TUESDAY'S SCORES
@Morehead State 13, Bellarmine 3
Southeast Missouri 12, @Murray State 1
North Alabama 21,
@UT Martin 3
@Louisiana Tech 9,
Little Rock 3
@Illinois 16,
SIUE 4
Lindenwood 9, @Saint Louis 1
@Austin Peay 17,
Tennessee Tech 7
MOREHEAD STATE 13, BELLARMINE 3
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Morehead State designated hitter Aubrey Kearns hit two home runs to pace the Eagle attack as MSU defeated Bellarmine 13-3 in seven innings Tuesday night at Allen Field in Prefontaine Park in Morehead, Ky.
Kearns got the scoring started early with a two-run homer over the Big Blue Wall in right-center to give the Eagles an early 2-0 edge. The sophomore struck again in the fourth, with a 413-foot blast over the screen in center field, that expanded the Eagle lead to 7-0. Both times he followed a double by left fielder Davis Germann.
Morehead State (18-18) scored in every inning. In the second frame, Jaden Correa led off with in lined single to left. He advanced to second on a wild pitch. Griffin Olson walked, and both runners moved up on a double steal. Austyn Peak lifted a sacrifice fly to center. Correa scored from third and Olson scored when the throw to third base got away and rolled toward the third base dugout.
Eagle starter Landon Waugh (1-5) earned the win. He threw three shutout innings, allowing three hits and struck out three.
MSU got a lone run in the fourth. Second baseman Nick Griffith reached on a fielder's choice and scored on Jaden Correa's triple into the right field corner.
Bellarmine scored a lone run in the fifth on shortstop Landon Akers two-out single with runners on the corners scoring center fielder Luca Hoerger. The Knights scored again in the sixth on a hit batter and another two-out single, this one by left fielder Nick Gnardellis.
The Eagles responded to those runs with two in the fifth and three in the sixth. Griffth led off the fifth with a walk. Correa drilled a liner high off the screen in right center and was thrown out trying to stretch the play to a double. Olson walked and stole second base to put runners on second and third. Peak hit a bouncer to second to score Griffith and allowed Olson to move to third. Olson scored when a pickoff throw from the Bellarmine catcher hit him in the leg and rolled toward the Knight dugout, making the score 9-1.
Kearns reached on an infield error on a popup to lead off the sixth and scored on Brayton Coomer's double high off the screen in center. Griffith reached on a fielder's choice when Coomer was retired
at third on a ground ball. Jack Taylor lined a pitch into the gap in left-center that was misplayed, allowing Griffith to score from first base, and Taylor to end up at second base. Tayler advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored the third run of the frame on Olson's infield single. The Eagles led 12-2.
Bellarmine's Jake Bell led off the seventh with a home run to center field to round out the scoring for the Knights.
The Eagles ended the game in the seventh with one-out walks by Germann and Kearns in succession. JJ Dutton plated Germann with a single into center field to end the game 13-3. The 10-run rule was declared in effect before the game.
Bellarmine starter Raygan New (0-1) picked up the loss. He threw just the first inning, allowing two runs on three hits.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 12, MURRAY STATE 1
MURRAY, Ky. - Southeast Missouri Baseball (26-11) secured a commanding 12-1 victory over Murray State (21-16) on Tuesday at Johnny Reagan Field. The Redhawks' offense was highlighted by a six-run seventh inning, contributing to its 12 total hits and 12 RBIs.
SEMO capitalized early in the first inning with a decisive offensive performance. Cal Sullivan was hit by a pitch and advanced to third on a double by Joe Hall. Ryan Lopetegui walked to load the bases. Andrew Ramirez drew a walk, bringing Sullivan home. Carson Schrack followed with a single to left field, driving in Hall and Lopetegui. The Redhawks led 3-0 after one inning.
In the second inning, Caleb Klein tripled to right center and scored on an RBI single by Ramirez, extending the lead to 4-0.
The Redhawks continued its offensive surge in the fourth inning. Klein singled and scored on a two-run home run by Sullivan. This brought the score to 6-0 for the Redhawks.
The Racers responded in the fifth inning with a solo home run by Colby Ott, narrowing the gap to 6-1.
