MONDAY'S SCORES
@Tennessee Tech 9, Morehead State 8
@Austin Peay 12, Eastern Illinois 3
Southeast Missouri 13, Eastern Kentucky 1 (Edwardsville, Ill.)
TENNESSEE TECH 9, MOREHEAD STATE 8
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - When push came to shove, great players rise to the top. And that was no different for the Tennessee Tech baseball team Monday morning as All-American Dylan Bosheers played the part while leading the Golden Eagles to a 9-8, walk-off victory over Ohio Valley Conference foe Morehead State.
A force to be reckoned with the entire contest, the senior approached the plate in the bottom of the ninth like any other at bat, despite the fact that contest was knotted at eight runs apiece. Bosheers earned a six-pitch walk, putting the winning run on first and chasing pitcher Seth Boyle from the game.
Aaron Leasher took the hill for Morehead State, ready to face two Tech freshmen at the plate. Each acted as if they had played in the situation for years. First baseman Chase Chambers took his chance first, watching two pitches go by before chopping a high single through the right side and advancing Bosheers to third base.
Enter designated hitter Ryan Flick into the role of playing hero. After a quick visit to the mound by Morehead head coach Mike McGuire, Leasher offered his first attempt to the redshirt freshman. Flick wasted no time lacing the ball between the outreached gloves of the first and second basemen, driving in Bosheers and clinching the victory for the Golden Eagles.
Bosheers enjoyed one of the best single games of his career in leading the Tech squad to its first OVC win, going 3-for-4 with four RBI and three runs scored, including the game-winner. The slugger tattooed two home runs on the day, a two-run shot in the first and a solo bomb in the second, tying a career-high mark. He also stole his second base of the year.
The Golden Eagles wasted no time getting on the board in this one, dropping a four-spot in the first inning thanks to the Bosheers dinger, an RBI double by Jordan Hopkins and a wild pitch. Bosheers' second long ball of the afternoon gave Tech a 5-1 lead after the second frame and neither team found the plate in the third.
Morehead State snagged a couple of runs in the fourth, but the Golden Eagles answered after an RBI single to right field by none other than Bosheers. The Eagles proved just how tough of a team they were in the top of the fifth, loading the bases for Robby Spencer. The shortstop gave Morehead the lead with a grand slam to left center field.
An inning later, the Eagles added to that advantage, taking an 8-6 lead on a sacrifice fly by Ryan Kent.
Tech stayed resilient, never giving in to the pressure. In the bottom of the frame, sophomore Andrew Contreras kicked off the rally with a single up the middle and advancing to second base on a wild pitch. Senior David Allen followed up two batters later, crushing his second double of the game to left center field and cutting the deficit to 8-7.
Continuing his hot weekend, sophomore Anthony El Chibani approached the plate and worked a full count before crushing an RBI double to right center field and tying the game at 8-8.
Senior reliever Cain Sloan picked up his first win of the season on the day, tossing three and two thirds innings of scoreless ball for the Golden Eagles. The veteran showed great command of his pitches all day, allowing just one hit against 13 batters. He finished with one strikeout and no walks.
AUSTIN PEAY 12, EASTERN ILLINOIS 3
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Starting pitcher Jared Carkuff struck out a career-high 10 batters to lead Austin Peay State University’s baseball team to a 12-3 Ohio Valley Conference victory against Eastern Illinois, Monday afternoon at Raymond C. Hand Park. The Govs complete sweep of the league-opening three-game set.
Carkuff (2-2) battled control problems in the first inning, putting the first two batters he faced on base via a base on balls and a hit batsman. Eastern Illinois made him pay for the free passes when designated hitter Jason Scholl hit a two-run double for a 2-1 lead.
The double sparked Carkuff as he struck out the next two batters to end the first inning – the only inning he struck out the side. Those were the first two of 11 consecutive batters retired by the Govs right-hander. A fifth-inning walk ended the streak but he struck out two on the next four batters to end the frame. He ended his outing in the sixth by inducing an inning-ending double play.
