GAME NOTES | ESPN+ (GAME ONE | GAME TWO) | LIVE STATS (GAME ONE | GAME TWO | GAME THREE | GAME FOUR)

MOREHEAD, Ky. – As the regular season enters the final month of play, a crucial Ohio Valley Conference series is on the horizon as OVC-leader Morehead State baseball welcomes in-state foe and third-place Murray State for a four-game set at Allen Field.

Morehead State enters the weekend off the program's first series victory at Jacksonville State since 2015 as the Eagles have won all five of the team's conference series this season. The Racers swept Eastern Kentucky in a three-game slate last weekend before falling in the team's midweek contest at Southern Illinois.

The series features two of the OVC's top slugging teams as Morehead State and Murray State both rank in the top-three of the league in both home runs and team slugging percentage. The Eagles rank third in home runs (43) and second in slugging (.445) while the Racers rank first in home runs (50) and third in slugging (.442).

The four-game series features three Ohio Valley Conference contests with a doubleheader Friday and a single-game Saturday before the series concludes with a single, non-conference game Sunday. Both of Friday's games air on ESPN+.

INSIDE THE SERIES
Records: Morehead State (20-15; 10-5 OVC) | Murray State (21-17; 11-7 OVC)
Series: Murray State leads 66-59-1
Last Five Meetings: May 23, 2019 (MOR 2, MUR 1) | May 5, 2019 (MOR 5, MUR 4) | May 4, 2019 (MOR 7, MUR 5) | May 3, 2019 (MOR 5, MUR 4) | May 13, 2018 (MUR 14, MOR 10)

PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS
Morehead State | Murray State
Game One: RHP Jason Goe (2-4; 4.73 ERA) | RHP Jack Wenninger (4-3; 4.53 ERA)
Game Two: RHP Luke Helton (3-1; 5.49 ERA) | LHP Shane Burns (1-1; 4.83 ERA)
Game Three: RHP John Sherman (1-0; 6.52 ERA) | RHP Sam Gardner (3-4; 5.40 ERA)
Game Four: To Be Announced | To Be Announced
Note: Subject  to change; based on previous weekend's rotations

NOTABLE

• For the first time since walking off the Racers in the 2019 OVC Baseball Championship, Morehead State and Murray State are set for a four-game series at Allen Field. A series that dates back to 1927, the Racers hold a 66-59-1 advantage in the series that has been played regularly since the end of the OVC's division split in 1989 after playing sparingly from 1950-1987.
• Entering the weekend series with Murray State, true freshman first baseman Jackson Feltner ranks 15th and 25th in the NCAA in batting average and slugging percentage, respectively. His .409 average is second-best among NCAA freshman and best among true freshman while his .722 slugging percentage is fifth among NCAA freshman and second-best among true freshman.
• Speaking of slugging, Feltner slugged four of Morehead State's six homers in last weekend's Jacksonville State series, showing power to all fields. With nine home runs on the season, he is tied for tenth among all NCAA freshmen while tying for sixth among true freshmen in the category. Feltner also becomes the second Eagle in 2021 to homer in three straight games, joining true freshman centerfielder Ryley Preece (vs. Austin Peay, April 8-9).
• Feltner also enters this weekend's Murray State series sporting the OVC's third-longest active reached base streak and longest active hitting streak, reaching in 25 consecutive games while recording a hit in each of his last 16 games. Both streaks mark the longest for an Eagle since former shortstop Reid Leonard ended his career with a 22-game hitting/reached base streak in 2019.
• Joining Feltner with a double-digit reached base and hitting streak is redshirt junior second baseman Bryce Hensor who has reached safely in each of the last 15 games while doing so with a hit in each of his last 10.
• Hensor also represents the table-setter atop the Morehead State batting order; ranking 20th in the nation in runs scored, scoring 41 times in 35 games. Averaging 1.17 runs scored per game, he ranks 23rd in the country and first in the OVC in the category and is one of six players in the conference to average at least a run scored per game.
• Also appearing in the top-30 of the NCAA statistical rankings this week is Preece who ranks 16th in the country in sacrifice hits and 14th in sacrifice hits per game. He's sacrificed seven times in 28 games this season, tying for the OVC lead in sac bunts while his average of 0.25 sacrifices per game leads the conference. His seven total sac bunts also tie for the ninth-highest single-season total in program history.
• With seven wins out of the bullpen this season, redshirt senior left-hander Cory Conway ranks third in the NCAA in total victories with just Vanderbilt's Kumar Rocker (nine) and UC Santa Barbara's Rodney Boone (eight) having more wins. Conway's seven relief victories also tie for the most among primary relievers—no games started—this season, tying with VCU's Tyler Davis, Liberty's David Erickson, and Tennessee's Sean Hunley.
• For his career, Conway has captured 17 total victories, tying for sixth-most in program history with 16 of his wins coming in relief. His 16 relief wins are the most in program history as he's made 75 career appearances (seventh all-time) and 71 career relief appearances (second all-time).
• Fellow southpaw, redshirt junior John Bakke leads Morehead State in total pitching appearances in 2021, appearing 21 times out of the bullpen to rank 12th in the NCAA and second in the OVC. In reaching 20-plus appearances on the year, Bakke extended the Eagles' streak of full seasons with a pitcher with 20 or more appearances to 13 seasons.
• Bakke is also tied for the OVC lead with six saves on the year, ranking 28th in the country in the category. His six saves this season tie for the seventh-most in a single season while his six career saves are tied for eighth-most in program history.
• As the weather has heated up, so have Morehead State's bats have also, hitting .331 with 29 home runs and 130 runs in 15 games during April. Over the month, seven of Morehead State's nine regulars have hit .300 or better with two players, Feltner and Hensor, hitting over .400.
• Defensively, Morehead State has rolled up 16 of the team's 27 double plays in April, doing so in 15 games. The Eagles have turned 11 total twin killings in each of their last two weekend series, turning seven against Eastern Illinois and four against Jacksonville State.