SATURDAY'S SCORES
@SIUE 8, Eastern Illinois 7 (12 innings)
@Jacksonville State 6, UT Martin 2
@Tennessee Tech 4, Eastern Kentucky 0
Southeast Missouri 6, @Belmont 3
@Austin Peay 5, Milwaukee 4
Morehead State, @Murray State (postponed)
SIUE 8, EASTERN ILLINOIS 7 (12)
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Skyler Geissinger's two out, RBI-single in the 12th inning lifted SIUE baseball to an 8-7 extra inning win over Eastern Illinois in game two of a three-game series at Simmons Baseball Complex.
SIUE improved to 4-8 overall and 2-0 in OVC play with the win. Eastern Illinois fell to 2-12 and 0-2.
Because SIUE was batting first, the Cougars had to hold off Eastern Illinois in the bottom of the 12th inning. Panthers' leftfielder Caleb Howell singled to start the inning, but was caught stealing by SIUE catcher Brian Sipe. It was the third time in the game that Sipe caught and EIU player at second base.
Cougar reliever Brett Thomas (2-0) then retired the next two hitters. Thomas struck out EIU rightfielder Montana Timmons to end the game.
Thomas tossed three scoreless innings allowing just the single hit to earn the win. He walked one and struck out one. EIU reliever Garrison Stenger (0-4) suffered the loss. He tossed the final two innings allowing the run on two hits.
Geissinger finished the day 4 for 7 with four RBIs including the game winner. The Cougars' shortstop is now hitting .361 for the season.
The Cougars broke out on top with an unearned run in the third. Nick Lombardo drove home Jacob Stewart, who had reached on an error, to make it 1-0. Geissinger made it 3-0 when he drove home a pair of runs with a double off of EIU starter Jake Jahansmeier in the fifth inning.
Johansmeier lasted five innings allowing three runs on six hits.
SIUE carried the 3-0 lead into the sixth inning when the Panthers finally got to SIUE starter Evan Martens for three runs on four hits to tie the score. Martens finished the inning thanks in part to his third double-play inducing ground ball of the game. The freshman allowed the three runs on six hits overall. He struck out two and walked one. The six-inning outing was the longest of his young career.
SIUE took a 6-3 lead with a run in the seventh and a pair of unearned runs in the eighth. The Panthers committed two errors in the inning and five total in the game. SIUE did not commit and error.
The Panthers scored four times in the eighth inning to take a 7-6 lead before Austin Verschoore tied the game for SIUE in the ninth with a two-out RBI-single. Verschoore finished 2 for 5 with the RBI.
Chase Green was 4 for 7 with hits in each of his final four at-bats. Lombardo was 3 for 7 with an RBI and two runs in the win.
Eastern Illinois was led by Howell who finished 3 for 5 with two RBIs.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 6, UT MARTIN 2
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Andrew Bishop had three hits, including a two-run home run, to lead Jacksonville State to a 6-2 Ohio Valley Conference win over UT Martin to guarantee the Gamecocks the series on Saturday afternoon at Rudy Abbott Field.
The Gamecocks improve to 8-5 overall and 2-0 in the OVC, while UTM dropps to 1-12 and 0-2 in the conference.
Zachary Fowler (2-1) posted his second straight dominating pitching performance, allowing just two hits with a career-high eight strikeouts to earn his second straight win in seven shut-out innings. Dalton Potts (0-2) got stuck with the loss after allowing eight hits and six runs in 6 1/3 innings for the Skyhawks.
Jacksonville State took the lead after scoring four runs in the third inning after Michael Bishop led off with a walk and Josh Bobo reached on a UTM error. Griff Gordon then singled through the right side to score Bishop.
Michael Bishop then walked, before Paschal Petrongolo tripled in the right field corner to score Bobo and Bishop. Petrongolo then scored on Ryan Sebra's sacrifice fly to give JSU a 4-0 lead.
The Gamecocks extended the lead in the fifth inning after Gordon was hit by a pitch and Michael Bishop slugged his first home run of the season with a two-run shot over the left field fence as JSU took a 6-0 lead. Gordon also finished with a pair of hits in the game.
UTM, which managed just two hits through eight innings, got on the board in the ninth inning on a RBI double by Jake Deason and a RBI single by Chase Young for the final margin.
TENNESSEE TECH 4, EASTERN KENTUCKY 0
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - The Eastern Kentucky University baseball team fell to host Tennessee Tech, 4-0, on Saturday in game two of this weekend’s Ohio Valley Conference series at Bush Stadium.
Tech (13-2, 2-0 OVC) – the preseason favorite to win the OVC – got on the board with a two-run home run by Zach Stephens in the bottom of the first. The Golden Eagles then added insurance runs in the home half of the fourth and seventh innings.
TTU right-hander Evan Fraliex (1-0) baffled the Colonel lineup, hurling eight shutout innings while surrendering only four runs to earn his first career victory.
EKU lefty Tanner Perkins (1-2) was solid in the loss, but received no run support. Perkins pitched seven innings and allowed four runs on five hits while striking out three batters. Junior Ben Brooks came on in the eighth the toss a scoreless inning of relief.
Sophomores TJ Alas and Doug Teegarden and freshmen Ben Fisher and Taylor Blair all picked up hits for EKU on Saturday, but the Colonels were not able to advance a runner past first base.
