This Week in Eagle Baseball - March 30

THIS WEEK:
Morehead State travels to East Tennessee State (12-14) and hosts LaSalle (13-13).
Tues.	Mar. 31	at East Tennessee State	Johnson City, Tenn.	6:05 p.m.	Live Stats	Live Audio
Fri.	Apr. 3	LaSalle	Morehead, Ky.	3:00 p.m.	Live Stats	Live Audio
Fri.	Apr. 3	LaSalle	Morehead, Ky.	6:00 p.m.	Live Stats	Live Audio
Sat.	Apr. 4	LaSalle	Morehead, Ky.	1:00 p.m.	Live Stats	Live Audio
All times are Eastern (ET)		* Game dates and times are subject to change

Select Morehead State baseball games (home and road) are scheduled to be broadcast live on MSUEagles.com and the Eagle Empire App. Michael Gustin is in his third season serving as the play-by-play voice. He will joined for select games by MSU assistant director of athletic media relations Matt Schabert and MSU student Jerrod Wesley.
 

LAST WEEK:
The Eagles were 2-3 last week.
Tues.	Mar. 24	at Northern Kentucky	L, 8-3	Recap
Wed.	Mar. 25	at Kentucky	L, 9-4	Recap
Fri.	Mar. 27	Eastern Kentucky	L, 11-10 (10 inn.)	Recap
Sat.	Mar. 28	Eastern Kentucky	W, 11-10	Recap
Sun.	Mar. 29	Eastern Kentucky	W, 20-6	Recap

MOREHEAD STATE LINKS: 

SCHEDULE (HTML) | SCHEDULE (PDF) | ROSTER & BIOS (HTML) | ROSTER (PDF) | STATISTICS (HTML) | STATISTICS (PDF)


OPPONENT AND CONFERENCE LINKS:

EAST TENNESSEE STATE | LaSALLE | OHIO VALLEY CONFERENCE

NOTES ON THE EAGLES: 

STREAKS AND SUCH
Five MSU players carry at least a five-game hitting streak into this week's action. Senior rightfielder Brandon Rawe leads the way with seven straight. Sophomore third baseman Alex Stephens has a six-game string, while senior shortstop Robby Spencer, senior utility player Nick Newell and sophomore centerfielder Ryan Kent are on five-game streaks. Freshman infielder Evan Warden leads the team currently with a 10-game reached-base streak.

HOME SWEET HOME
Morehead State's offense has been effective in its seven home games. The Eagles are batting .395 and boast five players hitting better than .400 in games at Allen Field. On the flip side, in the 19 games away from home, the offense is at just .252 and only two players are hitting above .300.

FIRST FOUR
The Eagles' top four hitters in the lineup, Ryan Kent, senior first baseman Kane Sweeney, Brandon Rawe and senior utility player Chris Robinson, combined to hit 34-of-66 (.515) in the series with Eastern Kentucky. The quartet produced 14 extra-base hits and drove in 21 runs.

LET'S NOT FORGET THE OTHER GUYS
Besides the production from the top of the lineup, MSU's other hitters in the produced gawdy numbers too last weekend. As a team, Morehead State hit .457 against EKU with 41 runs, 58 hits and 20 extra-base knocks. Alex Stephens batted .563, while freshman second baseman Braxton Morris finished at .500 for the weekend.

BRANDON'S BACK
After managing just a .186 batting average in his first 10 games, Brandon Rawe appears to be getting in the same gear he was in 2014. Rawe shattered Morehead State's single-season hits record with 98 last year.  He ranked among all Division I players in hits (4th), total bases (8th), doubles (16th) and slugging percentage (28th). In the last 17 games, Rawe has only been held hitless once and he has his average up to .321 overall. He leads the team with a .395 effort in the 12 Ohio Valley Conference contests. Rawe has eight multi-hit games since March 7.

RAWE TALENT
Brandon Rawe earned Preseason All-America recognition from three national media organizations. He was listed on the first team by Collegiate Baseball and Louisville Slugger, second team by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and third team by College Sports Madness.

OFF THE SCHNEID
Freshman catcher Tyler Niemann managed just one hit in his first 11 collegiate games but broke out in a big way Sunday against Eastern Kentucky. Niemann was 2-for-5 with a pair of runs scored and three RBI. He drove in all three on his first career home run in the eighth inning.

EVEN KEELE
Junior righthander Tyler Keele saw action in four games last week and did not allow a run to cross the plate in 7.2 innings. He struck out six and collected a three-inning save, his first of the season, Sunday against Eastern Kentucky. Keele has made 10 appearances and boasts a 3.06 ERA.

NATIONAL AND REGIONAL RECOGNITION
Following opening weekend, Nick Newell was named the official Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Week and was also tabbed the league's top performer by College Sports Madness. He clubbed his first career grand slam in the season opener. Junior pitcher Aaron Goe earned a spot on the CollegeBaseball360.com Primetime Performers Honor Roll after opening weekend. Morehead State was also named the National Team of the Week by CollegeBaseballInsider.com. Sophomore righty Luke Humphreys, who set a career high with nine strikeouts against Dayton in Georgia, was named the official OVC Pitcher of the Week on Feb. 23.

WATCH THIS
Chris Robinson has been listed on the official Johnny Bench Award Watch List, honoring the nation's top Division I catcher. Robinson hit .600 in the EKU series with a single, double, triple and home run. He belted three doubles and legged out two triples. Robinson, who led all OVC catchers with 75 hits in 2014, leads the league backstoppers again this year with 36 hits and a .375 batting average.

MORE AWARDS
Brandon Rawe was also named the Preseason OVC Field Player of the Year by College Sports Madness, in addition to being on the publication's first team. Rawe, Kane Sweeney and Chris Robinson have been named to the official Preseason All-OVC Team. In a poll of the league's coaches and media relations contacts, MSU was picked fifth.

COACHING STAFF INFORMATION
Mike McGuire, who guided Lander (S.C.) and Louisburg (N.C.) to school-record win totals, is in his third season as Morehead State's head coach. His MSU record is 58-81. McGuire nearly doubled overall, conference, home and road win totals last year compared to 2013.  Adam Brown is now in his third season on the staff and has added recruiting coordinator to his duties. Graham Johnson is in his fourth season and mentors the Eagle pitching staff. PJ McIntee, who helped guide Southeastern (Iowa) Community College to the National Junior College Athletic Association World Series in 2014, is in his first year on the staff.