The Bears clinched their fifth consecutive ASUN series win over the weekend against the Eastern Kentucky Colonels in a three-game series at the Earle Combs Stadium in Richmond, Ky.
The Bears, 8-4 in conference play, and the Colonels, 8-4, were tied for first place in the ASUN West Division standings going into the first game on Thursday, April 14.
The Bears dominated the field in a 13-9 knockout on April 14 to take over first place in the ASUN West Division.
Senior left fielder Conner Emmet tied the school record for single-game home runs previously held by Eric Cameron and Michael Marietta with his three homers.
On Friday, April 15, with a 9-8 win over the Eastern Kentucky Colonels, the Bears officially won their fifth ASUN series.
The Bears came from behind twice to win the night’s game and clinched three in the eighth inning on three hits with the Colonels entering the inning trailing 7-6.
The Colonels topped the Bears 8-6 on Saturday, April 16 in the final three-game series meet-up.
Senior left fielder Connor Emmet scored his team-leading tenth home run of his college career on Saturday against the Colonels.
“It felt great to get my 10th homerun, double digits homers have been a personal goal of mine my entire college career. It honestly didn’t faze me when it happened because I was trying to find a way to win the game for us. Overall, an amazing experience this past weekend both personally and team-wise,” Emmet said.
Junior first baseman Hunter Hicks scored his fourth home run and redshirt freshman second baseman Tanner Leonard scored the first home run of his career.
“I have been just making adjustments and working hard on certain things and to see some of the hard work paying off feels good. The games went really well, we went in there as a team ready to play and it was a battle, and we came out on top. Every weekend is going to be a battle from here on out, so we just have to keep coming ready to play,” Tanner said.
The Colonels (22-12, 9-5) took advantage of the wind even better with five home runs, including two from catcher Will King, according to ucasports.com
Even with Saturday’s final game, the Bears won the series 2-1 to improve to 10-5 in league play and hold onto first place in the West Division at the halfway point of league play, according to ucasports.com
The Bears start the second half next weekend at home against Bellarmine.
“I think the team played really well this whole weekend. I feel like it was a very evenly matched series between the two teams, and the team that played harder was going to win the series,” Emmet said. “Working hard to stay focused for every single pitch has been a big thing for us and has really separated us from the other teams. Our team’s chemistry also plays a huge factor in these close series. We really trust each other and love competing together.”
Coach Nick Harlan said, “I am pleased with our approach. The guys understand the importance of taking it one day at a time. Our mindset is to continue to improve and stay focused on the task at hand. We have a team full of high-character kids who compete at a high level. They showed tremendous fight at Eastern Kentucky. We are excited to be back at home this week.”