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RICHMOND, Ky. – The Eastern Kentucky University baseball team eagerly returns to the hitter-friendly confines of Turkey Hughes Field this weekend to host UNC Asheville in a three-game series. First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 2:00 p.m., while games on Saturday and Sunday are set to begin at 1:00 p.m.

It is a matchup of two struggling clubs, as EKU (3-8) has lost four in a row while UNCA (4-7) has dropped seven straight.

EKU’s slump shares a direct correlation with its recent inability to produces runs. The Colonels have scored only four runs in their last four games, and they are hitting just .142 as a team over that period. Fortunately, EKU is 3-2, with wins over Penn State and Western Carolina, and hitting just under .300 as a team at the Turk this season. Five Colonels with at least 14 at-bats – junior Richie Rodriguez, sophomore Austin Grisham, freshman Bryan Soloman, senior Ryan Faidley and junior Jacob Daniel – are hitting over .300 at home.

Despite EKU’s offensive woes, Rodriguez continues to put up staggering numbers as he is batting .463 (19-for-41) with just one strikeout on the year.

The Colonels’ rotation will be different this weekend as junior right-hander Matt Fyffe (0-2, 4.70 ERA) will start on Friday instead of sophomore right-hander Anthony Bazzani. Per the norm, freshman lefty Kyle McGrath (1-0, 7.36 ERA) and senior right-hander Stephen Hefler (1-1, 1.00 ERA) will continue to start games two and three, respectively.

UNCA will trot a trio of right-handers to the mound this weekend. Right-hander Ryan Dull (0-1, 6.32 ERA) will throw on Friday, right-hander Grier Harrington (1-1, 3.38 ERA) will throw on Saturday and right-hander Robert McIntosh (0-1, 6.00 ERA) is scheduled to pitch on Sunday.

The Bulldogs won their first four games of the season – sweeping OVC foe Murray State to begin the year and then beating UNC Greensboro – but have since dropped seven consecutive games. Two-way player McIntosh leads UNCA with a .423 batting average while Mike Vaughn has driven in a team-best nine runs.

EKU is 4-0 all-time against UNCA. The two teams last met in 1985.

Following this weekend’s series, the Colonels return to action with a doubleheader at West Virginia on Tuesday, March 15.