FRIDAY'S SCORES
Belmont 14, @Eastern Kentucky 1
@Morehead State 4, Southeast Missouri 2
@Austin Peay 5-10, Jacksonville State 4-1
Tennessee Tech 3, @UT Martin 1
Murray State 1, @SIUE 0
Eastern Illinois 9, @Illinois State 5
BELMONT 14, EASTERN KENTUCKY 1
RICHMOND, Ky. - Behind six runs in the first two innings and six runs in the eighth, Belmont Baseball (15-6, 3-1) defeated Eastern Kentucky, 14-1 Friday afternoon in OVC action.
Back-to-back singles from Drew Ferguson (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Jared Breen (Marietta, Ga.) began the game for the Bruins. Breen's single extended his hit streak to five games, which is tied for the longest active streak on the team.
Josh Davis (Fayetteville, Ga.) was issued a four-pitch walk to load the bases. Judah Akers (Cookeville, Tenn.) reached on a fielder's choice to score Ferguson and put the Bruins on the board first, 1-0.
The Bruins loaded the bases twice in the first inning after Matt Beaty (Dresden, Tenn.) was issued a walk. Drew Turner (Shelbyville, Tenn.) reached on a fielder's choice to score Davis and an RBI single from Scott Moses (Englewood, Tenn.) scored Akers to give BU a 3-0 lead.
A three-run double to the left center gap by Akers cleared the bases and extended BU's lead to 6-0 in the top of the second.
Belmont sent eight to the plate in the first two innings and scored three runs in each.
Eastern Kentucky right fielder Shaun Ball scored a run for the Colonels in bottom of the fourth behind a fly out to center from Bryan Soloman.
Turner hit a leadoff double to start the fifth for his first hit of the day and a wild pitch from EKU starter Brent Cobb allowed him to advance to third. Jamie Ritchie (Buford, Ga.) laid down a sacrifice bunt to score Turner and give the Bruins a 7-1 lead over the Colonels.
A single from Akers scored Davis, extending the Bruins' lead to 8-1. Davis was walked four times in the game.
Chase Brookshire (Chattanooga, Tenn.) improves his record to 2-1 after six innings of work. The left hander allowed four hits and one unearned run. He struck out five.
Jessie Snodgrass (Lebanon, Tenn.) came on to relieve Brookshire in the bottom of the seventh for his 15th appearance of the season. The left hander closed out the inning with a pair of strikeouts.
EKU's Cobb falls to 2-4 on the season as he went 5.1 innings on the mound, giving up eight hits and eight runs. He walked seven and struck out three.
A single to center from Ferguson put runners on the corners with no outs in the top of the eighth. Ferguson stole his fourth base of the season. A sacrifice fly from Breen brings home Ritchie and an RBI single from Davis scores Ferguson from third.
Three bases loaded walks gave the Bruins a 13-1 lead. Ferguson was hit by a pitch and scored Turner for the sixth run of the eighth. Belmont sent 12 to the plate in the inning with five walks.
Dom Veltri (Clarksville, Tenn.) came to the hill in the bottom of the eighth for his fifth appearance. The freshman right hander struck out the first batter he faced.
Blake Harvey (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) came on to close the game for the Bruins. EKU's TJ Alas doubled to left to put runners on second and third in the ninth. The Colonels loaded the bases with two outs when Alex Hughes reached first after being hit by a pitch, but the Belmont got out of the jam.
Akers finished the day 4-for-5 with four runs batted in.
MOREHEAD STATE 4, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 2
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Sophomore right-hander Blake Smith allowed only five hits in 8.2 innings, while the Morehead State baseball team clobbered three home runs in a 4-2 home-opening win over Southeast Missouri on Friday afternoon at Allen Field.
The Eagles improved to 8-14 on the season, with a 3-4 mark in Ohio Valley Conference play. The Redhawks dipped to 11-12, and 3-4 in the OVC.
“Blake has struggled a little bit in his last couple of outings, but today he came out and pitched like a Friday guy,” Head Coach Mike McGuire said. “Going that deep into the game really saved our bullpen for the rest of the weekend.”
MSU jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth, when sophomore first baseman Kane Sweeney crushed his first home run of the season to left-center.
SEMO tied it up in the top of the fifth, when sophomore designated hitter Ryan Barnes drove an RBI single to left center.
The Eagles retook the lead in the seventh, when senior right fielder Drew Williams smacked a solo home run over the center-field wall, his third on the year. Then, in the bottom of the eighth, freshman third baseman Alan Mocahbee hit the final MSU home run of the contest, a two-run shot to left field.
The Redhawks tacked on one more in the top of the ninth, but Morehead State senior righty Austin Haney closed out the contest for his third save of the campaign.
Smith (1-2), who came within one out of his first career complete game, allowed only two runs while walking three.
Mocahbee went 3-for-4 at the plate, adding two singles to his homer. Sweeney also picked up multiple hits on the day, going 2-for-3 while also drawing a walk.
