Belmont University announced on April 30 that its baseball team will host Bradley University for a Missouri Valley Conference series at E.S. Rose Park this weekend.
The series is important as Belmont looks to improve its position in the conference standings and build on recent momentum. The Bruins are currently 17-28 overall and have a conference record of 7-8, following an 8-5 win over UT Martin in a game shortened by lightning earlier this week.
Offensively, Charlie Davis leads Belmont with a .351 batting average, totaling 66 hits, 14 doubles, and six home runs. Landon Godsey has driven in a team-high 36 runs and hit eight home runs with a .301 average. Freshman Brady Holbrook is batting .313, while Jake Maddox has seven home runs and is hitting .287. As a team, the Bruins have hit 53 home runs and recorded 66 doubles so far this season.
On the pitching side, McKale Stevenson holds a 2.43 earned run average with 34 strikeouts over just more than thirty innings pitched. Ridge Harvey has tallied forty-one strikeouts in multiple roles, while Zane Brown has posted a bullpen ERA of 4.85 across thirty-nine innings.
Defensively, Belmont reports a fielding percentage of .968 with twenty-four double plays turned during the season.
Bradley enters the weekend at eight wins and thirty-seven losses overall (4-14 MVC). Brandon Lowe leads their offense with a .373 average including three home runs and sixteen doubles from one hundred fifty-three at-bats. Bradley’s pitching staff continues to search for consistent starters; they have issued two hundred eighty-eight walks this year.
In their all-time matchups, Bradley leads Belmont ten games to eight; however, Belmont won their last meeting eleven to seven during last season’s MVC tournament.
Looking ahead, Belmont will face Southern Illinois next weekend in another conference matchup that could determine qualification for the MVC tournament.
