NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A trip to Nashville awaits Eastern Kentucky University this weekend with a 3-game conference series at Lipscomb.
 
Game one on Friday is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. ET.  Saturday's contest will get underway at 3 p.m. ET.  Sunday's series finale will start at 2 p.m. ET.  Friday and Sunday's games will air live on ESPN+.
 
THE COLONELS
-  EKU (10-26, 7-8 ASUN) lost a non-conference contest at Cincinnati on Tuesday.
 
-  Second baseman Justin Carinci went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI against the Bearcats.  He is hitting .389 (14-for-36) in his last 13 games.  Carinci has four doubles, 12 RBIs, 10 runs scored and only one strikeout in 36 at bats during that time.

-  In his last 18 games, Ron Franklin Jr. is batting .369 with nine home runs, five doubles, 25 RBIs and 17 runs scored.  He has an .892 slugging percentage and a .440 on-base percentage during that span.
 
-  As a team, EKU has hit .262 in its last 10 games, .
 
-  Freshman left-hander Bradley Stewart will start the opener on Friday.  He is 0-1 this season with 18 strikeouts in 10 2/3 innings.  Sophomore righty Nathan Lawson will start on Saturday.  He is 3-3 and has walked only 16 in 40 innings of work.  Ryker Walton, a junior right-hander, is scheduled to start on Sunday.  He is 2-3 with 31 strikeouts in 38 innings.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
-  Lipscomb is 11-24 overall and tied for sixth in the ASUN with EKU and North Florida at 7-8.  The Bisons have won each of their last three conference series – against North Alabama, Queens and North Florida.
 
-  First baseman Mason Lundgrin leads the team with a .342 batting average to go along with 36 runs and 25  RBIs.  Shortstop Trace Willhoite and center fielder Alex Vergara are tied for the team lead with 12 home runs each.  Vergara leads the team in runs scored with 41.
 
-  Lipscomb is third in the ASUN in home runs and fourth in runs scored.
 
-  Chandler Giles and Jake Lynch are tied for the most pitching appearances on the team with 16 each.  Lynch has a 7.36 ERA over 22 innings.  Giles has a 7.42 ERA across 30 1/3 innings.

-  Lipscomb's pitching rotation has not been announced.
 
INSIDE THE SERIES
-  Lipscomb leads the all-time series 10-4 and the Colonels are 1-5 in games played in Nashville.  EKU won, 11-10, on April 30, 2023.
 
-  In the most recent meeting, the Bisons scored three in the top of the ninth inning to tie the game.  Miguel Larreal had a walk off single down the left field line in the bottom half of the ninth.  He finished 3-for-6 with three runs driven in.  Jake Berg was 4-for-5 with a home run, four runs and one RBI for Lipscomb.