SEMO broke the game open with a six-run seventh inning. Klein's single drove in a run, followed by Sullivan's RBI single. Hall doubled down the left field line, adding another run, and Brooks Kettering's single drove in two more. Southeast Missouri held a commanding 12-1 lead going into the bottom of the seventh.
NORTH ALABAMA 21, UT MARTIN 3
MARTIN, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Martin baseball team fell to North Alabama in the midweek contest 21-3 at Skyhawk Field.
JT Popick (two RBIs, double) and Andrew Lawrence led UT Martin (18-18) in hits with two apiece. Colten Payton drew three walks while TJ Grines, Andrew Davis (run scored), Cameron Greene (run scored) and Tommy Koch notched hits for the Skyhawks.
JP Nunn started the game with two innings pitched while Silas Jones (0-1), Drake Bayles (0.2 innings, one strikeout), Dean McCalla (one inning), Zach Wager (1.1 innings, no hits allowed, no runs allowed, one strikeout) Trevor Busyn (one inning) and Gehrig Wright (one inning, no hits, no runs, two strikeouts) made relief appearances.
UT Martin took the lead away from North Alabama (18-18) in the home half of the first from a Greene infield single and a Popick double to the corner in right field. Nunn pitched a scoreless second frame off a ground out to first and a 4-6-3 double play to keep the Skyhawks in front.
The Lions regained the lead in the next inning and built upon their advantage. Wager entered in the top of the fourth and pitched 1.1 no-hit innings and in the seventh Wright recorded a 1-2-3 frame from two strikeouts and a groundout.
LOUISIANA TECH 9, LITTLE ROCK 3
RUSTON, La. - Little Rock continued to show its offensive spark and resilience Tuesday night, highlighted by a standout performance from Angel Cano, but the Trojans came up short against Louisiana Tech, 9-3, at J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park.
Cano powered the Trojan lineup, going 3-for-4 with a pair of home runs and two RBI, accounting for much of Little Rock's offensive production against a deep Louisiana Tech pitching staff.
Despite the final score, Little Rock (20-17, 8-4 OVC) matched Louisiana Tech hit-for-hit for much of the night, finishing with nine hits and putting pressure on the Bulldogs throughout the contest.
After falling behind early, the Trojans answered immediately in the second inning as Cano launched his first home run of the night to put Little Rock on the board. The Trojans continued to chip away, with Cano adding a second solo shot in the sixth to keep momentum within reach.
Little Rock's depth at the plate was evident, with Jerdy Lopez collecting two hits and multiple Trojans contributing base runners as the lineup produced consistent traffic. The Trojans also manufactured a run in the eighth on a Cade Martin sacrifice fly, continuing to battle late into the game.
On the mound, Little Rock saw strong efforts out of the bullpen, particularly from Brayden Walls and Josh Beezley, who combined to keep Louisiana Tech off the scoreboard through the middle innings and give the Trojans an opportunity to close the gap.
Louisiana Tech used a big first inning and a four-run sixth to create separation, but the Trojans never backed down, continuing to compete and generate opportunities against a quality Conference USA opponent.
ILLINOIS 16, SIUE 4
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - SIUE baseball homered three times Tuesday, but they came in a losing effort as Illinois picked up a 16-4 victory in seven innings at Illinois Field.
The Cougars dropped to 19-17. Illinois improved to 19-16.
The Cougars have a quick turnaround and will be back home to face Saint Louis Wednesday at Roy E. Lee Field. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
The Illini chased SIUE starter Trent Koehler (0-2) before a complete inning. Koehler allowed seven runs, four of them earned, thanks to four hits, an error and two walks in the first inning and Illinois led 7-0 going to the second inning.
Cooper Eggert got the Cougars on the board with a one-out, solo home run in the second inning-the first of his collegiate career.
Illinois scored seven more against three SIUE relievers in the second inning. Jack Zebig and AJ Putty hit back-to-back home runs against reliever Andrew Ressler to open the inning. Zebig drove in two more runs with a single against Wyatt Doak later in the inning.
Noah Johnson finished the inning and threw 3.2 innings in the game, allowing two runs on five hits. He struck out three.
Eggert picked up another RBI in the third inning when he walked with the bases loaded.
