NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Eastern Kentucky University softball team wraps up its regular season on the road at Belmont University on Thursday.
First pitch will be at 3:30 p.m., with game two starting approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of game one. Both games will be aired on ESPN+.
If Eastern sweeps Belmont and Murray State loses one game, it will lock EKU into one of the top four seeds in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.
Inside the Series:
-Eastern leads the all-times series between the two teams, 15-3.
-EKU won both meetings last year in Richmond, 1-0 and 6-0.
What EKU Brings:
-EKU comes into the contest at 28-18 (14-6 OVC) after splitting a pair of contests against Murray State and Austin Peay over the weekend.
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Hannah Clark paces the offense with a batting average of .359, 10 doubles, 13 home runs and a team-best 51 RBIs.
-Clark ranks 20th in the country in runs batted in per game and 25th in RBIs.
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Sammi Miller ranks second in the country in toughest to strikeout, having struck out only two times all year.
-Paulick ranks fourth in the country in saves with six.
-Eastern ranks 50th in the country in home runs per game and 57th in the country in scoring.
Scouting the Opponent:
-Belmont comes into the weekend 30-19 (12-8 OVC), and winners of its last four games.
-The Bruins are led offensively by senior outfielder Baylee Cook. Cook has a team-best .400 batting average with eight doubles, four triples, four home runs and 37 RBIs. She ranks 31st in the country in hits.
-Brooklin Lee and Alicia Veltri pace the pitching staff for the Bruins. Lee is 13-8 on the year with a team-best 2.57 ERA on the year. She has thrown 17 complete games. Veltri is 14-8 on the year with a 2.69 ERA. She has 135 strikeouts over 140 and one-third innings pitched.
-Belmont ranks 49th in the country in scoring.
-The Bruins rank 54th in the country in batting average.
Eastern returns to the field next Wednesday when the Colonels open up the OVC Tournament. The time and opponent are to be determined.
