SUNDAY'S SCORES
@Austin Peay 10, Belmont 6
@Eastern Illinois 13, Southeast Missouri 3
Tennessee Tech 4, @Jacksonville State 0
Morehead State 11, @UT Martin 6
Eastern Kentucky 6, @SIUE 2
@Murray State 5, Alabama A&M 1
AUSTIN PEAY 10, BELMONT 6
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Austin Peay State University’s baseball team scored the game’s first seven runs in a 10-6 Ohio Valley Conference victory against Belmont, Sunday afternoon at Raymond C. Hand Park.
Austin Peay (28-12, 11-6) won the three-game series against Belmont (27-11, 14-4 OVC), 2-1, snapping a stretch where it lost back-to-back OVC series.
The Govs jumped out early thanks to a three-run first inning as five consecutive hitters reached base with one out. First baseman Craig Massoni drove in the game’s first run with a single. Center fielder Cody Hudson followed with a two-run single, putting APSU up 3-0.
Austin Peay extended its lead with a four-run third inning. Shortstop Reed Harper had a sacrifice fly followed by designated hitter Kyle Schlatter’s RBI single. Catcher P.J. Torres put the Govs ahead 7-0 with a two-run home run to left.
Starter Zach Hall made the most of the early run support. He faced four batters in both the first and second innings before running into trouble in the third. Belmont loaded the bases with two out as Hall surrendered a single and back-to-back walks. However, Hall escaped the jam with a ground out.
The Bruins would not let Hall escape another jam in the fourth. Again with two outs, Hall allowed a walk and a single. Center fielder Drew Ferguson made the Govs starter pay with a three-run home run to left field, slashing the lead to 7-3.
Austin Peay’s offense responded with the game’s next three runs. The Govs plated a run in the sixth as third baseman Jordan Hankins singled, stole a base, advanced on a wild throw and scored on a balk. Austin Peay tacked on two more runs in the fifth as second baseman Brett Carlson doubled into the right center gap, left fielder Tommy Hager scored on the hit and right fielder Rolando Gautier scampered home as the throw from center got by the third baseman, giving APSU a 10-3 lead.
Belmont would threaten in the eighth inning. The Bruins scored two runs off reliever Jared Carkuff when designated hitter Spencer Petett hit a two-run home run to left field. Austin Peay turned to reliever Kevin Corey who got the inning’s first two outs before an error extended the inning. Corey would surrender back-to-back walks, loading the bases, before departing.
Austin Peay turned to closer Tyler Rogers and he needed one pitch to escape the jam. Belmont right fielder Drew Turner could only tap the first pitch he saw back to Rogers who tossed home to record the force out and end the threat. Rogers would retire the side in order, including two strikeouts, to record his season’s 14th save.
Hall (4-2) picked up the win after allowing four runs on seven hits and five walks over 6.1 innings. He did tie a career-best with six strikeouts. The Govs pitching staff recorded 29 strikeouts in the series against Belmont, including 10 Sunday.
Hankins finished with a three-hit outing to pace the Govs 11-hit performance. Hudson posted a 2-for-3, two RBI outing while Torres also chipped in two RBI.
Belmont starter James Buckelew (3-3) suffered the loss after allowing seven runs on seven hits over 2.2 innings. Petett had two hits and two RBI to lead Belmont’s offense.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 13, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 3
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Sophomore pitcher Matt Borens posted his first career complete game on Sunday afternoon, striking out seven batters as the Panther baseball team defeated Southeast Missouri, 13-3, at Coaches Stadium. EIU captured the series with the Redhawks, 2-1.
Borens (2-4) only allowed seven hits and three runs (one earned) on the day while only issuing one walk. The Monee, Ill., native faced 36 batters on the day and recorded 130 pitches.
