TUESDAY'S SCORES
Eastern Illinois 10, @Butler 6
#26 Tennessee Tech 10, @Alabama A&M 4
@Western Illinois 21,
SIUE 4
@Morehead State 19, West Virginia Tech 6
Belmont 9, @Southern Illinois 3
Dayton 3,
@Eastern Kentucky 2
@Southeast Missouri 13, Saint Louis 2
Western Kentucky 8,
@Murray State 5
Alabama State 6,
@Jacksonville State 5
@UT Martin 9, Evansville 8
Austin Peay, @Lipscomb (cancelled)
EASTERN ILLINOIS 10, BUTLER 6
INDIANAPOLIS - Butler jumped out to a 4-0 lead after the first inning, but Eastern Illinois outscored the Bulldogs, 10-2, the rest of the game and picked up a 10-6 win on Tuesday. The Panthers scored at least one run from the fifth through ninth innings and knocked four home runs in the game.
Eastern Illinois moved to 9-27 with the win, while Butler dropped to 22-13 overall.
Butler applied the pressure early against the Panthers as Gehrig Parker put the Bulldogs ahead, 2-0, with a two-run double in the top of the first inning. The Bulldogs added to their total later in the inning with another two-run double, this time off the bat of Alex Horowitz and extended their lead to 4-0 after the first.
Dougie Parks led off the top of the second inning with a solo home run to left field and cut the deficit to 4-1.
Butler got the run back in the bottom of the fourth however as Chris Maranto homered to left and extended the Bulldogs’ lead back to four at 5-1.
The EIU offense came to life in the fifth inning as Andrew Curran knocked an RBI triple to right-center field and scored on a throwing error and moved the score to 5-3 in favor of the Bulldogs.
The Panthers continued to stay hot on the offensive end and overtook the lead in the top of the sixth. After Logan Beaman worked a one-out walk, Parks tied the game at five with his second home run of the game, this time a two run shot to right-center field. Matt Albert followed the Parks home run with a walk and moved up to third on a double off the bat of Josh Turnock. Frankie Perrone gave the Panthers their first lead of the game with an RBI groundout.
Curran scored on a wild pitch in the seventh and Perrone hit a solo home run in the eighth as the Panthers took an 8-5 lead over the Bulldogs. After Butler scored a run in the bottom of the eighth, the Panthers added a pair of insurance runs in the top of the ninth on a two-run home run by Beaman and took a 10-6 advantage into the last half-inning. The extra run support was all Michael Starcevich would need as he shut down the Bulldogs in the ninth to earn his third save of the year.
Dustin Wilson was in complete control of the Butler offense as he did not surrender a hit over three scoreless innings and struck out four batters for his second win of the season.
Parks recorded his first multi-home run game of his EIU career as him and Curran both finished the game with two hits each to lead Eastern Illinois.
#26 TENNESSEE TECH 10, ALABAMA A&M 4
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - The No. 26 ranked Tennessee Tech baseball team (30-9) won its fifth straight game Tuesday afternoon, hitting the road to defeat Alabama A&M (8-32), 10-4 in Huntsville, Ala. behind a big fifth inning and strong showing on the hill.
Sophomore Ty King earned his second win of the season, tossing five innings while holding the Bulldogs to just one hit, one walk and one unearned run. The right-handed hurler struck out seven while moving to 2-0 on the year.
Alabama A&M took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first on a passed ball, but the Golden Eagles rallied in the top of the second behind a passed ball run of their own. Both sides traded zeroes over the third and fourth frames, before the Tech offense struck a huge blow in the top of the fifth.
Senior catcher Chris Brown provided Tech with the lead for good, ripping an RBI single through the right side after a leadoff triple from Collin Harris.
Later in the frame, with two outs and the bases loaded, junior first baseman Chase Chambers took his turn with the bat. The slugger clobbered a grand slam to right field to blow the game open and provide Tech with a 6-1 lead. It marked his team-leading 11th home run of the year.
The two sides traded single runs in the sixth, headlined by an RBI single to right field by junior third baseman Trevor Putzig. Tech snagged three more runs in the ninth, scoring on an RBI double by junior David Garza, a wild pitch and an RBI single by Harris.
The Bulldogs plated two runs in the bottom of the ninth, but senior reliever Brandon Smith induced a game-ending double play to preserve the Golden Eagles with a 10-4 victory.
Both Evan Fraliex and Marcus Evey turned in scoreless frames of work, combining for three strikeouts and just one hit allowed.
Putzig, junior Ryan Flick and Chambers each tallied multiple hits in the contest while Harris led the way with a three-hit performance.
WESTERN ILLINOIS 21, SIUE 4
MACOMB, Ill. - SIUE baseball dropped its sixth consecutive game Tuesday, falling at Western Illinois 21-4 in seven innings.
