FRIDAY'S SCORES
Canisius 15
at Murray State 5
@North Florida 7,
Jacksonville State 3
@Tennessee Tech 10, Bowling Green 4
@Belmont 5, Illinois State 3
Eastern Illinois 11, @Auburn 10
Ball State
at Morehead State (postponed)
Oral Roberts
at Southeast Missouri (postponed)
Indiana State
at Eastern Kentucky (cancelled)
North Dakota State
at UT Martin (cancelled)
IPFW
at SIUE (cancelled)
Michigan State
at Austin Peay (cancelled)
CANISIUS 15, MURRAY STATE 5
MURRAY, Ky. - Murray State could not avoid the big inning Friday afternoon as Canisius College scored at least three runs in four different innings to hand the Breds a 15-5 in the series opener on a snowy day at Reagan Field.
A two-out rally in the first inning helped spark the Golden Griffins to an early 3-0 advantage. Jesse Kelso started the rally with a single through the left side. After a hit by pitch, Brett Siddall delivered an RBI single up the middle. Brooklyn Foster had the big blow of the inning with a double off the fence in right field to score two runs.
CC (5-4) doubled its lead in the third inning as delivered his second RBI single up the middle and Foster followed with an RBI double off the fence in right center. Connor Panas drove in the third run with a bloop single into left field.
The Breds (4-5) got a run back in the fifth as Taylor Mathews struck out, but reached on a passed ball. With two outs, Paul Ritzheimer blooped a single down the right-field line to score Mathews from second.
The Golden Griffins added insurance in the seventh as they pushed across four runs on four hits. Kelso started the scoring with an RBI single to right center before Shane Zimmer delivered a two-run pinch-hit single up the middle. The fourth run crossed the plate on Foster’s groundout to the pitcher.
MSU started to get back into the game in the eighth inning as Greg Guest started a rally with a pinch-hit single to right center. With two on, Mike Kozlowski delivered an RBI single to right center and Ben Lott followed with a pinch-hit single to right to load the bases. Back-to-back wild pitches allowed two runners to score. After a walk to Mathews, the third wild pitch of the inning allowed another run to cross the plate.
CC answered back quickly in the ninth as they pushed across five more runs.
Will Handlin (0-2) was saddled with the loss after allowing six runs on eight hits over three innings. Garrett Cortright (3-0) earned the victory after allowing one unearned run on five hits and six strikeouts over seven innings.
Kozlowski and Ritzheimer each collected a hit and drove in a run.
NORTH FLORIDA 7, JACKSONVILLE STATE 3
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Drew Weeks and Peyton Walsh each had three hits to lead North Florida to a 7-3 win over Jacksonville State in college baseball Friday afternoon.
Tommy Organ (1-0) had four strikeouts and allowed five hits to earn his first win of the season for the Ospreys. Kurt Lipscomb (0-3) gave up all seven runs and allowed 10 hits in 3 1/3 innings to suffer the loss for the Gamecocks.
North Florida took a 1-0 led in the second inning after Donnie Dewees scored on a wild pitch and UNF added a run in the third on a RBI single by Ryan Roberson for a 2-0 lead.
The big blow came in the fourth inning when North Florida scored five runs on five hits to take a commanding lead as Walsh and Weeks each drove in a run, while Joe Wielbruda had a RBI single to chase Lipscomb from the game. Roberson added two more runs on a double off of Gamecock reliever Robby Lilly as the Ospreys built a 7-0 advantage.
Organ was solid on the mound for UNF and allowed just one hit through 5 1/3 innings on the mound, a single to Michael Bishop to lead off the game, before Griff Gordon singled up the middle in the sixth inning for JSU.
The Gamecocks got on the board in the seventh after Coty Blanchard led off with a double to left field and scored on Tyler Gamble's infield grounder to cut the lead to 7-1.
The Gamecocks scored another run in the eighth inning after back-to-back walks to Griff Gordon and Blanchard, before Andrew Bishop singled through the left side to score Gordon and make the score 7-3.
Chase Silvani led off the ninth with a single and came around to score on Cal Lambert's sacrifice fly to center field for the final margin.
Michael Bishop, Gordon and Silvani each had two hits to lead the Gamecocks, while Gordon extended his hitting streak to a team-best eight games.
TENNESSEE TECH 10, BOWLING GREEN 4
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - The offense produced a great team effort and senior ace Tristan Archer backed it with a strong pitching performance as the Tennessee Tech baseball team (5-4) took down the Bowling Green Falcons (2-5) 10-4 in the first of a three game series.
Seven Golden Eagle players recorded at least one RBI in the contest including Zach Zarzour, Austin Wulf, Zach Stephens, Brandon Thomasson, James Abraham, Michael Morris, and Dylan Bosheers.
