FRIDAY'S SCORES
@Eastern Illinois 4, Southeast Missouri 2
Belmont 5, @Austin Peay 2
Eastern Kentucky 5, @SIUE 2
Morehead State 3, @UT Martin 1
@Jacksonville State 6, Tennessee Tech 5
@Murray State 11, Alabama A&M 1
EASTERN ILLINOIS 4, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 2
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Freshman pitcher Jake Johansmeier threw a career-high five strikeouts and went a career-long seven innings on Friday afternoon, leading the Panther baseball team to a 4-2 Ohio Valley Conference series-opening win over Southeast Missouri.
Johansmeier struggled in the first inning as he walked three batters and allowed one run, but he eventually settled down and struck out the final two batters in the frame to get out of the jam. The St. Charles, Ill., native only allowed four hits and improved to 2-2 on the season.
The Panthers (13-21, 4-11 OVC) responded in the bottom of the first inning to tie the game at one, scoring one run on three SEMO errors.
EIU added runs over the next two innings to take a three-run lead (4-1). Caleb Howell hit a two-out RBI double in the second inning for the first run before Demetre Taylor hit a two-RBI double in the third inning for the final Panther runs.
The Redhawks (19-20, 11-8 OVC) got within two (4-2) in the eighth inning, scoring one run on one hit off of relief pitcher Ben Kennedy. Garrison Stenger pitched the final inning for the Panthers as the sophomore did not allow any hits or runs to earn his first career save.
EIU had one more hit (6-5) than SEMO and committed one less error (3-2). The Redhawks left three more runners on base (8-5) in the contest.
Nick Priessman went 2-for-4 with a run to pace the Panther offense while Taylor went 1-for-4 with two RBI. Howell also added a hit and a RBI.
Zack Smith (2-4) pitched a complete game for the Redhawks, striking out one while allowing six hits and four runs (three earned) in eight innings of play. Andy Lennington led the team at the plate as the third baseman went 2-for-4 with two RBI.
BELMONT 5, AUSTIN PEAY 2
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Behind a pair of home runs from Jamie Ritchie (Buford, Ga.) and Jared Breen (Marietta, Ga.) and a solid outing from starter Dan Ludwig (Naperville, Ill.), Belmont Baseball (27-9, 14-2) defeated Austin Peay, 5-2 on Friday night.
Drew Turner (Shelbyville, Tenn.) got the first hit of the day for the Bruins as he successfully laid down a bunt single in the top of the second, and advanced to second on a throwing error. An RBI single from Scott Moses (Englewood, Tenn.) scored Turner to put the Bruins on ahead 1-0.
Austin Peay tied the ball game at 1-1 behind a double from Craig Massoni. The Governors took a 2-1 lead after an RBI groundout from Cody Hudson.
Ritchie's home run over the right field wall tied the game in the fifth. That was the catcher's second homer of the season. He hit his first at Middle Tennessee on Tuesday.
In the top of the sixth, Breen blasted his second home run of the season to put the Bruins ahead, 3-2.
The Governors posted a threat in the seventh with the bases loaded and two outs, but Ludwig pitched out of the jam, recording his seventh strikeout of the game.
Alec Diamond (Kennesaw, Ga.) singled over the head of APSU's first baseman to score Ritchie from second and put the Bruins on top, 4-2 in the top of the eighth.
Belmont took a 5-2 lead on a groundout by Moses to score Turner, who led off the eighth with a double.
Ludwig (8-1) went seven innings on the mound. He gave up three hits and two runs while striking out seven and only walking one.
Moses came to the mound in the ninth, earning his fourth save of the season.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 5, SIUE 2
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Eastern Kentucky University’s baseball team trailed by one entering the ninth inning, but plated four runs in the final frame of a 5-2 win over Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
Austin Grisham reached on an error to lead off the ninth. Doug Teegarden followed with a single to right field that allowed Grisham to move to third. Sean Hagen singled to center to score Grisham and tie the game 2-2. With one out and the bases loaded, Bryan Soloman’s ground ball to short was enough to drive in the go-ahead run.
Kenny Hostrander provided insurance with a two-out, two run single to left field.
Brent Cobb (4-5) was stellar on the mound for the Colonels (12-23, 8-8 OVC). The junior allowed just two unearned runs over eight innings. He walked three and struck out five. Sophomore Cody Creamer came on to pitch the ninth and earned his first career save. He allowed a walk and a two-out hit before striking out the final batter.
Hostrander finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Hagen’s only hit was the game-tying base-knock. Kyle Nowlin went 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI.
Eastern got on the board first in the fifth inning. Shaun Ball led off the inning with a triple and freshman Nowlin followed with an infield single to put the visitors on top 1-0.
SIU Edwardsville (9-23, 6-13 OVC) answered in the bottom half of the sixth. A ground out by Skyler Geissinger was enough to score the game-tying run. Drew Johnson’s single to center made it 2-1.
Jacob Stewart was the only player to record a multi-hit game for SIUE, finishing 2-for-4. Travis Felax (3-5) suffered the loss despite allowing just one earned run and striking out 10 over nine innings. He allowed eight hits and walked one.
MOREHEAD STATE 3, UT MARTIN 1
MARTIN, Tenn. - With the game tied in the top of the eighth, sophomore first baseman Kane Sweeney drew a walk, extending his reached-base streak to 29 games, before scoring the go-ahead run that allowed the Morehead State baseball team to take down UT Martin, 3-1, Friday night at Skyhawk field.
