Tech set for home opener against Cleveland State
After winning two out of three games against Georgia Southern to start the season, the Tennessee Tech baseball team will be at home for the first time in 2010 when it takes on Cleveland State in a three-game beginning at 3 p.m. on Feb. 26.
Weekly Notes (PDF)
Gametime Saturday moved to 1 p.m.
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – After winning two out of three games
against Georgia Southern to start the season, the Tennessee Tech
baseball team will be at home for the first time in 2010 when it
takes on Cleveland State in a three-game beginning at 3 p.m. on
Feb. 26 at Bush Stadium. The teams will also meet on Feb. 27 at 1
p.m. and Feb. 28 at 1 p.m.
The Golden Eagles enter the series at 2-1 overall, while Cleveland
State, from the Horizon League, is 0-3 in 2010 after dropping a set
an UNC Greensboro. Friday will mark the first ever meeting between
the two programs.
Tech enters the 2010 season with a six-game home winning streak
going back to 2009. The Golden Eagles were 20-9 at home last season
and have won four consecutive home openers.
The Golden Eagles are led this season by sophomore shortstop Chad
Hayes. Hayes went 7-for-12 from the plate in the series against
Georgia Southern, and leads the Ohio Valley Conference with a .583
batting average. Hayes had two doubles and three RBIs in the
series. Senior Tate McMillan had three straight multi-hit games
against GSU, while Chad Oberacker and Seth Edwards also had a hit
in all three games.
Junior A.J. Kirby-Jones is creeping close to many Tech career
records, both at the plate and on the mound. Kirby-Jones is
currently sixth in school history in career RBIs with 123, just
nine behind Steve Hawkins for fifth place. His 26 career home runs
are sixth all-time, just two behind Bobby Morgan and Mark Maberry
for fourth in Tech history. On the mound, Kirby-Jones needs just
one more save to move into a tie for third place in Tech career
history with six.
Tech’s pitching staff is led by two dominating seniors, Adam
Liberatore and Lee Henry. Liberatore earned the OVC’s first
Pitcher of the Week honor of 2010 after throwing 6.0 innings of
three-hit ball. Liberatore struck out five batters without allowing
a run in a win over Georgia Southern. Henry is coming off a
phenomenal season in 2009 when he went 9-3 and led the pitching
staff with 80 strikeouts, the seventh most in a season by a Tech
pitcher.
After its three-game set against Cleveland State, Tech will hit
the road to face Vanderbilt in Nashville on March 2, before
returning home for a three game series against Bradley beginning
with a double-header on March 6. Admission to all Tech home
baseball games is free.
