WEDNESDAY'S SCORES
Morehead State 11, @Marshall 2
@Little Rock 15, UTRGV 10
@Western Illinois 8, Saint Louis 6
@Lindenwood 12, UMSL 8
@Southern Indiana 14, Evansville 4
North Alabama 10,
@Tennessee Tech 7
MOREHEAD STATE 11, MARSHALL 2
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - The Morehead State baseball team got out to an early lead, scoring ten runs and pounding out 14 hits in the first four innings while cruising to a 11-2 win over Marshall Wednesday afternoon at Jack Cook Field in Huntington, W.Va.
Morehead State (19-21) was led offensively by center fielder Davis Germann with five hits in six at-bats with a double and four runs batted in and right fielder JJ Dutton who collected four hit in five trips to the plate with a double and a run batted in.
Eagle starter freshman Sam Smith (2-0) picked up the win. He threw two innings, allowing two earned runs on three hits. Senior Ethan Davis was effective out of the bullpen. He threw five and a third shutout innings, allowing two hits while recording three strikeouts.
Morehead State jumped out to an early lead with two runs in the top of the first. Davis Germann led off with a single down the right field line and scored on Griffin Olson's double lined to the wall in left center. After Aubrey Kearns walked, Ian McCubbin bounced into a double play, forcing Olson to third. Olson scored when Brayton Coomer lined a single off the wall in left.
Marshall answered in the bottom of the opening frame, scoring twice on a leadoff hit by pitch, two singles and an RBI double.
The Eagles broke out with four runs in the second inning. Austyn Peak led off and reached when he got hit by a pitch. Catcher Miller Murray walked. Germann plated Peak with a single to left. Kearns singled up the middle to score Murray and advanced to second on the throw into third base. McCubbin then delivered a two-run ground-rule double into the right field corner.
The Eagles added two runs in both the third and fourth innings. In the third Peak led off with a walk and Murray followed with a single to left. Germann delivered an RBI single through the right side. Murray scored on Kearns' grounder to second.
In the fourth, JJ Dutton rapped a one-out single up the middle. Murray lined a two-single to right. Germann delivered again with a two-run double in the gap in right center to put the Eagles ahead 10 2.
The Eagles scored their final run in the eighth. Griffith singled with a liner to left and scored on JJ Dutton's RBI double driven into the gap in right-center.
Marshall (18-21) used nine pitchers in the game. Luke Proehl (0-1) took the loss. He got two outs in the second inning, giving up four earned runs on three hits and a walk. He struck out one Eagle batter.
LITTLE ROCK 15, UTRGV 10
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - The Trojans erupted for 16 hits and answered every UTRGV surge with one of their own, rolling to a 15-10 win Wednesday afternoon at Gary Hogan Field to complete the midweek sweep.
After falling behind 7-2 in the second inning, Little Rock (25-17) flipped the game in a hurry, plating six runs in the third to take control for good.
UTRGV (18-23) came out swinging, getting an RBI triple from Thomas Williams in the first before erupting for six runs in the second — five of them unearned — to build a 7-2 lead.
Little Rock didn't blink.
The Trojans chipped away in the second, then delivered the decisive blow in the third. Nolan Freund started it with an RBI single, Ty Rhoades followed with a run-scoring hit, and Ryan Geck ripped a double down the line to keep the rally rolling.
Cooper Chaplain tied it with a bases-loaded walk, and Jerdy Lopez delivered the knockout punch — a two-run single to give Little Rock a 9-7 lead.
From there, it was all about adding on.
The Trojans pushed across three more in the fifth, capitalizing on productive outs and a balk, then tacked on two more in the seventh and another in the eighth to maintain separation.
Lopez led the offensive barrage, going 5-for-6 with three RBIs and three runs scored. Rhoades added three hits, while Freund and Geck each drove in multiple runs. Trey Hill scored three times, and eight different Trojans recorded a hit.
Hill made the most of his opportunity behind the plate as part of a deep catching rotation.
On the mound, Luke Schimmels (3-0) stabilized things after the rocky start, striking out four over 1.2 scoreless innings to earn the win. Josh Beezley and Blake Van Cleeve combined for three shutout innings late to close it out.
UTRGV finished with 14 hits and seven walks, with Williams collecting three hits and three RBIs, but couldn't slow Little Rock's relentless offense.
The Trojans have now scored 20 runs over the past two games — and, more importantly, found ways to win both.
WESTERN ILLINOIS 8, SAINT LOUIS 6
MACOMB, Ill. - Western Illinois picked up an 8-6 win over Saint Louis on Wednesday afternoon in Macomb, using strong hitting to hold off a late push.
The Leathernecks struck first in the second inning when Josh McClintock launched a two-run home run to center, scoring Isaiah Monge and giving WIU an early 2-0 lead. After Saint Louis answered with a four-run fourth inning to take the lead, Western Illinois responded in the bottom half. Cordell Coburn drove in a run with a single before Krayton Morse delivered, tripling to right field to bring in two and put WIU back on top, 5-4.
Western Illinois added to its lead in the fifth on a sacrifice fly from Gage Hoover that scored Joe Connolly, and extended the advantage further in the seventh inning. Connolly led off with a double before Liam Bushey crushed a two-run home run to center, pushing the Leatherneck lead to 8-4.
Saint Louis continued to battle, plating a run in the eighth and another in the ninth, but Eric Rawlings shut the door to secure the final outs and earn the save.