Carkuff picked up his second win in four starts after holding the Panthers to two runs on three hits and two walks. He recorded 10 strikeouts, topping his previous career best of six strikeouts set against UT Martin last season.
Austin Peay’s (8-5, 3-0 OVC) offense rallied behind their starting pitcher. Shortstop Clayton Smithson’s two-run single in the second inning put the Govs ahead for good. Left fielder Cayce Bredlau added a RBI single in the inning giving the Govs a 4-2 lead that proved enough.
The Govs would tack on two runs in the third on catcher Caleb Mitchell’s two-run double. A two-run fifth saw Smithson post another RBI single and center fielder Patrick Massoni add a RBI double for a 8-2 advantage.
Austin Peay would add two more runs in the seventh and ninth innings. Massoni and Bredlau hit back-to-back RBI singles in the seventh. The Govs ninth was helped by a three-base error by the EIU defense that resulted in two runs.
The Govs bullpen wrapped up the outing for Carkuff with relievers Michael Costanzo, Hunter Lindley and Zach Neff allowing one run over the final three innings. It was the punctuation mark on an outstanding weekend by Austin Peay’s relief corps, which combined to hold the Panthers to two runs in its 10.2 innings, striking out 18 batters.
Eastern Illinois (0-9, 0-3 OVC) used six pitchers in the contest. Starter Andy Fisher (0-2) was tagged for the loss after allowing three runs on no hits but walked four of the seven batters he faced in 1.1 innings. Scholl finished the game 1-for-4 with two RBI to pace the Panthers offense.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 13, EASTERN KENTUCKY 1
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - The Southeast Missouri baseball team won its first Ohio Valley Conference series Monday with a 13-1 victory over Eastern Kentucky.
Southeast improves to 6-7 overall and 2-1 in OVC play after taking two games of the three-game series. EKU falls to 5-9, 1-2 OVC.
Clayton Evans continued his hot streak Monday by getting the Redhawks rolling in the second inning. With bases loaded and Evans at the plate, Dalton Hewitt scored on a wild pitch to give Southeast a lead. Evans then threaded a single through the left side past a diving third baseman to score Branden Boggetto and Garrett Gandolfo, putting Southeast up 3-0.
With bases loaded and two out for Gandolfo in the third inning, he hit a line drive to center that rolled to the wall past a diving center fielder for a three-RBI triple. Evans then singled to deep short to plate Gandolfo and put the Redhawks up 7-0.
EKU scored their lone run in the fifth when Luke Wurzelbacher scored from third when Kenny Hostrander grounded into a 4-6-3 double play. Southeast led 7-1 going to the bottom of the fifth.
The Redhawks put up another four-run inning in the sixth. With bases loaded, Jason Blum knocked in Gandolfo with a single to center. Andy Lennington then hit a sacrifice fly to plate Scott Mitchell. Hewitt then singled down the right field line to drive in two more runs and extend the lead to 11-1. EKU used three pitchers in the inning.
Evans scored on a Cole Ferguson hit in the seventh, extending the lead to 12-1.
Evans recorded his fourth RBI of the day when he drove Ryan Barnes in from second base to bring the final score to 13-1 in the eighth. It was the second time this season Southeast scored 13 runs in a game. The Redhawks combined for 25 runs in their two wins on the weekend.
Evans and Gandolfo each had three hits in the game. Evans' four RBI was a career-high for the junior. Gandolfo finished with three RBI of his own. Hewitt finished with two hits and two RBI.
Evans finished the series hitting .545 (6-for-11) with six total RBI. He scored two runs and stole a pair of bases on the weekend.
Lucchesi (1-0) picked up his first win in a Redhawk uniform in his first start. He worked seven complete innings. Lucchesi allowed one run on five hits. He struck out two and walked none. Wesley Pyles and Matthew Wade each pitched a scoreless inning in relief.
Kyle Nowlin was the only EKU hitter with multiple hits after going 2-for-4.
Alex Hamilton (0-2) suffered the loss. He pitched five innings, gave up seven runs (three earned) on seven hits. EKU committed three errors on the day. Only five of Southeast's 13 runs were earned.