Baseball Welcomes WKU To E.S. Rose Park on Tuesday

Belmont (2-2) vs. WKU (3-0) 

Tuesday, February 21 | 4pm 

iHeartRadio | Live Stats | Game Notes 

E.S. Rose Park | Nashville, Tennessee 

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Coming off a series split with UT Martin over their opening weekend, the Belmont University baseball team closes out their season-opening homestand with a midweek clash against Western Kentucky on Tuesday evening at E.S. Rose Park. 

First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m.  

Live radio play-by-play will be carried on Belmont Bruins Radio on iHeartRadio, and live stats will be available on BelmontBruins.com. 

What's Bruin 

• After falling in both games of a Saturday doubleheader to UT Martin to begin their four-game series with the Skyhawks, Belmont rallied to win both games of their doubleheader on Sunday, 11-4 and 4-2 

• Belmont hit six home runs in the first seven-inning game on Sunday, their most home runs in a game since they hit 12 against UT Martin on March 29, 2015 

• Belmont's pitching staff was stellar throughout the weekend, finishing with a 3.66 ERA. The Bruins struck out 17 Skyhawks in Saturday's nightcap, their most strikeouts in a game since they tallied 17 against North Alabama on February 23, 2021 

• Junior third baseman Mason Landers was named MVC Player of the Week on Monday after going 6-for-14 (.429) with three home runs and six RBIs in the series 

• Landers, a native of Shelbyville, Tenn., hit two home runs in the Saturday afternoon contest, his second career multi-homer game, before blasting a clutch, two-out, three-run homer in the eighth inning of the night game on Sunday to hand Belmont a 4-2 victory 

• Junior shortstop Sam Kirkpatrick started his 2023 season with a bang at the plate, going 7-for-13 with a home run and three RBIs over the series 

• Junior left-handed pitcher Dominic Baratta turned in a stellar start in Sunday night's game, tossing five scoreless innings with a career-high seven strikeouts to help Belmont get the win 

• Junior center fielder Max Blessinger went 5-for-13 (.385) with a home run and three RBIs over the weekend 

• Junior first baseman Brodey Heaton went 4-for-10 with three RBIs across two games against WKU last season 

• Right-handed pitcher Joe Ruzicka, a freshman from Webster Grove, Mo., is projected to make his first career start on the mound on Tuesday against WKU 

• Belmont pitching coach A.J. Gaura played for new WKU head coach Marc Rardin from 2011-12 at Iowa Western Community College, helping win the NJCAA Division I National Championship in 2012 

About the Hilltoppers 

• Western Kentucky started the season with a three-game sweep of Dayton at home, grounding the Flyers, 5-3, 6-1, and 7-1 

• Over the three games, WKU pitchers allowed just five total runs, and come into Tuesday with a 1.33 ERA 

• The Hilltoppers were picked tenth out of ten teams in the C-USA Preseason Poll, with Louisiana Tech selected as the favorite 

• First-year head coach Marc Rardin, who spent the last 20 seasons at Iowa Western Community College, brought in 21 newcomers for the 2023 season after WKU went 18-36 last season 

Series History 

• Tuesday marks the 53rd meeting in Belmont's Division I-era against WKU, with the series tied, 26-26 

• The two programs have played 72 times overall since first getting together in 1954 

• Belmont split two games with the Hilltoppers last season, winning, 8-7 in extra innings on a walk-off walk from Drew Lowry on March 15 at E.S. Rose Park and falling, 9-8, in the rematch at Nick Dedes Field in Bowling Green on April 5 

• WKU has won nine of the last 12 meetings 

• Belmont will travel to WKU on March 7 to finish the season series with the Hilltoppers 

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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