Cavaliers Welcome Eastern Kentucky for Weekend Series

Virginia will look to rebound on the diamond this weekend against Eastern Kentucky after dropping their weekday tilt to VMI on Tuesday.

Eastern Kentucky got off to a rough start this past week dropping all three of their games last weekend by one run, and losing 4-2 at Louisville on Tuesday after jumping out to to a 2-0 lead.

Despite the 0-4 record, the EKU staff has put up decent numbers and a 3.21 staff ERA. Two of their three starters last weekend in Wilmington posted shutouts over a combined 9.2 innings. As a staff they are also averaging nearly a strikeout per inning having racked up 33 over their first 33.2 innings pitched.

At the plate is where the Colonels’ have seemed to struggle. Averaging just under four runs a game, they are only batting .208 as a team and while their staff is striking out a batter per inning, they are striking out once an inning at the plate as well.

Not much is expected of Eastern Kentucky this year. The Colonels were 24-32 last year and finished 10-20 in the Ohio Valley Conference. D1Baseball expects EKU’s bats to help bolster that record this year after batting .296 last season, but expects them to finish near the bottom of the pack of the OVC.

The Cavaliers looked good last weekend in Orlando taking out Samford and Rice on Saturday and Sunday. Friday night starter Daniel Lynch struggled, giving up five runs in five innings. Look for Lynch to bounce back this weekend and hopefully the Hoos can come away with a series sweep.