CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Queens University of Charlotte baseball team will return to the road this week as their nine-game road stretch continues. The Royals will make the short drive up I-85 for a Tuesday tilt against High Point before returning to conference play against Eastern Kentucky for a three-game slate.
 
QUEENS ROYALS (8-23 overall, 4-8 ASUN)

• Queens is looking to continue to bounce back after dropping two of three over the weekend against Lipscomb. After an emphatic 11-3 win on Friday, the Royals dropped the final two games.
• Left fielder Dillon Lewis leads the offensive attack for the Royals. The junior has totaled a team-leading 49 hits on the season, including eight home runs, and seven doubles. Across 31 games, the Charlotte native is batting a team-leading .383 and has a 16-game on-base streak. Lewis ranks third in the ASUN in batting average, eighth in home runs, and first in stolen bases.
• Will Budnick has stepped into an increased role for the Royals over the last few weeks. Over his last eight games, the junior is hitting a blistering .424 with four home runs and four doubles in that stretch.
• Tyler Cotto has continued to find ways to reach base safely. The senior catcher leads the team with 24 walks. Cotto has also provided a jolt in power to the Royals lineup with a team-leading nine home runs, and six doubles to give him a .608 slugging percentage. The senior ranks fourth in the league in walks and 12^th in OPS.
• The Royals offense is built around the long ball. The Royals are second in the ASUN with 48 home runs. The Royals have blasted multiple home runs in 11 games this year and rank top 40 in the country in homers. Queens is on pace to break their single-season home run record set back in 2022.
• Queens has fanned 210 batters on the mound which is fourth most in program history. The Royals are on pace to break their single-season strikeouts record set back in 2022. Landry Jurecka leads the staff with 45 which ranks fifth in the conference.
• The Royals pitching staff has struggled to prevent free base runners. Queens has surrendered the most walks in the conference with 208.

 
HIGH POINT PANTHERS (16-16 overall, 6-3 BIG SOUTH)

• High Point comes into Tuesday's matchup red-hot as they are winners of eight of their last 10 contests, including a 2-1 series victory over UNC-Asheville last weekend. After dropping game one, the Panthers secured a shutout 8-0 victory on Saturday before winning 5-2 on Sunday to lock up the series victory.
• The Panthers boast one of the Big South's most efficient offenses. High Point ranks second in batting average, second in home runs, first in doubles, third in slugging percentage and first in drawn walks.
• Senior infielder Cael Chatnam leads the offensive attack for High Point. His .503 on-base percentage ranks third in the Big South, and he has smashed a team-high seven home runs. Chatnam is looking to extend his ten-game hitting streak. The Woodstock, Georgia native plays both ways for the Panthers as he has recorded 8.0 innings on the bump. Across those innings, Chatnam struck out seven batters, surrendered two walks, while allowing zero runs.
• Raleigh native Adam Stuart is a steadying prescnece for High Point. The redshirt senior has recorded a hit in 23 games this season. He has recorded sixteen extra-base hits including five home runs, 10 doubles, and a triple. Stuart is approaching 200 career starts with the program.
• Noah Carter has been the leader out of the Panthers bullpen. Across 12 apparences, Carter has struck out 12 batters, allowing just two walks, on six runs.
• High Point's defense has been incredibly efficient all season ranking first in the league in fielding percentage and errors.

 
EASTERN KENTUCKY COLONELS (9-23 overall, 6-6 ASUN)

• Eastern Kentucky is coming off a tough 2-1 series loss to North Florida over the weekend. After splitting the first two games, the Colonels fell 3-2 in a closely contested rubber match.
• Senior infielder Conner Davis leads the Colonels with 18 extra-base hits, including a team-leading 12 doubles, three home runs, and three triples. Across 32 starts, Davis is batting a team-leading .359.
• Senior Ron Franklin Jr has become a threat at the plate hitting a team-leading seven home runs, eight doubles, and a triple. Franklin is looking to extend his six-game hitting streak.
• Right-handed pitcher Nathon Lawson has been a consistent staple in the Colonel pitching rotation. Across eight appearances and seven starts, he has totaled 26 strikeouts, surrendering 14 walks, and 30 earned runs.
• Ryker Walton has carved out a role as the Saturday starter for the Colonels. In seven starts he has totaled a team-leading 29 strikeouts, while allowing just 24 earned runs.
• The Eastern Kentucky pitching staff has struggled to prevent free base runners giving up the fourth most walks in the conference.

 
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