WEDNESDAY'S SCORES
@Eastern Kentucky 16, Western Kentucky 15 (10 innings)
@Evansville 6,
Austin Peay 1
@Jacksonville State 5, Bowling Green 0
Saint Louis 12,
@SIUE 3
@Murray State 13, Southern Illinois 12
@Lipscomb 11,
Tennessee Tech 9
EASTERN KENTUCKY 16, WESTERN KENTUCKY 15 (10)
RICHMOND, Ky. - Alex Holderbach’s bases loaded RBI single in the bottom of the 10th inning gave the Eastern Kentucky University baseball team a 16-15 victory over visiting Western Kentucky University on Wednesday at Earle Combs Stadium.
Cornell Nixon led off the 10th inning by drawing a walk. After a sacrifice bunt, Ben Fisher was intentionally walked. Shea Sullivan beat out a ground ball to the shortstop to load the bases for Holderbach. The sophomore drove the first pitch he saw over the head of a drawn in outfield to plate the winning run.
Right-hander Hunter Dunn (2-0) did his part to keep the game tied in the top of the 10th. The junior retired the side in order on three straight strikeouts.
Daniel McFarland had four hits in five at bats and scored four runs for the Colonels (7-6). Sullivan finished 4-for-6 with three runs and four RBIs. Holderbach had a 4-for-6 night with a run and three RBIs. EKU totaled 21 hits on the night.
Steven Kraft led the Hilltoppers (5-9) with two home runs and four RBIs. He went 3-for-5 and scored three runs.
Eastern Kentucky scored six unanswered runs in the first two innings to grab the early lead. Fisher’s two-run double highlighted a 4-run first inning. WKU answered with six runs combined in the third and fourth innings to tie the game. Kraft had a two-run home run in the top of the third.
Sullivan’s ground out in the bottom of the fourth put EKU back on top briefly, 7-6. The Hilltoppers came right back and scored three in the top of the fifth and two more in the sixth for an 11-8 lead.
The Colonels erased that deficit with three runs in the bottom of the sixth to tie it. Eastern then erased another three-run WKU lead with four in the bottom half of the seventh inning. Back-to-back run scoring hits by Sullivan and Holderbach cut the margin to one, 14-13. On a double steal attempt, the ball went into left field allowing both Sullivan and Holderbach to score, giving EKU a 15-14 lead.
Kraft’s second dinger of the night tied the game again in the top of the eighth.
The two teams combined for 31 runs, 34 hits and 19 walks. Eight Eastern Kentucky pitchers combined for 15 strikeouts.
EVANSVILLE 6, AUSTIN PEAY 1
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Left fielder Alex Robles’ solo home run provided Austin Peay State University’s baseball team its only run in a 6-1 nonconference loss to Evansville, Wednesday night at Braun Stadium.
Austin Peay (6-6) had a chance to get on the board early in Wednesday’s game, putting a runner in scoring position with one out in the first. The Govs would work their way into a bases loaded situation with two out but could not get the base hit they needed.
Still, the Governors would get on the board first and it came courtesy a home run. Left fielder Alex Robles hit a long drive over the left center wall to give Austin Peay a 1-0 lead.
Evansville (4-8) went to its bullpen soon after Robles’ home run and the move completely stymied the Austin Peay offense. Reliever Austin Allinger would strike out the first batter he faced to end the third, the first of five consecutive strikeouts to start his appearance.
Allinger’s outing started a stretch of 14 consecutive Govs batters retired by Evansville pitchers. In all, a trio of Evansville relievers retired 19 of the final 21 batters they faced, only permitting solo walks in the eighth and ninth innings.
The Purple Aces offense tied the game in the third after left fielder Dalton Horstmeier led off the inning with a double. A one-out squeeze bunt brought Horstmeier home, tying the game.
But it was the fourth inning that proved the Governors undoing. Evansville sent nine batters to the plate and scored three runs without using a base hit. The Purple Aces took advantage of four walks, a hit batsman and a wild pitch following a strikeout to push across three runs.
Evansville tacked on two additional runs in the seventh, again using two walks a hit batsman to load the bases with two outs. Third baseman Craig Shepherd drove in two runs with a single up the middle, setting the final score.
Austin Peay reliever Tyler Thompson (0-1) was tagged for the loss after allowing three runs on a hit and two walks in 1.2 innings. Governors starter Josh Rye was left with no decision after allowing only one hit over two scoreless innings.
