SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Jacksonville State 6, Eastern Illinois 3
@Southeast Missouri 5, UT Martin 4
Morehead State 6, @Belmont 5
@Murray State 8-5, Austin Peay 6-8
@Tennessee Tech 11, SIUE 7
@Eastern Kentucky 15, Chicago State 9
JACKSONVILLE STATE 6, EASTERN ILLINOIS 3
OXFORD, Ala. - Jacksonville State evened the Ohio Valley Conference weekend series with Eastern Illinois behind the career pitching performance of Colton Pate and timely late inning hitting with a 6-3 win on Saturday at Choccolocco Park.
After falling on Friday night to the Panthers, 7-5, the Gamecocks bounced back to force a rubber game of the series on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Choccolocco Park in Oxford, Alabama. JSU notched its first OVC win of the season, halting a four-game skid to start league play and evened its overall mark at 9-9. EIU fell to 2-15 on the season and 1-1 in the OVC.
Pate, a junior from Lincoln, Alabama, was stellar on the mound for Jax State as he established new career highs in strikeouts and innings pitched. He fanned a career-high 14 EIU batters in the seven innings he pitched. The right hander scattered three Panther hits and did not give up a run and limited EIU to just two free passes. He joins sophomore Derrick Adams as the second Gamecock pitcher to record 10-plus strikeouts in a single game this season. Adams posted 10 strikeouts at Western Kentucky. Pate's 14 strikeouts is the most by a JSU pitcher since Bill White fanned 15 batters against Samford during the 2000 season. Junior Grant Chandler finished the final two frames for JSU and added two more strikeouts to collect 16 as a staff. In two games against EIU, Gamecock pitchers have tallied 29 strikeouts.
While Pate was in a grove for JSU, EIU's Michael McCormick was matching him inning-for-inning until he ran in to trouble in the seventh. McCormick work out of trouble in first and second without JSU pushing runners in scoring position across the plate. McCormick allowed five hits and four runs in the loss.
After loading the bases off of McCormick, junior Clayton Daniel came through with a bases-clearing double down the left field line to break up the scoreless deadlock. Hayden White followed Daniel with a towering home run over the right field wall to push the lead to 5-0. JSU, who was held to three hits before the start of the seventh had three hits in the frame and add two more in the eighth as Dalton Etheridge had an RBI on a fielder's choice in the eighth to plate the sixth run of the contest.
EIU avoided the shutout with a three-run home run by Hunter Beetley.
Daniel and White led JSU offensively with multi-hit games. Daniel had three RBI, while White had the pair of RBI on his first home run of the season. Matthew Hammers and Andrew Naismith had hits in the contest.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 5, UT MARTIN 4
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri baseball (9-7, 2-3) won a thriller at Capaha Field Saturday against UT Martin (7-9, 0-5) by a final score of 5-4.
With the win, the Redhawks clinch their first OVC series victory of the season.
Southeast jumped out to a 3-0 lead but UT Martin slowed down the Redhawk offense and began chipping away at the lead, eventually tying the contest. A two-run blow in the eighth inning by Chris Osborne pushed across the winning runs for the Redhawks.
Southeast was outhit in the contest, 10-7. Osborne was the lone Redhawk with multiple hits, finishing 3-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored.
Redhawk starter Justin Murphy suffered a no decision, working only four and a third innings in the start. He allowed two runs on seven hits. Matthew Wade (2-0) picked up his second win of the week pitching the final two innings out of the pen. Jared Waldhoff and Carlos Vega each pitched one and a third innings in relief.
Dalton Westfall (2-2) recorded the loss for the Skyhawks. Westfall worked seven complete innings, was responsible for all five Redhawk runs, struck out six, and walked eight.
The Redhawks loaded the bases to begin the bottom of the first inning. Tristen Gagan drove in the first run of the game drawing a bases-loaded walk. Brian Lees followed with a bounding base hit through the left side to widen the early lead to 2-0.
Much like the first inning, the Redhawks loaded the bases to begin the second inning. Dan Holst flew out to centerfield, allowing Connor Basler to tag up and add to the lead, 3-0.
