikeouts against UT Martin last Friday 

• Junior pitcher Joshua South is currently 7th all-time in career strikeouts at Belmont (223) 

• Senior closer Kyle Brennan leads the country in saves (13) and is the program's all-time career leader in saves (30) 

About the Panthers 

• Junior Ryan Ignoffo is currently 4th in the country in batting average (.422), 3rd in hits per game (1.81), and 8th in slugging percentage (.773) with 13 home runs and 54 RBIs 

• Four different Panthers have at least 50 hits 

• Friday starter Trevor Nicholson is one of the top pitchers in the OVC, currently 5th in ERA (3.79) and 1st in strikeouts (83) 

• Last weekend, Eastern Illinois lost two out of three games to Morehead State, putting them in a tie with the Eagles for third place in the OVC with a 10-8 conference mark 

• Closer Zane Robbins is tied for 6th in the country in saves (11) and has set the program record for saves in a season 

Series History 

• Belmont leads the series, 15-13-1 

• The first meeting came in 2001 

• The Bruins have won four of the last five series, but there has not been a sweep on either side since Belmont joined the OVC in 2013, 

• Belmont won two out of three last year at E.S. Rose Park, falling in the first game, 7-6, before winning the next two contests, 10-2 and 10-6. John Behrends had a pair of three-hit games in the two Bruin wins 

Follow Belmont baseball on social media - @BelmontBaseball on Twitter and @belmontbaseball on Instagram - for complete coverage of the Bruins. Stay up to date with all of Belmont's athletic programs via the official app of the Belmont Bruins, available both in the Apple App Store and on Google Play.                 

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