FRIDAY'S SCORES
@Morehead State 8, UT Martin 5
@Southeast Missouri 11, SIUE 4
Eastern Kentucky 9, @Murray State 2
Austin Peay 10, @Tennessee Tech 7
@Jacksonville State 7, Eastern Illinois 2
MOREHEAD STATE 8, UT MARTIN 5
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Junior closer Matt Duncan closed out his 12th Eagle victory as Morehead State baseball defeated UT Martin 8-5 Friday at Allen Field.
The lead traded hands several times in game two of the three-game set, but a sixth inning RBI double from senior catcher Eric Bainer in the sixth inning gave MSU a 6-5 lead. He led the Eagles offensively going 3-for-4 with a single, double and two RBI.
Skyhawk starter Alex Boshers allowed 11 hits, six runs and walked three. Despite giving up a pair of runs in the first, Boshers lasted 6.2 innings and took the loss.
MSU (27-25, 12-14 OVC) added a pair of runs in the eighth, one scoring on a triple from senior third baseman Andrew Deeds and the eighth came home on senior right fielder Luke Bainer's sacrifice fly. Deeds broke up a 0-for-13 streak at the dish with a single in the sixth. He is three hits from breaking the single-season program record.
Senior reliever Matt Robertson earned the win for the Eagles. He allowed a pair of hits, issued two walks and fanned one in 1.2 innings.
UT Martin (13-40, 7-19 OVC) first baseman Grant Glasser went 2-for-3 and drove in two runs in the sixth to give the Skyhawks a temporary lead. Glasser also stole a base in the fifth inning and came home on right fielder Jordan Owen's triple.
The heart of the Eagle lineup; the three, four, five and six-hole hitters contributed nine of the MSU's 13 hits in Friday's contest.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 11, SIUE 4
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri (21-33, 12-14 OVC) hit three home runs and scored seven runs with two outs in an 11-4 win over SIUE (26-28, 12-14 OVC) Friday afternoon at Capaha Field.
Southeast starter Shae Simmons earned his sixth win in Ohio Valley Conference play going six innings with six strikeouts.
The Redhawks opened the scoring in the second inning with three runs. Cole Bieser drove in Jesse Tierney to give the Redhawks a 1-0 lead.
Kenton Parmley knocked in Bieser on an RBI single and Jason Blum added an RBI double to highlight the stanza.
Taylor Heon added the fourth run of the contest with an RBI single in the third inning.
SIUE added their first runs of the game in the top of the fourth inning. The rally was then cut short as Blum threw a runner out at home plate from left field to end the potential big inning for SIUE.
Southeast added three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to to make it 5-2. Parmley opened the inning with a solo home run to left field, his 11th round tripper of the season.
First baseman Kody Campbell followed later in the inning with a two-run homer run to right field, his eighth of the season.
After the Cougars added another two runs in the top of the fifth inning to make it 7-4 Southeast. The Redhawks anwsered adding four runs in the bottom of the frame.
Senior Trenton Moses highlighted the inning with a three-run home run to centerfield. Moses extended his reaching base safely streak to 74-games with a walk and extended his hitting streak to 22-games with the home run.
Neither team added any runs in the remainder of the contest as the Southeast bullpen was once again solid as the Redhawks took the game, 11-4.
Tony Zerrusen threw two innings allowing a hit followed by Grant Davis as he threw a scoreless ninth frame.
Three Redhawks added multi-hit contests with Parmley, Blum and Campbell adding two hits apiece.
Bieser finished the day 1-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI.
Brooks McDowell (3-5) picked up the loss going 3.1 innings allowing six runs on seven hits.
Devin Caldwell led the SIUE offense going 2-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 9, MURRAY STATE 2
MURRAY, Ky. - Senior right-hander Matt Fyffe earned his Ohio Valley Conference-leading ninth win of the season and junior Austin Grisham went 3-for-4 with a pair of RBI and runs scored as the Eastern Kentucky University baseball team cruised past host Murray State, 9-2, on Friday afternoon in game two of this weekend's decisive series at Reagan Field.
With the series win, EKU, which has won 13 of its last 15 games, improves to 30-21 (18-7 OVC) on the season and moves a half-game ahead of Austin Peay for first place in the OVC. APSU plays Tennessee Tech later tonight.
EKU's win yesterday combined with losses by APSU and Jacksonville State clinched a first round bye for the Colonels in next week's OVC Tournament. Those events also gave EKU control of its own destiny. If EKU finishes off the sweep of MSU on Saturday, the Colonels will at least earn a share of their first OVC regular season title since 2000.
The win also gives EKU its second 30-win season under fourth-year head coach Jason Stein, while the Colonels' 18 conference victories ties are tied for the most in school history (The 2000 OVC regular season championship team went 18-6 in league play).
The loss, meanwhile, drops MSU to 23-32 (8-18 OVC) on the year.
Fyffe (9-0) maintained his perfect record on the spring, going six innings and allowing just one earned run on five hits while striking out three batters to keep his season ERA at a minuscule 1.51. Senior left-hander Greg Terry replaced Fyffe in the bottom of the seventh inning and held the Breds scoreless over the final three frames to earn his first save of the year.
Left-hander Bryan Babin (5-5) picked up the loss for MSU, working just two innings and surrendering five earned runs on six hits.
EKU took a quick 3-0 lead in the top of the first, scoring all three runs in that inning with two outs. After senior Richie Rodriguez and Grisham grounded out to open the game, senior Jacob Daniel laced a double into left field and then scored when sophomore Bryan Soloman crushed his team-leading 14th home run of the season over the wall in left field.
