SATURDAY'S SCORES
Austin Peay 10, @Tennessee Tech 4
Eastern Kentucky 7, @Murray State 1
@Jacksonville State 15, Eastern Illinois 3
SIUE 24, @Southeast Missouri 7
@Morehead State 8, UT Martin 5
AUSTIN PEAY 10, TENNESSEE TECH 4
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Austin Peay State University's baseball team secured its second consecutive Ohio Valley Conference regular-season championship with a 10-4 victory against Tennessee Tech, Saturday afternoon at Bush Stadium.
Austin Peay (34-21, 19-7 OVC) claimed a share of the 2012 OVC regular-season crown , repeating after winning the 2011 title outright. The Govs shared the regular-season title with Eastern Kentucky, but will enter next week's OVC Baseball Championship as the No. 1 seed as it won the regular-season series between the two teams.
The Govs scored the first nine runs in Saturday's regular-season finale, drawing all of the drama out of the contest. A three-run first inning was punctuated by shortstop Reed Harper's RBI single and third baseman Greg Bachman's RBI double.
However, it was a six-run third inning that broke the game open. Bachman blasted his season's 15th home run to left center, scoring three runs and giving a 6-0 lead. Three batters later, first baseman Tyler Childress added a two-run home run to left field, pushing the Govs advantage to 9-0.
Tennessee Tech (21-32, 10-16 OVC) used an Austin Peay error in the third to score its first run. The Golden Eagles threatened in the fifth inning, loading the bases with two outs against Govs starter Andy Cox. TTU would score a run on an infield single, but shortstop Reed Harper's sliding play saved a run by keeping the ball out of the outfield. Cox worked out of the threat by inducing a line drive that was caught by Childress.
The Golden Eagles led off the sixth with a single and a walk, ending Cox' outing. Reliever Mike Hebert allowed those two runners to score - sandwiching a pair of singles between a fly out and a sacrifice fly. But Hebert would avoid further damage by inducing a fly out to end the inning with APSU leading 10-4.
Austin Peay's bullpen settled in from there as Ryan Quick threw a scoreless seventh and Zane Leffew bounced back from a rough Friday outing, tossing a scoreless eighth and ninth.
Bachman led the Govs with a 4-for-4, four RBI outing that included two doubles and a home run. Childress added a 2-for-4, two RBI effort while designated hitter Jon Clinard and Harper each had one RBI.
Cox (5-1) won his second straight OVC start, holding the Golden Eagles to four runs despite an uneven outing that saw him surrender five hits and five walks over five-plus innings.
Tennessee Tech starter David Hess(3-7) suffered the loss after allowing seven runs over 2.1 innings. Shortstop Chad Hayes led the Golden Eagles offense with a 2-for-3, RBI outing.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 7, MURRAY STATE 1
MURRAY, Ky. - Junior left-hander Shane Grimm pitched eight superb innings as the Eastern Kentucky University baseball team finished off the sweep of host Murray State on Saturday, 7-1, to earn a share of its first Ohio Valley Conference regular season title since 2000.
EKU (31-21, 19-7 OVC) won its final seven and 10 of its final 11 conference games to earn a share of the OVC crown. The Colonels' 19 conference wins are the most in school history.
EKU will share this season's OVC title with Austin Peay (34-21, 19-7 OVC), which defeated Tennessee Tech, 10-4, on Saturday to remain tied with the Colonels atop the conference standings. APSU owns the tiebreaker over EKU and will enter next week's OVC Tournament as the No. 1 seed.
EKU will be the No. 2 seed and will receive a coveted first-round bye. The Colonels will open postseason play on Thursday.
Grimm (6-4) was sharp all afternoon, going eight innings and allowing just one run on four hits while striking out three batters to deliver the championship. With the win, Grimm improved to a perfect 5-0 during conference play.
Junior right-hander Anthony Bazzani came on in the bottom of the ninth inning and sealed the win, striking out Noah Zipko swinging to end the game and ignite the celebration in the infield.