Josh Hauser put the Skyhawks on the board in the top of the third inning with a leadoff home run blasted to left field.
UT Martin made it a one-run game in the top of the fourth inning with an RBI single up the middle by Dan Kerwin, 3-2 Redhawks.
It became a whole new ballgame in the top of the seventh inning. Connor Aube singled to begin the inning, moved to second on a sac bunt and then to third on a wild pitch. He scored to tie the game on an RBI fielder's choice by Ryan Wessling.
Southeast was held hitless from the fourth to the eighth inning.
With bases loaded and two out in the bottom of the eighth, Osborne broke the 3-3 tie with a two-RBI base hit poked through the right side, putting SEMO back on top 5-3 going to the ninth inning.
The Skyhawks made it interesting in the top of the ninth inning. With two out, Wade issued a walk to Tyler Albright then hit Tanner Wessling for a couple baserunners. Pinch hitter Robert Worley singled up the middle to score Albright and cut the lead to one. A fielder's choice ended the game, stranding the tying run 90 feet away.
Creighton Eldridge and Aube finished with two hits each for the Skyhawks.
MOREHEAD STATE 6, BELMONT 5
NASHVILLE - The last time the Morehead State baseball program started Ohio Valley Conference play 5-0, Jimmy Carter was President of the United States. That was 1980, but now the 2017 team can make that claim as the Eagles defeated Belmont 6-5 at Rose Park Saturday.
The Eagles won their eighth consecutive game to improve to 13-5 overall and clinched their second straight league series. Belmont slipped to 7-10 and 2-3 in the league.
It wasn't without drama gain though, just like Friday's 4-3 victory. MSU led 5-0 after five frames, but the host Bruins got a two-run homer and a three-run homer in the sixth to knot the game at 5-5.
Morehead State came right back though with a Braxton Morris RBI single in the seventh, and then relief pitchers Alex Garbrick and JC Hatcher held Belmont to just two hits in the final 3.1 innings. Hatcher garnered his first career save, while Garbrick was credited with his first career win. MSU now has five saves in the last seven games and by five separate pitchers.
Morris led the offensive outburst by the 4-5-6 hitters in the lineup (who combined for nine of the 13 hits) as he was 4-for-5 with three RBI. Senior first baseman Will Schneider collected three hits, and sophomore catcher Hunter Fain had two hits.
Schneider got the visitors on the board with an RBI double in the first, and then Morris scored in the second when Belmont starter Dylan King committed a balk. Morris added a two-run double in the third, and junior third baseman Eli Boggess scored on a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch in the sixth.
Bruin designated hitter Nick Egli hit the two-run smash, and then catcher Clay Payne followed later with the three-run round-tripper.
MURRAY STATE 8-5, AUSTIN PEAY 6-8
MURRAY, Ky. - Murray State was able to jump out to a 7-0 lead in game one of a doubleheader with Austin Peay Saturday at Reagan Field and held on for an 8-6 victory in game one on the way to a split on the day. The Governors responded with an 8-5 win in game two.
The Racers (10-8, 2-3 OVC) opened the day with an RBI single from Ryan Perkins that scored Kipp Moore to give MSU an early 1-0 lead. In the second inning, Aaron Bence got an RBI double and later in the inning Bence would come home to score on a throwing error by the APSU (10-8, 4-1 OVC) catcher. MSU scored four unearned runs in the game one win.
MSU got a big four-run inning in the bottom of the third as Gutzler scored on an error and Davis Sims and Jaron Robinson each had RBI hits. Robinson’s was a triple and he would later come home and score on a double steal put on by the Racers.
The Govs would respond with two runs in the sixth and had a big inning in the eighth, scoring four runs to cut the Racer lead down to 7-6. John Lollar was able to force a huge double play lineout in the inning to keep the Racers out front. Moore would provide an RBI single up the middle in the bottom half of the inning, give MSU an extra run of cushion at 8-6.
Chad Gendron came on and pitched a clean ninth inning to record his fourth save of the season. Ryan Dills picked up his second win of the year as he went seven innings and allowed four earned runs while striking out four.
