WEDNESDAY'S SCORES
@#6 Louisville 19,
Eastern Kentucky 3
@Austin Peay 10, Southern Illinois 3
@Belmont 11, Western Kentucky 3
#6 LOUISVILLE 19, EASTERN KENTUCKY 3
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Eastern Kentucky University baseball team kept it close through a third of the game, but was overwhelmed in the end and fell to the No.6 University of Louisville Cardinals 19-3 on Wednesday evening at Jim Patterson Field.
The Colonels (0-5) went scoreless in the top of the first, leaving the door open for Louisville to take advantage.
After a four-run bottom of the first for the Cardinals (4-0), Eastern started clawing away at the deficit in the top of the second. Freshman Jacob Abbott singled up the middle to bring fellow freshman Nick Howie home, making it 4-1 Louisville. Junior Max Ford notched two strikeouts in the bottom of the second to help prevent the Cardinals from extending their lead.
Senior Ben Fisher doubled to start the third inning, and scored on a bunt single from sophomore Dakota Graham, making it a 4-2 game. A double-steal allowed senior Matt Olive to steal home, making it a one run game in the middle of the third, 4-3. That, however, was as close as Eastern would get.
The game remained 4-3 until the bottom of the fifth where Louisville took control with a five-run inning. The Cardinals scored six runs in the sixth, three in the seventh and one in the eighth to put the game firmly out of reach, winning 19-3
Graham and Abbott led the way for Eastern with one hit and one RBI each.
AUSTIN PEAY 10, SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 3
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Right fielder Chase Hamilton hit two home runs to lead Austin Peay State University’s five home run outing in a 10-3 victory, Wednesday afternoon at Raymond C. Hand Park.
Austin Peay (3-1) wasted little time jumping out front thanks to shortstop Kyle Wilson, who opened the bottom of the first inning with a home run. Hamilton followed two outs later with his own solo home run, giving the Govs a 2-0 lead.
The Governors padded that lead in the second inning 90-feet at a time. Third baseman Max Remy led off the frame with a walk and center fielder Imani Willis followed with a single. Second baseman Garrett Giovannelli drove in two runs with a single, the first of three straight singles that was capped by Hamilton’s RBI single for a 5-0 lead.
Third baseman Parker Phillips supplied a three-run home run in the fourth inning to extend the lead to 8-0. Willis hit his first collegiate home run in the fifth and Hamilton added a second solo home run in the sixth to conclude the Govs scoring.
Govs starting pitcher Josh Rye (1-0) did his part on the mound, tossing three scoreless innings and allowing a single hit while striking out three. Reliever Ricky Heagarty followed with two scoreless, hitless frames as the bullpen allowed just three runs on four hits while striking out seven.
Southern Illinois broke up the shutout bid in the sixth inning, scoring on a wild pitch before first baseman Logan Blackfan then drove in a run with a RBI single. Second baseman Connor Kopach tacked on a solo home run in the eighth.
Blackfan led the Salukis with a 3-for-4 outing, accounting for more than half SIU’s five hits.
SIU starter Allen Montgomery (0-1) suffered the loss after allowing five runs on eight hits in 2.2 innings.
BELMONT 11, WESTERN KENTUCKY 3
NASHVILLE - Belmont baseball (1-3) got out to a hot start and never backed down, registering at least one hit in every inning en route to an 11-3 victory over Western Kentucky (2-2) on Wednesday evening at E.S. Rose Park.
Four different Bruins boasted multi-hit outings as the squad logged 14 hits on the night. Senior infielder Drake Byrd had a career-best performance going 4-for-5 at the plate while collecting five RBIs. He connected on three singles and a double throughout his five trips to the batter's box.
Belmont wasted little time getting to work with redshirt-freshman Matt Cogen delivering a solo shot over the right field wall just five pitches into the game. Cogen was the first of six consecutive leadoff batters to register a hit, and the first of two to launch a dinger. The squad scored in the first three frames to put them up, 5-0, early on.
Senior infielder Tyler Walsh played a crucial role in two of Byrd's five RBIs. The veteran displayed his speed twice by stealing second and putting himself in scoring position for Byrd, who sat two spots behind him in the lineup. The Pigeon Forge, Tenn. product laced a base knock each time as the duo executed perfectly both in the second and seventh frames.
Heading into the third inning with a 2-0 advantage, senior outfielder Brennan Washington went yard well past the leftfield fence. After leading the team in home runs last season, tonight's long ball was his first of the year. BU tacked on two more runs off a two RBI double that found the gap in left centerfield from junior infielder Rafael Bournigal to put the Bruins up, 5-0.
Western Kentucky found a way to temporarily silence Belmont's bats, holding them scoreless for three innings. In the meantime the Hilltoppers scored three unanswered runs to cut their deficit to 5-3. Kaleb Duckworth started the scoring with a home run of his own in the top of the sixth before WKU added two more runs in the seventh.
It was then that Belmont regained its momentum to close the game scoring six unanswered runs of its own. The bottom of the seventh was the first frame that the Bruins didn't leadoff with a hit, but with two outs they worked their way back to load the bases. Once again Byrd came up clutch and drove in the lone run of the frame, painting the left line for his third single. WKU was able to get out of the jam, only giving up one run but the Bruins would return to plague the Hilltoppers in the eighth.
Loading the bases for the second straight time, Belmont raked in five insurance runs including three by non-other than Byrd. A Hilltopper error and two walks assisted in allowing BU to occupy the bases and eventually secure an 11-3 victory.
Eight different hurlers took the mound for Belmont with freshman left-hander Justin Fowlkes earning the win on his debut as a Bruin. Fowlkes was the only Bruin to toss multiple innings, seeing the first 2.0 of the game.