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MOREHEAD, Ky -- With a second-place showing in the OVC through six weekends, Morehead State baseball will host Austin Peay this weekend for three games. The opener is set for Friday at 5 p.m. ET with Saturday and Sunday games at 1 p.m.

The Govs (21-16) are tied with the Eagles in the league win column but have played three more games and are 11-7. Morehead State has won eight of the last nine games overall and enters the weekend with an 11-4 league scorecard, including six straight wins.

Friday's game will be Youth Night, and all youth will be admitted free. The concession stand will also feature $1 hot dogs. Games one and three will be aired live on the OVC Digital Network, and Saturday will be on Facebook Live.

PITCHING MATCHUPS (*Austin Peay's based on last weekend's starters)

Game 1: LHP Michael Costanzo (AP) vs. RHP T.J. Satterly (MSU)
Game 2: LHP Jacques Pucheu (AP) vs. LHP Dalton Stambaugh (MSU)
Game 3: RHP Brandon Vial (AP) vs. RHP Kyle Cantu (MSU)

GAME NOTES

THE SERIES WITH AUSTIN PEAY

Morehead State trails 56-34 in the all-time series with Austin Peay, but the Eagles captured two of the three games from the Governors last season. Under head coach Mike McGuire the Eagles are 8-7 against Austin Peay and 4-2 against the Governors at Allen Field.

RUNNING WILD

In Wednesday's 18-1 victory over West Virginia Tech, senior infielder Braxton Morris established a new program mark for runs scored in a game with six. The total breaks the five run record held by six players, including junior outfielder Jake Hammon who scored five in last Friday's 25-3 victory over SIU Edwardsville.

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME

In its last five home games, Morehead State has scored 90 runs, not scoring fewer than 14 runs in a single game. As a pitching staff, the Eagles have surrendered only 26 runs in the last five home games, holding opponents to five or fewer in three of the five games. In the last four seasons, the Eagles are 67-18 at Allen Field.

TAKING THE FREE ONE

Morehead State drew 15 free bases (13 walks and 2 hit-by-pitches) in Wednesday's 18-1 victory over West Virginia Tech. The game marked the second time the Eagles have drawn double-digit walks in a game, the last being the 13 walks drawn against UMass Lowell on February 17. Freshman Bryce Hensor drew a team-high four walks in Wednesday's victory, as outfielder Connor Pauly and catcher Hunter Fain each drew two walks, giving the Eagles three players with multiple bases on balls.

APRIL SHOWERS
Since the calendar has flipped to April, the Eagles are 8-1, outscoring opponents 138-45. Morehead State has rained down 32 home runs as part of the team's 62 extra-base hits in the month. The Eagles have also drawn 82 free bases, including 69 walks. In total, the Eagles are hitting .384, slugging .759, and reaching base at a .491 clip in the month of April.

PEDALING IN REVERSE
In last Friday's 25-2 win over SIU Edwardsville, junior outfielder Niko Hulsizer completed the Eagles' first cycle since 2016 (Tyler Niemann vs. UT Martin, 4/17/16). Hulsizer accomplished the feat crushing a two-run homer to left, adding a three-run triple down the right field line, doubling to left field, and singling to left to finish the cycle in reverse order. In total, he finished 4-for-5 with five RBI, four runs scored, and two walks, reaching base six times in seven plate appearances.

FREEZE OUT
Junior backstop Jordan Freese slugged his first career home run for the Eagles in Sunday's 11-6 comeback win over SIUE. Freese's ninth inning grand slam wrapped around the right field foul pole to give the Eagles the lead for good. In the game, Freese totaled six runs batted in, establishing a career high in his first start as the Eagles' designated hitter.

WELCOME TO THE RECORD BOOKS
In the Eagles' 25-2 win over SIUE, the Eagles offered a number of amendments to the Morehead State record book. In the Eagles' 13-run seventh inning, they strung together 10 consecutive hits to tie the 10 consecutive hits against Purdue in 1995 to equal the school record. Junior Jake Hammon crossed the plate five times to match five former Eagles for the single-game runs scored mark, a mark that has since been broken. In all, the Eagles have tied five different school records this season.

HEATING UP
Morehead State's left-handed hitting outfielders Connor Pauly and Hammon have enjoyed the warmer weather, as each player has delivered a team-leading 20 RBI in the month of April. Pauly has done so by hitting a team leading 19-for-35 (.543) with three doubles, a triple, and four homers to slug 1.029. Hammon has notched all six of his home runs in April, starting off the month homering in four consecutive games.

TIP OF THE CAP
Morehead State pitching leads the OVC, striking out 359 batters this season. The Eagles have notched 9.56 strikeouts per nine innings across 338 frames. The strikeout per nine innings total is the most since the Eagles notched 9.60 K/9 in 2016. The 2016 total ranks as the Morehead State record and the only time in recorded history the program has struck out more than nine batters per nine innings.

WHATCHA LOOKING AT?
Morehead State pitching has caught 97 opposing batters looking at strike three this season. The total leads the OVC. Starting pitchers Dalton Stambaugh (19) and David Calderon (16) are one of only two sets of rotation mates to rank in the top five in strikeouts looking in the OVC. Senior righty Kyle Cantu has caught 13 batters looking, giving the Eagles three pitchers with double-digit strikeouts looking.

GROUP EFFORT
This season, Morehead State has 11 players who have driven in either 10+ runs or scored 10+ runs. Among the 11 players, five have driven in and scored 25+ runs, with three more players adding in 20+ runs scored and two more adding in 20+ runs batted in. This season, the Eagles ranks seventh in the NCAA, scoring 301 runs for an average of 7.9 runs a game, which also ranks seventh.