FLORENCE, Ala. (April 30, 2026) – The University of North Alabama baseball team battles Bellarmine for the second-to-last home series at Mike D. Lane Field at Bank Independent Stadium, beginning at 7 p.m. on Friday night.
  
Live stats will be available via StatBroadcast. The Friday night game will be streamed through ESPN+ with "Voice of the Lions" Benjamin Ray and his partner, Grant Wakefield. The Saturday game will not be broadcasted, while the Sunday game returns with "Voice of the Lions" Benjamin Ray and Greg Larnerd on ESPN+.

North Alabama vs Bellarmine – Furry Friend Friday
Friday, May 1, 2026
7 p.m.
Live Stats | ESPN+ | Tickets
 
North Alabama vs Bellarmine – State Farm Youth Day present by Parke Cochran
Saturday, May 2, 2026
2:30 p.m.
Live Stats | Tickets
 
North Alabama vs Bellarmine – Run for Ribeye
Sunday, May 3, 2026
1 p.m.
Live Stats |ESPN+ | Tickets

NOTES
  
THE RUNDOWN: The UNA baseball team swept the series over Eastern Kentucky on Sunday, 15-3, at Earle Combs Stadium in Richmond, Ky. Nash Rippen hit two home runs in the final game of the series against EKU. His second inning home run tied UNA's all-time single-season record of 63 which was set in 1999 through 57 games. In the third inning, he hit the first grand slam of the season for North Alabama and notched the historical 64th home run of the season. Rippen now owns the Division I single-season home run record with his 16th of the season. Running mate Dylan Coleman hit his 15th of the season to tie the former Division I record of home runs in a season set by Gehrig Frei in 2024. This is the Lions' fourth series win of the season and their third during conference play; the team has swept both series against EKU this season. Prior to this season, the Lions had seven total conference series sweeps during the Division I era. UNA is now 6-0 against EKU this season. Also, this was the fifth run-rule win for the Lions this season.
 
SERIES HISTORY: This will be the 58th through 60th all-time meetings between the two programs since 1984. Earlier this season, the Lions traveled to Louisville and lost the series on a Sunday rubber match, 12-9. However, the same thing transpired for the Lions last year with an opening series loss to the Knights before returning with a home series win to open the Mike D. Lane field portion of Bank Independent Stadium. During the Division I tenure, the Lions have been a 13-14 team against Bellarmine with a 6-3 home record. UNA dropped the first game at home last season against Bellarmine but returned with two wins to take the series on Saturday and Sunday. 

SCOUTING THE KNIGHTS: Since the last time these two teams met, the Knights have gone 9-11 and at one point sat second in the Gold Division of the ASUN. After taking the series from UNA the first go-around, Bellarmine took the series against Lipscomb and swept Eastern Kentucky. Then Bellarmine lost back-to-back series against Austin Peay and Central Arkansas ahead of this weekend. BU is the third best batting team with a .292 average just behind FGCU and Lipscomb. The Knights are led by Landon Akers and AJ Swader with respective .378 and .371 averages. Swader is first in the ASUN with a .725 slugging percentage, setting up a best on best matchup with the second-best slugger in North Alabama's Rippen.
 
AGING LIKE FINE WINE: North Alabama has only gotten better as the 2026 season has carried on, similar to the year-by-year quality under head coach Jad Prachniak. In February, the Lions were 6-5 with 11 of the first 12 of those games coming at home. In March, the Lions played Ole Miss and No. 10 Southern Miss as they went on to finish that month with a 6-11 record. Then the Lions took off in the month of April, with an 11-4 record with the win total nearly matching the previous two months combined. Wes Walker went from hitting .288 in March to finishing April with a monstrous .333. Rippen hit eight home runs in April alone, which matches his entire 2025 season. Even the pitching complimented the hitting as Gavin Oswald dropped his ERA from 8.56 to 3.60 from March to April. 
 
THIS ONE IS AN ALL-TIMER: There are nine players that have multiple home runs this season as Rippen (16), and behind him, Dylan Coleman (15) lead the charge. Rippen exploded this past weekend with five home runs against EKU while simultaneously Wes Walker added four of his own. In the third inning on Sunday, Rippen unleashed the first grand slam of the season to break the all-time record of home runs in a single season which was set at 63 in 1999 through 57 games. After the 10 home runs over these last three games, UNA now owns 67 total homers through 43 games played. 
 
CRASH, GNASH & THEIR COUSIN WHACKED: Dylan Coleman (Crash) and Nash Rippen (Gnash) have been the talk of the town all season with their home run bash in 2026. However, another member of the team has thrown their hat in the ring in Wes Walker, or Whacked, in this case. With his four-home run weekend against EKU, Walker joined the double-digit home run crew as he climbed to 11 on the season. Previously, Coleman and Rippen were the first pair of teammates to have double-digit home runs in the same season since Josh Willingham (13) and Corey Murks (10) in 2000. To find the last time that the team has had three teammates accomplish such a feat? Error 404. This is the first time in school history the team has had three players with 10 or more home runs in a season. 
 
THE WIZARD THAT IS OZ: The left-handed pitcher, Gavin Oswald, has been a staple for the Lions coming out of the bullpen this season. Primarily, he has been a one-two punch with senior starter Justus Agosto on Friday nights. Against EKU this past Friday, Oswald threw 5.1 scoreless innings with only one hit allowed. The graduate claimed his sixth win of the season which broke the Division I record for single season wins which was previously set by former player turned pitching coach Jacob James in 2024 and his teammate Tripp Patterson in 2025. He is tied for second for wins this season in the Atlantic Sun Conference.
 
WHAT IS HAPPENING AT THE MIKE?: It is a fun weekend at the Mike with Happy Hour on both Friday and Saturday, per usual. Fans can bring their pups out on Friday to enjoy a game under the lights presented by Barktown for Furry Friend Friday. Saturday is State Farm Youth Day presented by Parke Cochran; there will be door giveaways, kids announcing over the public address system, videoboard elements and field time postgame for all kids. On Sunday, it is the Run for Ribeye where all kids can run the bases following the end of the game. Come one, come all!
 
UP NEXT: After Bellarmine, the Lions get their final home midweek matchup of the season on Tuesday, May 5 against Samford which starts at 4 p.m. This is a rematch from earlier this season when the Bulldogs won 6-5.

For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.