In game two, it was the Governors that jumped out to the early lead as they scored two runs in the firsts and a run in the second on a solo home run to make it 3-0. MSU would claw its way back in it however as Tyler Lawrence and Perkins each recorded ribbies in the bottom of the third to make it 3-2.
After the two teams traded runs in the top half of the fourth and bottom of the fifth, APSU again got a four-run inning, this time in the seventh to brake open the game and take a 8-3 lead. The Racers would add runs in the bottom half of the inning on Perkins’ RBI single and on a double in the ninth from Lawrence to make it 8-5.
Austin Dubsky started game two and took the loss. He pitched six innings and allowed four runs, three of which were earned on six hits. Dubsky also tied a career-high with eight strikeouts in the game.
On the day, Perkins led the Racers at the plate going 5-for-9 with four RBIs in the two games. Gutzler and Lawrence both went 4-of-9 on the day with Lawrence recording two ribbies. Adam Bauer led the team with three runs scored in the doubleheader.
TENNESSEE TECH 11, SIUE 7
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - A four-run seventh inning pushed Tennessee Tech to a come-from-behind 11-7 win over SIUE baseball in game two of a three-game Ohio Valley Conference series at Bush Stadium.
The Cougars, who have lost three straight, fell to 10-8 overall and 2-3 in the OVC. Tennessee Tech is 14-6 overall and 5-0 in OVC play.
The Cougars built a 4-0 lead with four two-out runs in the second and third innings. SIUE scored three times in the second inning thanks to an RBI-single by Keaton Wright and a two-run double by Jared McCunn. Eric Giltz added a two-out RBI-hit in the third to make it 4-0.
SIUE starter Danny Ehrsam kept the TTU offense in check through five scoreless innings.
Ehrsam started the sixth inning but left after surrendering a hit and a pair of walks. He finished with three runs over 5 1/3 innings. He walked three and struck out three.
Tennessee Tech scored four times in the sixth to tie the score. Collin Harris tripled with the bases loaded to cap the inning.
The Cougars answered in the top of the seventh when Wright singled and McCunn reached on an error to open the frame. Two batters later, Brock Weimer drove a double to right-center field to put SIUE back on top 6-4.
The Golden Eagles scored four more times in the bottom of the inning to take the lead for good at 8-6. TTU scored three more times in the eighth to make it 11-6.
Wright hit his third home run of the year leading off the ninth inning for the final margin.
Mason McReaken (1-1) suffered the loss in relief. He allowed a run on two hits in an inning of work. Tristan Walters, Tyler Hutchinson and Brendan Miller each allowed runs in relief.
The Cougars outhit Tennessee Tech 13-11. The top five in the lineup combined for 10 hits. Wright was 3 for 4 with the home run and two RBIs. Alec Skender, McCunn and Dustin Woodcock each had two hits for the Cougars.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 15, CHICAGO STATE 9
RICHMOND, Ky. - Four home runs propelled the Eastern Kentucky University baseball team to a 15-9 victory over Chicago State University on Saturday at Earle Combs Stadium. With the win, the series is now tied 1-1.
Nick Howie hit a 3-run home run over the fence in right field in the third inning to put the Colonels (11-9) in front 4-0. It was his second dinger of the season. Shea Sullivan’s 2-run home run fueled a 5-run fifth inning and staked EKU to a 10-1 lead. It was his second long ball of the season.
Daniel McFarland and Ben Fisher both went yard in the bottom of the sixth to make it a 14-4 game. McFarland had a 2-run shot, his second of the season. Fisher’s was a solo homer, his seventh of the season and fourth in four games this week. The senior had two dingers and seven RBIs in the series opener against CSU on Friday.
Aaron Ochsenbein (1-2) picked up his first win of the season after allowing just one run on four hits in five innings of work.
Fisher had three hits in five at bats, scored twice and drove in two. Sullivan was 2-for-6 with a run and four RBIs. Howie went 2-for-4 with two runs and three RBIs. McFarland was 2-for-3 with two runs, two RBIs and two walks. Cole Warrenfeltz drew four walks in the game.
The Cougars (4-11) were led by Matt Paciello who finished 3-for-5 with a run and five RBIs.