Robles, shortstop Max Remy and catcher David Martinez had the Govs only hits in the loss.
Allinger (1-0) picked up the win with 3.1 innings of scoreless releief that saw his strikeout six of the 10 batters he faced. Horstmeier and third baseman Conner Hasecuster each had two RBI.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 5, BOWLING GREEN 0
OXFORD, Ala. - The Jacksonville State baseball team ushered in its temporary home for the 2017 season with a 5-0 blanking of Bowling Green on Wednesday night at Choccolocco Park.
The Gamecocks, who started the season with 10 straight road games, were happy to play in front of its home crowd, which was a nice turnout in Oxford. JSU improved to 7-4 on the season and improved to 10-6 in home openers under head coach Jim Case and have won five consecutive home debuts dating back to 2013. The Falcons of BGSU, who have played their first 10 games away from the Bowling Green, Ohio campus dropped to 1-9 on the season.
The story of the night was the Jax State pitching staff as Case used eight different arms to collect the shutout. It marked the first blanking for the Gamecocks since the final Ohio Valley Conference series last season against UT Martin. Local product, Joe McGuire, earned his first start of the season and was stellar in his two innings of work. The former Oxford High School Yellow Jacket fanned three and faced six total batters. McGuire moved to 2-0 on the season with the short stint on the mound.
The bullpen kept the Falcons off balanced for the final seven frames as six of the seven relievers tallied strikeouts. The JSU staff finished with 14 strikeouts, which ranked second this season behind a 15 strikeout performance as a staff against Western Kentucky. It was the third time that the JSU arms reached double digits in strikeouts this season. Along with the outing at WKU, JSU recorded 13 punch outs at Dallas Baptist.
The JSU pitchers held BGSU to just two hits throughout the night with just one hit leaving the infield surface. BGSU started the sixth with a bunt single by Nick Glanzman, but freshman Dylan Hathcock worked around the first BGSU hit of the night. Greg Basalyga touched Nate Sylvester for a lead off single up the middle to start the seventh.
Along with McGuire, Hathcock and Sylvester, Tyler Wilburn, Grant Chandler, Cody Dodd and Justin Hoyt contributed an inning.
While the pitching staff was limiting the Falcons offensively, the Gamecocks put together multiple runs in the first and sixth inning. JSU, who has scored 14 runs in the first at bat in the last four games, took advantage of BGSU starter Chandler Stillings' ineffectiveness in the first frame. Stillings walked the bases loaded before another Oxford native highlighted the opening at bat. Junior Trent Simpson lashed a double down the left field line, scoring a pair of runs. Stillings would settle in and hold JSU to the pair of runs on the one hit in three innings of work.
The Gamecocks pushed the lead out to 5-0 with a three-run sixth inning by stringing together three hits. Junior Taylor Hawthorne extended his streak to 25 consecutive games reaching base with a walk in his first plate appearance. The streak dates back to the last 14 games of the 2016 season. He started the three-run sixth with a single to centerfield. He would score the first run of the frame on a passed ball. After senior Josh Bobo had JSU's second hit of the inning, freshman first baseman Andrew Naismith had a two RBI hit up the middle, followed by catcher Nic Gaddis' single.
Bobo and Naismith were the two Gamecocks that registered multiple hits in the midweek win.
SAINT LOUIS 12, SIUE 3
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - SIUE baseball dropped its first home contest of the year Wednesday falling to Saint Louis 12-3 at Simmons Baseball Complex.
The Cougars are now 8-5 overall and open Ohio Valley Conference play Friday at home against Murray State.
SLU improved to 11-1 with the win.
The Billikens scored early, tagging SIUE starter A.J. Johnson (0-1) with five runs in the first inning. Johnson, making his first collegiate appearance, lasted just 1/3 of an inning. He allowed three hits and walked two.
Alex King and Parker Sniatynski each had two RBIs in the inning. Sniatynski added a three-run home run in the third inning to put SLU up 8-0.
The Cougars got on the board in the bottom of the third inning with a two-out RBI-hit from Keaton Wright to make it 8-1. Jared McCunn made it 8-2 with a solo home run for the Cougars in the fourth inning.
Saint Louis added two runs each in the sixth and the eighth to extend its lead to 12-2.
Dustin Woodcock picked up an RBI-single in the ninth inning for the final margin.
SLU starter Devin Mahoney (3-0) picked up the win in a five-inning start. He allowed two runs on five hits. He walked two and struck out eight.