SIUE fell to 17-19 overall. Western Illinois improved to 12-22. Midweek contests at Western Illinois are limited to seven innings because the facility does not have lights.
The Leathernecks took a 1-0 lead in the first, but Jordan Stading answered for the Cougars in the second with a solo home run to tie the score. WIU took the lead for good with the first of three big innings. The Leathernecks scored six runs in the bottom of the second to lead 7-1 after two innings.
Michael Shereyk (1-1) surrendered all seven in two innings of work. He gave up seven hits.
Both teams scored in the third, leaving Western Illinois with an 8-2 lead. Marty Brunk led off the fourth inning with a solo home run to cut the lead to 8-3. The Leathernecks scored eight times in the fourth inning and then added five more runs in the sixth inning to lead 21-3. Drue Galassi hit grand slams in both innings. He finished with 10 RBIs. Jared McCunn led off the seventh with a solo home run for the 21-4 final.
SIUE finished the game with 10 hits, but left nine men on base. McCunn and Chris Monasmith each finished with two hits for SIUE.
Western Illinois finished with 20 hits and left just three on base.
MOREHEAD STATE 19, WEST VIRGINIA TECH 6
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Sophomore outfielder Niko Hulsizer homered twice, including hitting the Eagles' third grand slam in the last two games, and the Morehead State baseball team left the yard five times total Tuesday night in handing visiting West Virginia Tech a 19-6 defeat at Allen Field.
The Eagles moved to 26-11 overall and have now scored 79 runs in their last four games. MSU also moved its home winning streak to 18 games. Hulsizer, along with senior outfielders Will Schneider and Ryan Kent, and freshman catcher Brody Shoupe all clubbed round-trippers. The offense, which leads the nation in batting average, hits and on-base percentage, reached the 20-hit mark for the third straight game.
Hulsizer, who leads the team with a 21-game reached-base streak, crushed his grand slam in the third inning when the Eagles broke open a 1-0 game to make it 5-0. He added a two-run double to the right field corner during a nine-run fourth inning and homered again to left field in the fifth for his nation-leading 18th. Shoupe, who just had his first career four-bagger on Saturday, tallied a three-run smash in the fourth, and Kent connected on his first homer of the season, a two-run job, in the fourth as well. Kent finished 4-for-4.
On the mound, freshman Jake Ziegelmeyer was credited with the win. He tossed the first three innings (on a pre-determined count) and only surrendered one hit. Five other Eagle hurlers (Luke Humphreys, Seth Boyle, Kyle Cantu, John Hurayt and Josh Baumgart) combined for nine strikeouts.
Hulsizer, Schneider and junior third baseman Eli Boggess all totaled three hits apiece.
BELMONT 9, SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 3
CARBONDALE, Ill. - A career day at the plate from junior Rafael Bournigal (Mulberry, Fla.) helped Belmont baseball to a 9-3 victory as the Bruins swept the series against Southern Illinois Tuesday night at Itchy Jones Stadium.
Bournigal went four-for-four at the plate, registering a hit in every one of his at bats – the most hits he's recorded in an outing during his three-year career with the Bruins. Before today, the second baseman had only ever tallied three hits in a game. He was joined by senior Nick Egli (Brentwood, Tenn.) who also put together a perfect day in the batter's box, recording a hit along with being issued a trio of walks. Egli added three of the squad's seven RBIs to his line as well.
Belmont's bats caught fire in the opening frame with the first seven Bruins that took the plate either registering a hit or RBI to put them ahead, 5-0, right away. Bournigal initiated the hitting frenzy with a leadoff two-bagger that painted the right line before a trio of singles and two sacrifice flies would plate three runs. With a runner on and two away sophomore Hunter Holland (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.) gave a pitch a ride over the left field fence for a two-run long ball that allowed BU to score its most runs in the first inning this season.
As the Bruins dominated at the plate, sophomore starting hurler Casey Queener (Brentwood, Tenn.) kept the Salukis bats at bay – only giving up one hit in the first three frames. The righty struck out four batters and retired seven of the first nine batters he faced before ever allowing multiple runners to get on base. Meanwhile, BU continued to explode at the plate, registering at least one hit in every inning through four stanzas.
Bournigal connected on his third hit in as many plate appearances to spark a two-out rally in the fourth with a base shot up the middle. Belmont proceeded to deliver two more singles and tack on a pair of runs to increase its advantage, 7-0. Egli cashed in on both RBIs with a base shot to left field and capped off the Bruins rally.
In his fourth trip to the plate, Bournigal ripped his career-best fourth hit into left field to remain perfect when batting. The Mulberry, Florida native compiled a pair of doubles as well as two singles through six stanzas, an extensive contributor to the Bruins 12 hits during that span. Senior Clay Payne (Powell, Tenn.) would make it home on a wild pitch in the frame to increase their lead, 8-0.
