SUNDAY'S SCORES
Eastern Kentucky 7, @Austin Peay 6
Belmont 5, @Eastern Illinois 5 (10 innings)
@Jacksonville State 5, Southeast Missouri 3
Missouri State,
@UT Martin (cancelled)
EASTERN KENTUCKY 7, AUSTIN PEAY 6
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Four home runs and the solid relief pitching of Ben Gullo sent the Eastern Kentucky University baseball team to a 7-6 victory in the series finale at Austin Peay.
Bryan Soloman led off the fifth with a single to left field. Sean Hagen hit EKU’s fourth and final long ball, a two run shot that broke a 5-5 tie and put the visitors on top for good. It was Hagen’s eighth round-tripper of the season. The senior went 2-for-5 with a run scored and two driven in.
Gullo (2-1) came on in relief in the fourth. He allowed one run on four hits, walked one and struck out six in four and two-thirds innings.
With Eastern up by one, Rolando Gautier led off the bottom of the ninth with a walk. Closer Anthony Bazzani came on to replace Gullo. A sacrifice bunt got the first out, but moved the tying run into scoring position. A long fly ball to center for the second out allowed Gautier to move 90 feet from tying the game. On a 1-2 count, Bazzani got Ridge Smith swinging to end the game and earn his sixth save of the season.
Soloman finished 2-for-5 with two runs, two RBIs and a home run.
For the first time in the series, Austin Peay scored first. Logan Gray drove in a run on a fielder’s choice and P.J. Torres scored from third when another runner was caught stealing.
With a runner on in the third, Soloman hit his 10th home run of the season and second of the series to tie the game 2-2. The Governors answered in the bottom half of the third. Alex Robles and Smith each drove in one with singles through the left side. Torres capped the three-run frame with an RBI single to left.
Eastern used the long ball to tie the game in the fourth. With one out and one on, Doug Teegarden sent the ball over the wall in right for a two-run shot. Luke Wurzelbacher followed with a solo dinger over the scoreboard in left to tie the game 5-5.
Teegarden went 1-for-2 with a run, two RBIs, a walk and was hit by a pitch.
APSU closed to within one on a run-scoring single by Torres in the bottom half of the inning. Torres had a 3-for-4 day with a run and two RBIs. Smith had three hits in five at bats, scored twice and drove in one.
Governor starter Alex Belew (0-1) suffered the loss after giving up seven runs on eight hits in four and one-third innings. He walked two and struck out two.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 5, BELMONT 5 (10)
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Sunday’s Ohio Valley Conference baseball series finale between Eastern Illinois and Belmont ended in a 5-5 tie in 10 innings due to inclement weather.
The game had nearly three hours of delays due to inclement weather, pushing the duration of the contest to six hour and 39 minutes. The final lightning strike at 6:39 p.m. forced the umpires to call the game.
An infield RBI single by Dane Sauer in the second inning scored the first run of the game before the Panthers (14-28-1, 8-12-1 OVC) made the score 2-0 in the next inning on an infield RBI single by Tyler Schweigert.
The Bruins (18-24-1, 8-12-1 OVC) got within one in the fourth inning when Matt Beaty scored on a wild pitch. After four complete innings, the game saw roughly a 30 minute lightning delay. Belmont would tie the game at two in the top of the next inning when Alec Diamond crossed home plate on a Joe Greenfield balk.
The game then had a two and half hour delay for rain and lightning before play resumed in the sixth inning.
EIU scored two runs on three hits in the bottom of the seventh inning to make the score 4-2. Belmont added three runs on three hits and one error in the following inning to take its first lead of the game, 5-4.
With two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, Mitch Gasbarro crossed home plate on a fielding error by the Belmont shortstop to tie the game at five.
EIU had two more hits (10-8) than Belmont in the contest. The Bruins left one more runner on base (12-11) and committed one more error (2-1).
Gasbarro finished the day going 2-for-4 with two runs while Cameron Berra went 2-for-4 with a RBI. Diamond paced the Bruins offense as the junior infielder went 3-for-5 with a run and a RBI.
Austin Coley started the game for Belmont and went five innings with three strikeouts while allowing six hits and two runs (one earned). The Bruins used four pitchers who combined to post seven strikeouts and three walks.
Greenfield started the game for EIU and went five innings with three strikeouts and two walks. All told, the Panthers used five pitchers who combined to throw four strikeouts and issue five walks.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 5, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 3
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Michael Mason stuck out all three batters he faced in the top of the seventh inning and the Gamecocks rallied for a pair of runs in the home half of the inning as Jacksonville State claimed a 5-3 win over Southeast Missouri in the OVC series finale on Sunday afternoon.
Mason (4-1) entered with the game tied at 3-3 with runners on first and third and struck out Cole Bieser for the first out. After an international walk to load the bases, Mason struck out the Redhawks top two hitters in Matt Tellor and Derek Gibson to end the threat and pick up his fourth win of the year. Christian Hull (4-1) got stuck with the loss after giving up two runs and recording just two outs for the Redhawks in the bottom of the inning.
Southeast (29-14, 19-5 OVC) took the early lead in the third inning after Clayton Evans led off with a single and moand Cole Beiser followed with a double. Matt Tellor then singled up the midde to drive in Evans and Beiser and give the Redhawks a 2-0 lead.
SEMO added a run in the sixth inning after Derek Gibson scored on a RBI single by Scott Mitchell to extend the lead to 3-0.
Jax State (23-19, 12-9) then snapped a 15-inning scoring drought in the home half of the sixth inning after Eddie Mora-Loera reached on a one-out single - the first hit allowed by SEMO starter Ryan Lenaburg. Griff Gordon followed with a single to left field and after a failed pickoff attempt allowed both runners to move up a bag, Tyler Gamble followed with a single to left field to score Mora-Loera and Gordon and cut the lead to 3-2.
Stephen Bartlett followed with a RBI single to right center to score Gamble all the way from first base and tie the game at 3-3.
The Gamecocks took the lead in the bottom of the seventh inning after Andrew Bishop walked and moved to second on a Cal Lambert sacrifice bunt. After Gavin Golsan walked and stole second, Andrew Bishop scored on Michael Bishop's sacrifice fly to give JSU a 4-3 lead.
Mora-Loera followed with a RBI single to right center to score Golsan as the Gamecocks extended the lead to 5-3, before the game was halted for three hours and 36 minutes.
When play resumed, Graham Officer had a strikeout in his one inning of work, before Stout came in to earn his ninth save of the season.
Stephen Bartlett, Griff Gordon and Eddie Mora-Loera each had two hits to lead the Gamecocks, while Tellor, Gibson, Scott Mitchell and Clayton Evans each had two hits for the Redhawks.