Baseball Returns to E.S. Rose Park For Weekend Series With Western Illinois

Belmont (6-8) vs. Western Illinois (1-11) 

Friday, March 10 | 4 p.m. 

ESPN+ | Live Stats | Game Notes 

Saturday, March 11 | 2 p.m. 

ESPN+ | Live Stats 

Sunday, March 12 | 1 p.m. 

ESPN+ | Live Stats 

E.S. Rose Park | Nashville, Tennessee 

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Belmont University baseball team returns to E.S. Rose Park this weekend to host a three-game series against Western Illinois. 

Friday's game will continue a long stretch of matchups in the Music City for Belmont, which will play its next 12 games in Nashville, including 11 home games and one neutral site contest against top-25 Vanderbilt on Tuesday, March 14, at First Horizon Park. 

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

All three games, barring weather-related difficulties, will be streamed on ESPN+. Live stats will be available on BelmontBruins.com, and in-game highlights will be posted to Twitter by @BelmontBaseball. 

Admission to all games at E.S. Rose Park is free. 

What's Bruin 

• Belmont's stretch of 13 games in Nashville started on March all the way to March 26, and will be their longest such stretch of the season 

• The Bruins are coming off a 4-1 victory over Lipscomb in a Battle of the Boulevard matchup on Wednesday night at Ken Dugan Field 

• Belmont pitchers dominated the contest, allowing just one run on six hits while striking out 11. It marked the first time this season that Lipscomb's offense had been held to fewer than three runs. 

• Belmont leads the Missouri Valley Conference in ERA (5.12) and ranks third in strikeouts (112) and third in opponent batting average (.270) 

• Belmont scored all four of their runs on Wednesday in the seventh inning, including two runs coming with two outs in the frame 

• Junior reliever Jett Thielke recorded his first save as a Bruin, pitching a scoreless ninth inning 

• Junior shortstop Sam Kirkpatrick is second in the MVC in hits (20) 

• Sophomore catcher Blake Barton ranks second in the MVC in doubles (6) 

• Friday's probable pitching matchup includes LHP Andy Bean (0-2, 5.21 ERA) against RHP Jake Armstrong (1-1, 7.36 ERA) 

• Bean is the reigning MVC Pitcher of the Week after tossing 6.1 innings with nine strikeouts and two walks against Kansas last Friday, holding the Jayhawks to three runs on three hits. 

• With his nine punchouts, the junior from Fisherville, Tenn., recorded the most strikeouts against a Power Five opponent since Dylan King in 2017, who struck out 11 against Northwestern 

• Saturday's probable pitching matchup features RHP Jordan Zuger (1-2, 7.82 ERA) against LHP Tyler Kapraun (0-2, 6.91 ERA) 

• Junior left-hander Dominic Baratta (1-1, 4.20 ERA) will start on Sunday for Belmont. The native of Dunedin, Fla., is coming off his best career performance, a seven-inning gem against Kansas last Sunday in a series-clinching win in which he allowed just two runs. 

• Belmont is unbeaten in six of their last seven home series dating back to March of last season 

• Belmont has won four of their last six games entering Friday 

About the Leathernecks 

• Western Illinois enters this weekend's series on a ten-game losing streak 

• The Leathernecks rank 291st in NCAA Division I in walks issued per nine innings (8.36) and are 29th in hit batters (23) 

• Western Illinois plays a fast style of offense, ranking 34th in the country in steals (23) and 27th in sacrifice bunts (7) 

• Western Illinois has yet to play a home game this season, and will play just one home game in their first 29 contests 

• Last weekend, the Leathernecks were swept on the road by SIUE, 11-10, 7-3, and 8-7 

Series History 

• This weekend marks the first-ever meetings between Belmont and Western Illinois 

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.                 

#ItsBruinTime