TUESDAY'S SCORES
#10 Louisville 4,
@Eastern Kentucky 0
@#21 Mercer 11,
Belmont 1
@SIUE 9, Indiana State 8 (12)
@Lipscomb 12,
UT Martin 3
Auburn 12,
@Jacksonville State 8
#10 LOUISVILLE 4, EASTERN KENTUCKY 0
RICHMOND, Ky. - Eastern Kentucky fell to 10th ranked Louisville, 4-0, on Tuesday at Turkey Hughes Field.
Louisville (38-10) wasted little time getting on the board. After a one-out single in the first inning by Nick Ratajczak, Ty Young hit a 2-run home run over the right field fence. Cole Sturgeon made it a 3-0 game with an RBI single through the left side later in the inning.
Sturgeon added a two-out RBI single in the fifth. EKU got runners to second and third with one out in the sixth, but failed to score.
Kyle Funkhouser (3-1) earned the win after tossing the complete game, four-hit shutout. He retired 10 straight Colonels from the second to sixth innings, and the final 12 batters he faced. Funkhouser did not walk a batter and struck out eight.
Four different Colonels had one hit each. Young finished 2-for-5 with two runs and two RBIs for the Cardinals. Sturgeon had two hits in four at bats and drove in a pair.
Senior Shane Grimm (4-5) started for Eastern Kentucky (17-28). He allowed three runs on four hits in two innings. He walked one and struck out two. Matt Lynch allowed one run on four hits in five innings of relief work. He walked three and struck out two.
#21 MERCER 11, BELMONT 1
MACON, Ga. - Belmont Baseball (32-15, 18-6) fell to Mercer, 11-1 Tuesday night at Claude Smith Field in seven innings.
Josh Davis (Fayetteville, Ga.) led off the second inning with a double but was thrown out at third after Judah Akers (Cookeville, Tenn.) flew out to right field. Matt Beaty (Dresden, Tenn.) hit a two-out triple to right center but the side was retired leaving him stranded.
Mercer scored one in the second before Logan Gaines hit a three-run homer in the third to extend the Bears' lead to 4-0. Mercer added a pair of runs in the fourth to take a 6-0 lead.
Beaty led off the fifth with an infield single and advanced after Alec Diamond (Kennesaw, Ga.) successfully laid down a bunt down the third base line. The runners were left on after Jamie Ritchie (Buford, Ga.) grounded into a double play.
With the bases loaded in the fifth, a walk and a two-run single allowed Mercer to take a 9-0 lead.
Belmont loaded the bases in the seventh as Davis and Diamond drew walks and Akers hit a single up the middle. Ritchie drew a walk to score Davis and put the Bruins on the scoreboard, 9-1.
Mercer added a pair of runs in the seventh to take the 11-1 win.
SIUE 9, INDIANA STATE 8 (12)
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - James Vazquez lined a two out-single to left center in the bottom of the 12th inning to lift SIUE baseball to a 9-8 win over Indiana State in nonconference baseball Tuesday night at Simmons Complex.
The win is the fifth in a row for SIUE (14-29) and the second consecutive extra inning victory.
Vazquez's hit scored Zach Little with the winning run. Little had led off the 12th with a single to right field. It was the first time in the game SIUE had the lead.
Indiana State (18-21) had leads of 1-0, 4-1, 6-4, and 8-6. Each time Indiana State scored, SIUE answered the next half inning. The two teams combined for 23 hits and eight errors, including three in extra innings.
The Sycamore took a 6-4 lead in the top of the ninth inning against Cougar reliever Brooks McDowell. Indiana State took advantage of a Cougar error and singles by pinch-hitter Derek Hannahs and designated hitter Casey McCurdy.
SIUE took advantage in the bottom of the inning when Nick Lombardo reached on an error to start the inning. Jacob Stewart was hit by a pitch before Vazquez grounded into a fielder's choice. Joel Greatting then smashed a double to the right field warning track allowing Lombardo and Vazquez to score to tie the score 6-6 and force extra innings.
The Sycamore went ahead 8-6 in the 11th thanks to a walk, a hit and an error, but the Cougars answered again.
Travis Becherer led off the inning with a fly ball to left which was misplayed, allowing Becherer to get to second base. Vazquez drove a triple to the wall in left center to cut the lead to 8-7, and then Greatting tied the score with a single to centerfield.