Grimm was on top of his game, but he also received help from his defense, particularly senior second baseman Dustin Dunlop. After an RBI base hit by senior Jacob Daniel in the top of the fifth broke a scoreless tie and spurred the Colonels to a 2-0 lead, MSU threatened in the bottom of the sixth as Ty Stetson ripped a two-out double and scored when Travis Isaak laced a single through the left side and advanced to second on the throw. The next batter, senior Jacob Rhodes, then ripped a ball to the right side that would have scored Isaak from second and tied the game, but Dunlop made a diving stop on the ball and threw Rhodes out at first to end the inning.
Two frames later, EKU blew the game open as the Colonels loaded the bases with one out in the top of the eighth. The next batter, junior pinch hitter Alex Hughes, was hit by the first pitch he saw, scoring senior A.J. Jamison from third and making the score 3-1. Sophomore Sean Hagen then delivered a two-run single through the right side of the infield, plating Dunlop and fellow senior Michael Garcia. Junior Matt Phipps, who replaced an injured Bryan Soloman in the starting lineup an hour before first pitch, concluded the scoring in the inning when he laid down a perfect squeeze bunt that scored Hughes and made it 6-1.
EKU added one more run in the top of the ninth on an RBI single by Jamison, before Bazzani came on and sealed the victory with a dominant performance in the bottom of the ninth.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 15, EASTERN ILLINOIS 3
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - - Ben Waldrip had four hits with two home runs, including a grand slam, to lead Jacksonville State to a 15-3 win over Eastern Illinois and the Ohio Valley Conference series sweep on Saturday.
Jacksonville State (26-28, 17-10 OVC) earns the No. 3 seed in next week's Ohio Valley Conference Tournament and will face No. 6 seed Southeast Missouri State at 7 p.m. on Wednesday. The Gamecocks won 2-of-3 vs the Redhawks during the regular season three weeks ago. EIU will face Morehead State in a battle of the 4-5 seeds at 3 p.m. on Wednesday.
Junior Hunter Rivers (5-3) scattered six hits over five innings to earn the win for the Gamecocks, while Christian Slazinik gave up six runs and walked four and was pulled in the first inning after recording just two outs to suffer the loss for the Panthers.
The Gamecocks jumped on Slazinik early and took a 6-0 lead in the first inning as Cal Lambert and Andrew Bishop each drove in a run and JSU took advantage of three Panther errors in the first inning.
Eastern Illinois (26-27, 15-11) scored a run in the second on a RBI double by Brant Valach and a run in the third on a sacrifice fly by Ryan Dineen to cut the lead to 6-2, but the Gamecocks got a run back in the fourth after Waldrip hit a solo home run over the right field fence.
The Panthers scored their final run in the fifth inning after Dineen hit a solo home run to right field to cut the JSU lead to 7-3, but the Gamecocks answered in the home half of the inning.
Sam Eberle and Waldrip each drove in a run to push the lead to 9-3, before the Gamecocks plated five runs in the eighth inning as Waldrip hit his 18th home run of the season with a grand slam for the final margin. Waldrip had a career week, batting .611 (11-for-18) with 10 runs scored two doubles, three home runs and eight RBI, while also drawing two walks and one hit-by-pitch.
Jax State finished with 17 hits in the game to mark the fifth straight game with double-digit hits. Waldrip finished 4-fof-5 and drove in six runs while scoring three runs to lead the Gamecocks, while Scott Underwood and Andrew Bishop each finished with three hits. Michael Bishop and Eberle each added two more hits, while Eberle extended his streak to 41 straight games of reaching base after hitting a double in the first inning. Erik Underwood extended his hitting streak to a season-best nine games with a single in the sixth inning.
Calbe Howell and Brant Valach led the Panthers with two hits each, while Dineen drove in two of the three Panther runs.
SIUE 24, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 7
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Cougar baseball put a stamp on SIUE's reclassification era Saturday, defeating Southeast Missouri State 24-7 in the final athletic contest the institution will play before full certification to NCAA Division I status.