AUSTIN PEAY 5-10, JACKSONVILLE STATE 4-1
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Behind a pair of solid pitching performances, Austin Peay State University’s baseball team swept an Ohio Valley Conference doubleheader, 5-4 and 10-1, from Jacksonville State, Friday at Raymond C. Hand Park.
Austin Peay (19-3, 4-0 OVC) saw starting pitchers Lee Ridenhour and Casey Delgado each go seven innings in their starts. The Govs bullpen then tacked on two scoreless innings in each contest to solidify the wins.
Ridenhour (4-0) threw six scoreless innings in the day’s first game and retired 11 consecutive batters going into the seventh inning. His start only was blemished in the seventh when Jacksonville State began the inning with four straight hits and sent nine men to the plate en route to a four-run inning. Still Ridenhour allowed four runs on seven hits while striking out six over seven innings.
Delgado (4-1) followed with an even better performance in Game 2, striking out a career-high nine batters. He held Jacksonville to three hits over six innings before running into trouble in the seventh inning. Delgado would allow three hits in the seventh, including two that didn’t leave the infield, and surrendered his only run.
Austin Peay’s offense recovered from its sub-par outing at Indiana State, Tuesday, and rapped out 25 hits in Friday’s doubleheader.
In the series opener, Austin Peay saw base running errors again cut short a pair of early scoring opportunities. However, the Govs persevered and it was designated hitter Brett Carlson who delivered the game’s first runs with a two-run single in the fourth.
The Govs tacked on three more runs in the fifth. Second baseman Jordan Hankins drove in a run to start the rally. Austin Peay then coaxed a pair of walks to load the bases. Catcher P.J. Torres made the hard work pay off with a two-run double to left, putting APSU ahead 5-0.
Jacksonville State (11-14, 5-3 OVC) finally solved Ridenhour in the seventh as the first four batters posted hits. Designated hitter Paschal Petrongolo broke up the shutout bid with an RBI single and shortstop Andrew Bishop added a RBI double. The Gamecocks continued the rally with an RBI on a ground out before first baseman Adam Miller cut the APSU lead to one run with an RBI single. However, Ridenhour escaped further damage with a groundout.
The Gamecocks would receive no opportunities following the seventh. Reliever Kacy Kemmer retired the side in order in the eighth. Closer Tyler Rogers only allowed a two-out single en route to his APSU record 21st career save – his ninth this season.
Austin Peay took all the drama out of the second game early. The Govs saw their first four batters of the contest reach base. First baseman Craig Massoni drove in the first run with a single to right. One out later, shortstop Reed Harper gave APSU a lead it would not relinquish with a single that scored two runs. Catcher P.J. Torres closed the four-run first with a RBI groundout.
The Govs tacked on single runs in the second and third innings. Massoni’s RBI single was responsible for the APSU run in the second while third baseman Kevin Corey’s RBI groundout put APSU ahead 6-0 after the third.
Austin Peay continued to press and it used a Jacksonville State error to extend its lead in the sixth. Left fielder Cody Hudson singled to center field, scoring right fielder Rolando Gautier easily. The Gamecocks committed two errors on the play, allowing center fielder Dylan Riner to score from third and the Govs led 8-0 after six.
Jacksonville State again solved the Govs starter in the seventh inning. Delgado alternated hits and outs to the first five batters. The Gamecocks run scampered home when first baseman Adam Miller reached on an infield single that Delgado knocked down but could not find. Delgado would recover and ended the threat with a ground ball out.
Hankins finished the day’s scoring with a two-run home run to right center.
Harper had a multi-hit outing in each contest, going 2-for-4 in Game 1 before posting a 3-for-5, two RBI outing in Game 2. Massoni recovered from a hitless opening game outing to go 4-for-5 with two doubles and two RBI in Game 2.
Jacksonville State starters picked up the losses in both contests. Game 1 starter Casey Antley (4-2) allowed five runs on eight hits in 4.1 innings. Game 2 starter Taylor Shields did not fare much better, allowing six runs on 10 hits in 3.2 innings.
The Gamecocks offense was held to 14 hits in the doubleheader, Miller leading the effort with a 3-for-8, two RBI combined effort.
TENNESSEE TECH 3, UT MARTIN 1
MARTIN, Tenn. - For the ninth consecutive contest, the Tennessee Tech baseball team (16-6, 6-1) found itself on top of its opponent, taking down Ohio Valley Conference and in-state foe UT Martin (8-14, 1-6), 3-1, on the road Friday evening.
With a face-off of ace versus ace, senior righty Tristan Archer prevailed over Dan Tobik. The win marked the fourth of the season for Archer, matching his total from the entire 2012 season. Archer's streak of not walking a batter ended after 17.2 innings during the game, although the senior continued to strike out batters at a high rate, dropping seven batters in six innings of work. He gave up just one earned run while scattering seven hits.
