FRIDAY'S SCORES
@Belmont 7, Murray State 2
Tennessee Tech 16, @Southeast Missouri 1
Austin Peay 9, @UT Martin 5
SIUE 6, @Southern Miss 5
Eastern Illinois at Morehead State (suspended)
Jacksonville State at Eastern Kentucky (postponed)
BELMONT 7, MURRAY STATE 2
NASHVILLE - Behind a pair of home runs from Jared Breen (Marietta, Ga.) Belmont Baseball (34-15, 19-6) defeated Murray State , 7-2, Friday night at Rose Park.
Murray State got on the board first with an RBI single from Brandon Eggenschweiler.
In the bottom of the bottom of the fourth, Josh Davis (Fayetteville, Ga.) got the first hit of the day for the Bruins with a double to the right field corner.
Belmont took control of the game in the fifth inning. Jamie Ritchie (Buford, Ga.) got things started for the Bruins with a two-run single before Breen launched a three-run home run to put BU ahead, 5-1.
Back-to-back doubles from Drew Turner (Shelbyville, Tenn.) and Matt Beaty (Dresden, Tenn.) plated another run to push Belmont ahead 6-1.
Breen mashed his second homer of the game off the scoreboard in the bottom of the seventh to extend Belmont's lead to 7-1.
Eggenschweiler hit a double down the left field line to add a run for the 'Breds in the eighth to make it a 7-2 game.
Chase Brookshire (Chattanooga, Tenn.) struck out nine through five innings of work. He gave up one hit and walked just one.
Jessie Snodgrass (Lebanon, Tenn.) made his 38th appearance of the season, tying the Ohio Valley Conference single season record for appearances.
Dan Huenecke (Palatine, Ill.) came on to close the game for the Bruins, holding them to just two runs.
TENNESSEE TECH 16, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 1
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - An offensive onslaught and a great pitching performance led the Tennessee Tech baseball team to an impressive 16-1 win over Ohio Valley Conference foe Southeast Missouri Friday evening. The win kept the Golden Eagles in sole possession of first place in the OVC.
The Tennessee Tech record book was rewritten several times on Friday, as both senior ace Tristan Archer and junior slugger Zach Stephens provided great performances to boost their team to an important OVC win late in the regular season.
Archer recorded a season-high 11 strikeouts through seven innings of work while scattering seven hits, allowing just one earned run, and walking none. He earned his eighth win of the year, a season-high for righty, on his way to tying the Tech career-record for wins with 22. Archer also broke the Golden Eagle record for innings pitched in a career, passing Craig Humberd in the first inning. He now sits on top with 310.2 career innings pitched.
Stephens, an OVC co-preseason Player of the Year, clobbered his 12th home run of the season in the top of the first, tying him for the OVC lead with teammate Brandon Thomasson. The solo shot also provided Stephens with his 40th career dinger, making him just the second Golden Eagle to hit the 40-home run mark in program history. A junior from Hixson, Tenn., Stephens sits in second place on the Tech career home run list, just 11 behind former Golden Eagle A.J. Kirby-Jones.
The Golden Eagles used a balanced attack all game to take down the Redhawks, scoring in each of the first three innings to put the game out of reach quickly. Tech took an 8-1 lead into the eighth inning, scoring three eighth and five more in the ninth to finish with a 16-1 victory.
Leading the Tech attack was senior outfielder Michael Morris, who went 4-for-5 with three RBI and two runs scored. The middle of the infield was a particular strength in the game for the Golden Eagles as shortstop Dylan Bosheers and second baseman Zach Zarzour both drove in two runs and scored two runs. Zarzour went 3-for-5 as the leadoff man.
Every starter for the Golden Eagles recorded a hit Friday evening, as the offense combined for a season-high 22 hits. Stephens went 3-for-6 with two runs scored and Brandon Thomasson also scored two runs and drove in two runners. Jordan Parris marked the fifth Golden Eagle to record at least two RBI on the night, going 2-for-5 at the plate.
Tech recorded its 20th OVC win of the season with the win, making the 2013 squad the first to hit 20 league wins in program history. They also became just the fourth team in OVC history to record 20 wins in conference play.
AUSTIN PEAY 9, UT MARTIN 5
MARTIN, Tenn. - Junior starting pitcher Zach Hall struck out a season-best seven batters and junior first baseman Craig Massoni belted a pair of home runs as Austin Peay State University downed UT Martin, 9-3, in Ohio Valley Conference action at Skyhawk Field.
Massoni powered Austin Peay’s (36-13, 17-7 OVC) offense with his 3-for-5, two home run, five RBI performance. He put the Govs ahead with a three-run first-inning home run. Massoni would then strike again in the seventh inning with a two-run home that put the Govs ahead 8-1.
Hall (6-2) backed up the offensive outburst with his longest outing this season. He would allow one run and scattered three hits over the first six innings. Hall would get dinged for a run in both the seventh and eighth innings before departing. He held UT Martin to three runs on six this while striking out a career-high seven batters.
UT Martin (10-35, 3-22 OVC) would make things interesting in the ninth inning, as an Austin Peay error opened the door. The Skyhawks would load the bases against reliever Don Whitson Jr. before recording their first out on a fielder’s choice that cut down a run at home.
UTM would score runs on a sacrifice fly and second baseman Sonny Mastromatteo’s RBI single, slashing the lead to 9-5. Whitson would escape another bases loaded jam when he induced an inning-ending pop out.
Shortstop Reed Harper joined Massoni with a three-hit outing, including a ninth-inning RBI single. Right fielder Rolando Gautier was 2-for-5 with a RBI double and second baseman Jordan Hankins went 2-for-4 with a RBI single.
UT Martin’s Dan Tobik (1-7) suffered the loss after allowing six runs on six this over six innings. The Skyhawks starter struck out 10 batters and surrendered only two walks. Mastromatteo led the offense with a 2-for-5 outing.
SIUE 6, SOUTHERN MISS 5
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - SIUE baseball opened a three-game non-conference series with a 6-5 win over Southern Miss Friday night at Pete Taylor Park/Hill Denson Field.
The Cougars (15-30) got the scoring started in the top of the first inning. Following a two out-single by James Vazquez, Joel Greatting launched his sixth home run of the year to put SIUE on top 2-0.
Southern Miss (25-22) scored a run in the bottom of the first and then took a 3-2 lead in the third inning with a pair of runs against Cougar starter Caleb Wilkerson. Isaac Rodriguez tied the score with an RBI double before Mason Robbins added a sacrifice fly.
Rodriguez led the Golden Eagles with two hits and two RBIs.
Wilkerson (2-4) allowed three runs on six hits over 5 2/3 innings to earn the win.
Greatting, Caldwell, Reed, and Lombardo each picked up RBI hits in a four-run fifth inning that put SIUE back on top 6-3. Three of the runs came against Southern Miss reliever Sean Buchholz, who suffered the loss without retiring a hitter.
Greatting was 3 for 5 with the home run and three RBIs. Lombardo was 3 for 4 with the RBI.
The Golden Eagles cut into the lead with a pair of runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. Both runs were charged to reliever Brooks McDowell. Jake Stauffenberg took over on the mound for the Cougars and pitched the final 1 2/3 innings to earn his first save of his career.
Robbins singled to lead off the ninth inning for the Golden Eagles. Stauffenberg struck out Bradley Roney before getting pinch hitter Jared Bales to ground into a game-ending double play.