TUESDAY'S SCORES
@Butler 4,
Eastern Illinois 3
@Indiana State 8,
SIUE 2
@Jacksonville State 8, UAB 7 (10 innings)
Austin Peay 2, @Lipscomb 1
@Middle Tennessee 5,
Belmont 2
@Auburn 7,
Morehead State 3
Evansville 11,
@Murray State 10
Memphis 2,
UT Martin 1 (16 innings) (Millington, Tenn.)
BUTLER 4, EASTERN ILLINOIS 3
INDIANAPOLIS - Eastern Illinois doubled up Butler in the hits column on Tuesday afternoon but the Panthers could not deliver the big hit as they lost 4-3 to the Bulldogs in a non-conference game.
The Panthers scored in the first with Caleb Howell delivering the first of his two hits, an RBI single to left center. The senior outfielder improved his season batting average to .405 with a 2-for-4 day at the plate.
Butler tied the game in the second and took the lead in the third. The Bulldogs scored in the second with Michael Fries hitting a sacrifice fly to center. Ryan Wojciechowski scored after leading off the second with a double. He was one of six Butler players with one hit at EIU had a 12-6 hits advantage. Drew Small had an RBI triple in third and scored on a sacrifice fly by Tyler Houston.
EIU scored in the fourth as Matt Dunavant had an RBI single through the left side. Dunavant started at designated hitter as both teams played many of their reserves.
EIU took advantage of the game’s only error to tie the game in the eighth inning. Cale Hennemann reached on a throwing error that allowed Alex Cain to come around to score. Cain was 2-for-4 in the game joining Howell, Mitch Gasbarro (2-for-4) and Joseph Duncan (3-for-5) as Panthers with multiple base hits.
Butler was able to manufacture the game winning run in the bottom of the eighth as EIU relief pitcher Chase Thurston (2-2) picked up the loss. Cole Malloy loaded the bases with a bunt single and the Bulldogs scored their third run of the game on a sacrifice fly as Garrett Christman flied out to center to score Gehrig Parker.
Luke Johnson (3-0) picked up the win after pitching the eighth inning. Danny Pobereyko pitched the ninth for his fifth save of the season.
EIU fell to 12-34. Butler improved to 21-29.
INDIANA STATE 8, SIUE 2
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - SIUE baseball fell behind 8-0 Tuesday night and couldn't come back, falling to Indiana State 8-2 at Bob Warn Field.
The Cougars fell to 18-27 overall. Indiana State improved to 25-23.
SIUE managed just six hits, by six different players, against four Indiana State pitchers.
Michael Eberele (2-2) started and pitched five scoreless innings for the Sycamores to earn the win. He gave up two hits and walked one. He did not strike out a batter.
Indiana State jumped out to 5-0 lead in the fourth inning on two hits, three walks, and a hit batter. Connor McClain had a two-run hit in the inning. The Sycamores made it 8-0 with a three-run fifth inning. Indiana State catcher Kaden Moore capped the inning with a two-run home run.
Caleb Wilkerson (0-1) allowed three runs in three innings. He gave up three hits and walked three. Ryan Agnitsch allowed five runs on five hits in three innings of relief. Brendan Miller tossed two scoreless innings to finish out the game.
The Cougars got on the board in the eighth inning. Alec Saikal singled through the left side of the infield to drive home his team-leading 34th run of the year. Nick Lombardo scored on the play after reaching on a fielder's choice. Mario Tursi walked with two outs to load the bases, but the Cougars left them loaded when the inning ended. SIUE left eight runners on for the game.
SIUE added a run in the ninth on the first career hit by freshman Justin Fagan, who started behind the plate for the Cougars. Fagan doubled to left to drive home Keaton Wright who singled to start the inning.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 8, UAB 7 (10)
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - The Jacksonville State baseball team needed extra innings to close out its 2015 home slate at Rudy Abbott Field as JSU scored on a UAB wild pitch in the tenth inning to claim an 8-7 win in its final midweek contest of the year on Tuesday.
JSU will use the win to propel it in to the final Ohio Valley Conference weekend series at UT Martin that begins on Thursday on the UTM campus. The Gamecocks need to win 2-of-3 from the Skyhawks to reserve a spot in next week's OVC Tournament in Jackson, Tennessee. The win secured a winning record on the diamond at Rudy Abbott Field for 2015 at 16-14 and pushed JSU's overall mark to 27-25 and snap a four-game losing skid with the win over the Blazers. UAB dropped to 28-23 on the season and will host Old Dominion in a three-game Conference USA series this weekend.
