THURSDAY'S SCORES
Austin Peay 4, @Murray State 3 (12 innings)
@Belmont 2, Morehead State 0
@Southeast Missouri 8, UT Martin 5
@Tennessee Tech 1, SIUE 0
@Jacksonville State 3, Eastern Illinois 2
@Southern Illinois 6,
Eastern Kentucky 2
AUSTIN PEAY 4, MURRAY STATE 3 (12)
MURRAY, Ky. - Austin Peay State University’s baseball team did not lead until the end, coming from behind to post a 4-3, 12-inning Ohio Valley Conference victory against Murray State, Thursday, at Reagan Field.
Austin Peay (20-5, 5-1 OVC) grabbed its only lead in the 12th when catcher P.J. Torres led off the inning with a single and scored on center fielder Dylan Riner’s sacrifice fly. Closer Tyler Rogers, who had to escape trouble in the two previous innings, faced three batters in the bottom of the frame and induced a game-ending double play to secure the win.
Murray State (12-13, 6-4 OVC) got on the scoreboard first when third baseman Brandon Elliott wrapped a home run inside the foul pole in left for a 2-0 lead. The Govs got one of those runs back in the sixth on left fielder Cody Hudson’s RBI single. But the Thoroughbreds got the run back in their half of the sixth on first baseman Mike Kozlowski’s RBI single.
The Govs tied the game, 3-3, in the eighth when Riner walked to start the frame and scored when first baseman Craig Massoni hit his season’s fifth home run over the wall in left center.
Austin Peay starter Lee Ridenhour put forth his season’s second nine-inning performance. He held Murray State to three runs on six hits while striking out a career-high nine batters. Ridenhour retired 10 consecutive batters from the second to fifth innings. He followed that with eight consecutive batters retired after allowing the RBI single to Kozlowski.
However, Ridenhour’s most impressive moment came in the ninth. Kozlowski led off the inning with a single and moved to third on a perfectly executed hit-and-run play. Ridenhour escaped the threat by inducing a pop out, a soft ground out back to the mound and striking out the next three batters, pushing the game to extra innings.
Murray State starter Cameron Finch matched his counterpart through six innings. One week after throwing a no-hitter against SIU Edwardsville, Finch held Austin Peay scoreless through five innings before allowing a sixth-inning run. He scattered four hits and struck out four batters while allowing only the one run.
APSU’s Rogers (5-0) picked up the win but not without some tense moments in the 10th and 11th innings. He entered the game in the 10th with a runner on first base and one out and promptly struck out the first batter he faced. Rogers appeared to have the inning ended with a simple groundball to shortstop Reed Harper, but the ball took a bad hop off Harper. Rogers hit the next batter to load the bases with two out before inducing a fly out to end the threat.
Rogers’ 11th inning got started quickly with back-to-back ground outs. Yet Rogers could not find the inside corner and walked the next two batters to put the winning run in scoring position again. He would escape the threat with a foul out to the left corner.
Murray State reliever Brock Downey (0-1) suffered the loss after allowing one run over the final four innings.
Torres had Austin Peay’s only multi-hit outing, finishing the day 2-for-4. Massoni was 1-for-5 with two RBI while Riner and Hudson each had a hit and RBI.
Kozlowski led Murray State’s eight-hit outing with a 3-for-5 performance.
BELMONT 2, MOREHEAD STATE 0
NASHVILLE - Belmont pitching shutout Morehead State, 2-0, in conference action Thursday at Rose Park. The Bruins improve to 18-6 on the season and 6-1 in the OVC.
An RBI single from Drew Ferguson (Knoxville, Tenn.) scored Dom Veltri (Clarksville, Tenn.) in the bottom of the third, putting Belmont on top 1-0.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Bruins loaded the bases with singles from Jared Breen (Marietta, Ga.) and Drew Turner (Shelbyville, Tenn.), plus a walk to Matt Beaty (Dresden, Tenn.), but were unable to get the insurance run across the plate.
The insurance did come in the bottom of the eighth. Josh Davis walked, stole second and scored on Beaty's RBI single up the middle.
Chase Brookshire (Chattanooga, Tenn.) went seven innings giving up three hits and striking out six. Jessie Snodgass (Lebanon, Tenn.) tossed a perfect inning of relief in the eighth before Davis came in to close the game, picking up his sixth save of the season.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 8, UT MARTIN 5
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri freshman Alex Winkelman recorded six strikeouts in four innings of relief to lift the Redhawks past UT Martin 8-5 in the series opener Thursday evening at Capaha Field. The Redhawks improved to 13-14 overall and 5-5 in the Ohio Valley Conference with the win as the Skyhawks fall to 8-17 overall and 1-9 in the conference.