The rally continued when senior A.J. Jamison looped a double into right-center field and then came home on a base hit by senior Michael Garcia, making it 3-0.
MSU got one run back in the home half of the first, but the Colonels plated three more in the top of the second to take a comfortable 6-1 lead. Sophomore Sean Hagen led off that inning with a triple into right field and, after Rodriguez walked to put runners on the corners, Grisham laced a single through the right side of the infield that scored Hagen and advanced Rodriguez to third, where he scored on an error by MSU third baseman Travis Isaak. Grisham then advanced to third on a fly out by Soloman and scored when Jamison reached on another MSU error, this one by shortstop Noah Zipko.
The Breds pushed across another run in the bottom of the second, but EKU responded with two runs in the top of the fourth before a sacrifice fly to center field by Grisham in the top of the eighth scored junior Shaun Ball and made it 9-2.
MSU loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the ninth, but Terry struck out Corey Bays and then got Ty Stetson to fly out to center field to end the game.
AUSTIN PEAY 10, TENNESSEE TECH 7
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - The "Cardiac Govs" struck again as Austin Peay State University's baseball team let a five-run lead dwindle to one run in the eighth inning before posting a 10-7 Ohio Valley Conference victory against Tennessee Tech, Friday, at Bush Stadium.
Austin Peay (33-21, 18-7 OVC) needed the victory to stay tied for first place in the OVC regular season race with Eastern Kentucky, which posted a win at Murray State earlier in the day. The Govs and Colonels, who are both assured a top-two finish in the league race, will enter the regular-season's final day battling for the regular-season championship at different venues.
The Govs led 8-3 after six innings thanks to timely two-out hitting. Austin Peay scored two runs in the first on third baseman Greg Bachman's two-out home run. APSU tacked on two two-out runs in both the fifth and six innings to build the five-run advantage.
Tennessee Tech (21-31, 10-15 OVC) went into Friday's contest knowing it needed a victory to maintain its hopes of reaching the OVC Baseball Championship. The Golden Eagles proved they would not go down without a fight despite the deficit, using an Austin Peay seventh-inning error to score a single run.
However, it was the eighth inning that saw the Golden Eagles ratchet up the pressure. Tennessee Tech put the first five batters of the inning on base, sending two Govs pitchers to the bench in the process.
Austin Peay reliever Mike Hebert started the eighth and promptly surrendered back-to-back outfield singles. He made was for Zane Leffew who was unable to stem the sudden Tennessee Tech tide. TTU designated hitter Tevis Sherfield greeted Leffew with an RBI single. Shortstop Chad Hayes was then hit by a pitch to load the bases. Center fielder Austin Wulf narrowed the deficit to 8-7 with a single through the right side, ending Leffew's night.
The Govs turned to closer Tyler Rogers with runners on the corners and no outs in the inning. Rogers struck out the first batter he faced before inducing an inning-ending double play to kill the threat with APSU leading 8-7.
Austin Peay fed off the momentum of that twin-killing, Bachman and catcher Matt Wollenzin hitting towering solo home runs to build the Govs lead back to 10-7.
Rogers could not shut the door without the Golden Eagles making a last threat. Tennessee Tech saw consecutive batters hit by a pitch with one out. However, Rogers settled in and got a strike out and a ground out to end the contest.
Austin Peay starter Casey Delgado (7-4) picked up the win after holding Tennessee Tech to four runs (two earned) on six hits while striking out seven over 6.1 innings. Rogers' six-out performance was good for his season's 11th save, tying the single-season mark held by Daniel Tenholder (2008).
Hankins, Bachman and shortstop Reed Harper - the Govs 3-4-5 hitters - combined for nine of the Govs 12 hits and eight of the team's 10 RBI. Hankins went 4-for-4 with two RBI and a double. Bachman was 2-for-4 with five RBI and two home runs - his third multi-home run outing this season. Harper was 2-for-5 with an RBI.
Tennessee Tech starter Matthew Shepherd (4-5) was saddled with the loss after allowing six runs on six hits over five innings. Wulf led the Golden Eagles offense with a 3-for-5, two RBI performance.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 7, EASTERN ILLINOIS 2
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - - Daniel Watts had six strikeouts in seven strong innings on the mound to lead Jacksonville State to a 7-2 win over Eastern Illinois as the Gamecocks gave JSU head coach Jim Case his 350th career win.
Watts (5-6) scattered five hits and did not walk a batter to earn the win for the Gamecocks. Troy Barton (8-5) gave up five runs and seven hits to suffer the loss for Eastern Illinois.
Jax State (25-28, 16-10 OVC) gave Watts an early lead after Kyle Bluestein drove in two runs and Erik Underwood added another run in the first inning to give the Gamecocks a 3-0 advantage.
Andrew Bishop led off the fourth with a single and later came around to score on Kyle Stone's sacrifice fly as the Gamecocks extended the lead to 4-0.
Ben Waldrip then led off the fifth inning with his second career triple and Bluestein followed with a double to right field to score Waldrip and give Jax State a 5-0 lead.
Scott Underwood led off the seventh with a single and Sam Eberle slugged his ninth home run of the season to push the Gamecock lead to 7-0. Eberle extended his reached base streak to 40 games after also drawing three walks for the second straight game.
Eastern Illinois scored its two runs in the eighth inning after Caleb Howell and Cameron Berra both reached on one-out singles, and T.J. McManus then hit a two-out double to left center to score Howell and Berra for the final margin.
Erik Underwood, Scott Underwood, Waldrip and Bluestein each had two hits to lead the Gamecocks, while Bluestein led the team with three RBI, while Eberle drove in two runs. Howell finished the game 3-for-4 to lead the Panthers.