Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Belmont
Players Mentioned
Racers Head to Nashville to Face Belmont
4/27/2017 3:56:00 PM | Baseball
GAMES 42-44
Murray State (20-21, 8-10 OVC) at Belmont (20-19, 13-8 OVC)
April 28-30, 2017
First Pitch: Friday: 5 p.m., Saturday: 2 p.m., Sunday: 1 p.m.
Series History: Belmont leads 17-12
Last Meeting: MSU 3, Belmont 12 – May 8, 2016
Stadium: Rose Park
Dimensions: 330 (LF) | 400 (CF) | 330 (RF)
Watch Live: Game one | Game three
Live Stats: Game one | Game two | Game three
Twitter In-Game: @RacersBaseball
First Pitch
Murray State continues it's five-game week as the Racers return to OVC action with a trip to Nashville to face Belmont. Both teams have won three consecutive entering the weekend series and have won 4-of-5 overall. MSU is coming off its first season sweep of Evansville since 1958, having defeated the Purple Aces Tuesday and Wednesday.
Inside the Series
The Bruins have won 5-of-6 as of late in the series, including a three-game sweep at Rose Park back in 2015. MSU is 4-10 all-time in Nashville against Belmont and is 7-11 on the road this season. The Bruins have been balanced both home and away this season, going 10-9 at both Rose Park and in road contests.
On-Base Streak
Brandon Gutzler has reached base safely in 39 consecutive games this season, dating back to the second game of the year. That mark is tied for the fourth-longest active streak in the country entering the weekend.
Starting Off Right
The Racers have hit nine home runs this season to lead off innings, including four to lead off the game, all by Kipp Moore. Four of Moore's five homers this year have been at the beginning of games.
Scouting Belmont
The Bruins own a solid offense in the OVC and are led by arguably the top hitter in the league in Nick Egli, who has a conferenceleading .417 batting average. Egli leads Belmont in most offensive categories in 2017 including, doubles (15), home runs (12), RBIs (38) and runs scored (34). Tyler Walsh leads the team with 14 stolen bases on the season. Rafael Bournigal and Matt Cogen are the other two Bruins hitting above .300 this year, coming in at .342 and .310, respectively. As a team, Belmont is hitting .264 overall, is averaging 5.8 runs scored per game and is 55-of-76 on stolen-base attempts.
Dom Veltri leads Belmont with a 2.70 ERA and seven saves this season in 23.1 innings of work. The Bruins have four starters that are all tied for the team lead with three wins each, including starter Tyler Vaughn who leads the squad in innings pitched with 66.1. Dylan King leads the Bruins with 77 strikeouts while reliever Kyle Klotz has appeared in 29 games already this year.
Probable Pitching Matchups
Friday: Ryan Dills (RHP) (2-2, 5.77 ERA) vs. Tyler Vaughn (RHP) (3-5, 5.02 ERA)
Saturday: Austin Dubsky (RHP) (2-6, 5.83 ERA) vs. Dylan King (RHP) (3-4, 4.30 ERA)
Sunday: Luke Brown (LHP) (1-2, 5.32 ERA) vs. Connor Etheridge (RHP) (3-1, 5.83 ERA)