The Eagles (10-28) broke out of a 13-game losing slump while improving to 5-11 in Ohio Valley Conference play. The Skyhawks fell to 10-27 on the season with a 3-16 mark in the OVC.
The deciding inning came to fruition when Sweeney scored the go-ahead run from second on a wild pitch followed by a UTM throwing error. Sophomore right fielder Brandon Rawe (2-for-4 at the plate) tacked on an insurance run when he drove in senior shortstop Chase Greenwell with an RBI single up the middle.
“We’ve been in a little bit of a rough patch lately, so it felt really good to get out there and get a win today,” Head Coach Mike McGuire said. “Hopefully this can get us back on track.”
The Skyhawks scored the contest’s first run in the bottom of the second on a sacrifice fly from freshman leftfielder Luis Paublini.
From there the starting pitchers took over, combining on four straight scoreless innings. MSU sophomore right-hander Blake Smith allowed only one run in 6.1 innings, while striking out seven.
The Eagles evened things up at 1-1 in the top of the seventh when sophomore centerfielder Duran Elmore drove in Rawe.
Junior right-hander Dan Hyatt (1-1) picked up the win out of the Eagles' bullpen, pitching two scoreless innings while allowing only one hit. Senior righty Matt Duncan coaxed the final two outs for his second save of the season. UTM lefty Carter Smith (0-3) was charged with the loss despite allowing only four hits in seven innings.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 6, TENNESSEE TECH 5
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Junior Cody Blanchard had a pair of hits and drove in two runs to lead Jacksonville State to a 6-5 win over Tennessee Tech in the opening game of a three-game Ohio Valley Conference series on Friday evening.
Jacksonville State improves to 21-16 and 13-3 in the conference and has now won eight straight OVC games. Tennessee Tech drops to 27-11 and 15-4 in the OVC. The Gamecocks also improve to 8-0 in 1-run games at Rudy Abbott Field this year.
Graham Officer (2-0) allowed just two hits in two innings of relief to pick up the win for the Gamecocks. Travis Stout recorded the final three outs to earn his 11th save of the season. TTU starter Tristan Archer gave up 10 hits and six runs in 6 1/3 innings to suffer the loss.
The Golden Eagles took an early 1-0 lead on a RBI double by Brandon Thomasson in the top of the first inning, but the Gamecocks took the lead in the home half of the inning.
Michael Bishop led off with a walk and moved to second on Adam Miller's single to left field. Coty Blanchard then had a one-out double to left center to score Bishop and tie the game at 1-1. Eddie Mora-Loera followed with a single down the right field line to score Blanchard and give the Gamecocks a 2-1 lead.
Tech tied the game in the third inning after Thomasson drove in a run with his second double of the night, but the Gamecocks battled back in the fourth inning.
Andrew Bishop doubled to right center and Ty Piece had an infield bunt single as Bishop moved to third, before coming in to score on Cal Lambert's grounder. Michael Bishop then walked with two outs and then stole second as Tennessee Tech catcher made an error throwing to third, which allowed both of the Bishop brothers to score and give the Gamecocks a 5-2 lead.
The Golden Eagles came right back and tied the game in the fifth inning after Thomasson delivered again with a RBI double and Daniel Miles hit a two-run home run to make the score 5-5.
Jax State took the lead for good in the seventh inning after Adam Miller bunted down the third base line and moved to second on a grounder. Blanchard then doubled to left center to score Miller and give JSU a 6-5 lead.
Gamecock relievers Cody Ponder and Kurt Lipscomb each recorded a strikeout in the eighth inning, before Stout came out to earn the save in the ninth inning.
Blanchard, Miller and Gavin Golsan each had a pair of hits to lead the Gamecocks, while Thomasson led Tech with three hits.
MURRAY STATE 11, ALABAMA A&M 1
MURRAY, Ky. - Murray State scored 11 runs in the bottom of the fourth inning on their way to an 11-1 victory over Alabama A&M in the first game of a three-game series Friday afternoon at Reagan Field. The run allowed with two outs in the seventh was the first the Breds allowed in 18 innings.
The Breds (15-23) got the rally going quickly as Noah Zipko and Taylor Mathews singled to right field to start the inning. Paul Ritzheimer delivered a one-out RBI single through the left side and Ty Stetson followed with a walk to load the bases. Brandon Elliott was then hit by a pitch to score the runner from third.
Brandon Eggenschwiler and Dylan Wheeler broke the game open with two-run singles. Mathews and Ritzheimer each added RBI doubles, while Stetson collected an RBI single to close out the scoring.
The Bulldogs (3-34) finally got on the board in the 7th inning as a two-out walk sparked a rally. Back-to-back hits, the second a single through the left side by Patrick Dodson, scored the runner from second.
Cameron Finch (4-2) earned the victory as he allowed just one run on eight hits and a career-high eight strikeouts over 6.2 innings. Allen Belue (0-6) took the loss after allowing seven runs on seven hits and four walks over 3.1 innings.
Ritzheimer led the offense by going 2-for-2 with a pair of RBIs and two runs scored. Mike Kozlowski collected three hits and scored a run, while Stetson and Mathews each added two hits.