The shutout bid was broken up in the home half of the sixth as the Salukis plated three runs via a wild pitch and a two-run dinger. A leadoff hit-by-pitch issued by freshman reliever Justin Fowlkes (Collierville, Tenn.) would go on to score Southern Illinois' first run of the day as the Saluki made it to third base. Greg Lambert then launched a double to the wall in right-centerfield to set Logan Blackfan up to send a two-run homer to right field to bring SIU within five, 8-3.
Three free rides dealt to the Bruins in the eighth allowed them to load the bases before a couple of rookies would team up to score BU's ninth run. Freshman Jackson Curb (Franklin, Tenn.) came into pinch run for Payne and made his way to third courtesy of two more walks. With runners residing on all three bases and only one out credited to BU, freshman Logan Jarvis (Franklin, Tenn.) sent one high and deep into left field to bring in Curb and register his first RBI as a Bruin via a sacrifice fly.
DAYTON 3, EASTERN KENTUCKY 2
RICHMOND, Ky. - Ben Fisher launched his NCAA leading 18th home run of the season, but it was not enough as the Eastern Kentucky University baseball team lost to the University of Dayton Flyers, 3-2, on Tuesday night at Earle Combs Stadium.
Dayton took the lead in the top of the second with a three-run inning sparked by a Connor Echols double and a Robbie Doring walk. A throwing error allowed Echols to score, and put the Flyers in position to score runs on consecutive ground outs.
The Colonels (21-16, 7-8 OVC) cut into the lead with a Matt Olive home run in the bottom of the second. It was the first home run of the season for the senior, and it put EKU on the board, 3-1.
After two and a half innings of scoreless baseball, Fisher stepped to the plate in the bottom of the fifth. The Richmond native blasted a ball over the right field wall to bring Eastern within one, 3-2. That, however, was as close as EKU would get.
Tyler Henry pitched three and two thirds innings for the Flyers in relief, allowing only one hit and no runs, shutting down the high-powered EKU offense and securing the 3-2 win for Dayton.
In addition to the Olive and Fisher home runs, Logan Stephens notched two hits for the Colonels.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 13, SAINT LOUIS 2
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri baseball (20-15) opened its home-and-home series with Saint Louis University (21-13) Tuesday evening with a 13-2 victory.
With the win, Southeast Missouri has defeated all three other Division I teams in the state of Missouri this season.
In his first Redhawk start, Ryan Losman (1-1) pitched five complete innings, allowing just one run which came in the first inning, and only three hits. He fanned seven and issued just a single walk.
Robert Beltran pitched two scoreless innings out of the pen, allowing just one hit and striking out two. Blaze Hastings and Chase Hagerty each pitched an inning in relief to finish the game.
The Redhawks scattered 15 hits Tuesday. Chris Osborne, Chris Caffrey, and Danny Wright all recorded three hits while two others each had two. Osborne and Wright each drove in a quartet of runs while Dan Holst drove in three.
Southeast chased SLU starter Keith Kutzler (0-1) out of the game in the second inning. He pitched one and a third innings, allowed the first six runs on five hits. He walked two and hit two batters. The Billikens used six total pitchers including Kutzler Tuesday.
SLU's Parker Sniatynski sent the first pitch of the game over the wall in left, off the scoreboard, to put the Billikens up very early, 1-0.
Southeast found its first and only lead of the contest with a pair of big hits in the second inning. The frame began with a walk to Brian Lees followed by a double by Caffrey. Wright launched his second home run of the season over the wall in right to put the Redhawks on top 3-1. A pair of singles and a hit batsman loaded the bases for Holst who doubled to the wall in center, clearing the bases and extending the new SEMO lead to 6-1 in the second.
A pair of home runs: a leadoff jack by Caffrey and a three-run homer by Osborne, scored four more Redhawk runs in the bottom of the third to break the double-digit run mark at 10-1.
The Redhawks added three more in the bottom of the fifth to widen the lead to 13-1. Clayton Evans led off with a triple and scored on a single to center by Osborne, his third hit and fourth RBI. Osborne went first to third on a single by Holst and scored when Tristen Gagan grounded into a double play. Lees was hit by a pitch, took third on a single by Caffrey, his third hit of the evening, and scored on an infield single by Wright.
Ryan Hernandez scored the second Billiken run with a home run to right center in the top of the eighth, 13-2.
The SEMO pitching staff held SLU to just five hits, distributing the offense across five players.
WESTERN KENTUCKY 8, MURRAY STATE 5
MURRAY, Ky. - What began as a pitcher’s duel, turned into a high-scoring affair Tuesday night in the rain at Reagan Field thanks to one big inning each from Murray State and Western Kentucky as the Racers fell, 8-5 in a rain-shortened game in Murray.
