COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech baseball team will
honor its seniors this weekend, as the Golden Eagles host
Jacksonville State in their final home series of the season to wrap
up Ohio Valley Conference play May 9 and 10. The Golden Eagles and
Gamecocks will square off in a double-header beginning Saturday at
1 p.m., and finish with a single game on Sunday starting at 1
p.m.
Tech enters the weekend at 7-11-1 in league play, and is currently
tied for seventh place, just a half game behind Eastern Kentucky
for the sixth and final spot in the OVC tournament. Tech owns the
tie-breaker over the Colonels, who have the league’s top two
teams, Eastern Illinois and Southeast Missouri, on the last two
weeks of their conference schedule.
After blasting his 14th home run of the season against Murray State
last weekend, Tech sophomore A.J. Kirby-Jones has moved into a tie
for fourth place in single-season homers at Tech. The all-time
single-season record is 20 set by Jeremy Bonczynski in 1997.
The Gamecocks come to Cookeville with a 10-7 league record, and
currently sit in fourth place in the OVC standings. JSU is led by a
pair of freshmen pitchers who rank fourth and fifth in the OVC in
ERA. Austin Lucas holds a 3.40 ERA, while Tanner Freshour has an
ERA of 3.67.
The Golden Eagles will wrap up the regular season May 14-16 with a
three-game series in Hattiesburg, Miss. against Southern
Mississippi of Conference USA. Tech previously beat C-USA opponent
Marshall 1-0 on February 27 at t he Citadel Shootout in Charleston,
S.C.