The storyline for the JSU offense was its ability to score runs with two outs in an inning. The Red and White was clutch throughout the game as it scored seven of the eight runs with two outs. The game-winning run came with two outs in the inning as junior Elliot McCummings scored on a wild pitch from thrown by UAB's Sam Kelly. The inning started with a Blazer throwing error that allowed Tyler Gamble to reach, followed by the first of two wild pitches in the frame. Senior Ryan Sebra pushed Gamble to third on a sacrifice bunt. UAB elected to intentionally walk McCummings to face Taylor Hawthorne, but Hawthorne earned a walk to load the bases. After a force play at the plate, JSU was down to its last out in the inning with senior Daniel Gaither at the dish. Kelley's third pitch to Gaither got away from the UAB catcher for the game-winning run.
With crucial weekend series for both squads looming, JSU and UAB used a few arms in the extra inning affair. Combined, both teams used 11 different pitchers in the three-plus hour game. Freshman Jack Pierce, who earned the start in the first match up between the two teams in Birmingham, was stellar out of the bullpen as he tossed the final 4.2 innings and posted a career-high eight strikeouts. The eight strikeouts matches the season high for any Gamecock hurler and the best this season by a reliever out of the pen.
The Gamecocks pounded out 13 hits and were led by freshman Clayton Daniel's four-hit night. The Guntersville, Alabama-native went 4-for-6 on the night and drove in a run. McCummings also had a big night as he collected a pair of hits, including a two-out RBI single to right center in the first inning to give JSU a lead. He also registered a double in the contest and a pair of walks. Gaither delivered with a big hit in Jax State's two-run fifth inning. A pair of bases loaded walks by Peyton Williams and Gaither knotted the contest at 7-all as JSU erased a 6-3 deficit with back-to-back two-run innings. Hawthorne also had a pair of big hits with a double and a single and drove in a run.
Adam Lau led the Blazers at the plate with a trio of hits and also saw time on the bump in the eighth.
AUSTIN PEAY 2, LIPSCOMB 1
NASHVILLE - Freshmen hurlers Zach Neff and Michael Costanzo combined for more than seven scoreless innings to help Austin Peay State University’s baseball team post a 2-1 nonconference victory against Lipscomb, Tuesday night at Dugan Field.
Austin Peay (24-25 entering) got on the board first in the fourth inning. Second baseman Garrett Copeland and designated hitter Dre Gleason hit back-to-back singles to start the inning. Left fielder Patrick Massoni got the Govs on the board with a pop up that eluded the Bisons defense.
Neff got the game off to a stellar start, tossing four hitless innings. He did allow four walks, but struck out six of the 16 batters he faced to give the Govs offense time to deliver a run.
Austin Peay replaced Neff to start the fifth and Lipscomb (32-17 entering) took advantage of the Govs bullpen to tie the game in the fifth inning. Center fielder Michael Gigliotti hit a two-out single and, after a balk moved him to second, he scored on shortstop Grant Massey’s single to center field.
That 1-1 tie would hold for two innings until the Govs would break the tie in the eighth thanks to a Lipscomb miscue. Shortstop Clayton Smithson began the inning with a bunt single and moved to second thanks to third baseman Ridge Smith’s sacrifice bunt.
Right fielder Josh Wilson followed with an infield single the Lipscomb first baseman stopped, but his throw could not beat Wilson to the bag. Instead the throw sailed into the Austin Peay dugout, allowing Smithson to score, giving APSU a 2-1 lead.
Costanzo (1-3) entered the game in the fifth and tossed 3.1 innings of scoreless relief to make that hold up for his season’s first win. He held the Bisons to two hits and a walk while striking out two. Alex Robles went to the mound in the ninth and worked around a leadoff double for his season’s third save.
Lipscomb reliever Nick Andros (5-1) was the hard-luck loser after allowing one unearned run on two hits in two innings of relief. Bisons starter Will Blalock held the Govs to one run on six hits in the opening six innings.
Austin Peay was held to eight hits, Smith and Wilson each posting 2-for-3 outings.
Lipscomb was held to six hits, second baseman Mike Korte posting a 2-for-3 outing to lead the squad.
MIDDLE TENNESSEE 5, BELMONT 2
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - The Bruins and Blue Raiders both dealt a pitcher's duel till the sixth when MTSU plated four runs, to which the Bruins were unable to overcome. The Bruins dropped the midweek contest 5-2 on Tuesday at Reese Smith Jr. Field.
