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RICHMOND, Ky. – Fresh off a sweep of in-state and conference rival Morehead State, the Eastern Kentucky University baseball team will host UT Martin in a three-game Ohio Valley Conference series at Turkey Hughes Field this weekend. A doubleheader on Friday will begin at 1:00 p.m. EST, while a single game on Saturday will also begin at 1:00 p.m. EST.

EKU (14-23, 6-6 OVC) has won seven of its last 10 games and is only 1.5 games out of first place in the OVC. In the sweep of Morehead State, junior Jacob Daniel hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth of game one, freshman Bryan Soloman crushed a pair of three-run home runs in a game two rout and senior right-hander Stephen Hefler pitched 8.2 innings of shutout baseball in game three en route to being named the OVC Pitcher of the Week. The Colonels’ four-game winning streak was snapped at Marshall on Tuesday, 4-2.

EKU’s 1-2 punch of Daniel and fellow junior Richie Rodriguez continues to be one of the best duos in the OVC. Rodriguez leads the conference with 58 hits, is second with a .401 batting average and third with a .470 on-base percentage and 15 stolen bases. Daniel, meanwhile, is sixth in the league with a .366 batting average and tied for second with eight home runs and 36 RBI.

The emergence of another pair of juniors, however, might be even more vital to the Colonels’ recent success. Junior #A.J. Jamison# is batting .415 (17-for-41) with 10 RBI over the Colonels’ last 10 games and has provided EKU with a consistent first baseman for the first time this season, while junior Michael Garcia is hitting .382 (13-for-34) with a pair of home runs, both of which came on Sunday against Morehead State, over that same stretch of games.

EKU will send its normal rotation to the mound this weekend, as junior right-hander Matt Fyffe (0-4, 4.71 ERA) will start game one, freshman lefty Kyle McGrath (3-2, 6.25 ERA), who tossed EKU’s first complete game of the season on Saturday against Morehead State, will start game two and Hefler (4-4, 3.83 ERA), the reigning OVC Pitcher of the Week, will start game three.

The Colonel pitching staff has produced two straight OVC Pitchers of the Week and has an ERA of just 2.36 over EKU’s last five games.

UT Martin (11-25, 2-7 OVC) was swept at Southeast Missouri last weekend but has won four of its last seven games, including a 5-3 win at Southern Illinois on Tuesday. The Skyhawks bring three preseason All-OVC players into Richmond this weekend: seniors Trey Karlen, who is batting .286 with a team-high 32 RBI, and Wes Patterson, who is batting .240 with 20 RBI, and junior Jordan Owen, who is batting .215 with three home runs. Freshman Phil Sorenson (.365 batting average) and senior Cody Terry (.331 batting average) lead the UT Martin offense this season, however.

The Skyhawks will send sophomore right-hander Dan Tobik (1-6, 5.12 ERA) to the mound in game one, junior right-hander Danny Kelley (0-5, 4.82 ERA) in game two and right-hander Patterson (0-4, 12.00 ERA) in game three.

EKU is 35-10 all-time and 4-2 under head coach Jason Stein against UT Martin. The Colonels took two of three from the Skyhawks last year in Martin. Senior Ryan Faidley batted .364 with two doubles and four RBI in the series, while senior left-hander Paul Duncan and junior left-hander Greg Terry both earned wins in the three-game set.