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MOREHEAD, Ky. -- If the last two years' results are an indication of the excitement in store at Allen Field this weekend, then Morehead State baseball fans will not want to miss the upcoming series with Austin Peay. The Eagles host the Govs for a doubleheader at 2:30 p.m. ET Friday and a single game Saturday at 2 p.m.
Four of the last six games in the series have been decided by one run, and MSU has edged the Govs 2-1 in their regular season series two straight years. All three games at Allen Field in 2014 were won by a single run.
All three games are scheduled to be streamed live on the OVC Digital Network, weather permitting.
The Eagles (24-18, 10-8 OVC) will look to gain some ground in the league race heading into the final three weekends. MSU is in fifth place right now, while APSU (25-14, 15-6) is in third place.
Morehead State will start strikeout kings
Matt Anderson (game one) and
Aaron Leasher (game two) on Friday with a starter not yet named for the finale. The pair rank one and three, respectively, in the OVC in punchouts.
The series features two of the top offenses in the OVC as well. MSU ranks third in hitting, while the Govs are fourth.
GAME NOTES ENTERING THE WEEKEND
• MSU ranks in the top 15 nationally in hits (3rd - 490), doubles (5th - 99), strikeouts per nine innings (5th - 9.6), doubles per game (8th - 2.3), total runs (14th - 323) and batting average (15th - .314).
• MSU has won 14 of its last 16 Ohio Valley Conference series dating back to the early part of the 2015 season. The Eagles have also won 28 of the last 32 games played at home.
• The 26 runs scored by the Eagles in the April 17 win over UT Martin was just two short of the school record of 28 (set by the 1977 team) and the most since a 27-19 win over LIU-Brooklyn on March 7, 2009.
• In the last four games, the pitching staff has only allowed five earned runs and struck out 51 batters. In the last seven home games, MSU's pitchers have only surrendered 18 total runs.
• Senior pitcher
Matt Anderson has been named to the watch list for National Pitcher of the Year, and freshman shortstop
Reid Leonard is on the watch list for the Brooks Wallace Award (nation's best shortstop), presented by the College Baseball Hall of Fame.
• Game two probable starter, sophomore
Aaron Leasher, has gone 21.1 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run.
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Leasher has been named OVC Pitcher of the Week twice (March 28 and April 25). He struck out a career-high 15 batters in his second career complete-game shutout at SIUE last Saturday and has 32 strikeouts in his last three starts.
• The offense has generated double-digit hits in 24 games and had nine in three other contests. The Eagles are 18-6 when they get 10 or more hits in the game.
• Junior lefty
Cable Wright has 79 career appearances is only five short of tying the MSU career record of 84 held by Troy Young (1992-95).
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Leonard enters the series with a team-best nine-game hitting streak. In that span (since April 13) he has six multi-hit outings and batted .439 (18-of-41).
• Freshman catcher
Hunter Fain has reached base in all 31 games he's seen a plate appearance. That reached-base streak ranks tied for second in the OVC this season.
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