WEDNESDAY'S SCORES
@Eastern Kentucky 18, Youngstown State 9
@Tennessee Tech 6, Berea 2
UAB 14,
@Jacksonville State 9
SIUE at Indiana State (cancelled)
EASTERN KENTUCKY 18, YOUNGSTOWN STATE 9
RICHMOND, Ky. - Eastern Kentucky cruised past visiting Youngstown State, 18-9, on Wednesday afternoon on a cold and windy Opening Day at Turkey Hughes Field.
EKU (7-9) scored a combined 37 runs in its midweek sweep of YSU (2-12). The Colonels beat the Penguins, 19-14, on Tuesday at Transylvania's Marquard Field in Lexington.
After Youngstown State took an early 2-1 lead, the Colonels exploded for six runs in the home half of the second and never trailed again. Sophomore Kenny Hostrander started the rally with a two run single to center, scoring senior Bryan Soloman and freshman Ben Fisher. Senior Sean Hagen highlighted the decisive inning with a bases-clearing double off the wall in right center, scoring Hostrander and fellow sophomores Kyle Nowlin and Doug Teegarden.
The Penguins plated four runs in the top of the third to pull within one run, 7-6. However, a two-out, two-run single by freshman Shea Sullivan in the bottom of that inning gave the Colonels some breathing room, and then Teegarden blew the game open by crushing a grand slam in the bottom of the fourth – EKU's second grand slam in as many days – to make it 13-6.
Hagen led EKU with five RBI on the day, while Soloman finished 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored.
Josh White drove in three runs to pace the Penguins offense.
Freshman right-hander Brian Mroz (1-0) earned his first-career victory, tossing 2.1 innings of relief and allowing only one unearned run on two hits. Junior right-handers Cameron Langfels (two innings pitched, two earned runs) and Ben Gullo (two scoreless innings) also pitched well out of the bullpen. Freshman southpaw Alex Hamilton started on the hill for the Colonels and went 2.2 innings, surrendering six runs on four hits while striking out five batters.
Left-hander Jared Wight (0-3) picked up the loss for YSU, throwing 1.1 innings and allowing seven runs on five hits.
TENNESSEE TECH 6, BEREA 2
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Not even harsh weather conditions could keep the Tennessee Tech baseball team from its 15th win of the season Wednesday afternoon, as the Golden Eagles rallied in the seventh inning to defeat the Berea Mountaineers, 6-2.
Facing gusts of wind up to 30 miles per hour and heavy sleet at times during the game, the Golden Eagles dug deep in a quick pit stop in Cookeville, grabbing another victory before hitting the road again this weekend for a three-game set at Morehead State.
Freshman Kyle Keatts notched his first career start against the Mountaineers, tossing a predetermined four innings while surrendering just three hits and one earned run.
Reliever Stanton Taylor picked up his first win of the season after hurling a scoreless seventh inning. The senior allowed just one hit, effectively shutting down the rest of the batters he faced.
A huge day at the plate by Jake Rowland propelled the Golden Eagles to their come-from-behind victory. The center fielder finished 3-for-4 at the dish, driving in a game-high three runs and collecting a walk. He also went 3-for-5 in Tech's game Tuesday afternoon.
Rowland's most important contribution to the day came in the bottom of the seventh inning. Despite scratching across a run in sixth, the Tech squad entered the inning trailing, 2-1, with the door closing fast. The redshirt sophomore took all the pressure off the Golden Eagle offense, drilling a line drive over the right field fence, despite the heavy wind blowing straight into his face, to give his team the lead for good.
Slugger Zach Stephens ripped a single to center field on the next pitch and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Daniel Miles drew a walk to set up Brandon Thomasson for a chance at extending the Tech lead. And he did just that, driving a single up the middle to bring in Stephens to give Tech a 4-2 lead. Mile would score later in the inning on a Mountaineer error to build the lead to 5-2.
Tech grabbed a run in the bottom of the eighth to grab a final score of 6-2, using a triple from second baseman Zach Zarzour and RBI single by Jake Rowland to grab the score.
Seth Lucio shut down the final three batters of the game, striking out the side to give Tech its 15th win of the year and move its record to 11-1 at home this season.
Reliever Ross Spurgeon had another spectacular outing, striking out four batters for all four of his outs, allowing just two hits.
Miles finished the day an impressive 3-for-3 at the plate, scoring two runs. Thomasson and Zarzour both grabbed multi-hit days as well, combining for two runs and an RBI.
UAB 14, JACKSONVILLE STATE 9
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Recap coming soon.