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The 2011 Ohio Valley Conference Baseball Championship got underway on Wednesday with two games.
In game one on Wednesday No. 4 seed Tennessee Tech topped No. 5 seed Eastern Kentucky 6-5. In game two No. 3 seed Jacksonville State topped No. 6 seed UT Martin 9-8.
This season marks the 33rd time the event has been held but the second year in a row it has been held at Pringles Park in Jackson, Tenn. Pringles Park is home of the Jackson Generals, the AA-affiliate of the Seattle Mariners.
The entire tournament is being streamed live and also available on-demand at OVCSports.TV. For more information or to sign up for the event click HERE.
Wednesday, May 25
Game 1 - #4 Tennessee Tech 6, #5 Eastern Kentucky 5
Box Score | Live Stats | Live Video | Video Interviews
Game 2 - #3 Jacksonville State 9, #6 UT Martin 8
Box Score | Live Stats | Live Video | Video Interviews
#4 TENNESSEE TECH 6, #5 EASTERN KENTUCKY 5
JACKSON, Tenn. - Buoyed by Tristan Archer's solid start, the Tennessee Tech baseball squad opened the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament Wednesday with a 6-5 victory over Eastern Kentucky.
In a season that featured the Tech offense on most occasions, it was Archer's solid effort that took center stage as he improved to 7-4 on the season as he kept the Eastern Kentucky offense in check through 7.1 innings, striking out six batters.
Eastern Kentucky may have scored the first pair of runs off a two-run shot to from A.J. Jamison, but it was EKU starter Stephen Hefler who would get chased from the game, as he surrendered four runs, in just 1.2 innings.
After not converting on a bases loaded situation in the bottom of the first, the Golden Eagles responded with a four-run rally in the second, that was capped off by a two-run single off the bat of Ben Burgess to give Tech the 4-2 lead.
Given a two-run lead to work with, Archer cruised through the middle innings, with the lone hiccup coming in the fifth when EKU logged an unearned run to pull within one at 4-3.
With two on and one out in the top of the eighth, Archer was lifted for Tech relief pitcher Cullen Park, who induced a pair of groundouts to end the Colonel threat. With the momentum in their favor, the Golden Eagles added a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the frame to extend their lead to 6-3.
The Colonels managed to tag Park with a pair of runs in the top of the ninth, but Park held firm as he earned his fourth save of the season, as Tech took the 6-5 victory.
#3 JACKSONVILLE STATE 9, #6 UT MARTIN 8
JACKSON, Tenn. - Sam Eberle and Blake Seguin each had three hits to lead No. 3 Jacksonville State to a 9-8 win over No. 6 UT Martin in the opening round of the 2011 Ohio Valley Conference Baseball Tournament on Wednesday.
Jax State won its opening game for the eighth straight year to improve to 34-20 on the season, while UTM falls to 19-35 on the year.
Todd Hornsby (5-4) pitched the final two innings to earn the win in relief. UTM's Alex Boshers (4-4) gave up six runs in 2 1/3 innings to get stuck with the loss.
The Gamecocks took an early 2-0 lead after Erik Underwood scored on a passed ball in the second and Seguin had a RBI single to score Kyle Bluestein in the third inning.
UT Martin tied the game in the sixth inning after Cody Terry drove in two runs on a triple to make the score 2-2, but Jax State answered in the home half of the sixth.
Coty Blanchard had a RBI single to left field to score Seguin and give the Gamecocks a 3-2 lead, but the Skyhawks tied the game in the seventh when Wes Patterson scored on a suicide squeeze play.
UT Martin took its first lead of the game in the top of the eighth inning on a RBI single by Jordan Owen and Wes Patterson followed with a RBI single for a 5-3 lead.
Jacksonville State battled back in the home half of the eighth to score six runs on seven hits to take the lead for good.
Seguin and Andrew Bishop led off with back-to-back singles, and Michael Bishop followed with a single through the left side to score Seguin. Jake Sharock then hit an infield grounder to tie the game at 5-5.
Eberle followed with a ball off the top of the wall to score Michael Bishop. Kyle Bluestein then hit a triple that scored two more runs, and a throwing error allowed Bluestein to score as the Gamecocks built a 9-5 lead.
The Skyhawks scored three runs in the top of the ninth inning, thanks to a RBI double by Chase Okey and a pair of Gamecock errors for the final margin.
Eberle and Seguin had three hits each, while Blanchard, Bluestein, Erik Underwood, Andrew Bishop and Michael Bishop each had two hits to lead the Gamecocks' 18-hit attack. Trey Karlen, Okey and Patterson each had two hits for UTM.
The Gamecocks have now won 12 games in their final at-bat and posted 22 come-from-behind wins on the season, while improving to 12-4 in one-run games.
Jax State will now face No. 2 seed Southeast Missouri State at 3 p.m. on day two of the Championship.