WEDNESDAY'S SCORES
Murray State 3, @Southern Illinois 2 (11 innings)
Austin Peay 5, @Lipscomb 2
@#12 Louisville 5,
Eastern Kentucky 2
Tennessee 4,
@Belmont 1
MURRAY STATE 3, SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 2 (11)
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Kipp Moore’s sacrifice fly to right field in the 11th inning scored Tyler Lawrence from third to lead Murray State to a 3-2 victory Wednesday afternoon over Southern Illinois in Carbondale, Ill. Lawrence led off the inning with a triple to setup the game-winning run.
The win is the Racers’ (2-5) first in extra innings this season and first extra-innings win since May of last season when they beat Kentucky in 12. It is also Murray State’s first victory on the road this season.
The Racers once again opened the game strongly, scoring two runs in the top of the first inning. Lawrence got MSU on the board first as he drove in Derek Yoder on a fielder’s choice. The next batter Reed Thompson scored Anthony Bayus on a double to right field that hit the wall. From there on however, the Racer bats were held pretty silent for most of the game.
SIU (1-7) cut the lead down to 2-1 with a run in the third inning and was able to force extra innings with a Logan Blackfan solo home run to left field in the bottom of the ninth inning. The Racers were able to get out of a jam in the inning as the Salukis had runners on the corners with just one out. Tyler Anderson came into the game at that point to pitch for Murray State and was able to get MSU to the 10th inning.
In the 11th, SIU was threatening again with runners on and just one out, but on a bunt, Anderson made a nice play in the field and was able to flip the ball to Lawrence at home plate to get the second out of the inning. The next batter, Anderson was able to strike out to end the game.
Southern Illinois out-hit the Racers 10-6 in the game but got just the one extra-base hit on the homer. The Racers collected three extra-base hits as Nick Moore also collected a double in the victory. SIU stole two bases in the game while the Racers were caught stealing once.
John Lollar made his first career start in the game for MSU. Lollar, who normally works relief, pitched two solid innings allowing just one hit and a walk. Brandon Hicks went three innings out of the bullpen and allowed one run on three hits to go along with a strikeout. Andrew Bramley pitched two shutout innings and Cody Maerz worked 1.1 innings of relief.
Anderson picked up his first career win as a Racer. Anderson’s final line, 2.2 innings pitched, no hits allowed, with two walks and four strikeouts.
AUSTIN PEAY 5, LIPSCOMB 2
NASHVILLE - Sophomore third baseman Logan Gray and sophomore designated hitter Alex Robles teamed up at the plate to help Austin Peay State University’s baseball team rally for a 5-2 victory against Lipscomb, Wednesday, at Ken Dugan Field.
Trailing 2-1 in the fourth, Austin Peay (4-2) tied the game in the fifth when Robles’ RBI double pushed home junior first baseman Josh Wilson, who led off the inning with a walk. Later in the inning the Govs had runners on second and third with one out, but could not capitalize leaving the game tied 2-2.
The Govs broke the tie with some timely bunting in the eighth. Sophomore center fielder Chase Hamilton led off with a bunt single then junior catcher Chase Mitchell followed with another bunt and was ruled safe at first. Junior shortstop Clayton Smithson then moved the runners with a sacrifice bunt. Gray helped the Govs cash in on the opportunity with a RBI single to left field, breaking the tie. Mitchell then would score as Gray got caught in rundown, giving APSU a 4-2 lead.
Austin Peay added another insurance run in the ninth when sophomore first baseman Dre Gleason led off the inning with a single and advanced to second on a balk. Robles made Lipscomb pay for the miscue with a double to the left field wall, giving APSU a 5-2 lead.
The late rally helped make a winner of sophomore Levi Primasing (1-0), who was the first man out of the bullpen. He tossed 1.2 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out one. Reliever A.J. Gaura recorded the game’s final four outs to earn his season’s first save. Robles was the Govs starting pitcher and allowed two runs on five hits in six innings of work.
At the plate, Robles finished 2-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI. Gray ended the day 2-for-4 with a RBI.
Lipscomb’s John Pryor (0-1) suffered the loss after allowing two unearned runs in his 2.2 innings of work. Shortstop Grant Massey was 1-for-4 with two RBI to lead the Bisons offense.
#12 LOUISVILLE 5, EASTERN KENTUCKY 2
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Eastern Kentucky scored in the first inning and led for the first three frames, but lost 5-2 at No. 12 Louisville on Wednesday.
Eastern (3-4) drew first blood in the top of the first. With two outs and She Sullivan on second base, Kyle Nowlin smacked a ball through the left side that glanced off the glove of a diving shortstop. Sullivan scored for a 1-0 lead.
Louisville (5-3) tied it in the fourth and took the lead in the fifth. Zach Lucas tied it with an RBI single. Sutton Whiting’s RBI single gave the Cardinals the lead for good.
Brendan McKay’s two-run single in the seventh extended the UofL lead to 4-1. TJ Alas got one back in the top of the eighth with a run-scoring double to left center. It was the junior’s team-leading seventh RBI of the season.
Sullivan had a 3-for-3 game and scored twice for Eastern. Alas finished 2-for-4 with one RBI.
Sophomore Brian Mroz (0-1) started for EKU. He allowed two runs on five hits in four and two-thirds innings. Mroz walked three and struck out two.
Devin Hairston finished 2-for-3 for the Cardinals with two runs and an RBI. McKay’s only hit of the game was the big two-run single in the seventh. Drew Harrington (2-0) earned the win in relief, tossing two and one-thirds innings without allowing a hit. He did not walk a batter and struck out two.
TENNESSEE 4, BELMONT 1
NASHVILLE - The Belmont Bruins kicked off the game with a small lead but ultimately couldn't hold on as the Tennessee Vols capitalized on errors. The Bruins fell to the Vols 4-1 at Rose Park on Wednesday
Dan Ludwig took the start on the mound for the Bruins and pitched a hitless three innings. He retired all 9 batters faced and recorded 3 strikeouts.
The Bruins has 5 hits to the Vols 9. Recording hits for the Bruins were Alec Diamond, Drew Ferguson, William Dodd, and two hits from first baseman Drake Byrd.