Golden Eagles look to sweep season series from Belmont Tuesday
April 13, 2010

Golden Eagles look to sweep season series from Belmont Tuesday

The Tennessee Tech baseball team will host Belmont University Tuesday night at 6 p.m., looking to sweep the two-game season series from the Bruins following a 15-5 Golden Eagle win in Nashville a couple of weeks ago. Admission is free.

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- The Tennessee Tech baseball team will host Belmont University Tuesday night at 6 p.m., looking to sweep the two-game season series from the Bruins following a 15-5 Golden Eagle win in Nashville a couple of weeks ago.

Admission is free to all regular season home games in Bush Stadium at the Averitt Express Baseball Complex.

The Bruins bring a 17-17 overall record to town and will send freshman RHP Josh Davis to the mound. Davis is 1-01 with a 7.71 ERA in 12 appearances this season and will be making his fourth start of the year.

Belmont is led offensively by sophomore Dylan Craig with a .397 batting average and a team-high 39 runs scored. He ranks second on the squad in RBI with 30. Junior Derek Hamblen is hitting .362 to rank second on the squad while leading the team on the base paths with nine stolen bases in 10 tries.

Also swinging at a steady clip are junior Tim Egerton (.351), junior Nate Woods (.341 with team-best marks of 13 home runs and 49 RBI), and junior Matt Zeblo (.317).

Defensively, the Bruins have turned 43 double plays this season while hitting into only 19 twin-killings.

Junior Chad Oberacker (pictured above)has the top batting average for the Golden Eagles at .433. He's second on the team with 39 RBI and tied for the team-lead with 10 stolen bases.

Slugger A.J. Kirby-Jones, who ranks first in the nation in home runs per game, is hitting .410 with 16 round-trippers and 50 RBI. The junior also ranks third nationally in walks with 38. He enters the game with a six-game hitting streak, the longest current streak on the squad and his ongest of the season.

Other Golden Eagles topping the .300 mark include sophomore Chad Hayes (.333), freshman Zephan Guyear (.327), senior Tate McMillan (.321), junior Cassanova Donaldson (.316), junior Seth Edwards (.312) and junior Frankie Beech (.310). Edwards is tied with Oberacker with 10 steals.

Tech (14-19 overall) will start sophomore RHP Matthew Shepherd, making his sixth start of the year and 11th apperance overall still in search of his first decision. He brings a 10.45 ERA into the contest.