FRIDAY'S SCORES
Morehead State 9, @Southeast Missouri 8 (11 innings)
SIUE 6, @Murray State 2
Eastern Kentucky 12, @Belmont 6
@Tennessee Tech 14, UT Martin 5
Austin Peay 6, @Jacksonville State 1
@Eastern Illinois 10, IPFW 5
MOREHEAD STATE 9, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 8 (11)
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - The Morehead State baseball team collected 16 hits and took advantage of nine free passes to register a 9-8 Ohio Valley Conference victory over Southeast Missouri in 11 innings on Friday afternoon at Capaha Field.
The Eagles improve to 10-11 overall, 3-4 in the conference and 7-4 on the road. The Redhawks slip to 13-8 overall, 6-1 in the league and 5-2 at home.
Morehead State also improves to 4-1 in extra-inning tilts and 6-0 in one-run decisions this year. All three of MSU's OVC wins have gone past nine frames.
Junior catcher Chris Robinson led Morehead State by going 5-for-6 with three runs and two RBI. He recorded a two-run homer in the fourth inning and double in the seventh, plus singles in the sixth, ninth and 11th for a game-best nine total bases.
Freshman center fielder Ryan Kent (4-for-6, 1 RBI), junior second baseman Tyler Bigler (2-for-4, 1 R, 2 RBI) and junior right fielder Brandon Rawe (2-for-6, 2 R) also notched multiple hits for MSU. Rawe extended his team-best hitting streak to 17 games.
Morehead State trailed 3-0 after three innings, but fought back with two runs in the fourth and took its first lead with three scores in the sixth. The Eagles added two runs in the seventh, one in the ninth and the game winner in the 11th.
Robinson and senior designated hitter Bobby Burns opened the 11th with back-to-back singles. Junior shortstop Robby Spencer then walked, with the bases loaded for the game-winning RBI, after a wild pitch, intentional walk and fielder's choice.
Morehead State's offense recorded six walks and was hit by a pitch on three occasions. The Eagles finished with 25 total baserunners, but stranded 14.
Right-handed sophomore Craig Pearcy, MSU's fifth-and-final pitcher, improved to 3-1 with the win. He allowed just one run and four hits in four innings. The Eagle relievers yielded just one walk and two earned while striking out five in 6.1 frames.
Right-handed junior Greg Mosel, who allowed two runs and six hits in 2.1 innings, fell to 1-1 with the loss for SEMO. Junior right fielder Dalton Hewitt paced the Redhawks with three hits, while senior designated hitter Derek Gibson and senior first baseman Matt Tellor each launched home runs.
SIUE 6, MURRAY STATE 2
MURRAY, Ky. - Chase Green hit a pair of home runs, including a grand slam, and Ryan Daniels tossed eight innings for the Cougars as SIUE defeated Murray State 6-2 in the first game of a three-game Ohio Valley Conference baseball series at Reagan Field.
SIUE improved to 5-2 in the OVC and 7-12 overall. Murray State dropped to 4-3 overall and 9-10 overall.
Daniels improved to 3-0 with eight strong innings. He allowed two runs, one earned, on six hits. He struck out six. Brett Thomas tossed a perfect ninth inning in relief to seal the victory.
Green got the Cougars on the board in the third inning. Austin Verschoore doubled with one out, Nick Lombardo reached on an error, and Keaton Wright walked before Green connected for his first career grand slam. The homer, the first of the year for Green, came against Murray State starter Cameron Finch.
It was 4-1 SIUE in the fifth when Green led off the inning with a home run, also against Finch. Skyler Geissinger added an RBI-double in the inning to make it 6-1 SIUE.
Finch allowed all six runs, five earned, on nine SIUE hits. He walked three and fell to 2-2 on the year.
SIUE finished with 11 hits total. Devin Caldwell and Denton Reed each had two hits.
Clay Kelly was 2 for 3 to lead Murray State. Ty Stetson and Tayor Mathews had the RBIs.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 12, BELMONT 6
NASHVILLE - The Eastern Kentucky University baseball team pulled away late and defeated host Belmont, 12-6, on Friday in game one of this weekend's Ohio Valley Conference series at E.S. Rose Park.
With the win, EKU improves to 9-13 (2-5 OVC) while Belmont falls to 7-14 (0-4 OVC).
Senior right-hander Brent Cobb delivered a solid start for the Colonels, going five innings and allowing three runs (only one earned) on six hits. It was junior right-hander Ben Gullo (1-1), however, that got the win, tossing three innings of relief and surrendering three runs on three hits while striking out five batters.
Right-hander Chase Cunningham (2-2) picked up the loss for Belmont, allowing two runs in two-thirds innings of work.
Freshman Taylor Blair paced the EKU offense in the win, going 3-for-4 with three RBI. Senior Sean Hagen finished 3-for-6 with an RBI and three runs scored.
After EKU plated two runs in the top of the second on a sacrifice fly by sophomore Doug Teegarden and an RBI single by Blair, Belmont took the lead with three runs in the bottom of the third.
The Colonels responded with two runs in the sixth, two more in the seventh and then blew the game open with five runs in the top of the eighth. Sophomore Kyle Nowlin got the eighth-inning rally going with a leadoff double. After freshman Ben Fisher walked, Hagen laced a single into left field that scored Hagen. Senior Bryan Soloman followed that up with a three-run home run. Sophomore Luke Wurzelbacher tacked on a solo shot later in the inning to make the score 12-3.
