PREVIEW: Baseball Ends Regular Season in Dyersburg

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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