Season Highlights

RICHMOND, Ky. – It may have lasted only 14 games, but the 2020 Eastern Kentucky University baseball team packed a tremendous amount of success into a short period of time.
 
It started with four straight wins, the first time an EKU team started the season 4-0 since 2001.  However, that quick start would have never happened if not for a ninth inning comeback in the season-opener at Presbyterian College.
 
The Colonels went into the top of the ninth trailing 9-4, and were down 9-5 with two outs and only one runner on base.  Nick Howie kept the game alive with a single to right center to make it 9-6.  After Chris Botsoe drew a walk, A.J. Lewis doubled to right to bring home two more runs and make it a one-run game.  After a pitching change, Charlie Ludwick was hit by a pitch and Chance Bodine drew a walk to load the bases.  Logan Thomason drew a walk to force home the tying run.  Daniel Harris IV drew a walk to bring in the go-ahead run.  The Colonels earned five walks in the ninth inning.
 
Jacob Abbott got the save after tossing a perfect bottom of the ninth with two strike outs.  Eastern never trailed in the final two games of the series on its way to a season-opening sweep.
 
The second weekend of the season figured to be a bit tougher challenge as EKU traveled to Baton Rouge to take on 11th ranked LSU.  The Colonels, however, didn't follow the script.
 
Five Eastern Kentucky pitchers combined for a 3-hit shutout in the series opener on a Friday night in February.  Brennan Kelly allowed just one hit in four and one-third innings.  Newcomers Louis Davenport III and Jye Deeble combined for three and one-third innings of hitless relief.  Darren Williams got the final out of the eight and the first two outs of the ninth in his one full inning of scoreless relief.  With the tying runs on base, Abbott struck out lead-off hitter Cade Doughty to save the 2-0 Colonel victory.
 
Lewis gave Eastern a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning when he beat out a ball hit to third for an RBI infield single.  With one out in the top of the fifth, Howie singled through the left side to score Michael Brewer.
 
The win was the fifth for the Colonels over a top-30 ranked team in the last five seasons.
 
Eastern Kentucky nearly took game two of the series, if not for four LSU runs with two outs in the bottom of the eighth that helped the Tigers squeeze out a 6-3 win.  Following a loss to LSU in the series finale, the Colonels didn't lose another game in 2020.
 
EKU ended the season by winning eight games in a row, the longest winning streak for the program since the 2005 team won 10 straight.
 
The streak began with four wins over Siena College.  The Colonels batted .379 and scored 43 runs in the four-game set.  A week later, the hitting and pitching came together in a 3-game sweep of Norfolk State.  Eastern hit .383 as a team and out-scored the Spartans 33-9.  The pitching staff combined for a 3.00 ERA over 27 innings.  The Colonels struck out 22 batters in the series and walked only 10, 16 fewer than the weekend before.
 
The highlight of the weekend was a 3-hit, complete game shutout by sophomore right-hander Jacob Ferris.  He struck out a career-best 10.  The performance led to Ohio Valley Conference Pitcher of the Week honors for the first time in his career.  Offensively, five Colonels hit .500 or better in the series.  Lewis batted .692 with seven RBIs and four runs. 
 
No one knew it at the time, but the season would come to an end after a mid-week, 9-5, victory at in-state foe Northern Kentucky.  Harris was 3-for-4 with two runs and three RBIs in the game.  Over the final eight games of the season, the junior second baseman hit .607 with 12 runs, two home runs and 11 RBIs.
 
The Colonels were preparing to open OVC play with a three-game series at home against rival Morehead State when the conference suspended the spring athletics season.
 
During the eight game winning streak, EKU averaged 10.6 runs per game.  After scoring 33 runs in the first six games of the season, the Colonels put 85 runs on the board over the final eight, hitting .365 as a team.
 
Lewis compiled one of the most prolific offensive seasons in the nation.  The Chicago native batted a robust .451 with seven doubles, three home runs, two triples, 21 RBIs and 15 runs scored.  He posted an .843 slugging percentage and a .541 on-base percentage.  Lewis was the only player in NCAA Division I baseball to hit .450 or better, score 15 or more runs and drive in 20 or more during the 2020 season.
 
The senior catcher was seventh in the nation in slugging, 13th in batting average, 25th in on-base percentage and 25th in RBIs (21).  Within the OVC, Lewis tied for the first in on-base-percentage, was second in batting average, second in slugging, tied for second in triples, tied for third in RBIs and tied for fourth in doubles.
 
For the second consecutive season, Lewis was named to the watch list for the Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year Award.  He was also rated by D1Baseball.com as the 62nd best hitter in the country over the past two seasons.
 
Harris also had a spectacular season, hitting .460 with 16 RBIs and 16 runs scored.  He led the conference, and was ninth in the nation, in batting average and tied for first in the OVC in on-base percentage (.541).
 
Thomason hit .362 with 12 runs scored and 13 RBIs.  Howie batted .351 with 14 runs and 16 RBIs.  He was one of 36 players from across the country named to the watch list for the Bobby Bragan Collegiate Slugger Award.  D1Baseball.com rated the senior outfielder as the 50th best hitter in college baseball over the past two seasons.  Christian Lucio finished the season tied for first in the OVC with nine stolen bases.
 
Ferris led the team with 30 strike outs in 26 and two-thirds innings.  He made four weekend starts, posted a 2-1 record and his 3.04 ERA was the lowest among EKU's starting pitchers.  Opponents hit a mere .183 off the Richmond, Kentucky native.  He ranked third in the OVC in opposing batting average and fifth in strike outs.
 
Nick Laster (six appearances), Williams (five appearances) and Jordan Fox (three appearances) did not allow any runs this season out of the bullpen.  Laster allowed just two hits in seven and two-thirds innings.  Williams struck out 10 in six innings of relief work.