Heading into the bottom of the second inning, The Panthers (14-22, 5-12 OVC) scored eight runs on seven hits and one SEMO error to take an 8-0 advantage. The Redhawks (20-21, 12-8 OVC) got within one (8-7) in the sixth inning on a Jason Meade sacrifice fly before Caleb Howell hit an RBI single to left field in the bottom of the frame to regain the Panthers eight-run lead (9-1).
EIU added four more runs in the eighth inning to make the score 13-1. Dane Sauer hit an RBI single for the first run of the inning before Brant Valach hit a two-RBI double to left field for the next two runs. Cameron Berra hit a RBI single up the middle to round out the scoring.
SEMO added two runs in the top of the ninth inning, scoring two runs on three hits and two Panther errors to get within 10 (13-3) before Borens struck out John Logan Zink to end the comeback effort.
EIU had eight more hits (15-7) than SEMO and left one more runner on base (7-6). The Redhawks committed one more error (3-2) than the Panthers in the contest.
Valach paced the Panther offense, going 4-for-5 with four RBI, three doubles and two runs. Sauer and Schweigert both finished the day going 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBI while Howell went 3-for-4 with two RBI and two runs.
Trevor Kill (0-2) took the loss for SEMO, surrendering six hits and seven runs (four earned) in 1.1 innings of work. Derek Gibson led the team at the plate as he went 2-for-4.
TENNESSEE TECH 4, JACKSONVILLE STATE 0
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Just when the Tennessee Tech baseball team needed it most, sophomore Jacob Honea delivered, tossing 8.1 innings of shutout ball Sunday afternoon to lead the Golden Eagles to 4-0 win over the Gamecocks.
Honea's gem of a performance helped the Golden Eagles avoid a sweep at the hands of Jacksonville State as well as keep the team in the hunt for an Ohio Valley Conference regular season championship.
The Golden Eagles started game three of the series much of the same way as the previous two, grabbing a early lead behind quality work at the plate. This day was different, however, as the Tech pitching staff shut down the Gamecock offense all day long.
Tech provided the only scoring of the day, collecting four runs in the top of the second inning behind clutch, two-out hitting. Junior slugger Brandon Thomasson led off the inning with a sinlge through the left side. After two quick outs, senior James Abraham delivered with a two-strike single through the right side. A Michael Morris walk loaded the bases for junior Jordan Parris.
With a 2-1 count, Parris drilled a double to left field, driving in two runs to give Tech a 2-0 lead. Zach Zarzour followed, fighting off seven pitches before finally ripping a single through the right side and clearing the bases to provide the Golden Eagles with a 4-0 advantage.
The run support proved to be more than enough as Honea would take over from there. The sophomore was especially effective from the third inning on, retiring 15 straight Gamecock batters. Honea finished the best outing of his Golden Eagle career with six strikeouts over 8.1 innings of work. He scattered six hits while surrendering no walks to help Tech to its fourth shutout of the year.
Sophomore Seth Lucio closed things out, recording the final two outs to give the Golden Eagles their 28th win of the year.
MOREHEAD STATE 11, UT MARTIN 6
MARTIN, Tenn. - With an 11-6 victory over UT Martin, the Morehead State baseball team claimed its first series sweep of the 2013 campaign on Sunday afternoon at Skyhawk Field.
The win marked the Eagles’ third Ohio Valley Conference series victory, after taking two out of three from Murray State and Southeast Missouri earlier in the season.
The Eagles (12-28) close out their road swing with a 7-11 mark in OVC play, good for seventh in the league standings. The last-place Skyhawks fall to 10-29 overall and 3-18 in the OVC.
For the second straight contest, MSU jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first. Sophomore right fielder Brandon Rawe got things started by driving in sophomore centerfielder Duran Elmore with a double to deep center.
Senior first baseman Bobby Burns then drove in sophomore third baseman Kane Sweeney, who extended his on-base streak to 31 straight games, with a sacrifice fly.