Ryan Niedzwiedz and Kyle Hepburn both homered in the fifth inning. For Niedzwiedz the home run was the 34th of his Cougar career, to move into third all-time. He is one back of tying the all-time record, which is shared by Brady Bunten and Brock Weimer. For Hepburn the homer was the first of his SIUE career.
Putty hit his second home run of the game for the Illini in the bottom of the fifth and Illinois pushed a run across in the bottom of the sixth for the 16-4 final.
LINDENWOOD 9, SAINT LOUIS 1
ST. LOUIS - The Lindenwood baseball team (18-18, 5-7 OVC) defeated Saint Louis (16-21, 6-9 A10) by a score of 9-1 on Tuesday night to extend their current winning streak to a season-long four games. It was the Lions' first win over the Billikens since the 2023 season as they snapped a five-game skid against SLU.
Five Lindenwood arms combined to limit Saint Louis to only one run on eight hits with nine combined strikeouts. Ethan Smith picked up his first win of the season after giving up just two hits with a trio of strikeouts through the game's first three innings.
The offense's nine-run showing was their highest scoring output since the Lions' 10-4 win over Missouri on March 25th. Charlie Isom-McCall led the way with two hits and two RBIs, while Kam Edwards also recorded multiple hits with a 2-5 outing.
Three consecutive one-out base hits for the Lions in the top of the second loaded the bases for Owen Ralph, who drove in the game's first run with an RBI groundout. Lindenwood added another run in the top of the third with Charlie Isom-McCall singling and moving to third on a Jake Radosevich base hit before reaching home on a William Zareh RBI fielder's choice turned double play after the cleanup man was caught off the bag and tagged out well after the run had already scored.
SLU got one run back in the bottom of the fifth with Duff scoring on a sacrifice fly after singling and stealing second and third.
Following a scoreless sixth inning, Lindenwood would create some separation in the seventh, scoring four runs in the frame on just one hit. After a Kam Edwards leadoff base hit, Filip Sarota and Owen Ralph were walked to load the bases before Sam Driscoll was hit by a pitch to force home a run.
Charlie Isom-McCall would draw a walk of his own to bring in another run, and after a pitching change, Will Geary was plunked to keep the line moving. After a strikeout, William Zareh was walked with two away to extend Lindenwood's lead to 6-1.
The Lions added three insurance runs in the top of the ninth, with Charlie Isom-McCall and Tanner Simpson recording RBI base hits to make the score 8-1 before Simpson was able to add one more on a Matt Graf RBI single after moving from first to third on a pair of wild pitches.
The Billikens put two runners on base in the bottom of the ninth, but were unable to string together any runs as Tanner Paschke closed out the game for Lindenwood, recording the final two outs with strikeouts.
AUSTIN PEAY 17, TENNESSEE TECH 7
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Tennessee Tech built an early lead and briefly rallied to tie the game late, but Austin Peay responded with a decisive offensive surge to hand the Golden Eagles a 17-7 run-rule loss in seven innings on Tuesday evening.
The Golden Eagles (12-25, 2-10) came out aggressively, plating two runs in the first inning. Nash Crowell delivered an RBI single before Eddie Garza followed with a run-scoring knock to give Tech a 2-0 advantage. Crowell added a sacrifice fly in the third, helping the Golden Eagles maintain a 3-2 lead.
Austin Peay answered in the middle innings, using a four-run fifth to jump in front, 7-3. Tennessee Tech responded in the sixth with its most productive frame of the night. Crowell sparked the rally with a two-run double, and Connor Crowson followed with a two-run single to even the score at 7-7.
The tie was short-lived, however, as the Governors answered with four runs in the bottom half of the sixth before erupting for six more in the seventh to secure the run-rule victory.
On the mound, Tennessee Tech used eight pitchers in the contest. Justin Fallon got the start, allowing two runs over two innings. Drew Mattox provided 1.2 innings of relief, surrendering one run, while Alex Kuntz and Reece McDuffie combined to allow four runs in the middle frames.
Braxton Lewis (L, 0-2) was charged with the loss after allowing four runs (three earned) in the sixth inning as Austin Peay regained control.
Austin Peay's Aaron Lewis (2-1) earned the win in relief, tossing 0.2 innings while allowing one run and striking out two.