MOREHEAD, Ky. – Morehead State softball has only played a few games at home this spring, but the team has had its most success by far when it does. The Eagles hope that trend continues when they host Tennessee-Martin on Friday and Saturday in an Ohio Valley Conference series at University Field. Game one is tentatively slated to start at 3 p.m. on Saturday, with Sunday's action featuring a doubleheader that will begin at noon.

Weather could be an issue. The forecast for the weekend has rain and temperatures in the low 40s for Saturday, but sunny and in the high 50s to low 60s on Sunday.

"We are looking forward to getting on our field and playing a couple games this weekend versus UT Martin," MSU coach Samantha Jones said. "Unfortunately, the weather hasn't been very cooperative this week. So, we only had one day (of practice) on the field and one other day outside."

This spring MSU has only played six times within the friendly confines of University Field, but it sports a 2-4 record there. Morehead State (2-25/1-10) has been off since a three-game road set at Southeast Missouri last weekend. The Eagles mid-week doubleheader with Kentucky State was postponed due to weather. The Blue and Gold have had eight home games either canceled or postponed so far this season.

This weekend was supposed to be the third, fourth and fifth outings of a 10-game home stand, which would have been the club's longest since mid-to-late March of 2019. Even with just eight contests, subtracting the KSU twin bill, it will be the most consecutive outings the team has played in Morehead since March 2019. MSU only took the field 14 times at home in 2021 and twice in the Covid-shortened campaign of 2020. Coach Jones' Eagles are 7-33 at the University Field during her four-year tenure, but those seven victories are more than the team compiled in all of the 2019 and 2020 seasons (three and six, respectively), and nearly as many as its total wins of 2021 (11).

Not including cancelations, MSU is in the midst of a stretch of 13 of 16 games at home, a period that runs from March 26 through April 16.

Both of Sunday's games with the Skyhawks are tentatively scheduled to be broadcast on ESPN+. For more information about viewing the games check the MSU website: https://msueagles.com/sports/softball/schedule?path=softball. Live stats for all three contests are available at the link: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/statmonitr/?id=383269.

Tennessee-Martin (20-12/5-4) will be the Eagles' third OVC opponent to make a trip to Morehead this spring. To date, Morehead State's only three-game conference home series has come against Austin Peay, in which MSU went 1-2. More recently, the club hosted Tennessee Tech in a doubleheader on March 30. The Golden Eagles captured both contests.

Morehead State enters the UTM outings having dropped five straight overall and two in a row at home. Last weekend, the Eagles fell to Southeast Missouri 4-0 on Saturday, and 12-2 and 8-0 (both in five innings) on Sunday.

The team batting average has dipped to .208 and is only .185 in OVC contests. Senior catcher/infielder Peyton Slater remains atop the list among the regulars at .236. She joins sophomore outfielder Trinity Spear as the only Eagles to have played in all 27 games this season.

The top overall batting average belongs to junior outfielder Maddi Gailor, who has reached base (including errors) in each of the last eight outings. She boasts a .326 average in 18 games. In conference-only contests, junior infielder Kirya Kingery tops the club at .375, with Gailor next at .367. Gailor also holds the lead in RBI with 12.

In the circle, sophomore Lennon Spicer has had the most success, sporting a 2-12 record, a 5.20 ERA, with 58 strikeouts to 37 walks. The team sports a 6.98 overall ERA and a 7.56 mark within conference play.

Among those in the national rankings, senior infielder Peyton Rose has slipped to sixth in Division I in the percentage of games being hit by a pitch at 0.42.

The Skyhawks won their last game 2-1 at home against Belmont on Sunday. In last weekend's series with the Bruins, they went 2-1, dropping the first game on Sunday 4-3, but winning Saturday's outing 1-0. They are 11-11 away from Martin this season, including a 5-7 mark in true road contests. The club's last victory when it had to travel came on March 16 at Saint Louis (8-0 in six innings). UTM enters the weekend having dropped its last four road games.

As a team, Tennessee-Martin is hitting .295 overall and .233 in conference contests. Sophomore infielder Kaci Fuller paces the squad with a .427 average. With 15 RBI, she is one of nine players who have posted double figures. Nine Skyhawks also have at least one home run. Junior infielder Kaitlyn Kelley (.336 batting average and a team-high 25 RBI) and sophomore infielder/pitcher Katie Dreiling (.283 batting average and 18 RBI) each lead the way with five. Graduate student outfielder Paige Clark adds a .358 batting average, 12 RBI and is 22-of-23 in stolen bases. Junior infielder Kallie Pickens contributes a .298 average, is second on the team in RBI with 23, third in home runs with four and atop the squad in doubles with 10. In conference games, Fuller paces the group with a .393 batting average, followed by Clark at .257. Only seven of the team's 27 homers and 22 of its 164 RBI have come in OVC action.

Six UTM pitchers have seen time in the circle, with junior Erin Gallagher posting a 6-2 record, a 1.74 ERA, with 50 strikeouts and 21 walks in 64.1 innings. Junior Alexis Groet owns a 7-6 record, a 2.56 ERA, and has 66 strikeouts and 27 walks in 68.1 innings. None of the other players have pitched more than 31 innings. Gallagher is 2-1 with a 1.42 ERA, 17 strikeouts and six walks in the OVC.

The Skyhawks also boast a .961 fielding percentage.

"For UT Martin, we'll be facing some good pitching and a good offensive lineup. So, overall, we just need to be prepared to keep those hitters off balance, really use our strength pitches, and come at them and attack them where they are weak(est)," coach Jones said. "We have to be ready for the bunt D(efensive) game and the slap D(efensive) game … (and be prepared to) not only make the big plays, but the small plays as well."

The two teams first met in 1992 and have faced each other every year except 1993, 2015, 2017 and 2020. Over the 75 contests, UT Martin holds a 55-20 advantage and a 22-9 edge in games in Morehead. Coach Jones is 1-4 in the all-time matchups.

In 2021 at Tennessee-Martin, UTM won 7-0 on April 18 and 12-4 on April 17, with MSU taking the first game of the series 3-1 also on the 17th. The squads split their outings on April 22, 2018, the last time the two played in Morehead, with the Skyhawks taking a 6-4 decision and the Eagles capturing the opener 1-0.

UTM has won 10 of the last 14 meetings between the conference foes dating back to 2014.

After this weekend, Morehead State stays at home to host Shawnee State in a Wednesday doubleheader and then concludes its home stand with a three-game series on Friday and Saturday, Apr. 15-16 against SIU Edwardsville.