Stephens finished the day 1-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored for TTU.\
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 6, BELMONT 3
NASHVILLE - Southeast Missouri baseball won its series against Belmont Saturday with a 6-3 victory over the Bruins. The Redhawks improve to 8-6 in 2014 and 2-0 in Ohio Valley Conference play. Belmont falls to 6-8, 0-2 OVC.
Both teams combined for nine runs despite the game lasting only two hours, exactly; by far the Redhawks' shortest game this season.
Once again, Southeast Missouri was the designated home team in the contest.
Belmont was the first team to score in game two. With two out in the first, Jamie Ritchie reached on an single to left and immediately scored on a double off the wall by Nick Egli to give Belmont their first lead of the series.
A series of interesting events led to a four-run second inning for the Redhawks. Matt Tellor led off with a single to left followed by an infield single by Dalton Hewitt. Branden Boggetto then hit a high chopper over the mound that the shortstop overthrew to first, allowing Tellor to score. With runners on the corners, Derek Gibson hit a two-RBI triple to left-center. Gibson immediately scored on a sacrifice fly to right by Clayton Evans, giving Southeast a 4-1 lead after two innings.
Belmont took a run back in the third on a first-pitch leadoff home run to left by Drew Ferguson to bring the Bruins within two runs, 4-2.
Both offenses remained stagnant following the Ferguson home run until Boggetto hit an opposite-field home run to put the Redhawks up 5-2 in the sixth inning.
In the eighth inning with Redhawk starter Ryan Lenaburg still at work on the mound, Ritchie hit and two-out RBI double to bring the score to 5-3. Lenaburg was pulled from the game after pitching a spectacular 7.2 innings in his fourth start. Greg Mosel came in to relieve Lenaburg and worked out of the inning by snagging a line drive right back to him.
In the bottom of the eighth, leadoff hitter Tellor liked the first pitch he saw and launched it over the outfield fence in left to take the run back and put the Redhawks back up by three runs.
Belmont cared to make it interesting in the ninth by hitting a leadoff double but Mosel worked out of it to secure his first save and the Redhawks' second OVC victory.
At the plate for Southeast, Gibson was 3-for-4 with two RBI as Tellor was 2-for-4 with one RBI. Southeast once again outhit Belmont 10-6 in the contest. Belmont also committed two errors in the game.
Ritchie had Belmont's only multi-hit performance in the series thus far, going 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored.
On the mound, Lenaburg (1-1) saw 7.2 innings of work, giving up Belmont's three runs on five hits. Lenaburg struck out four batters and walked two. In Mosel's 1.1 innings, he gave up only a hit and struck out two.
Belmont's Dan Ludwig (0-3) pitched a complete game but suffered the loss. Ludwig struck out four batters and walked only one in 8.0 innings.
AUSTIN PEAY 5, MILWAUKEE 4
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Austin Peay State University’s baseball team picked up its first walk-off win, taking advantage of a pair of errors on the game’s final play to post a 5-4 victory against Milwaukee, Saturday.
Trailing 4-2 entering the ninth, Austin Peay (5-8) pinch hitter Kevin Corey and left fielder Cayce Bredlau earned back-to-back walks to start the frame. The Govs then saw right fielder Rolando Gautier put down a sacrifice bunt with two strikes to move the runners.
Second baseman Garrett Copeland made the hard work pay off, hitting a 3-2 pitch into the left center gap to tie the game, 4-4. Designated hitter Alex Robles followed with a ground ball that got by the third baseman, Milwaukee saw the error compounded when the left fielder also mishandled the ball, allowing Copeland to score the game-winning run.
Milwaukee (3-6) used Austin Peay’s only two errors of the contest to score the game’s first run in the fifth. Third baseman Nick Unes reached on an infield error and, after a single by designated hitter Ryan Solberg, advanced to third on another error. Shortstop Tell Taylor made the Govs pay for the miscues with a sacrifice fly to plate Unes for a 1-0 lead.
Austin Peay solved Milwaukee starter Brian Keller in the sixth inning. Robles and first baseman Dre Gleason hit back-to-back one out singles. After a flyout for the second out, shortstop Logan Gray gave APSU its first lead, 2-1, with a two-run double into right center.
The Panthers would regain the lead in the eighth. Govs starting pitcher Alex Robles surrendered a leadoff walk and a single to start the inning, which forced his departure. Austin Peay turned to closer Jared Carkuff and he got off to a good start, striking out the first two batters he faced.
However, UWM catcher Mitch Ghelfi doubled into the right field corner to score the two runners. Carkuff couldn’t escape the frame without allowing an RBI single to Unes, giving Milwaukee a 4-2 lead and set up the game-ending theatrics.
Robles led the Govs offense with a 2-for-5 outing, scoring once. He also had an impressive outing on the mound, holding Milwaukee to three runs on seven hits in seven-plus innings.
Eight of the Govs nine hitters finished the game with a base hit. Along with Robles two hits, Copeland finished 1-for-5 with two RBI and Gray went 1-for-3 with two RBI and a walk.
Milwaukee reliever Tyler Thicke (0-2) was tagged for the loss after allowing three runs on one hit and two walks while recording two outs between the eighth and ninth innings. UWM starter Brian Keller was left with no decision after holding the Govs to two runs on eight hits in 7.2 innings.
Porcaro went 3-for-3 with two walks to pace the Panthers offense while Ghelfi was 2-for-4 with two RBI.