Morehead State exploded for six runs on six hits in the third to extend its lead to 8-0. Three different Eagles – freshman designated hitter Alan Mocahbee, freshman second baseman Trey Gross and Elmore – had RBI doubles in the inning, while Burns and senior left fielder Taylor Pickens also picked up an RBI apiece.
UTM got on the board in the bottom of the fifth, scoring two on a single to center field from senior centerfielder Grant Glasser. MSU plated one in the sixth and two in the ninth, while the Skyhawks added three in the eighth and one in the ninth to close out the game's scoring.
Rawe recorded a multiple hit effort in every game of the series, going 4-for-5 on Sunday. Elmore finished the game a home run short of the cycle, going 3-for-5 with a triple and double. Greenwell, who finished the day 2-for-4, was the only other Eagle with multiple hits.
Freshman right-hander Matt Anderson (1-4) picked up the first win of his Morehead State career, striking out nine while allowing eight hits and four earned runs. Skyhawk sophomore left-hander Dalton Potts (4-5) was charged with the loss after giving up eight runs in only 2.2 innings.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 6, SIUE 2
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Freshman Kenny Hostrander hit his first career home run and senior Shane Grimm fanned 11 in a complete game performance as the Eastern Kentucky University baseball team finished off a 3-game sweep of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville with a 6-2 win on Sunday.
The Colonels (14-23, 10-8 OVC) gave Grimm all the runs he would need in the second inning. With two outs, Alex Hughes singled to left field and Luke Wurzelbacher was hit by a pitch. Hostrander followed with a 3-run home run over the left field fence.
Grimm (4-4) allowed two runs on seven hits over nine innings. He walked two and struck out a career-best 11.
SIU Edwardsville (9-25, 6-15 OVC) closed to within one after scoring one run each in the fourth and fifth innings on solo home runs by Devin Caldwell and Zach Little.
Wurzelbacher gave Eastern some insurance with a 2-run homer in the seventh. Hostrander added an RBI single in the ninth. He finished 2-for-4 with a run and four RBIs. Wurzelbacher’s only hit was his fourth home run of the season.
Tony Schaeffer (1-3) suffered the loss after giving up four runs on three hits in six and one-third innings of work. He walked two and struck out two. Little finished 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI.
Eastern Kentucky has now won three straight OVC series, two of which have been sweeps.
MURRAY STATE 5, ALABAMA A&M 1
MURRAY, Ky. - Murray State handed Alabama A&M a 5-1 defeat Sunday afternoon to complete the three-game sweep of the Bulldogs at Johnny Reagan Field.
Pitching took center stage in the finale as starter Cody Maerz (2-2) allowed six hits and struck out three over five shutout innings. Reliever Andrew Bramley allowed one unearned run on two hits and three strikeouts over 3.2 innings. Brock Downey (3) was credited with the save as he retired the only hitter he faced in the ninth.
The Breds (17-23) got on the board first in the bottom of the second inning as Noah Zipko started the inning with a single up the middle. Taylor Mathews followed with a bunt base hit, and when the ball was thrown away at first, both runners advanced to second and third. A wild pitch scored the first run, and Nick Paradossi drove in the second run with a single off the glove of the third baseman. The third run of the inning crossed the plate on a double-play groundout with the bases loaded.
MSU added to its lead in the fifth as Brandon Elliott walked and Brandon Eggenschwiler singled through the left side. A passed ball with one out moved Elliott to third, and the second passed ball of the inning scored Elliott from third.
The Bulldogs (3-36) got a run in the sixth as Bradley Black was hit by a pitch with one out. He later stole second, and went to third on the throwing error. After a walk put runners on the corners, the Bulldogs executed the double steal to score the run.
The bottom of the eighth saw the Breds add an insurance run. Mathews started the inning with a single up the middle and Paradossi put down a bunt that got passed the pitcher to put two runners on with no outs. After a wild pitch moved both runners up a base, Paul Ritzheimer delivered a sacrifice fly to center field.
Eggenschwiler, Zipko and Mathews each collected two hits in the victory.