THURSDAY'S SCORES
Murray State 6, @Eastern Kentucky 1
@Belmont 10, Tennessee Tech 6
@Morehead State 16, Jacksonville State 7
Austin Peay 6, @SIUE 4 (10 innings)
Eastern Illinois 3, @UT Martin 1
Southeast Missouri, @IPFW (postponed)
MURRAY STATE 6, EASTERN KENTUCKY 1
RICHMOND, Ky. - Murray State freshman Tyler Lawrence provided all the offense that would be needed with a three-run home run in the third inning to lead the Breds to a 6-1 victory over Eastern Kentucky in the first game of a three-game series Thursday evening at Turkey Hughes Field.
Anthony Bayus started the third-inning rally by delivering a leadoff single to left field. Kollin Dowdy put two on with a double off the fence in right center, and Lawrence hit the second pitch he saw deep over the left-field fence for his first career home run.
The Breds (22-28, 13-15 OVC) were not done in the inning as Luke Daugherty started the rally again with a one-out single off the glove of the pitcher. Dalton West put runners on the corners with a single to right center, and Matt McGowan plated Daugherty with a sacrifice bunt to the right side.
Cameron Finch (4-7) would make the lead stand up as he gave up just one run on six hits and seven strikeouts over eight-plus innings.
He ran into some trouble in the fifth inning by allowing a leadoff double. He nearly got out of the frame without any damage, but Luke Wurzelbacher snuck a ball just inside the third-base bag to plate the run.
Finch found himself looking at a second and third, one-out situation in the seventh, but got a strikeout and a popup to end the threat without any damage.
MSU added a pair of runs in the ninth with the aid of three Colonel errors. Taylor Mathews reached on a fielding error to start the inning. He then stole second, and took third on the throwing error. Ty Stetson drove in Mathews with a single through the left side against the drawn-in infield. A throwing error off the bat of Lawrence allowed Stetson to score with two outs.
EKU (23-30, 11-17 OVC) tried to rally in the ninth as they put the first two runners on, chasing Finch from the game. Cody Maerz stepped onto the mound and retired all three hitters he faced to end the game.
Ben Gullo (3-9) took the loss after giving up four runs on nine hits over 7.1 innings.
Bayus led the Breds by going 3-for-5 with a run scored. Stetson and Dowdy each added two hits.
BELMONT 10, TENNESSEE TECH 6
NASHVILLE - Behind five runs batted from catcher Jamie Ritchie, Belmont powered past Tennessee Tech, 10-6 on Thursday night at Rose Park.
Belmont struck first in the second on Ritchie's first solo homer of the game. Off five hits in the fourth, Tennessee Tech took a 3-1 lead.
With the bases loaded in the fifth, Matt Beaty plated the first run after drawing a walk. Ritche laced a bases clearing double down the left field line to put the Bruins back in the lead. Ritchie scored behind back-to-back singles from Nick Egli and William Dodd to make it a 6-3 ball game.
The Golden Eagles tied the game at 6-6 in the seventh behind home runs from Zach Stephens and Brandon Thomasson.
Belmont responded in the bottom half to regain the lead, 9-6. Tyler Walsh doubled down the left field line to drive in Dodd and Egli and Ferguson drew a bases loaded walk to score Matthew Kinney.
Ritchie blasted his second home run of the game in the eighth to extend Belmont's lead 10-6. He went 4-for-5 at the plate and was a triple shy of the cycle.
James Buckelew went six innings, scattering six hits and allowing four runs. The left-hander struck out six in his outing.
MOREHEAD STATE 16, JACKSONVILLE STATE 7
MOREHEAD, Ky. - The Morehead State baseball team plated 11 runs over its first four at-bats and never looked back in a 16-7 victory over Ohio Valley Conference opponent Jacksonville State on Thursday evening at Allen Field.
The Eagles improve to 27-25 overall, 15-13 in OVC action and 12-7 at home. The Gamecocks slip to 29-23 overall, 17-11 in league play and 11-13 on the road.
Junior right fielder Brandon Rawe, who finished 3-for-5 with two scores and one RBI, established Morehead State's single-season hits record. He now has a conference-best 90 base knocks, including a league-high 20 doubles.
Junior second baseman Tyler Bigler, who went 2-for-4 with three runs and one RBI, also posted a Morehead State single-season standard. He was plunked for the 25th time this season in the fourth inning and came around to score.
Morehead State scored its first 11 runs with two outs. The Eagles touched the dish three times in the first, twice in the second, on six occasions in the third and two more times in the fourth. MSU tallied 17 base knocks in the affair.
Junior left fielder Blaine Tanner managed a season-best four hits, three RBI and two runs for the Eagles, while junior first baseman Kane Sweeney added four RBI, three scores, two base knocks and his ninth roundtripper in the second inning.
