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COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Eastern Kentucky University baseball team will take its explosive offense to Tennessee Tech this weekend for a three-game conference series with the Golden Eagles. The Colonels (18-10, 6-3 OVC) enter the weekend in sole possession of third place in the OVC.

A single game is now scheduled for Friday night at 7:00 p.m. and a doubleheader is set to begin on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.

Despite being picked to finish second to last in the OVC before the season began, EKU has won all three of its conference series this year. The Colonels took two of three from UT Martin last weekend at Turkey Hughes Field.

Tennessee Tech (13-12, 1-7 OVC), meanwhile, sits in last place in the conference as the Golden Eagles picked up their first conference win last weekend against Morehead State.

EKU is 32-27 against Tennessee Tech since 1984; however, the Golden Eagles took two of three from the Colonels last year at Turkey Hughes Field.

EKU’s success has stemmed mostly from its offense this season. The Colonels are among the national leaders in team batting average (.372) and runs per game (11.2), and fell to Western Carolina on Wednesday, 24-23, in an 11-inning, five-hour epic.

Senior Matt Davis is the motor behind EKU’s potent offense. The speedy centerfielder is the national leader in runs per game with 1.89. This past week, Davis did what he does best this week: scored runs. 14 of them, to be exact. He performed the duties of a leadoff man to perfection in helping the Colonels win four of five games. He drew four walks. Got hit by a pitch. Stole five bases. Created havoc on the base paths. And ran the bases assertively and aggressively. In game two against UT Martin, he scored the go ahead run from second on a wild pitch. In game three, he scored the tying run from first on a single through the right side. But he also did it with power. Davis went 3-for-5 with three RBI, four runs scored and two home runs in game one against UTM to lead the Colonels to a 12-7 victory. In all, he went 7-for-12 with two doubles, two home runs, three RBI and eight runs scored against the Skyhawks this weekend.

Sophomore Jayson Langfels, meanwhile, provides the power. Langfels is first in the country in RBI per game with 1.87. The third baseman has also smashed nine home runs, five triples and compiled an impressive .863 slugging percentage. Langfels missed last weekend with an injury, however, and he will most likely sit this weekend out as well.

EKU’s pitching has also been serviceable in the first half of the season as the Colonels are fourth in the OVC with a 5.82 team ERA. Sophomore Paul Duncan leads the staff with four wins while junior Chris Hord has a team-best two saves. Junior Jim Clancy (3-1) and sophomore Matt Fyffe (3-1) have also contributed.

The Colonels’ projected rotation for the weekend is Hord, Clancy and then Duncan.

Tennessee Tech is led by Chad Oberaker and A.J. Kirby-Jones. Oberaker leads the Golden Eagles with a .350 batting average and 26 runs scored while Kirby-Jones is hitting .347 with a team-best nine home runs and 36 runs driven in.