Baseball Plays Middle Tennessee in Murfreesboro on Tuesday

Belmont (2-6) vs. MTSU (6-2) 

Tuesday, February 28 | 3pm 

ESPN+ | iHeartRadio | Live Stats

Reese Smith Jr. Field | Murfreesboro, Tennessee 

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Belmont University baseball team will look for their third win of the season when they make the short trip to Murfreesboro on Tuesday for a midweek clash with Middle Tennessee State. 

Off a weekend series with No. 21 North Carolina State, Tuesday's contest against the Blue Raiders will be the final game before Belmont hosts Kansas in a three-game set this weekend at E.S. Rose Park. 

First pitch on Tuesday is scheduled for 3 p.m. from Reese Smith Jr. Field. 

The game will be streamed on ESPN+, and the live radio play-by-play of Dr. Rich Tiner can be heard on Belmont Bruins Radio on iHeartRadio. Live stats will be available on BelmontBruins.com, and in-game highlights will be posted to Twitter by @BelmontBaseball. 

What's Bruin 

• After winning the final two games of their series at home against UT Martin over Opening Weekend, Belmont fell last Tuesday at home to WKU, 9-7, and were swept on the road at No. 21 NC State in Raleigh, North Carolina, this past weekend 

• Sophomore catcher Blake Barton recorded his first career three-hit game on Friday against the Wolfpack and picked up his first career home run on Sunday in the series finale 

• Barton's home run made him the sixth different Bruin to homer through the first eight games of the season 

• On Sunday, February 19, against UT Martin, Belmont hit six home runs in seven innings to secure an 11-4 victory. The six home runs were the most in a single game for a Bruin team since 2015. 

• Belmont's bullpen has been solid through the first week of the season even while taking on one of the nation's top offenses in NC State on the road for three games. Through seven contests, Bruin relievers hold a 2.99 ERA. 

• Sophomore right-hander Caleb Guisewite has a 1.42 ERA in three appearances, recording ten strikeouts to just two walks 

• Junior right-hander Jett Thielke has a 1.69 ERA in three appearances with a 0.94 WHIP and five strikeouts 

• Junior shortstop Sam Kirkpatrick is fourth in the MVC in batting average (.448) 

• Junior third baseman Mason Landers was named the MVC Player of the Week on February 20 after hitting three home runs against UT Martin in a weekend series, including a game-winning homer in the eighth inning to hand Belmont a 4-2 victory over the Skyhawks 

• After two more RBIs against NC State over the weekend, junior first baseman Brodey Heaton owns 120 career RBIs, nine away from tying Tyler Walsh (2014-17) for tenth-most in program history 

• Freshman right-hander Joe Ruzicka (0-0) will get the start on the mound on Tuesday for the Bruins. Last Tuesday against WKU, the native of Webster Groves, Mo., made his collegiate debut, tossing two frames against the Hilltoppers 

• With their series against No. 21 North Carolina State this past weekend and Kansas on the schedule for next weekend, it marks the first time in program history that Belmont will play three-game series against at least two Power Five opponents in a single season 

• Belmont finished 6-6 against midweek opponents last season 

• Nine Bruins hail from the Nashville area and the surrounding suburbs: Sam Kirkpatrick (Franklin), Sam Slaughter (Smyrna), Aaron Hubbell (Mt. Juliet), Blake Barton (Franklin), Ethan Harden (Franklin), Jordan Zuger (Hendersonville), Jack Rando (Brentwood), Caleb Guisewite (Greenbrier), and Cade Granzow (Franklin) 

About the Blue Raiders 

• Middle Tennesse has hit 12 home runs this season, and is slugging .552 at the plate 

• Jerry Meyers is in his first year as the head coach of the Blue Raiders after serving as the associate head coach and pitching coach in 2022 

• Middle Tennessee is off to a 6-2 start to the season with wins over VCU and SEMO to go along with a four-game sweep at home of St. Bonaventure this past weekend 

• The Blue Raiders were picked tied for sixth in the Preseason Conference USA Poll. Louisiana Tech and Dallas Baptist were selected 1-2, respectively 

Series History 

• Tuesday marks the 70th meeting all-time between Belmont and Middle Tennessee, and the 35th of Belmont's Division I-era 

• Middle Tennessee leads the all-time series, 50-19, and leads 25-9 since 1998 

• The Bruins and Blue Raiders split last season, with Belmont taking the first game at E.S. Rose Park, 11-1 on Feb. 23, before falling in the rematch, 3-1 on April 19 

• Belmont's win on Feb. 23 last season marked the 1,000th career victory for head coach Dave Jarvis 

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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