Greatting finished the game 4 for 6 with four RBIs. Vazquez was 2 for 6 with the pair of RBIs. Little was 2 for 5 with two runs scored.
P.J. Schuster (2-3) earned the win. In three innings of relief he allowed two runs, one earned, on two this. He struck out two. McDowell allowed two runs, one earned on four hits over six innings of relief. Drew Staples started for the Cougars and pitched three innings. He allowed four runs.
A.J. McElderry (0-2) suffered the loss for Indiana State. He allowed a run on two hits in 2/3 of an inning.
Landon Curry, McCurdy, Robby Ort, and Mike Fitzgerald all had two hits for the Sycamores. Curry drove in three and scored two.
LIPSCOMB 12, UT MARTIN 3
NASHVILLE - The University of Tennessee at Martin baseball team held an early lead this evening before Lipscomb closed out the game with 11 unanswered runs in a 12-3 Skyhawk loss at Ken Dugan Field this evening.
Offensively, UT Martin (10-34) was led by sophomore Taylor Cox, who doubled twice to go along with a walk and a pair of RBI’s. Hagen Nelson (2-for-3, walk) reached base safely three times while Sonny Mastromatteo (2-for-4, one run scored) also added a multi-hit performance. Byron Johann (two runs scored) and Matt Haynes (RBI) also paced the Skyhawk offense tonight.
Junior starting pitcher Chris Ross was hurt by unearned runs this evening, as he fell to 3-4 on the season. The right-hander out of Pembroke Pines, Fla. allowed eight runs in four innings but only two of those runs were earned. John Skubina (two runs in two innings), Trevor Lundgrin (scoreless seventh) and Nick Wilson (two runs in one inning) also saw time on the mound tonight for UT Martin.
Cox helped the Skyhawks take a lead at the beginning of the contest. After Johann drew a two-out walk in the top of the first, Cox jumped on a 2-1 pitch for a double to center, plating the speedy Johann to put UT Martin ahead 1-0.
After Ross held Lipscomb scoreless in the bottom of the first, the Bisons scored a two-out run in the bottom of the second to even the score at 1-all.
UT Martin would tilt the score back in its advantage in its next at-bat. Mastromatteo lined a one-out single to right, then stole second base to get into scoring position. After Johann was hit by a pitch, Cox once again showed his power stroke – ripping an opposite field double to left that plated two and made the score 3-1.
Ross fanned the first two batters in the third to set the tone for another scoreless frame. However, Lipscomb would strike for seven runs – six of which were unearned – in the fourth to go ahead 8-3.
Skubina retired the side in order in the fifth, but the Bisons added two more runs in the sixth. Lundgrin then shut out Lipscomb on just 12 pitches in the seventh before the Bisons tacked on two more runs in the eighth.
UT Martin had its chances to cut into its deficit, placing two runners on the basepaths in the sixth and loading the bases in the eighth. Ultimately, the Skyhawks could not manufacture any more runs to get back into the game.
AUBURN 12, JACKSONVILLE STATE 8
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Auburn erased an 8-0 deficit and scored 12 runs in the eighth inning as the Tigers claimed a 12-8 win over Jacksonville State to snap a two-game losing skid to the Gamecocks on Tuesday evening.
The Tigers (28-19) sent 16 batters to the plate during the 12-run eighth inning as Dan Gilevenyank hit a pair of three-run home runs and Damek Tomscha added a two-run home run. The Gamecocks used five pitchers and threw 71 pitches during the inning.
Jax State (27-22) jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the third inning after Coty Blanchard drove in two runs with a double and Paschal Petrongolo drove in two more runs to give the Gamecocks the early lead.
The Gamecocks added a run in the fourth when Stephen Bartlett stole home, and Petrongolo had a RBI double in the fifth to give JSU a 6-0 lead.
Jacksonville State added two more runs in the seventh inning after Eddie Mora-Loera drove in two runs with a single to right field as the Gamecocks built an 8-0 lead, before Auburn rallied in the eighth inning.
Cullen Wacker had four hits, while Jordan Ebert, Tomscha and Glevenyak each finished with two hits to lead Auburn's 14-hit attack.
Blanchard had his fourth career 4-hit game, while Petrongolo finished with two hits for the Gamecocks.