Three Bruin pitchers held the Blue Raiders hit-less through the first five innings. Dom Veltri received the start on the mound pitching two innings and striking out two. Alex Ward pitched two innings and retired six straight batters. Zach Hodgkiss pitched the fifth inning and struck out two of the four batters faced.
In the sixth inning the Blue Raiders were able to plate four runs on three hits. Belmont was unable to place a run on the board until the top of the eighth. Matt Beaty drove in Drew Ferguson who had reached by way of a walk.
In the top of the ninth, the Bruins returned with vengeance and plated another run thanks to a single by Alec Diamond before bases were loaded and a double play ended the game.
AUBURN 7, MOREHEAD STATE 3
AUBURN, Ala. - The Auburn baseball team struck for six early runs and then held off Morehead State, 7-3, Tuesday night at Plainsman Park.
The Tigers, who were swept at home by rival Alabama last weekend, improved to 33-20 overall. The Eagles, who have still won eight of their last 10 games, fell to 33-19 overall. It was the final 2015 non-conference tilt for MSU.
Auburn third baseman Alex Polston nailed a two-out, two-run double in the second inning off MSU starter Patrick McGuff. Tiger right fielder Damon Haecker and shortstop Cody Nulph contributed RBI singles in the third, and catcher Blake Logan drilled a run-scoring double in the four-run outburst.
The Eagles scored runs in the third, sixth and ninth innings. Sophomore designated hitter Jimmy Wright crushed a triple off the "green monster" wall in left field and scored on freshman second baseman Braxton Morris' sacrifice fly in the third.
Senior first baseman Kane Sweeney connected on his team-best 12th home run of the year and 27th of his career in the sixth. That blast extended his team-best reached-base streak to 29 games.
Auburn starting right-hander Robby Clements, who tossed 5.2 innings and gave up just six hits, improved to 5-0.
McGuff surrendered six runs and seven hits in three frames and fell to 1-2. Freshman Aaron Leasher and junior Matt Anderson also saw mound time for Morehead State. Leasher tossed the middle three frames and did not allow a hit, while Anderson held the hosts hitless for the final two stanzas.
The home team generated seven hits, with center fielder Anfernee Grier the lone man in double digits. He was 2-for-3. Morehead State totaled nine hits. Sophomore center fielder Ryan Kent finished 3-for-5. Senior right fielder Brandon Rawe and Wright collected two hits each.
EVANSVILLE 11, MURRAY STATE 10
MURRAY, Ky. - Evansville scored eight runs in the top of the sixth inning to come back from a four-run deficit as the Purple Aces defeated the Murray State baseball team 11-10 Tuesday night at Reagan Field in the Racers’ home finale.
The game started off well for the Racers (15-38) as they scored five runs in the bottom of the first inning to answer an Evansville (28-22) run in the top half of the inning to begin the game. Brock Downey singled to center to score Derek Yoder to tie things at 1-1 and three batters later, Kipp Moore singled through the left side to score Downey to make it 2-1 MSU.
An Anthony Bayus three-run home run to right field opened up the Racer lead to 5-1. It was Bayus’ third long ball of the season. However, MSU would leave the bases loaded in the inning for the first of two times in the loss, the other coming in the fourth.
After the Purple Aces got a run back in the third to make it 5-2, a Downey sacrifice fly to left, brought home Matt McGowan and the Racers extended their lead back to four runs at 6-2. After a scoreless fifth, the Purple Aces put up the big eight-spot in the sixth inning, recording four hits in the inning and receiving help with an MSU error and four walks, to take a 10-6 lead.
The Racers fought back to tie things at 10-10 after a four-run seventh inning. Bayus recorded his fourth ribbie of the night with a single to left to score Kipp Moore. Matt McGowan followed that up with a two-RBI double down the left field line to score Bayus and Clay Kelly. Two batters later, Downey tied it when he reached on a fielder’s choice and scored McGowan.
However, Evansville was able to score the game-winning run in the top of the next inning when pinch hitter Max Foley singled to center field to score Kevin Kaczmarski.
MSU used seven pitchers in the game. Brad Boegel started on the mound and pitched two innings, allowing one unearned run off of a single hit and struck-out three batters. Andrew Bramley pitched three innings and allowed a run on a hit and Tyler Anderson pitched two scoreless innings and tied a career-high with five strikeouts. Cameron Wallace took the loss in the game. Wallace pitched 1.1 innings and allowed one run off four hits.
