Baseball enters into their final regular season home series of the 2019 season at Dyersburg State Friday and Saturday. Friday's first pitch is set for 2:00 ET and Saturday's doubleheader is set to begin at 1:00 ET.
The Cougars will look to get back on track after suffering two straight losses coming after a six-game winning streak. They most recently played in a non-conference matchup against Chattanooga State on Tuesday in which they lost 15-5. Dyersburg State also most recently played the Tigers on April 18, and were swept 2-0 in the doubleheader.
The series will have a crucial impact on postseason tournament seeding. The two teams are neck-and-neck in the TCCAA standings, with Cleveland State fourth with a record of 30-11 and a 13-8 mark in the conference and Dyersburg State fifth with a 32-16 overall mark and a 12-11 record in the conference.
The Eagles are led on offense by Drew Reckart and Evan Gillian. Reckart is tied for the team lead in batting average with Cristian Martin with a .389 clip and also leads the team in runs scored (54) and hits (61), which are third and fourth in the TCCAA respectively. Gillian leads the team in RBI (46, t-fifth in TCCAA) and stolen bases (19). Pitching wise, Dyersburg relies on their ace Jonathan Alexander, who is first on the team with a 3.40 ERA and strikeouts with 47.
After this series, the Cougars will enter into TCCAA Tournament play on May 5 at Columbia State. Final seeding, brackets, and scheduling will be determined next week after all participating teams' regular seasons are final.
LAST THREE SERIES:
April 23 at Chattanooga State, 0-1
April 18 vs. Southwest Tennessee, 1-1
April 17 at Shorter JV, 1-0
NEXT THREE SERIES:
*May 5-11, TCCAA Tournament at Columbia State, TBD
*tournament is double elimination
CSCC TEAM LEADERS:
BA: Jonathan Hickman, .386
RBI: Rhett Baldwin, 36
HR: Rhett Baldwin, 7
R: Lance Dockery and Tucker Mendenhall, 40
SB: Tucker Mendenhall, 24 (t-third in TCCAA)
ERA: Ryan Inches, 4.22 in 59.2 IP
K: Ryan Inches, 76 in 59.2 IP (t-second in TCCAA)
DSCC TEAM LEADERS:
BA: Cristian Martin and Drew Reckart, .389
RBI: Evan Gillian, 46 (t-fifth in TCCAA)
HR: Drew Reckart, 5
R: Drew Reckart, 54 (third in TCCAA)
SB: Evan Gillian, 19
ERA: Jonathan Alexander, 3.40 in 50.1 IP
K: Jonathan Alexander, 47 in 50.1 IP
TCCAA STANDINGS:
1. Walters State, 44-8 overall, 18-3 TCCAA
2. Motlow State, 35-12 overall, 16-5 TCCAA
3. Chattanooga State, 30-11 overall, 12-7 TCCAA
4. Cleveland State, 25-17 overall, 13-8 TCCAA
5. Dyersburg State, 32-16 overall, 12-11 TCCAA
6. Columbia State, 18-25 overall, 10-12 TCCAA
7. Jackson State, 27-19 overall, 9-12 TCCAA
8. Volunteer State, 17-26 overall, 6-16 TCCAA
9. Southwest Tennessee, 16-30 overall, 6-17 TCCAA
10. Roane State, 15-21 overall, 5-16 TCCAA
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