RICHMOND, Ky. – Eastern Kentucky University will play a home-and-home midweek series with Marshall starting Tuesday in Richmond.
 
The first game will begin at 6 p.m. at Earle Combs Stadium.  The teams will play in Huntington, West Virginia on Wednesday at 6 p.m.  Both games will air live on ESPN+.
 
Tuesday's game is "Let's Get Tropical Night" presented by Tropical Smoothie Café.  There will be beach themed content throughout the game.  It is also $2 Day with $2 tickets, beer, soda and hot dogs.
 
THE COLONELS
-  EKU (12-31, 8-13 ASUN) suffered a 3-game sweep at Austin Peay this past weekend.
 
-  Ron Franklin Jr. has a 10-game hitting streak.  Over the last 10 games, Franklin is batting .472 with seven home runs, 17 RBIs and 12 runs scored.  He is slugging 1.111 and has a .596 on-base percentage.
 
-  In the 3-game series at Austin Peay, freshman catcher Silas Shaffer hit .600 (6-for-10) with a double, a home run, six RBIs and a run scored.

-  In their last 14 games, the Colonels are batting .295 as a team.  EKU has 19 home runs and a .396 on-base percentage during that span.
 
-  Senior right-hander Rese Brown is scheduled to get the start on Tuesday.  Freshman righty Elijah Underhill will get the ball for Wednesday's game.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
-  Marshall sits at 13-29 this season and 6-15 in Sun Belt Conference games.  The Thundering Herd have lost five straight, including all three games of a series at Georgia Southern this past weekend.
 
-  Center fielder Cam Harthan leads the team with a .319 batting average.  Left fielder Elijah Vogelsong leads the team in home runs (7) and RBIs (24), but is hitting just .209 this season.
 
-  As a team, the Thundering Herd are hitting.227 with 27 home runs this season.  EKU is batting .267 and has hit 55 home runs.
 
-  Right-hander Nicholas Weyrich leads the team in appearances (18) and saves (4).  The junior is 1-4 with a 4.44 ERA and 53 strikeouts in 46 2/3 innings.

-  Senior right-hander Carter Lyles is scheduled to start on Tuesday.  He is 0-4 with a 6.00 across 10 starts.  Chad Heiner, a senior righty, will start on Wednesday.  He is 1-5 with a 8.81 ERA over 31 2/3 innings.
 
INSIDE THE SERIES
-  EKU leads the all-time series 44-38.   The Colonels are 30-12 in games played in Richmond while the Thundering Herd have a 24-14 advantage in Huntington.  The series dates back to at least 1948.
 
-  In the most recent meeting, outfielders DJ Sullivan and Roderick Criss II combined to drive in four runs and score four runs as EKU beat Marshall, 9-2, on April 19, 2023 in Huntington.  Owen Ayers went 2-for-4 with a run scored for Marshall.