TUESDAY'S SCORES
@Tennessee Tech 4, Miami (Ohio) 1
Samford 7,
@Jacksonville State 6
@#5 Vanderbilt 2,
Belmont 1
@#13 Mississippi State 3,
Southeast Missouri 2
TENNESSEE TECH 4, MIAMI (OHIO) 1
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Harsh weather conditions as well as the chance to pick up its 20th victory of the season was more motivation than was needed for the Tennessee Tech baseball team Tuesday afternoon, as the Golden Eagles (20-5) swiftly took down the visiting Miami (Ohio) RedHawks (10-11), 4-1, in a game that last just over two hours.
With temperatures barely cracking 40 degrees and flurries dusting the field during pregame warmups, it looked to be anything but baseball weather for the weekday battle. But with a little from the sun, the weather shaped up just enough to warrant a first pitch.
And it was pretty much smooth sailing for the Golden Eagles from there. With winds gusting at and above 30 miles per hour at times, Tech used a methodical approach to picking up its 20th win of the year. Score early and hold it.
That's just how things went down too. In the bottom of the first inning, leadoff man Zach Zarzour kicked things off with a single through the left side on an 0-2 count. Center fielder Jake Rowland reached on a fielder's choice, bringing senior Daniel Miles to the dish with one out. The third baseman, who entered the contest as the nation's hits leader, lived up to his reputation by uncorking a double down the left field line.
The RedHawks managed to record out number two without any trouble, but for some reason elected to intentionally walk shortstop Dylan Bosheers to load the bases for senior slugger Zach Stephens. The all-time Tech leader in RBI made Miami (OH) pay for decision, ripping a two-run single to left center field to propel the Golden Eagles to a 2-0 lead. Tyler Brazelton would follow with his own RBI single to nearly the exact same location and Tech took a 3-0 lead into the second inning.
Miami did manage to scrape a run across in the top of the second frame, using a sacrifice bunt and groundout to cut Tech's lead to 3-1. But that's all the RedHawks would muster the entire game as four Golden Eagle pitchers combined to toss a two-hitter.
Starter Austin Tolle struggled a little with his command, walking five batters on the day. But the junior showed poise with runners on base, allowing just the one earned run in five innings of work to pick up his third victory of the year.
Jeb Scoggins came on for two innings of relief, allowing the only other hit for the RedHawks while striking out one. Kyle Keatts took the eighth inning over, tossing just 10 pitches to record three quick outs. And finally, junior Seth Lucio came on for the final frame, striking out one on his way to his fifth save of the season and 17th of his career.
Coming as no surprise, Miles led the Tech bats on the day, going 2-for-3 with a run scored and a walk while extending his hitting streak to 11 games.
SAMFORD 7, JACKSONVILLE STATE 6
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Parker Curry had a two-out single to score the winning run in the top of the ninth inning and also picked up the win on the mound as Samford rallied for a 7-6 win over Jacksonville State on Tuesday evening.
Curry (1-0) had a pair of strikeouts and allowed two hits in relief to earn the win, while Andres Garcia picked up his seventh save of the year after recording the final three outs for the Bulldogs. Tony Urban (0-1) got stuck with the loss for the Gamecocks after giving up three hits and the go-ahead run in the ninth inning.
Jacksonville State (14-10) jumped on the board after scoring four runs in the first inning off three Samford pitchers. Griff Gordon and Daniel Gaither each drove in a run, while Andrew Bishop and Joe McGuire both drew bases loaded walks to score two more runs as JSU took a 4-0 lead.
The Bulldogs cut the lead to 4-3 in the third inning after Tyler Filliben, Brandon Powell and Heath Quinn each drove in a run, but the Gamecocks pushed the lead to 5-3 after Paschal Petrongolo led off the bottom of the fifth with a solo home run.
Samford took a 6-5 lead in the top of the seventh inning as Caleb Bryson drove in two runs and McWhorter had a RBI single, but the Gamecocks battled back to tie the game in the bottom of the eighth inning after Petrongolo drew a bases loaded walk to tie the game at 6-6.
