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MARION, Ill. – For the second straight year, the Eastern Kentucky baseball team will open play at the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament as the No. 6 seed and face third seeded Morehead State.
 
The two teams will face off Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. ET at Rent One Park in Marion, Illinois. 
 
The winner of will advance to face No. 2 seed Austin Peay, No. 7 seed Eastern Illinois or No. 8 seed Tennessee-Martin on Thursday at 4 p.m. ET.  The loser will play an elimination game either at 8:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday or 8 p.m. ET on Thursday, depending on the results of other first round contests.
 
INSIDE THE SERIES
-  Eastern Kentucky leads the all-time series 118-102-1.
 
-  The Eagles swept the regular season series in Morehead on March 15-17.
 
-  In last year's OVC Tournament, No. 3 Morehead State earned a 12-7 win over No. 6 EKU in the first round.  The Colonels won three straight games and were among the final three teams remaining before falling to MSU, 5-2, in an elimination game.
 
THE COLONELS
-  Eastern Kentucky concluded the regular season with a 30-25 record and a 16-14 mark in OVC play.  The Colonels tied for fifth in the conference standings with Murray State.
 
-  EKU has posted back-to-back 30-win seasons for the first time since 1999 and 2000.  Eastern's 16 conference victories are the most for the program since 2013.
 
-  The Colonels won seven conference series this season, their most in one season since winning seven during the OVC Championship campaign of 2012      
 
-  The Colonels have 125 stolen bases.  That is seventh in the nation and 45 more than any other Ohio Valley Conference team.
 
-  Will Johnson leads the conference in stolen bases (27) and walks (52).  Nick Howie is first in the OVC with a .488 on-base percentage and third with 45 walks.  Ryland Kerr is second with 58 runs.  A.J. Lewis is fourth in stolen bases (17).  Jacob Ferris has the sixth best opposing batting average (.235).  Aaron Ochsenbein is second with 27 appearances and tied for second with nine saves.     
 
-  Over the last two weekends, the EKU weekend rotation has featured Will Brian, Jacob Ferris and Brennan Kelly.  Brian, a redshirt freshman left-hander, is 0-2 with a 6.35 ERA.  Ferris, a freshman right-hander, is 6-4 with a 5.63 ERA.  His 58 strikeouts are the most by an Eastern starter.  Kelly, a junior left-hander, is 3-4 with a 4.72 ERA.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
-  Morehead State finished the regular season with a 37-19 record and a 19-11 mark in the OVC.  The Eagles swept Southeast Missouri this past weekend and finished tied for second place with Austin Peay in the conference standings.   
 
-  MSU leads the OVC in hitting (.300), runs (404), hits (590), and is second in the league in team ERA (4.35), and strikeouts (492).
 
-  Jake Hammon has a team-best .344 batting average to go along with 53 runs scored and 41 RBIs.  Connor Pauly leads the team in home runs (11) and RBIs (60).
 
-  The Morehead State pitching rotation features Dalton Stambaugh (R-Jr., LHP), Jason Goe (R-Jr., RHP) and Will Lozinak (So., RHP).  Stambaugh leads the team with a 4.01 ERA and is 7-3.  He has struck out 95 batters in 83 innings.  Goe is 6-2 with a 5.01 ERA and just 10 walks in nearly 60 innings.  Lozinak is 7-1 this season with a 5.17 ERA.