Archer picked up his first win of the season, throwing 6.0 innings for the Golden Eagles while giving up just two earned runs on six hits. He struck out five Falcon Batters, including three swinging in the fifth inning. Justin Alexander, Garrett Baugh, and Ross Spurgeon all provided solid relief innings for Tech. Spurgeon gathered three strike outs in a scoreless ninth inning to finish the job and propel the Golden Eagles to their fifth win of the year.
Bowling Green provided a plethera of different looks for the Tech pitchers, playing 16 different positional players in the game. Catcher T.J. Losby was key to the Falcon effort, collecting two RBI.
After trailing 1-0 early, the Tech offense started things right out of the gate, scoring in each of the first four innings. A second baseman, Zarzour led off for the Golden Eagles and gathered three hits in three at-bats, including two doubles. He also walked once and scored three runs.
Brandon Thomasson picked up the biggest hit of the contest, ripping a two-out, two-run triple down the left field line. The two runs gave Tech a 6-2 lead that they would never relinquish and really set up the Golden Eagle pitchers nicely with some room to work.
Zach Stephens drew two walks in the contest, scoring both times he got on base. Austin Wulf collected two hits against the Falcon pitchers, scoring once and driving in one RBI. Dylan Bosheers also registered a multi-hit day, singling twice.
BELMONT 5, ILLINOIS STATE 3
NASHVILLE - Belmont Baseball (8-2) rallied back Friday to defeat Illinois State, 5-3, in the first game of the series to win their fifth consecutive game.
In the third inning, the Redbirds took a 2-0 lead sparked by a bunt single from designated hitter Jack Czeszewski.
Judah Akers (Cookeville, Tenn.) and Josh Davis (Fayetteville, Ga.) both drew walks to start the fourth. Jared Breen (Marietta, Ga.) grounded out to third base to advance Akers and Davis. Neil Hickman (Hermitage, Tenn.) stepped up to the plate grounding out to second to put the Bruins on the board by scoring Akers.
Akers blasted his third home run of the season out to right center in the sixth inning. The homer from the first baseman tied the game at 2-2.
Chase Brookshire (Chattanooga, Tenn.) went six innings on the hill giving up six hits and two runs. The left hander struck out six and walked one. Jessie Snodgrass (Lebanon, Tenn.) came on to relieve Brookshire, going two innings, giving up three hits, one run and striking out two.
The Bruins took control of the scoreboard in the eighth when Scott Moses (Englewood, Tenn.) singled up the middle followed by a bunt single from Joseph Stovall (Collierville, Tenn.). Moses and Stovall both advanced on an Illinois State error.
Jamie Ritchie (Buford, Ga.) drew a walk before Drew Ferguson (Knoxville, Tenn.) doubled to right field to score Stovall and Moses and give Belmont a 4-2 lead. Akers hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Ritchie and put BU up 5-2.
Illinois State scored a run in the top of the eighth off a double, to come within two, but the Bruins held off Illinois State.
Moses came to the hill in the ninth, as the snow continued to fall, to close out the game as thfor the Bruins to earn his first save.
Ferguson led the Bruins at the plate, going 2-for-4 with two RBI. Akers also added two RBI.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 11, AUBURN 10
AUBURN, Ala. - The Panther baseball team defeated Southeastern Conference foe Auburn, 11-10, on Friday evening at Plainsman Park in the first game of the weekend series with the Tigers. EIU improves to 3-5 on the year.
Down 7-5 with two outs and the bases loaded in the top of the ninth inning, Treysen Vavra delivered a three-RBI double to right centerfield to put the Panthers up 8-7. Tyler Schweigert added a two-RBI single down the right-field line later in the inning, giving EIU an 11-7 advantage.
The Tigers (6-3) stormed back to score three runs on three hits in the bottom of the frame, but the Panther defense held on to secure the series-opening win.
Caleb Howell gave the Panthers an early 1-0 lead in the third inning with a two-out, RBI single before Auburn scored seven unanswered runs over the next two innings to take a 7-1 advantage. EIU responded by cutting its deficit to two runs (7-5) in the top of the sixth inning, scoring four runs on three hits. Nick Priessman hit an RBI double in the inning to drive in the first run before Brant Valach added a three-RBI double later in the frame.
Four Panthers had two or more hits on the day, led by Schweigert who was 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBI. Howell and Priessman both went 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI while Valach and Vavra both had a team-high three RBI.
Auburn had three more hits (14-11) than EIU and left three more runners on base (10-6). The Panthers committed the lone error in the contest.
Garrett Cooper and Cullen Wacker both went 2-for-4 at the plate with two RBI and a run to pace the Tigers. Terrance Dedrick (1-2) took the loss for Auburn, surrendering five runs and two hits in 0.2 innings of action.
Garrison Stenger (1-0) posted the win for EIU while Scott Houdek recorded the save. All told, the Panthers used eight pitchers on the day with Matt Borens starting the game. Borens went 4.2 innings with three strikeouts while allowing seven runs (three earned).