SIUE finished the season with a 27-28 record overall and a 13-14 mark in Ohio Valley Conference play. SIUE finished sixth in the OVC, which would have qualified the Cougars for next week's OVC Championship had SIUE have been eligible.
Brett Keeler paced a potent attack in which all six seniors played prominent roles in their final games as Cougars. Keeler finished 4 for 5 with a home run, two doubles and a career-best eight RBIs.
Zach Hawkins was 3 for 6 with a home run and four RBIs. Mitch Matecki finished 2 for 6 with two doubles and three RBIs.
Thad Hawkins pinch hit in the eighth inning and drove in a run in two at-bats, while also making two catches in right field. Hawkins began his career as an outfielder in 2008.
Brian Lorenz tossed 2 1/3 innings in relief, allowing one run, to earn the win and finish his senior season with a 5-0 record. Dustin Quattrocchi pitched the final three innings of the game to earn his 12th save of the season, the second most in a season in school history. It was the left-hander's 16th save of his career, good for fourth-most in school history.
SIUE scored four runs in the first inning and again in the third to lead 8-0. Joel Greatting and Zach Hawkins each hit two-run homers in the first inning. Keeler's first bases loaded, three-run double came in the third. Southeast Missouri used a six-run fourth inning to cut into the lead. SIUE scored twice in the seventh on Keeler's two-run homer to go up 10-6. It was 10-7 when the Cougars scored five times in the seventh inning to go up 15-7. Matecki drove in two with a double. Keeler's second bases loaded, three-run double came as part of a seven-run eighth inning that pushed the Cougars' lead to 19-7. Zach Hawkins added a two-run double.
Greatting finished 4 for 6 with four RBIs. Travis Becherer was 3 for 6 with two RBIs. Devin Caldwell, Matt Highland, Chase Green and James Vazquez al had three hits for SIUE.
The 24 runs and 24 hits Saturday were both season-highs for the Cougars. The 24 runs were the most SIUE has scored since March 2009 when it also scored 24 runs in a win over Long Island. The 24 hits were the most for a Cougars team since making the move to Division I, and the most since collecting 28 hits vs. St. Joseph's in April 2008.
After finishing the first two years of reclassification with a combined 29 wins, Saturday's win gave SIUE a total record of 55-52 over the past two seasons.
MOREHEAD STATE 8, UT MARTIN 5
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Morehead State baseball punctuated the regular season with an 8-5 victory against UT Martin Saturday at Allen Field. With the Eagle win, MSU earned its first Ohio Valley Conference series sweep since 2010 and clinched the fifth seed in the OVC tournament.
On Senior Day, Eagle seniors accounted for five of MSU's 12 hits and all of the team's RBI's. Right fielder Luke Bainer and designated hitter Eric Bainer recorded two hits apiece and Luke Bainer drove in three runs. Third baseman Andrew Deeds went 1-for-2, but reached base four times during the series finale. He is a hit shy of tying the single-season program record.
The Eagle offense hit UT Martin starter Willie Frederick early and often Saturday as MSU (28-25, 13-14 OVC) scored seven runs in the first three innings. Frederick lasted just 2.1 innings, allowed six hits, issued four free passes and gave up seven runs. He took the loss, his ninth of the season.
Despite a long first inning, freshman right-hander Blake Smith put together the longest outing of his short Eagle career. Smith went seven innings, allowed two earned runs and earned his fourth win.
For the second time this season, the Eagle defense generated four double plays behind Smith. The last time MSU turned four double plays they defeated Murray State 5-4.
The Skyhawks (13-41, 7-20 OVC) attempted a late rally scoring four runs after the fifth inning, but MSU's bullpen led by junior closer Matt Duncan secured the victory. Duncan notched his 13th save of the season on Senior Day after being awarded the Steve Hamilton Most Valuable Player award pregame. He tossed a scoreless ninth frame and did not surrender a hit.
Junior reliever Morgan Cirbo broke the MSU record for appearances Saturday as he appeared his 28th contest this season. He did not allow a hit in his one inning of relief.
UT Martin first baseman Phil Sorenson recorded a pair of hits and drove in a run in the loss.