SUNDAY'S SCORES
@Eastern Kentucky 9, Morehead State 6
@Belmont 6, UT Martin 3
Eastern Illinois 14, @Murray State 3
@Tennessee Tech 16, Austin Peay 9
@Southeast Missouri 12, SIUE 1
Jacksonville State 9, @New Mexico 2
EASTERN KENTUCKY 9, MOREHEAD STATE 6
RICHMOND, Ky. - The Eastern Kentucky University baseball team scored at least one run in five of its eight at-bats on the way to a 9-6 win over Morehead State Sunday afternoon at Turkey Hughes Field.
The win allowed the Colonels (14-17, 5-7 OVC) to salvage one game in the three-game set against the Eagles (15-16, 7-8).
EKU quickly jumped on top of Morehead State with a single run in the first and second innings. After the Eagles tied the game in the top of the fourth, Eastern responded with two more runs in the bottom of the frame to take the lead for good. The Colonels only tallied one hit in the fourth, but capitalized on a pair of walks and a bases loaded balk.
In the sixth, sophomores Kenny Hostrander and Doug Teegarden each came through with two-out RBI hits to push the Colonel advantage to 7-3.
The game tightened back up in the eighth following Jimmy Wright’s pinch hit, three-run homer for the Eagles. However, senior Bryan Soloman blasted his fourth long ball of the season in the bottom of the eighth, a two-run shot, to give Eastern Kentucky a little breathing room.
Senior pitcher Anthony Bazzani then wiggled out of a bases loaded jam in the ninth to earn his fourth save.
Hostrander, Soloman and sophomore Luke Wurzelbacher each drove in two runs for the Colonels. Meanwhile, freshman Taylor Blair finished with two hits and scored three times.
Jake Birkofer went 4-for-4 at the plate for Morehead State.
Freshman pitcher Brian Mroz improved to 4-0 by tossing 1.2 innings of relief. MSU starter Willie Sligh (0-3) took the loss after giving up four runs in 3.1 innings pitched.
BELMONT 6, UT MARTIN 3
NASHVILLE - With a 6-3 win Sunday, Belmont completed the sweep of UT Martin.
Jamie Ritchie loaded the bases in the first after reaching on a fielder's choice. Greg Brody stepped into the box and crushed the ball over the left field fence for his first home run of the season and the first Belmont grand slam.
Drake Byrd hit a leadoff single in the bottom of the seventh and scored on an error by the 1st baseman. Walsh scored on a WP
The Skyhawks avoided the shutout as they plated three runs in the top of the ninth.
Austin Coley went 6.2 innings on the mound scattering five hits. The junior right-hander struck out 11 and walked two.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 14, MURRAY STATE 3
MURRAY, Ky. - Junior Brant Valach went 3-for-5 with six RBI, three runs and three homers to lead the Panther baseball to a 14-3 win at Murray State on Sunday afternoon. EIU improves to 9-22 on the year and 4-8 in Ohio Valley Conference play.
EIU captured its first OVC series of the year on Sunday as the team also won the series opener, 10-9, in 13 innings on Friday night. Murray State took game two, 4-3, in 10 innings on Saturday. The Thoroughbreds dropped to 14-15 on the year and 8-7 in OVC action.
The Panthers used a balanced offense as they scored in all but three innings of play. Eight different players also had a hit in the win for EIU.
EIU had six more hits (15-9) than Murray State and left five fewer runners on base (11-6). The Panther defense also did not have any errors for the second consecutive outing while the Thoroughbreds had three miscues.
In addition to Valach’s offensive performance, Caleb Howell went 4-for-5 with three RBI and a run. Tyler Schweigert added two hits and two runs while Frankie Perrone finished the day going 2-for-5 with three RBI and a triple.
Joe Greenfield (4-3) earned the win for EIU as the senior pitcher threw four strikeouts and allowed three runs in six innings of work. Chase Thurston pitched the final three innings, throwing two strikeouts without allowing any hits or runs. The freshman pitcher also posted his first career save.
Sheldon Baxter (1-2) was tagged with the loss for Murray State, surrendering eight hits and seven runs (four earned) in five innings of work.
Ty Stetson led the Thoroughbreds at the plate, going 2-for-3 with two RBI.
TENNESSEE TECH 16, AUSTIN PEAY 9
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - An offensive outburst by the entire lineup proved more than enough for the Tennessee Tech baseball team to prevent a sweep at the hands of Austin Peay Sunday afternoon, as the Golden Eagles blew out the Governors at Bush Stadium, 16-9.
Powered by 17 hits, the Golden Eagles saw every single starter collect at least one hit and score at least one run. Tech went scoreless in just two innings on the day, failing to plate anyone in the fourth and eighth frames.
Even with the big win and all the offensive prowess surrounding the game, one of the biggest highlights of the afternoon belonged to senior slugger Zach Stephens, who in the fifth inning tattooed a ball over the left field fence for his 51st career home run, tying him for first on Tech's all-time career list for home runs with A.J. Kirby-Jones.
Stephens also recorded his 200th career RBI, making him the first player in both Tech and Ohio Valley Conference history to hit 50 home runs and record 200 RBI in a career. He also now sits just four hits away from breaking the all-time hits record at Tech and three long balls from breaking the OVC home run record.
The first baseman was just one of several Golden Eagles who enjoyed a big day at the plate. Senior Daniel Miles, who entered this week as the national leader in hits, enjoyed a 4-for-5 day at the dish, scoring two runs and driving in four more.
Fellow senior Brandon Thomasson also put up big numbers, going 2-for-5 with four RBI, including three off a mammoth three-run shot to dead center field in the first inning that sparked the Tech offense into the huge day from the plate.