The Bruins scored three runs in the final two innings, but it was not enough as the Colonels held on for a much-need conference road win.
TENNESSEE TECH 14, UT MARTIN 5
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Yet another outstanding outing from starter David Hess propelled the Tennessee Tech baseball team (18-4, 5-2) to a 14-5 victory over UT Martin (2-18, 1-6) Friday night, as the Golden Eagles collected their fifth win in Ohio Valley Conference play.
The junior picked up his team-leading fifth win of the year, tossing five and two thirds innings and surrendering just two earned runs. Hess fell one strikeout shy of his career high, fanning 10 UT Martin batters on the evening. He gave up just six hits while walking two to record his six quality start of the season.
On the offensive side of things, senior Daniel Miles led the Golden Eagles, upping his batting average with a 4-for-5 night at the plate. Miles fell just a triple shy of the cycle, kicking off the Tech scoring effort with a solo home run in the bottom of the second inning. The third baseman scored two runs while driving in two more.
Center fielder Jake Rowland had himself a day at the dish, connecting for three hits in three at bats with a walk. The redshirt sophomore drove in two runs while scoring two as well. Catcher Jordan Parris was impressive with the bat, recording four RBI on the power of two hits. He also scored two runs.
Leadoff man Zach Zarzour showed great discipline, garnering three walks. He drove in two runs on a base hit and made a team-high three assists. Shortstop Dylan Bosheers scored a team-best three runs on in the contest, going 2-for-4 with a walk.
AUSTIN PEAY 6, JACKSONVILLE STATE 1
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Behind an impressive pitching performance by starter Alex Robles, Austin Peay State University’s baseball team posted a 6-1 victory against Jacksonville State, Friday night, at Rudy Abbott Field.
Robles went seven innings and allowed just one run in the second inning. He would strand a runner at third in that inning and again in both the third and fourth innings. After allowing a one-out double in the fourth he would retire eight consecutive batters and 11 of the final 12 batters he faced.
Meanwhile, Austin Peay’s (9-11, 3-1 OVC) offense supplied plenty of offense. First baseman Dre Gleason led off the second inning with a home run, giving the Govs a lead they would not relinquish. A Jacksonville State error later in the inning supplied a second run.
The Govs tacked on a run in the fourth thanks to third baseman Kevin Corey’s sacrifice fly. A two-run sixth inning was keyed by center fielder Casey Bredlau’s RBI single and an error on the play allowed a second run to score. Shortstop Garrett Copeland added a leadoff home run in the seventh to set the final score.
Robles (2-1) picked up the win after allowing one run on six hits. He did not walk any of the 27 batters he faced and struck out four. Reliever A.J. Gaura closed the game with two scoreless innings, striking out two.
Gleason and left fielder Ridge Smith each had two hits to pace the Govs 10-hit attack.
Jacksonville State starter Taylor Shields (3-2) was tagged with the loss after allowing five runs on six hits and five walks in 5.2 innings. Designated hitter Paschal Petrongolo supplied the Gamecocks lone run in a 1-for-3, one RBI effort.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 10, IPFW 5
CHARLESTON, Ill. - The Panther baseball team opened its home schedule with a 10-5 victory over IPFW on Friday afternoon at Coaches Stadium.
EIU improves to 5-16 overall and IPFW drops to 4-14 on the year. The Panthers also improved to 19-1 in home openers under head coach Jim Schmitz.
Trailing 5-3 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning, the Panthers rallied to score seven runs on eight hits to take a 10-5 advantage. Demetre Taylor hit a three RBI double to score the first three runs. Jason Scholl hit an RBI single for the next run before Dane Sauer hit a two-out, two RBI double to center field to make the score 9-5. Frankie Perrone hit a RBI single to left field for the final run of the inning.
The Panthers scored two runs on two hits in the second inning to take an early 2-0 lead. Mitch Gasbarro crossed home plate in the following inning on an error to make the score 3-0.
Kristian Gayday hit a solo home run down the left-field line in the fourth inning to get the Mastodons within two (3-1) before they tied the game at three in the fifth inning, scoring two runs on two hits. IPFW scored two runs on three hits in the seventh inning to take a 5-3 lead.
EIU had four more hits (15-11) than IPFW in the win. The Mastodons had four more errors (4-0) than the Panthers and left one more runner on base (9-8).
Taylor went 1-for-3 at the plate with three RBI and a run to pace the Panther offense. Caleb Howell went 3-for-5 with a run while Gasbarro added three hits and two runs. Casson and Sauer combined to go 4-for-7 with three RBI and two runs.
Carter DeBoe led the Mastodons at the plate, going 2-for-5 with two RBI and one run. Greg Kaiser added three hits for IPFW.
Matt Borens (1-2) earned the win for EIU, striking out 10 batters while issuing three walks in seven innings of work. The junior pitcher allowed 11 hits and five runs. Relief pitchers Ben Kennedy and Jake Haberer each pitched an inning to close the game for EIU as they combined to not allow any hits or runs.
Kyle Sorensen (0-1) took the loss for IPFW, allowing eight hits and seven runs in one inning of work. Ryan Wells started the game and went six innings with seven strikeouts. He also surrendered three runs (one earned) with seven hits.