Weekend Series - Eastern Kentucky Colonels

Who: Eastern Kentucky
When: Friday-Sunday, March 3-5, 2023
Times: 4:00 pm / 2:00 pm / 1:00 pm
Where: Ronnie G. Childress Field at Hennon Stadium, Cullowhee, NC
TV/video: ESPN+ (Friday only)
Radio: none
Live Stats: WCU Live Stats
Conference: ASun Conference
Nickname: Colonels
Students: 14,465
Location: Richmond, KY
Colors: Maroon and White
Message Board: Maroon Nation

This season's record: 4-5 overall, 1-3 home, 1-2 away, 2-0 neutral
Last season's record: 38-20 overall, 22-6 home, 13-13 away, 3-1 neutral, 20-10 ASun

The Series: The Cats are 27-11 overall vs. the Colonels, having won 7 of the last 10 games between the two teams. The teams last met in 2019 in Mason, O.H. (Prasco Park) and the Cats picked up a 9-6 win.

Head Coach: Chris Prothro was chosen as Eastern Kentucky University’s baseball head coach on Sept. 30, 2020, and let his team to 21-32 and 38-20 seasons in 2021 & 2022.  In 2022, Prothro led the Colonels to the ASUN West Division Championship.  EKU finished tied for the best record in the conference, won more conference games than any previous Eastern Kentucky University squad and finished the season with a 38-20 record.  The Colonels won all three of their games in pool play to earn a spot in the ASUN Tournament semifinals, which included two teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
 
Eastern Kentucky University finished the 2022 season 38-20, champions of the ASUN Conference West Division and tied for the best conference record in the ASUN. It was the most wins for a Colonel team since the 1990 squad won 42 games. Shortstop Logan Thomason was voted by fans as the ASUN Conference Preseason Defensive Player of the Year. In December, Collegiate Baseball ranked EKU 46th in its Fabulous 50 NCAA Division I Pre-Season Poll. In a preseason poll of league head coaches, EKU was picked to finish fifth during the 2023 season.

Two familiar faces will line up for the Colonels this weekend as former Catamounts, senior infielder Jalen Jones and senior catcher Michael Goehrig are both on EKU's roster. Jones is in his second season in Richmond, he played in 61 games over the 2019 and 2020 seasons with 50 combined starts for the Cats before transferring, also in his second year on EKU's roster, Goehrig likewise departed Cullowhee after the abbreviated 2020 campaign for Southwestern Illinois after playing in 39 games between 2019-2020.

Game 1: Friday, March 3 | 4:00 pm
Projected Pitching Match-up:
WCU – So. RHP Matt Schepel (1-1, 4.50 ERA; 10.0 IP, 9K, 0BB)
EKU – Sr. RHP Michael Schuler (0-0, 6.75; 6.2 IP, 6K, 4BB)

Game 2: Saturday, March 2 | 2:00 pm
Projected Pitching Match-up:
WCU – TBD
EKU – Jr. RHP Rese Brown (1-0, 3.00 ERA; 9.0 IP, 15K, 6BB)

Game 3: Sunday, March 3 | 1:00 pm 
Projected Pitching Match-up:
WCU – TBD
EKU – Jr. RHP Rian Yates (0-0, 6.43 ERA; 7.0 IP, 6K, 6BB)