Freshman right-hander Luke Humphreys allowed four runs in five innings, but still improved to 4-2 with the win. Sophomore right-hander Matt Ellenbest and senior right-hander Dan Hyatt tossed the final four innings for Morehead State.
JSU launched four home runs in the game. Sophomore first baseman Tyler Gamble clobbered two, while senior right fielder Griff Gordon and junior third baseman Ryan Sebra hammered one each. Gordon led the Gamecocks with three hits.
Junior right-hander Zachary Fowler, who allowed six earned runs and seven hits in 2.2 frames, fell to 6-6 with the loss. The Gamecocks used four total pitchers.
AUSTIN PEAY 6, SIUE 4 (10)
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - The top part of the order was held silent until the 10th inning, but provided a pair of two-out hits as Austin Peay State University’s baseball team escaped with a 6-4 victory against SIUE in Ohio Valley Conference action at the Simmons Baseball Complex.
Austin Peay (22-31, 14-14 OVC) shortstop Garrett Copeland and center fielder Cayce Bredlau held hitless through the first nine innings. Copeland’s first hit was a single that drove in catcher P.J. Torres, who led off the inning with a walk then neatly avoided the tag at home to put the Govs ahead. Bredlau followed with the game’s longest hit – a double over the center fielder’s head that allowed Copeland to score.
Relief pitcher Zach Walton started the bottom of the 10th and did not allow a ball out of the infield, surrendering an infield single before retiring the top of the SIUE lineup in order to end the game and pick up his first career save.
SIUE (20-30, 14-14 OVC) scored a run in the first inning and led 2-1 after six innings. Right fielder Devin Caldwell had an RBI single in the first and first baseman Alec Saikal had a RBI single in the fifth to give the Cougars the lead.
Austin Peay took its first lead of the contest with a three-run seventh inning. Left fielder Ridge Smith tied the game with a RBI double and a SIUE passed ball gave the Govs a 3-2 lead. Torres followed with a RBI single and the Govs held a 4-2 advantage.
The Cougars rallied to tie the game in the eighth as its first two batters reached base safely to start the frame. Third baseman Jacob Stewart’s RBI double was the inning’s big hit. Stewart then scored to tie the game at 4-4 on left fielder Nick Lombardo’s fly ball to right field, which was dropped by the Govs defense.
That dropped fly ball was the first of four errors Austin Peay’s defense committed in the eighth and ninth innings – including three dropped fly balls. However, SIUE could not capitalize on the miscues, leaving the game to go to extra innings.
Reliever Ryan Quick (3-6) picked up the win with 1.2 innings of scoreless relief as he struck out three of the eight batters he faced and saw three batters reach on errors. Starter Alex Robles allowed two runs on seven hits in 5.1 innings but did not factor into the decision.
Torres led the Govs with a 1-for-3, two RBI outing. He had a RBI ground out to tie the game in the second in addition to his RBI single in the seventh and a leadoff walk in the 10th. Robles and first baseman Dre Gleason each had two hits.
SIUE reliever P.J. Schuster (2-4) suffered the loss after allowing two runs in 3.2 innings, but struck out six of the 15 batters he faced. Cougars starter Jarrett Bednar allowed four runs on seven hits over the opening 6.1 innings.
Catcher Brian Sipe went 2-for-4 to pace the Cougars nine-hit attack. SIUE also received five walks and saw three batters hit by Austin Peay pitching, but left 14 men on base in the contest.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 3, UT MARTIN 1
MARTIN, Tenn. - A Demetre Taylor RBI ground out in the fifth inning scored the first run of the game for EIU before Jacob Reese drove in a run in the next frame to make the score 2-0.
Tyler Schweigert crossed home plate in the eighth inning for the final run, scoring on a fielding error by the UT Martin right fielder following a triple. The Skyhawks got within two (3-1) in the bottom of the frame on a two-out, bases loaded RBI single by Nico Zych.
Christian Slazinik (1-1) earned the win for EIU, striking out five while only allowing six hits and one run in 5.1 innings of relief. Troy Barton posted his seventh save of the season as the senior pitcher threw two strikeouts in 1.2 scoreless innings.
UT Martin had three more hits (10-7) than EIU and had one more error (2-1). The Skyhawks also left three more runners on base (11-8) than the Panthers.
Howell went 2-for-4 to pace the Panther offense while Schweigert added two hits and two runs.
Dalton Potts (1-9) took the loss for UT Martin, allowing four hits and three runs (one earned) in six innings of relief. He also threw three strikeouts and issued one walk. Taylor Douglas went 3-for-5 at the plate with a run to lead the Skyhawks offense.