Baseball Hosts Rival Murray State This Weekend in Critical MVC Series

Belmont (20-22, 5-10 MVC) vs. Murray State (22-20, 8-7 MVC) 

Friday, April 28 | 5 p.m. 

iHeartRadio | Live Stats | Game Notes 

Saturday, April 29 | 2 p.m. 

ESPN3 | iHeartRadio | Live Stats 

Sunday, April 30 | 1 p.m. 

iHeartRadio | Live Stats 

E.S. Rose Park | Nashville, Tennessee 

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Belmont University baseball team welcomes rival Murray State to the Music City this weekend for a crucial three-game Missouri Valley Conference series at E.S. Rose Park. 

The series gets underway on Friday at 5 p.m. and continues Saturday at 2 p.m. before finishing on Sunday at 1 p.m. 

Saturday will be the annual 9 Innings of Winning game, with fans entered in a raffle to win one of several big-ticket prizes being given away each inning. 

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

Saturday's game will be streamed on ESPN+. Live audio play-by-play of all three games will be broadcast on iHeartRadio, and live stats will be available on BelmontBruins.com. 

What's Bruin 

• Belmont enters the weekend trying to snap a skid of nine straight conference defeats after getting out to a 5-1 start in MVC play  

• Junior third baseman Mason Landers enters the weekend having reached base in 17 consecutive games 

• Junior first baseman Brodey Heaton tallied his 140th career RBI in Tuesday's loss to Middle Tennessee, moving the native of Newburgh, Ind., up into fifth place among Belmont's NCAA-era career leaders in runs batted in 

• Heaton owns four home runs in 15 conference games this year 

• Friday's projected starter on the mound is freshman right-hander Will Pryor (3-0, 2.45 ERA) 

• Pryor has made one prior start this season, going six scoreless innings against Lindenwood on March 19 with six strikeouts and just one walk 

• Saturday and Sunday's starters on the mound for Belmont are TBA 

• Redshirt freshman two-way player Ethan Harden is tied for second in the Missouri Valley Conference in saves (5) and owns a 1.80 ERA in 30 innings across 15 appearances on the mound 

• Sophomore catcher Blake Barton owns ten multi-hit games this year, and ranks among league leaders among MVC catchers in most offensive categories 

• Junior outfielder Jeff Clarke ranks inside the top-15 in the Valley in both slugging percentage (.574) and on-base percentage (.426) 

• Junior second baseman Jack Rando is batting .379 with runners in scoring position 

• Junior right-handed reliever Jett Thielke is averaging 10.8 strikeouts per nine innings 

• Belmont is 1-1 in home conference series this year, defeating Illinois State and falling to Indiana State 

• Belmont has only lost two conference home series since 2021 

• Fast starts are important: Belmont is 11-0 when leading after three innings and 13-0 when leading after five innings 

• Eight different Bruins have hit multiple home runs this year 

About the Racers 

• Murray State is coming off an 8-7 win over North Alabama at home on Tuesday 

• The Racers are tied with Evansville for fourth in the MVC with series wins over Valparaiso and Illinois State and series losses to Bradley, UIC, and Evansville 

• Murray State leads the Valley in runs scored (298), batting average (.281), on-base percentage (.387, and hits (402) 

• Right-handed pitchers Jacob Pennington and Bryce Valero may be the best 1-2 punch in a weekend rotation in the Valley, owning ERAs of 2.84 and 3.20 respectively 

• After Murray State visits Belmont, the Racers finish their conference slate with series against the top three teams in the Valley: Missouri State, Indiana State, and Southern Illinois 

Series History 

• Belmont swept Murray State in Murray last season, 13-6, 14-6, and 7-1, on the way to the OVC regular season championship in the Bruins' final year in the league 

• Belmont leads the all-time series, 28-19, with all 47 meetings coming since 1998 

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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