Stephens finished the day with two hits in four at bats, driving in three runs, including two on his long ball. Zach Zarzour, Jake Rowland, and David Allen each enjoyed multi-hit games on the day as well. Zarzour scored two runs while finishing 2-for-3 with two walks. Rowland also scored two runs while driving in one more. Allen scored two and drove in two on two hits in four trips to the plate.
The Austin Peay offense did prove to be a tough out again, as the Governors scored nine runs, including four off the bat of shortstop Logan Gray. But the damage dealt by Tech proved to be too much to overcome and Austin Peay starter Caleb DeLee was tabbed with his third loss of the season.
Junior reliever Seth Lucio earned his second win of the year, tossing three innings and striking out four. He allowed three runs in his final inning of work, but managed to keep the Governor offense off balance at a key juncture in the game for two innings.
The win moved the Golden Eagles to 9-6 in OVC play and sole possession of third place in the league standings. Tech also collected its 25th victory of the year.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 12, SIUE 1
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Travis Hayes was lights out Sunday as he pitched Southeast Missouri baseball's first complete game of the season. After dramatic finishes to the first two games of the series over SIUE (10-19, 8-7 OVC), the Redhawks defeated the Cougars 12-1, securing the series sweep.
The Redhawks' fourth Ohio Valley Conference series sweep was made even sweeter Sunday as Derek Gibson blasted a grand slam in the eighth inning to put the Redhawks ahead 12-1.
Southeast Missouri is now 21-10 on the season and 13-2 in conference play. OVC play is now half way over for the Redhawks as they have five league series remaining in 2014. With Sunday's win, the Redhawks have tied a season-best seven-game winning streak.
SIUE's Nick Lombardo drew a leadoff walk to begin the game. Lombardo stole second then advanced to third on a groundout. Just like game one, the first run of the game scored on a wild pitch. After struggling to find the strike zone in the first, Hayes locked in afterwards, hold the Cougars to that one single run.
Andy Lack hit a one out single up the middle in the third inning. Lack stole second and advanced to third on a single by Jason Blum. After Scott Mitchell drew a walk to load the bases, Matt Tellor flew out for a sacrifice fly to score Lack and tie the game at 1-1.
Southeast took a lead in the fourth inning with a Branden Boggetto two-run blast to left field, 3-1 Redhawks.
Southeast added two more runs in the fifth inning, first on an RBI double by Gibson followed by an RBI single by Andy Lennington to score Gibson and extend the lead to 5-1.
Southeast tacked on a run in both the sixth and seventh innings. With runners on the corners in the sixth, Blum executed a perfect safety squeeze bunt to plate Boggetto.
Tellor led off the seventh inning with a double. Tellor tagged up and took third on a fly out by Gibson then scored on a single from Lennington.
Up 7-1 in the eighth inning, Gibson put the cherry on top of a great weekend for the Redhawks when he blasted a grand slam to right field to put Southeast ahead 12-1. This was Gibson's second career grand slam. He hit his first at UT Martin in 2012.
Hayes made his way out of the dugout to throw the complete game in the ninth. SIUE put runners on the corners but Hayes and his defense worked out of it without giving up any runs and securing Southeast's fourth OVC series sweep of the season.
For the first time in the series, Southeast outhit the Cougars, 15-8.
Lennington was 3-for-5 with two RBI. Boggetto also had three hits with three RBI. Gibson finished with two hits, five RBI, and two runs scored. Cole Bieser, Blum, and Lack also recorded multiple hits in the game.
Hayes improves to 4-0 on the season. He allowed only one run, which came in the first inning scored by the leadoff hitter. Hayes fanned five batters and walked two.
Alec Saikal was 3-for-4 Sunday for SIUE while Keaton Wright, the designated hitter, was 2-for-4.
SIUE starter Jake Stauffenburg (1-4) recorded the loss. Stauffenburg pitched six complete innings, allowing six runs on nine hits.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 9, NEW MEXICO 2
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Paschal Petrongolo went 5-for-5 and drove in a pair of runs to lead Jacksonville State to a 9-2 win over New Mexico in the final game of a three-game series on Sunday.
The Gamecocks improve to 19-12 on the season, while the Lobos fall to 22-11-1.
Adam Polk (3-1) allowed just two hits and had three strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings on the mound to earn the win, while Josh Walker gave up 10 hits in six innings to suffer the loss for New Mexico.
The Gamecocks took the lead after scoring four runs in the third inning after Gavin Golsan and Michael Bishop had back-to back hits before Griff Gordon loaded the bases after getting hit by a pitch.
Petrongolo drove in the first run of the day with a single to left field, while Stephen Bartlett extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a double to center field to drive in two more runs. Petrongolo later scored on a Lobos' error as the Gamecocks built a 4-0 lead.
Jax State extended the lead to 5-0 in the fifth inning after Gordon scored on Petrongolo's third hit of the day, before putting the game out of reach in the eighth inning after scoring three more runs.
Joe McGuire, Tyler Gamble and Golsan each had singles, while Eddie Mora-Loera drove in two runs with a single through the right side, and Michael Bishop scored on a sacrifice fly as the Gamecocks built an 8-0 lead.
JSU added an insurance run in the ninth inning on a RBI single by Bishop for a 9-0 lead, before the Lobos scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth for the final margin.
All nine Gamecocks in the starting lineup recorded a hit behind five from Petrongolo, three from Michael Bishop, while Golsan, Gamble, Mora-Loera and Gordon each had two hits to lead the Gamecocks' 19-hit attack.