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MOREHEAD, Ky. – After a doubleheader sweep on Saturday, Morehead State baseball looks to keep rolling heading into a midweek matchup on Wednesday. The Eagles (9-1)—off to the best start in program history—head to Louisville to take on the eighth-ranked Cardinals (8-3) at Jim Patterson Stadium. Game time is set for 3 p.m. ET.

Morehead State enters the contest, commanding one of the top offenses in the nation. The Eagles rank fourth in batting average (.338) and scoring (10.4 runs per game), eighth in runs (104), ninth in on-base percentage (.435), 10th in slugging percentage (.511), 16th in hits (125), and 25th in home runs (12).

On the other side, Louisville enters as one of the top pitching staffs in the country, ranking third in shutouts (3), fifth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.57) and WHIP (0.88), sixth in hits allowed per nine innings (5.44), seventh in earned run average (1.96), 10th in walks allowed per nine innings (2.50), and 11th in strikeouts per nine innings (11.4).

Live Audio will be available through the Kentucky Office of Highway Safety Eagle Sports Network with live video available through ACC Network Extra.

GAME NOTES

THE SERIES WITH LOUISVILLE
For the 21st consecutive season, Morehead State and Louisville will meet on the diamond, having met every season since 1999. Overall, Louisville leads the all-time series 48-35 with the Cardinals getting the better of the Eagles a year ago, taking the game 16-10. Under head coach Mike McGuire, Morehead State is 0-6 with Louisville entering the game ranked in each meeting. This season, Louisville enters ranked eighth according to D1 Baseball.

BEST START SINCE…
Morehead State is off to its best start through 10 games since… well, ever. The Eagles 9-1 record marks the best start in program history, winning the last eight. Last season, Morehead State longest winning streak stretched to six games from March 16-23. The eight-game streak this season is the longest since 2017 when the Eagles put together an eight-game and nine-game streak as part of a 22-6 start to the season.

HOW ABOUT THIS START?
In addition to the team's program-best start to the season, senior catcher Hunter Fain has started the season hot out of the gate. He ranks top-five in the NCAA in batting average (second), on-base percentage (third) and slugging percentage (fifth), posting a slash line of .560/.676/1.120. He leads the club and is tied for 23rd in the country in home runs, slugging four while driving in nine runs on the year.

DOUBLING UP IN A DOUBLE DIP
In game one of the Eagles' doubleheader with NJIT on Saturday, Morehead State seniors Fain and Jake Hammon both posted perfect days at the plate, both going 5-for-5. The two performances established or tied career-bests as Fain knocked four singles and a double, plating two and scoring two while Hammon picked up five singles, knocking in a pair and scoring four. The pair continued their hot start to the doubleheader, picking up a sixth hit in as many at-bats to open the nightcap. Overall, both men finished the day 7-for-8 at the plate.

KING OF THE HILL
Redshirt sophomore infielder Stephen Hill entered Saturday's twin-billing searching for his first hit in a Morehead State uniform, entering the game 0-for-9 at the plate. After a strikeout in his first at-bat of the day, Hill collected his first hit—a single to left—in his second at-bat. From there Hill went on to collect five additional hits to finish the doubleheader 6-for-10 with a home run, six RBI, and four runs scored.

BIG DAYS FROM THE TRIO
Morehead State collected 41 hits in both ends of their doubleheader with NJIT on Saturday, with 49% of the team's hit total coming from three players. The aforementioned Fain, Hammon, and Hill combined for 20 of the team's 41 hits, combining to hit .769 (20-for-26) at the plate. Fain and Hammon collected seven hits apiece while Hill chipped in six.

CONTINUING TO GET IT DONE
Through 10 games this season, Morehead State's longest active reached base streaks at the end of last season are still going. Senior Connor Pauly reached in the final 29 games of the 2018 season, adding 10 games to that to now have reached in the last 39 games he's played. Should he reach in Wednesday's game, he'd become just the third player in school history to reach in 40 consecutive games, joining Kane Sweeney (41 in 2013) and Reid Leonard (50 in 2018). In addition to Pauly, Hammon has reached in 32 straight games, adding to his season-ending 22 game streak last year.

STILL TOUGH TO STRIKE OUT
On top of his 39-game reached base streak, Pauly is also one of the toughest hitters to strike out on the Morehead State roster. Through 43 at-bats on the year, he has fanned just once—that coming in his 32nd at-bat of the season. Pauly ranks 13th in the NCAA with a 43.0 at-bats per strikeout and if you removed five players that have played in just one game, Pauly would rank eighth in the country. For perspective, the Morehead State record for toughest to strike out in a season is 33.0 at-bats per strikeout by Michael Bottoms in 2010, but he did so in only 132 at-bats, striking out just four times. The career record is held by Eli Boggess and stands at 15.1 at-bats per strikeout with his season-best being 15.4 at-bats per strikeout in 2018.

CONTINUING THE OFFENSIVE TRENDS
Last season, Morehead State reached double-digit hits in 44 games, owning a 30-14 record. This season, the Eagles have reached double-digit knocks in six games with a 5-1 record in such games. Additionally, Morehead State had 21 games in which they had 10 or more runs last season, owning a 17-4 record in those games with the team having six such games and a 4-1 record this season.

DOUBLING UP ON THE TRENDS
In 20 games last year, Morehead State was able to put up both double-digit hits and runs, combining to go 16-4 in such games. Compared to this season, the Eagles are on a similar pace, having five such games this season, posting a 4-1 record.

POSTING A "SCORE" OF RUNS AND HITS
Morehead State scored 21 runs in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader, doing so on 20 hits. The game marked the second time this season the Eagles had accumulated 20 or more hits, the other being the opener of the twin-billing when the Eagles laced out 21 hits. Last season, Morehead State posted at least a score (group of 20) runs in four games and at least 20 hits in six games. With the two 20-run games this season, the last five 20-run games have included 20-plus hits.