Samford took the lead in the top of the ninth after Quinn led off with a single and Frankie Navarrete had a pinch-hit single to put runners on the corner. Bryson was then intentionally walked to load the bases, before Curry had a single to left center to score Quinn, before Navarrete was thrown out at the plate for the final margin.
Chase Silvani had a pair of hits to lead the Gamecocks, while Petrongolo drove in two runs. Quinn and Bryson each had two hits to lead Samford.
#5 VANDERBILT 2, BELMONT 1
NASHVILLE - Belmont gave No. 5 Vanderbilt all they wanted Tuesday at Hawkins Field, but the Commodores pushed the game-winning run across the plate in the eighth to come away with the 2-1 victory.
A pair of walks and a Belmont error allowed Vanderbilt to take a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second.
Belmont tied the game in the top of the seventh after Matt Kinney reached on a fielder's choice to score Greg Brody.
Belmont threatened in the eighth after Alec Diamond singled to left and Matt Beaty walked. A fly out left the runners stranded and the score tied at 1-1.
An RBI single from Bryan Reynolds in the bottom of the eighth put the Commodores ahead, 2-1.
James Buckelew delivered a solid performance going four innings giving up only one hit and one unearned run. The left-hander walked two and struck out two.
Chase Cunningham came into the game in the bottom of the fifth and sat down the side. The right-hander went three innings allowing three hits and striking out two.
#13 MISSISSIPPI STATE 3, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 2
STARKVILLE, Miss. - The Southeast Missouri baseball team gave No. 13 Mississippi State (18-9) a run for their money Tuesday evening. The game was tied at two going to the bottom of the ninth. The Bulldogs hit a walk-off single and scored on an error to defeat Southeast in a very well-played game on both sides. Southeast Missouri falls to 14-10 on the season.
The Redhawk offense wasted no time firing in the first inning. Scott Mitchell had the first hit of the game and Andy Lennington loaded the bases with a single to left; however, the Redhawks failed to capitalize early in the game.
Mississippi State touched home first in the game. Brett Pirtle led off the bottom of the second inning with a double hit hard down the left field line. Pirtle was moved over on a sacrifice bunt then scored on a groundout by Derrick Armstrong.
The Redhawks took the lead in the fifth inning. Andy Lack drew a leadoff walk, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Clayton Evans and then took third on a failed pickoff attempt. Blum drew a one out walk to put runners on the corners. Matt Tellor drew a walk of his own to load the bases. After going hitless the last two games, Derek Gibson hit a line drive to left to plate Lack and Blum, giving Southeast a 2-1 lead.
Mississippi State tied the game on a bases loaded sacrifice fly to center in the seventh inning. Starter Alex Winkelman came out of the game in the seventh after facing three batters in the inning.
The Bulldogs loaded the bases with two walks and a hit batsman with no out in the eighth. Christian Hull was pulled from the game and replaced by Greg Mosel. Mosel worked out of the bases loaded, no out jam and came out unscathed. The third out came on a 2-1 putout at the plate when a pitch got by Mitchell and the runner on third tried to take home.
Going to the bottom of the ninth, tied at two, Zack Randolf hit a single through the left side to put the winning run aboard. He moved to second on a sac bunt. Demarcus Henderson then hit a single to shallow center field. As Cole Bieser went to field the ball to come up firing to home, he couldn't come up with it, allowing the winning run to score.
Offensively Tuesday evening, the Bulldogs outhit Southeast 8-5. Five separate Redhawks each contributed a hit, including Mitchell, Tellor, Gibson, Lennington (the two through five-hole hitters) and Bieser.
Randolf and Henderson each had two hits in the game for Mississippi State.
Winkelman pitched six and two thirds innings, gave up six hits, two runs, walked two, and struck out three batters. Winkelman faced 28 batters in the game. Mosel (1-2) suffered the loss on the walk-off hit. Mosel went one and a third innings Tuesday.
Jonathon Holder (2-1) picked up the win for Mississippi State as he was the last Bulldog pitcher to see action in the game. Holder worked two complete innings, giving up only one hit. As a whole, the Bulldogs used five pitchers in the midweek matchup.