Baseball Hosts Kansas This Weekend In Highly Anticipated Series

Belmont (3-6) vs. Kansas (6-2) 

Friday, March 3 | 4pm 

Bruin Sports Network | Live Stats | Game Notes 

Saturday, March 4 | 1pm 

Bruin Sports Network | Live Stats 

Sunday, March 5 | 11am 

Bruin Sports Network | Live Stats 

E.S. Rose Park | Nashville, Tennessee 

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- For the second time in four seasons, the Belmont University baseball team will welcome a Big 12 opponent to E.S. Rose Park when they host Kansas in a three-game series this weekend. 

The three-game set marks the second week in a row that Belmont will square off with a Power Five foe after the Bruins went on the road to No. 21 North Carolina State this past weekend.  

It's the first time in program history that Belmont will take on two separate Power Five opponents in three-game series in a single season. 

Admission to every game at E.S. Rose Park this season is free. 

First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 4 p.m., with Saturday's game set for 1 p.m. and Sunday's finale on for 11 a.m. 

Live radio play-by-play of all three games will be broadcast on the Bruin Sports Network. Live stats will be available on BelmontBruins.com, and in-game highlights will be posted to Twitter by @BelmontBaseball. 

What's Bruin 

• Belmont is coming off a 10-7 win over Middle Tennessee State on Tuesday night in Murfreesboro. The Bruins got home runs from Blake Barton, Mason Landers, and Brodey Heaton to secure their first road victory of the season. 

• Barton, a sophomore from Franklin, Tenn., has homered in back-to-back games for the first time in his career 

• The Bruin catcher's home run against No. 21 North Carolina State last Sunday was the first Belmont home run against a ranked opponent since Tommy Crider homered at No. 4 Ole Miss on March 6, 2021 

• After three home runs against Middle Tennessee on Tuesday, Belmont has 11 for the season from seven different players. The Bruins are ranked 52nd in NCAA Division I in homers. 

• Junior first baseman Brodey Heaton owns 121 career RBIs, most active on the team and nine away from moving into the top-10 all-time in program history 

• Junior shortstop Sam Kirkpatrick is fifth in the MVC in batting average (.455) 

• Junior third baseman Mason Landers is tied for first in the MVC in home runs (4) 

• Junior left-handed pitcher, Andy Bean, has lost consecutive starts for the first time in his career. The 2022 OVC Pitcher of the Year and 2021 Freshman All-American is 15-5 for his career, owning the fourth-best winning percentage in school history (.750) 

• Junior left-fielder made his collegiate debut against Kansas in the season opener in 2020 at home, going 3-for-4 

• Belmont swept Purdue on the road last season, their first sweep of a Power Five opponent in program history 

• This marks the fourth time in Belmont's Division I-era that the Bruins will host a Power Five opponent in a weekend series 

• Belmont won series against Iowa in both 2000 and 2001 before dropping two out of three games to Kansas in 2020 

• Belmont is squaring off with their second Power Five opponent in as many weeks, the first time in school history that the Bruins will play at least two Power Five teams in weekend series in a single season 

• Belmont is 2-7 against Big 12 opponents in program history 

• Belmont was 21-10 at home last year, and have had a winning record at home in each of the last three seasons, going 46-23 in that span (.667) 

• Friday's projected pitching matchup includes Belmont LHP Andy Bean (0-2, 5.91 ERA) going against Kansas RHP Collin Baumgartner (2-0, 0.90 ERA) 

• Saturday's projected pitching matchup features Belmont RHP Jordan Zuger (1-1, 8.64 ERA) going against Kansas RHP Sam Ireland (1-1, 3.88 ERA) 

• Sunday's projected pitching matchup will be Belmont LHP Dominic Baratta (0-1, 5.63 ERA) going against Kansas RHP Hunter Cranton (1-0, 4.00 ERA) 

About the Jayhawks 

• Kansas is out to a 5-2 start, with series wins over Valparaiso and Oakland 

• The Jayhawks rank 7th in the country in fielding percentage, having only committed two errors in seven games 

• Kansas is in their first year under head coach Dan Fitzgerald, who was previously an assistant coach at LSU and Dallas Baptist, where he coached current Belmont center fielder Max Blessinger 

• The Jayhawks lost one of the top players in the country last year to the transfer portal, with All-American shortstop Maui Ahuna leaving for Tennessee 

• Perfect Game ranked Kansas' junior college recruiting class the No. 1 class in the country. Kansas brought in eight highly-touted players from the junior college ranks ahead of this season. 

Series History 

• Belmont hosted Kansas at E.S. Rose Park on Opening Weekend in 2020, winning the opener, 6-0, before falling in the final two games, 5-1 and 7-6. 

• Belmont started that season 14-3 before COVID-19 forced the cancellation of the rest of the campaign 

• Belmont and Kansas first met in 2006 in Nashville, with the Jayhawks winning, 4-2 

• The Bruins and Jayhawks also met in 2012, the year Belmont last reached the NCAA Regional, with Kansas winning, 2-0 

• Kansas leads the all-time series, 4-1 

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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