Winkelman (3-3) came in relief of starter Trevor Kill, who threw five strong innings in his first OVC start of his career.
The Redhawks were led offensively by sophomores Andy Lennington and Ryan Barnes as they each finished the day going 2-for-4. Barnes added a pair of RBI with Lennington adding a run scored in the contest as he extended his hitting streak to a season-tying nine games.
The Redhawks got on the board in the second inning on an RBI double off the left field fence from Barnes that scored Jason Blum, who reached on a hit-by-pitch.
UT Martin tied the game in the top of the third inning on a sacrifice fly from Wade Collins to left field.
Southeast took back the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning with a pair of runs to take a 3-1 lead. Blum drove in Matt Tellor with an RBI single up the middle. Barnes followed driving in Lennington later in the frame for his second RBI of the contest.
The Skyhawks took their first lead of the contest in the top of the fifth inning with a trio of runs. Collins added a run with a double as UTM would take the lead on a pair of wild pitches.
The Redhawks tied the game in the bottom of the fifth inning as Cole Bieser drovee in the run, but the Skyhawks retook the lead in the top of the sixth on a solo home run by Nico Zych, his first career homer run.
Southeast took back the lead with four runs in the bottom of the sixth frame. A two-run double down the right field line by Derek Gibson highlighted the inning as the Redhawks took an 8-5 lead.
Winkelman shut the door on the Skyhawks late in the game and in the ninth inning to seal the win striking out the final two batters of the game looking as the Redhawks took the contest 8-5.
Blum was 1-for-2 in the contest with a pair of runs and an RBI as he reached base three times. Gibson was 1-for-4 with a pair of RBI.
Dan Tobik (1-3) was tagged with the loss going 5.1 innings allowing eight earned runs on seven hits. Byron Johann led UT Martin with three hits and two runs scored.
TENNESSEE TECH 1, SIUE 0
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - A career performance on the mound and some late game heroics were dead on target Thursday night as the Tennessee Tech baseball team (20-6, 9-1) won its Division I-leading 13th consecutive game in walk-off fashion over the visiting SIUE Cougars (6-14, 4-6), 1-0.
In the purest sense of the term, the contest was a pitcher's duel as senior Golden Eagle Tristan Archer (5-1) and junior Cougar Travis Felax (2-3) went pitch-for-pitch most of the evening in the first of a three-game Ohio Valley Conference series.
Archer, who threw the first complete game shutout of his career, struck out eight batters on the evening, allowing just four hits and two walks in nine innings of work. Felax pitched eight innings of shutout ball, also allowing only four hits and two walks with five strikeouts.
With the score knotted at 0-0 heading to the bottom of the ninth, junior Daniel Miles and senior Zephan Guyear became instant heros, combining for the game-winning run. Miles drove in Guyear from second base with a one-out single up the middle to keep the Golden Eagle streak alive and extend Tech's best start in program history going.
Most, if not all, of the action in the game occurred over the last two innings. Both teams made strong contact with the ball all game, however solid defense and resilient pitching made for the scoreless contest entering the eighth.
With two quick outs, SIU Edwardsville looked sure to be headed towards its final inning without any kind of threat to show for it. The team hadn't even reached second base in the contest yet. But then catcher Denton Reed drew a walk. And then center fielder Travis Becherer singled through the left side and suddenly, things looked promising for the Cougars.
A wily veteran, Archer stood strong, forcing the next batter to ground out to second for the third out of the inning and end SIUE's most promising chance at the scoreboard to that point in the contest.
Three quick outs the other way and the Cougars suddenly had gained a little momentum. Archer worked a full count to third baseman Matt Highland before forcing him to fly out to center field. One out down. Then the scare. Down in the count 1-2, first baseman Joel Greatting drilled a double into the left center field gap. With just one out, SIUE was sure to have a great scoring opportunity on the fatiguing Archer.
But Greatting kept running, trying to extend the double into a triple and put the Cougars that much closer to the go-ahead run. A solid throw from Tech left fielder James Abraham to shortstop Dylan Bosheers made it possible. And then a great throw from Bosheers to Miles made it happen. Miles applied the tag, barely beating the sliding Greatting at third base to record a massive second out.
The senior right hander knew it was all over from that point. Archer dug deep and struck out the next batter to give the Golden Eagles a chance at their third walk-off win of the season.
Ssurprisingly, SIUE elected to relieve Travis Felax in favor of Jake Stauffenberg to begin the bottom of the ninth. It seemed to be the right choice as the Cougar reliever forced the first Tech batter to pop out to shortstop. But then things started to get hairy. Stauffenberg walked Zach Stephens on five pitches, never really coming close to challenging the slugger. He then performed a balk, allowing Stephens to advance to second base and put the game-winning run in scoring position.