At the plate, Western Illinois totaled seven hits, highlighted by McClintock's two-RBI home run and Bushey's two-run shot. Morse also drove in two runs with his triple, while Coburn added an RBI single. Connolly led the way with two hits and scored twice.
Western Illinois improves to 12-27 overall with the win, and will continue on to conference season by facing the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles on the road.
LINDENWOOD 12, UMSL 8
ST. CHARLES, Mo. - The Lindenwood baseball team (22-18, 8-7 OVC) picked up their eighth straight win with a 12-8 victory over Missouri-St. Louis on Wednesday evening. The Lions never relinquished the lead after going up 5-0 in the bottom of the first inning.
Sam Driscoll stayed hot at the plate, collecting two hits and registering a team-leading four RBIs. Tanner Simpson and Will Geary also recorded two hits apiece, with Simpson driving in a pair of runs.
Michael Walsh picked up the win on the mound after giving up just a couple of runs on five hits with four strikeouts through 3.1 innings pitched to start the game. Meanwhile, Luke Wright secured his first career save after tossing 1.1 shutout innings to finish the game.
The Lions plated five runs on four hits in the first inning to take control early. Will Geary got the bats rolling with a one-out triple to right center, and after Jake Radosevich was walked, scored the opening run on a William Zareh RBI base hit.
Kam Edwards was walked to load the bases before Sam Driscoll stayed hot with a two-RBI single to extend the lead to three. With runners on second and third and two outs, Owen Ralph delivered a double down the right field line to clear the bases.
UMSL loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the second but came up empty handed as Michael Walsh worked out of the inning with a strikeout followed by 4-6-3 double play. However, the Tritons would capitalize for a pair of runs in the top of the third, with Mitch Bonczkowski driving in the first run with a sacrifice fly before and Owen Faith triple to the gap in right center added another run.
Lindenwood answered right back with a three-run home half despite only recording one hit in the frame. With runners on the corners, Sam Driscoll drove in the first run of the inning with a fielder's choice, and after moving to second on a wild pitch and third on a ground out, scored on a Charlie Isom-McCall infield single that was too hot for the Triton pitcher to handle.
After Will Geary was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Jake Radosevich was walked to bring in the third run.
The Lions tacked on one more run in the bottom of the fourth with a Sam Driscoll RBI triple to right field that scored Tanner Simpson, who had reached with a base hit, but UMSL cut into the lead in the top of the fifth with a Bennett Cagle three-run homer to left field.
However, with the bases loaded in the home half, Tanner Simpson delivered a two-RBI base hit up the middle to push the lead back out to six, and after holding the Tritons scoreless in the top of the sixth, Owen Ralph came home on a passed ball in the bottom of the frame to make the score 12-5 in favor of the Lions.
UMSL refused to go away quietly however, and after getting one run back in the top of the seventh, they loaded the bases with three consecutive one-out singles in the eighth, with a fourth straight base hit bringing in another run. With the bags still juiced, a two-out walk forced home LJ Randle and brought the tying run to the plate.
Luke Wright was up to the challenge, though, and entered the game to record the inning's third out without allowing any additional runs. Wright was left in to finish the job in the ninth, and despite giving up a pair of one-out base hits, was able to secure the win with a 4-6-3 double play ball.
SOUTHERN INDIANA 14, EVANSVILLE 4
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - University of Southern Indiana senior designated hitter Micajah Wall drove in five RBI to lead the Screaming Eagles to a commanding 14-4 win over the University of Evansville Wednesday evening at the USI Baseball Field. USI is 23-18 overall, while UE goes to 15-23.
After spotting the Purple Aces a 3-0 lead in the first inning, USI bounced back to cut the deficit to 3-2 with a pair of tallies in the third. The Screaming Eagles scored both of the third-inning runs on a two-run single by Wall.
USI would score four times in the bottom of the fifth to take the lead for good in the game. Wall struck again with a three-run double to left field to give USI a 5-3 lead, while junior catcher Drue Saenz drove in Wall with a sacrifice fly to give USI a 6-3 advantage.
The Screaming Eagles put the game away in the bottom of the sixth with a monster eight-run rally to go up by 11, 14-3. USI started the scoring with RBI-singles by senior first baseman Patrick McLellan, senior shortstop Clayton Slack, and graduate leftfielder/rightfielder Noah Foster before junior third baseman Parker Martin drove in a run on a fielder's choice and Saenz pushed a run across with the fourth RBI-single of the frame to make the score, 11-3.
After Martin scored the 12th run on a wild pitch, the eight-run rally would come to a close with graduate centerfielder Khi Holiday and Saenz scoring when senior pinch hitter Hunter Miller reached on a fielding error for the 14-3 lead. The Aces would get a tally in the top of the seventh before the Screaming Eagles closed out an early-ending 14-4 victory.
Wall led USI with five RBI on a single and double at the plate, while McLellan posted a team-high three hits in the win.
On the mound, junior right-hander Abdriel Figueroa picked up the win in relief. Figueroa (3-4) pitched an inning, allowing a hit and a walk, while striking out two.
Senior left-hander Jake Porter started and got the no-decision. Porter threw the first three innings, allowing three runs, two earned, on four hits and a walk. He also struck out a pair.
NORTH ALABAMA 10, TENNESSEE TECH 7
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Recap coming soon.