Bayus finished the game going 3-for-5 with four RBIs and scored two runs. Downey, McGowan and Moore also collected two hits each in the loss while McGowan and Moore both scored twice. Yoder went 1-of-2 in the game with two walks and was hit by a pitch twice.
MEMPHIS 2, UT MARTIN 1 (16)
MILLINGTON, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Martin baseball team was one strike away in the bottom of the ninth from claiming a victory over Memphis but the Tigers extended the game and eventually claimed a 2-1 extra-inning win at the WS “Babe” Howard Classic at USA Stadium.
The game, which was UT Martin’s longest in over a dozen years, lasted five hours and eight minutes before Memphis’ Damo DeMatteo – who entered the game as a defensive replacement in the 13th inning – ended the game with a walk-off single in the bottom of the 16th inning.
All four Skyhawk pitchers who saw action on the mound pitched exceptionally well this evening, as they combined to allow just 10 hits while tuning up 10 strikeouts against a Memphis (34-17) squad that was nationally ranked as recently as two weeks ago. Dillon Symon earned the start and allowed only one hit while fanning three Tigers over three shutout innings. Freshman lefty Daniel Shaw followed with a career-long 4.2 shutout frames of relief, conceding four hits. Patrick Bernard then registered three strikeouts while allowing one run in 4.1 innings before Cole Schaenzer (1-3) was charged with the loss, allowing one run on two hits spanning 3.1 innings.
The UT Martin offense began with a bang, as Matt Hirsch crushed the second pitch of the game beyond the left field wall for his first career homer. Andrew Castillo had two hits while Fletcher Johnson drew three walks for the Skyhawks (17-33), who were playing their last road game of the season tonight.
Hirsch’s blast was more than enough support for Symon and Shaw, who mowed down batter after batter while pitching in familiar surroundings. Symon, who hails from less than 30 miles away in Germantown, retired the side in order in the first inning and did not allow a hit through the first 11 Memphis batters. The Tigers made a bid to tie the contest in the third inning but Castillo rifled in a strike from left field to cut down Darien Tubbs at the plate as he tried to score on a two-out single.
Shaw, who is from less than 20 miles away in Memphis, entered in the fourth and immediately tallied a pair of strikeouts before inducing a flyout to end the inning and strand a Memphis runner on third.
The first batter reached on Shaw in both the fifth and sixth innings but the freshman showed remarkable composure. He got a 4-6-3 double play to end the fifth after a leadoff walk and recorded the final two outs on only eight pitches to erase a leadoff single in the sixth.
Shaw then posted zeroes on the scoreboard in the seventh inning and got two outs on the first six pitches of the eighth before Bernard came in. Facing runners on first and second, Bernard needed only three pitches to get out of the inning and keep the Skyhawk lead at 1-0.
Memphis placed the leadoff batter on base and he would later steal second with no outs. Bernard then got a lineout, followed by a strikeout and had Tubbs at a 1-2 count before he singled to shortstop to score Brandon Montgomery and send the game into extra innings.
Johnson reached on an error to lead off the 10th inning and he would eventually move just 90 feet away from scoring with two away but the Tigers escaped the jam.
Bernard posted shutout frames in the 10th, 11th and 12th, pitching around runners in scoring position in all three innings.
The Skyhawks placed two runners on the basepaths in the 13th but once again couldn’t manufacture a run. Castillo led off with a walk before he was forced out on a Taylor Douglas fielder’s choice. Austin Taylor singled through the right side with two away to put men on first and second but Memphis got through the situation unscathed.
Schaenzer’s first inning of work was in the 13th, as he got two quick outs before extending the game.
UT Martin had its best chance to go ahead in the 14th. Nick Pribble singled to center to lead off the inning and moved up to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Luis Paublini. Johnson then drew a walk and Hirsch reached on an error to load the bases with one out for Castillo, who lifted a fly ball into center. Tubbs completed the catch and fired in a throw that was on target in just enough time to retire Pribble trying to tag from third.
Schaenzer posted two more zeroes on the scoreboard in the 14th and 15th and the Skyhawks once again placed a pair of runners on base in the 16th. Pribble drew a one-out walk and Johnson was issued a two-out walk but Memphis once again got out of the jam.
Tubbs was hit by a pitch to lead off the bottom of the 16th and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. Two batters later, DeMatteo’s single proved to be the game-winner.