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The 2015 Ohio Valley Conference Baseball Championship will feature three games on Friday.
The first game saw No. 1 seed Southeast Missouri eliminate No. 5 seed and defending champion Jacksonville State. The Redhawks then returned to the field to eliminate No. 4 seed Tennessee Tech. In the nightcap No. 2 seed Morehead State topped No. 6 Belmont to advance to the Championship Round.
This season marks the 37th time the event has been held and the sixth year in a row it has been held at The Ballpark at Jackson (formerly Pringles Park) in Jackson, Tennessee. The venue is home of the Jackson Generals, the AA-affiliate of the Seattle Mariners.
The entire tournament is being streamed live and free of charge on the OVC Digital Network. The games are available in HD and available on any computer, tablet or smart phone.
Game 6: #1 Southeast Missouri 12, #5 Jacksonville State 4
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Game 7: #1 Southeast Missouri 14, #4 Tennessee Tech 1
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Game 8: #2 Morehead State 8, #6 Belmont 4
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#1 SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 12, #5 JACKSONVILLE STATE 4
JACKSON, Tenn. - Branden Boggetto hit a grand slam and drove in six total runs as No. 1 seed Southeast Missouri avoided elimination with a 12-4 victory over No. 5 seed Jacksonville State on Friday at the 2015 OVC Baseball Championship.
Southeast Missouri (34-22) advances to play in another elimination game, against No. 4 seed Tennessee Tech, at 3:30 p.m. today.
Jacksonville State (30-27) saw its season come to an end. The loss ended a streak of seven-straight elimination game victories for the Gamecocks dating back to their OVC Tournament Championship run a season ago.
For the second-straight game in this tournament Southeast Missouri fell behind thanks to three walks, a hit batter and three base hits.
But unlike last night’s loss to Belmont, Southeast Missouri tied it an inning later when Brandon Neel launched a three-run home run.
The Redhawks then broke the tie in the sixth inning when Neel added a RBI-groundout, Jason Blum was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and Boggetto hit the grand slam, which was his 12th home run of the season.
Boggetto would add two more RBI on a double in the eighth inning. He finished the day 4-for-5 with two runs scored. Neel also scored two runs to go with his four RBI.
After the rough first inning, Southeast starter Alex Winkelman settled in and did not allow another run over his final five innings. He struck out six and allowed five total hits in his six innings of work to improve to 4-3 on the season.
Tony Urban (4-4) suffered the defeat, allowing nine hits and five earned runs in five innings.
Taylor Hawthorne was 3-for-3 for the Gamecocks on the day.
#1 SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 14, #4 TENNESSEE TECH 1
JACKSON, Tenn. - Junior shortstop Branden Boggetto picked up where he left off from the first game of the day, as he registered four hits and drove in three runs to help No. 1 seed Southeast Missouri eliminate No. 4 seed Tennessee Tech by a 14-1 margin on Friday afternoon at the 2015 OVC Baseball Championship.
Including his six-RBI performance earlier in the day when Southeast eliminated No. 5 seed Jacksonville State, Boggetto finished the day 8-for-11 with nine RBI and five runs scored.
Southeast Missouri (35-22) advances to play an elimination game against the loser of tonight’s Belmont/Morehead State game at Noon on Saturday. Tennessee Tech saw its season end at 26-29.
Tennessee Tech scored a run in the first inning on a double by Tyler Brazelton before Southeast countered with single runs in each the second and third innings.
But the difference in the game was in the fourth inning when Southeast sent 13 batters to the plate and plated nine runs. Freshman Trevor Ezell had a double and two-run triple in the inning as the Redhawks opened the game up.
That is all the support senior pitcher Travis Hayes (8-6) would need in tossing his first complete game of the season. Hayes scattered six hits and allowed just one run while striking out six.
Trevor Maloney (3-3) took the loss for the Golden Eagles. He allowed six hits and five runs in 1.1 innings of relief.
In addition to Boggetto, Ezell and Dalton Hewitt each drove in two runs apiece for Southeast.
Tech was led in hitting by David Allen and Trevor Putzig who had a pair of hits apiece. Senior All-American Dylan Bosheers did not register a hit in his final college game but finished his career with 279 career hits, which ranks him ninth in OVC history.
#2 MOREHEAD STATE 8, #6 BELMONT 4
JACKSON, Tenn. - Morehead State advanced to the Championship Round of the OVC Baseball Tournament for the first time since 1996 with an 8-4 victory over No. 6 seed Belmont Friday night at The Ballpark at Jackson.
Morehead State (37-20) will now play the winner of the Southeast Missouri/Belmont game on Saturday needing just one victory to capture its first OVC Tournament crown since 1993.
Belmont (29-28) will look to stave off elimination when it battles No. 1 seed Southeast Missouri at 12 p.m. on Saturday. The winner of that game will then have to defeat MSU twice to capture the OVC crown.
Morehead State scored twice in the top of the first inning to grab an early lead on Friday night before Belmont answered back with three runs in the bottom of the inning.
The Eagles added single runs in the third and sixth innings but broke through with four more runs in the seventh to extend its advantage to 8-3.
Alex Stephens was a big part of MSU’s attack going 3-for-5 with three RBI and two runs scored. Stephens tripled in a run in the third to tie the game, homered in the sixth inning to give his team the lead and singled home a run in the seventh inning.
OVC Player of the Year Chris Robinson added three hits (two doubles) and had two runs as did first baseman Kane Sweeney.
Overall MSU had 15 hits on the night compared to just four from the Bruins.
Starter Craig Pearcy (4-4) was able to limit the potent Belmont attack that had scored 16 runs in its first two tournament games. Pearcy scattered four hits in recording his first nine-inning complete game of his career. He struck out seven and walked three.
Dan Ludwig (4-6) took the loss, allowing seven runs on 12 hits.