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RICHMOND, Ky. – The Eastern Kentucky University baseball team will open its 2011 home schedule this weekend as the Colonels host Penn State in a three game series at Turkey Hughes Field. A doubleheader is scheduled for Saturday beginning at 11:00 a.m. followed by a single game on Sunday at 12:00 p.m.
EKU (0-3) was swept at Pepperdine last weekend, but was an umpire’s decision or two away from possibly taking two of three from the Waves. Junior
Richie Rodriguez, the Colonels’ best hitter in 2010, continued to be the Colonels’ best hitter in 2011 as he batted .692 (9-of-13) at Pepperdine with two doubles, a triple, two runs scored, two RBI and two stolen bases. The only person capable of slowing Rodriguez was Sunday’s home plate umpire, who ejected him for ‘malicious contact’ following a collision at home plate.
The Colonels will go with the same pitching rotation this weekend that they employed against Pepperdine. Sophomore right-hander
Anthony Bazzani (0-1) will start game one, freshman lefty Kyle McGrath (0-0) will start game two and senior right-hander
Stephen Hefler (0-0), who allowed no earned runs on just one hit in six innings at Pepperdine, will get the nod in game three.
Penn State (2-1), which is making its first-ever trip to play in the state of Kentucky, opened the season with a pair of neutral site wins over Seton Hall and West Virginia before falling to Notre Dame. The Nittany Lions, who went 22-30 and just 3-19 on the road last season, are led at the plate by Ryan Clark (.444 batting average) and Joey DeBernardis (.385 batting average),
Right-hander Heath Johnson (0-0) is slated to start game one for the Nittany Lions while right-hander Steven Hill (0-0) will go in game two and right-hander John Walter (0-1) will start game three.
Using college baseball’s new offense-reducing bats, both teams have combined for just one home run in their six games this season (the lone long ball coming off the bat of EKU’s
Jacob Daniel in game two against Pepperdine).
EKU is 1-1-1 in its last three home openers. This is the second consecutive season the Colonels have played their home opener against a Big 10 team as they defeated Purdue, 5-2, on March 16 last year.
Following Penn State, the Colonels will host Western Carolina for a two-game midweek series from March 1-2.