Tobik was lights out for the Skyhawks, striking out 12 Golden Eagle batters through six innings. He allowed just three hits and one earned run in his time on the mound. The difference in the contest came down to defensive efficiency, as the Skyhawks comitted two errors that proved costly. Two Tech runners scored in the contest due to errors.
The Golden Eagles jumped on the board first, scoring in the first inning off the bat of junior designated hitter Brandon Thomasson. After Zach Zarzour and Austin Wulf advanced to second and third base, respectively, on a passed ball, Thomasson sent a mammoth fly ball to center field, driving it deep enough to allow Zarzour to tag-up and score the first run of the contest.
Two innings later, Tech was at it again, doubling its lead to 2-0 with a solo home run by Wulf. The long ball was the senior's first of the season and proved to be the eventual winning run.
UT Martin got on the board in the fifth inning, collecting a run on a single by catcher Ben Brewer. The senior collected one hit in the contest.
Tech grabbed an insurance run in the top of the sixth inning, scoring on an error by the Skyhawk shortstop.
Sophomore David Hess was dominant in two innings of relief for the Golden Eagles, striking out five of six batters faced, including a three-up three-down eighth inning that saw all three batters go down swinging.
Seth Lucio grabbed his fourth save of the year, pitching out of a bases loaded jam following a hit, error, and hit batsman. Working with one out, the sophomore dug deep, striking out the final two batters of the contest to give the Golden Eagles their 16th win of the 2013 campaign.
Thomasson kept his hitting streak alive, collecting a hit in the sixth inning to extend his impressive run to 14 consecutive games.
MURRAY STATE 1, SIUE 0
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Murray State junior right hander Cameron Finch threw the eighth no hitter in Murray State history in a 1-0 victory over SIU Edwardsville in the first game of a three-game series Friday afternoon at the Simmons Baseball Complex.
It was the first no hitter for the Breds since Rich Garner defeated Tennessee Tech, 4-0, on April 22, 1986.
Finch (3-1) needed only 96 pitches in the second complete-game of his career. He finished the day with five strikeouts and four walks.
After retiring the first six hitters of the game, Finch allowed a leadoff walk in the third. The runner got to third on a sacrifice bunt and a groundout before a flyout to center ended the inning.
The Cougars (5-12, 3-4 OVC) managed only two more base runners over the next three innings, before nearly getting their first hit in the top of the seventh. Skyler Geissinger thought he had a leadoff single up the middle to start the inning, but Dylan Wheeler had other thoughts as he made an unbelievable diving stop up the middle and got the out at first.
The eighth inning saw the biggest threat for SIUE as they turned a leadoff walk into runners on the corners with two outs on an error. Finch wasn’t fazed by the situation and got out of the inning with a two-hopper to the shortstop.
The ninth inning began the same way as the eighth as a leadoff walk was sacrificed over to second. Brandon Elliott made a stop on a hard ground ball for the second out before Taylor Mathews made a running catch in center field to close out the game.
The Breds (11-11, 5-2 OVC) collected eight hits on the game, but managed to score the only run of the game with a two-out rally in the sixth inning. Mike Kozlowski started things with a single to right field, before Wheeler delivered a double to left center that scored a hustling Kozlowski just ahead of the throw.
Wheeler and Mathews each collected two hits in the victory. Ty Stetson started the game with a single to left field to extend his streak of reaching safely to 18-straight games.
Travis Felax (2-3) was the tough-loser as he allowed just the one run on eight hits and four strikeouts in the complete-game effort.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 9, ILLINOIS STATE 5
NORMAL, Ill. - Brant Valach went 3-for-4 with two runs, two doubles and an RBI as the Panther baseball team defeated Illinois State, 9-5, on Friday night at Duffy Bass Field in the series opener between the two schools.
Trailing 5-3 heading into the sixth inning, the Panthers (5-14) scored two runs on one hit and one ISU error to tie the game. EIU added three runs in the following inning to take an 8-5 advantage before adding an insurance run in the ninth inning on a Derek Page RBI single.
The Panthers took an early 3-0 lead in the second inning before the Redbirds (10-10) got within two (3-1) in the bottom of the frame when Zac Johnson scored on a Jack Czeszewski fielder's choice. ISU would score four unanswered runs over the next two innings, making the score 5-3.
EIU posted a season-high 13 hits while the Redbirds had 11 hits. EIU committed one more error (5-4) in the contest and left seven less runners on base (17-10).
Jacob Reese and Demetre Taylor both went 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI while Dane Sauer added a team-high two RBI.
Ben Kennedy (1-1) picked up his first career win, striking out four and surrendering three hits in 2.2 scoreless innings of relief. Scott Houdek posted his second save of the season, allowing only three hits with two strikeouts in the final three innings of play.
Daniel Dwyer went 3-for-5 with two RBI to pace the Redbird offense while Johnson went 2-for-5 with two runs. Otto Roberts (0-1) took the loss, allowing three hits and three runs (two earned) without retiring any of the four batters he faced.