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GAME NOTES

MOREHEAD, Ky. -- Morehead State baseball opens another busy week by hosting West Virginia Tuesday and Wednesday. The Big 12 foe and the Eagles will square off each day at 3 p.m. ET.

The Eagles (10-4) will be hosting a Power Five Conference team for the first time since 2011. The Mountaineers (9-5) boast one of the better pitching staffs in the nation with a 2.85 ERA but have struggled a bit at the plate, hitting just .210 as a unit.

MSU also has a strong pitching staff (4.28 ERA) and has put up solid stats at rhe plate too (.320 BA, 28 2B, 13 HR). Righty Alex Garbrick (1-0, 5.23 ERA) is expected to get the nod on the mound Tuesday.

The MSU Student Government Association will be handing out free beach towels to the first 24 students (with ID) on Tuesday, while that game is also $2 Tuesday ($2 tickets and select concession items).

GAME NOTES

THE SERIES WITH WEST VIRGINIA
Morehead State and West Virginia will be meeting for the 16^th and 17^th times in program history when the two teams meet this week. The Mountaineers own a 10-5 advantage in the series, holding a 5-2 record in games played at Allen Field. The Eagles have hosted West Virginia seven times (twice in 1976, 1978, and 1982, and once in 2009). Under head coach Mike McGuire, Morehead State and West Virginia have met twice (2013 and 2017) with both teams capturing a victory with both games hosted by the Mountaineers.

WELCOMING IN POWER FIVES
For the first time since 2011, Morehead State will welcome a member of a Power Five Conference (ACC, BIG 10, BIG 12, PAC-12, and SEC) into Allen Field. During the 2011 season, the Eagles welcomed in Kentucky (Feb. 22) and Purdue (Feb. 26-27), going 1-4 in the five games, defeating Purdue in game two of a Saturday doubleheader on Feb. 26.

NO NEED TO PANIC
Morehead State had a rough go of things last weekend playing at Belmont, dropping two of three with the Bruins. The weekend marked the second-straight season the Eagles opened up Ohio Valley Conference play dropping two of three, doing so on the road last season at Southeast Missouri. Not to fret, Morehead State would go on to win 18 conference games, earning the three-seed for the OVC Tournament. The Eagles went on to win the OVC Tournament and punch a ticket to the NCAA Tournament, competing at the Clemson Regional.

PLAYING THE CLOSE ONE
Nine times this season, Morehead State has played a game decided by three or fewer runs, including all four games played last week. On the season, the Eagles are 6-3 in such games. Last season, Morehead State played in 25 games decided by three or fewer runs, owning a record of 15-10 in such games.

CONTINUING THE STREAK
Senior outfielder Jake Hammon continued his reached-base streak, having reached in all 14 games this season to extend his current reached-base streak to 36 games. Hammon's streak is now the longest active streak for the Eagles after senior outfielder Connor Pauly saw his streak come to an end at 41 games in game one of last Sunday's doubleheader. Over the weekend, Hammon reached five times to help extend his streaking, collecting three hits and drawing two walks.

A MEMORABLE STREAK
With his reached-base streak snapped at 41 games, Pauly's streak ties for the second-longest reached-base streak in Morehead State history. The streak ties the length of former Eagle and current hitting coach Kane Sweeney's streak from the 2013 season while trailing the program record held by senior shortstop Reid Leonard who reached safely in 50 straight games last season.

STILL TOUGH TO STRIKE OUT
While his team-best reached base streak may have come to an end, Pauly is still one of the toughest players in the NCAA to strikeout. Through 60 at-bats this season, he has fanned just twice, ranking fifth in the nation in at-bats per strikeout.

AS EASY AS ONE, TWO, THREE
Senior catcher Hunter Fain continued his monster start to the 2019 season this weekend, reaching five times in 10 plate appearances on the weekend, collecting four hits and a walk. On the year, Fain leads the country in on-base percentage, reaching at a .653 clip. He also ranks second in the nation in batting average at .528 while ranking third in the NCAA in slugging percentage, slugging 1.000.

HOLDING THE OPPONENT OFF THE SCOREBOARD
Through the first 8.2 innings of his freshman season, righty Landon Weins held the opponent off the scoreboard, posting back to back scoreless outings against Furman and Oakland before tossing another scoreless inning at Charlotte before surrendering a run. On the year, Weins has given up just two runs, posting a 0.92 earned run average, a mark that ranks second in the OVC.

CONTINUING TO TOP THE LEAGUE IN SCORING
Despite scoring only seven runs in last weekend's series with Belmont, Morehead State's offense continues to lead the OVC in scoring. On the year, Morehead State has scored an average of 8.6 runs per game, a mark which ranks 12^th in the NCAA. The Eagles' scoring average is helped by seven games this season in which the team scored nine or more runs.

A SACRIFICIAL ACT
In playing four close games this past week, Morehead State did something they had not done all season—in fact doing it three times over the course of the three-game set with Belmont. The Eagles laid down their first sacrifices of the season last Wednesday at Louisville. The Eagles followed the two sacrifices at Louisville with a crucial sacrifice in the seventh inning of Sunday's doubleheader finale at Belmont. Senior Reid Leonard laid down just his second sacrifice bunt of his career to put the go-ahead run in scoring position as the Eagles captured the finale in Nashville.

ANOTHER TYPE OF SACRIFICE
In addition to picking up three sacrifice bunts last week, Morehead State also picked up a pair of sacrifice flies to up their season total to eight for the season. The Eagles rank second in the OVC in the category while junior outfielder Ryan Layne ties for the league lead with three sac flies this season. A year ago, Morehead State led the country with 45 total sacrifice flies.