COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech baseball team is
set for a mid-week non-conference contest with East Tennessee State
on April 1, before hitting the road for the second consecutive
weekend, this time facing OVC opponent Morehead State in a
three-game series.
The Golden Eagles (11-10, 0-5) and Bucs (12-11) will throw out the
first pitch at 6 p.m. in Bush Stadium in Cookeville on Wednesday.
ETSU will have righty Bo Reeder. Reeder is 2-2 in three starts on
the season. In six appearances, he has posted an ERA of 5.01. The
freshman pitcher is a Cookeville native. As a staff, ETSU pitchers
are allowing opponents to hit .328 from the plate.
Tech owns a 45-39 advantage in the all-time series, including a
pair of wins last year. In two games a season ago, Tech beat the
Bucs 15-6 and 10-1.
Morehead State (7-17, 1-5) boasts one of the OVC’s best
offensive players in Drew Lee. Lee is currently leading the league
in hits (46), RBIs (35) and total bases (81), and is third in
batting average, hitting .451 from the plate. However, Eagle
pitchers are allowing opponents to hit .363 against them, and hold
a steep 9.13 ERA.
Tech hitters Chad Oberacker and A.J. Kirby-Jones look to extend
their current hitting streaks this week. Oberacker has a hit in his
last eight games, while Kirby-Jones has hit successfully in his
last seven. Oberacker is also third in the conference in triples,
with three, while Kirby-Jones ranks third in home runs with eight,
and RBIs with 31.
Tech will head into the weekend looking for its first OVC win. In
its first two conference series’, Tech has played the
league’s toughest competition. Southeast Missouri and Eastern
Illinois met in last season’s OVC tournament finals, and are
currently a combined 11-0 in league play, and are the leagues only
unbeaten teams.