Guyear entered the game as a pinch runner for Stephens, looking as focused as ever. With junior slugger Brandon Thomasson up to bat and first base wide open, Stauffenberg went with the intentional walk, not allowing the designated hitter to even attempt at a pitch.
Miles stepped in. He took ball one. Then ball two. Then a strike looking. And just when you thought this game might go extras, Miles delivered, hammering a single up the middle. Guyear came galloping around third and despite a very impressive throw from SIUE's Becherer, he slid in safe, scoring the winning run for the Golden Eagles and forcing the crowd into a frenzy of joy and excitement.
The win marked the fifth in a row for Archer as the senior has not dropped a decision since the season opener against Illinois.
Despite developing a fever during the game, Guyear came up clutch, providing excellent base running to score the winning run. Daniel Miles , who was the lone player in the game to record multiple hits, recorded his first walk-off hit of his Golden Eagle career.
With the win, the Golden Eagles extended the nation's longest winning streak to 13, just one win shy of the program single-season record of 14. The 1955 team began its season 14-0 before suffering its first loss. Tech also kept its best start to a conference season going, collecting its ninth win in OVC play.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 3, EASTERN ILLINOIS 2
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Andrew Bishop had a pair of hits and drove in two runs to lead Jacksonville State to a 3-2 win over Eastern Illinois in the opening game of a three-game Ohio Valley Conference series on Thursday at Rudy Abbott Field.
Cody Ponder (1-1) threw just one pitch, but earned his first win of the year in relief of Gamecock starter Casey Antley, who went 7 1/3 innings and allowed just five hits and one earned run. Travis Stout came in and recorded the final three outs to pick up his seventh save of the year. EIU's Ben Kennedy (1-2) gave up two runs in 2 1/3 innings of relief to suffer the loss for the Panthers.
Jacksonville State (13-14, 7-3 OVC) took the early lead after Eddie Mora-Loera led off the second inning with a triple and Andrew Bishop followed with a one-out triple to right field to score Mora-Loera and give JSU a 1-0 lead.
The Panthers (6-16, 0-6) took the lead in the fourth inning after Tyler Schweigert reached on a Gamecock throwing error and Caleb Howell followed with a RBI triple to score Schweigert and then Treysen Vavra had a sacrifice fly to score Howell and give EIU a 2-1 lead.
The Gamecocks tied the game in the seventh after Bishop led off with a double to left center and moved to third on a EIU throwing error. Gavin Golsan followed with an infield single to score Bishop and tie the game at 2-2.
Jax State took the lead in the eighth inning after Paschal Petrongolo reached on a one-out walkand Mora-Loera reached on an EIU error. Cal Lambert walked to load the bases, before Bishop hit a deep fly to right field to score the go-ahead run and give the Gamecocks the lead with a sacrifice fly.
Stout came into the game to get the final three outs after throwing just seven pitches to earn the save for the Gamecocks. Four Gamecock pitchers limited EIU to just five hits.
Bishop led the Gamecocks with his two hits, while Michael Bishop, Adam Miller, Griff Gordon, Mora-Loera and Golsan each added a hit.
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 6, EASTERN KENTUCKY 2
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Eastern Kentucky jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but couldn’t hold off Southern Illinois in a 6-2 road loss on Thursday.
EKU drew first blood with two runs in the top of the third. Kenny Hostrander led off the inning with a base hit, but it looked as if he’d be stranded after the next two batters were retired. Demetrius Moorer drew a walk to keep the inning going. Doug Teegarden followed with a 2-run double down the left field line for a 2-0 Colonel lead. It was the freshman’s second double of the season.
Southern Illinois got on the board in a big way in the bottom of the fifth. After a strike out to start the inning, five straight Salukis reached base. A single by Jake Welch drove in two and tied the score. A single by Matt Jones put SIU on top 3-2. EKU starter Brent Cobb gave up only three hits in the first four innings but allowed four base-knocks in the fifth.
The Salukis pulled away in the eighth. After a pop-up, four straight batters reached base. With the bases loaded, Wes Neece drove in two of the runners with a double down the right field line, just out of the reach of first baseman Bryan Soloman. A third runner scored on a wild pitch.
Teegarden finished with two hits in four at bats and two RBIs. Welch went 3-for-5 with a run and two RBIs for SIU.
Cobb (2-5) tossed seven and one third innings. He allowed six runs on 11 hits, walked one and struck out four. Sam Coonrad (2-2) gave up two runs on four hits in seven and one third innings. He walked two and struck out five.