The Cougars used five different pitchers out of the bullpen. Redshirt-freshman Brian Coulter tossed a perfect fourth inning while striking out two. It was the first appearance of his SIUE career.
SIUE managed just seven hits. Nobody had more than a single hit for the Cougars. Alec Skender reached three times. He was 1 for 3 with two walks. McCunn finished 1 for 2 with the home run and a walk.
MURRAY STATE 13, SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 12
MURRAY, Ky. - Caleb Hicks delivered the game-winning hit for Murray State with a two-run double into left field in the bottom of the eighth inning, scoring Tyler Lawrence and Aaron Bence to push the Racers in front of Southern Illinois, 13-12 Wednesday night at Reagan Field to complete an incredible comeback. MSU trailed by as many as nine runs, twice in the contest at 9-0 and 12-3.
Hicks was one of five Racers to record multiple-hits in the win as he went 2-for-4 with a pair of runs as well. Brandon Gutzler went 2-for-4 as well at the dish and also racked up a team-best four ribbies on the night. Adam Bauer was 2-of-3 with two runs and three RBIs and Aaron Bence went 2-for-2 with a pair of runs. Davis Sims led MSU with three hits on the night and added two runs and two RBIs.
The Salukis (7-5) jumped on the Racers (8-4) early as they scored three runs in three of the first four innings and grabbed a commanding 9-0 lead. MSU scratched across three runs in the fifth as a Jaron Robinson RBI double pushed across MSU’s first run of the game. Two batters later Bauer added a sacrifice fly and Gutzler singled to third later in the inning to make it 9-3.
After SIU responded with a three-run top of the sixth, the Racer bats really came alive in the bottom half of the inning as MSU scored six runs in the sixth and cut the deficit down to 12-9. Sims had a two-run single to left to start the scoring and Bauer hit his second triple of the season and 10th of his career later in the inning to plate two more. Hicks scored on a wild pitch and Gutzler added another sac fly as well.
In the eighth, Gutzler hit a monster two-run home run to left field to cut the deficit down to 12-11 on his fourth blast of the year. After a Lawrence walk and a Bence bunt single, Hicks delivered his heroics with one out in the eighth.
Chad Gendron came on and pitched a clean ninth to record his third save of the season as he struck-out a pair of batters. Blake Clynes got the win as he had a solid two inning appearance for MSU in the seventh and eighth, including striking out the side in the seventh.
Jack Hranec got the start on the mound and pitched two innings. Caleb Arbeiter, Luke Brown, John Lollar and Alec Whaley also made relief appearances on the night.
LIPSCOMB 11, TENNESSEE TECH 9
NASHVILLE - A ninth-inning rally by the Tennessee Tech baseball team came up just short in Nashville Wednesday afternoon, as the Golden Eagles plated two in the final frame before eventually succumbing to in-state rival Lipscomb, 11-9.
The Tech offense attacked in full force early and often in the contest, jumping out to a five-run lead through the first four frames. Junior first baseman Chase Chambers kicked off the action in the first, ripping a two-run single down the left field line for an early 2-0 lead.
The Golden Eagles struck for two more in the second, thanks to a Matt Jones two-run bomb to left center field. A solo shot from Ryan Flick to right field made it a quick 5-0 advantage heading into the fourth.
The two sides traded zeroes in the fourth, the only such frame of the contest, before Lipscomb took off on its own offensive tear. The Bisons crossed four across the plate in the fifth to tie things up and the two sides traded individual runs in each of the next two innings.
Lipscomb broke ground in the eighth, scoring four times to take what appeared to be a commanding 11-7 lead with just three outs to go in the contest. Tech refused to go down quietly, mounting a valiant comeback effort.
Leading off the frame, Nick Osborne ripped a 2-2 single to shortstop. The home steam coaxed back-to-back outs to all but end the game, but the Golden Eagles just refused to give in. Trevor Putzig worked a walk on six pitches and a Collin Harris single to third base loaded things for Jones.
Jones delivered with an RBI single to the pitcher, driving in one and leaving the bases loaded for pinch hitter Chris Brown. The senior catcher drew a walk on five pitches, driving in the second run of the frame for the Golden Eagles. Lipscomb nailed down for the final out, however, finishing the contest with a strikeout for the win.
On the day, Jones led the way offensively for Tech, finishing 3-for-4 with three RBI. Flick tallied three hits in five trips to the plate, scoring three times and finishing just a triple shy of the cycle.