MSU starter Austin Dubsky pitched six scoreless innings, allowed just four hits while striking out seven in the contest while WKU starter Jeff Ciocco worked 5.1 innings, allowed two runs off two hits, and struck-out three batters on the night.
After five and a half scoreless innings on the night, the Racers were able to bust the game open with a five-run bottom of the sixth inning. Brandon Gutzler got MSU (16-20) going with an RBI single to right center field that scored Ryan Perkins. In the next at-bat, a Jack Hranec single through the right side made it 2-0 Racers as Adam Bauer scored from third. Then, MSU lengthened its lead after back-to-back hit by pitches to Kipp Moore and Davis Sims scored Gutzler and Hranec. The Racers concluded the scoring with a sacrifice fly RBI to left field by Jaron Robinson, which brought home Tyler Lawrence.
The lead would not last for long though as the Hilltoppers (12-25) would rally with a six-run top of the seventh inning to take the lead. WKU would go on to add runs in both the eighth and ninth innings on wild pitches. After the Hilltoppers scored their final run, the game was called due to heavy rain.
Luke Brown took the loss for MSU as the Racer bullpen failed to preserve the lead. Brown allowed two runs on two hits and had a pair of walks in 0.1 innings. Chad Gendron, Caleb Hicks, Tyler Horsley and Derrik Watson all appeared in relief and gave up runs in the loss.
Gutzler was the only Racer to have multiple hits in the loss as he went 2-for-4 in the contest. Bauer was 1-of-3 with a walk and Lawrence reached base twice on a walk and a hit-by-pitch.
ALABAMA STATE 6, JACKSONVILLE STATE 5
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - The Jacksonville State baseball team dropped another tough one-run decision on Tuesday night with a 6-5 setback to Alabama State at Choccolocco Park.
The Gamecocks, who continue their five-game homestand on Wednesday against longtime nemesis Troy, dropped to 18-15 overall, while the Hornets picked up their 18th win of the season and improved to 18-19 on the season. Tuesday's contest was the first of three against the Hornets as JSU will visit Montgomery on May 2 and May 9.
ASU's Joseph Estrada's eighth inning solo home broke up a 5-5 deadlock for the winning run after the Gamecocks had clawed their way back in to the contest after falling behind 4-0 after two innings.
The Hornets touched Jax State starter Michael McCreless for two runs in each of the first two innings. McCreless struggled with command in the outing that lasted just one inning. ASU had a pair of hits and took advantage of three walks by McCreless. The Gamecock bullpen allowed eight of the ASU 10 hits, but gave up one free pass in the final eight innings and recorded seven strikeouts. Senior Nate Sylvester fanned five of the seven Hornets in three innings of work. Grant Chandler worked two frames before Trent Simpson pitched the seventh and eighth. Simpson's night at the plate, a 4-for-5 performance was soured with Estrada's sole home run over the right field wall off of Simpson. Simpson took the loss and fell to 1-3 on the season.
JSU began to solve ASU starter, Terrell McCall in the third inning as junior Nolan Greckel delivered the first of two RBI with a ground ball to the right side of the diamond to score Dalton Etheridge. Etheridge joined Greckel and Simpson with multiple hits in the loss. Etheridge started the third inning with a triple and had a two-run single in JSU's four-run sixth. Greckel's second hit also highlighted the JSU sixth with the game-tying RBI with a two-out single to right center.
The Gamecocks had scoring opportunities with runners in scoring position in the final three plate appearances. ASU's Austin Bizzle tossed the final 2.1 innings and thwarted the JSU threats in the final three innings. ASU opened the door in the ninth with the only two errors of the game, but Bizzle induced a ground ball out by Joe McGuire to notch his second win of the season.
UT MARTIN 9, EVANSVILLE 8
MARTIN, Tenn. - After tying the game in the bottom half of the eighth inning, the University of Tennessee at Martin baseball team’s freshman lead-off hitter Connor Aube drilled a shot down the left field line to drive in the game winning run, as the Skyhawks completed the late inning comeback on Tuesday night to take down Evansville 9-8.
Aube finished the game 4-5 in what was his third four-hit game performance of the season, as UT Martin (13-20, 4-11 OVC) improved to a stellar 11-6 on their home field this year.
Winston Cannon took the mound for the Skyhawks on what was a scheduled staff day and surrendered a trio of hits in the first that resulted in two Evansville runs to put the visitors up 2-0.
The Skyhawks biggest inning came in the second inning, as UT Martin pushed across four runs on six total hits. Aube, Tanner Wessling, Keylen Steen and Josh Hauser all picked up RBI-singles in the inning as the Skyhawks took the 4-2 lead after two complete.
Evansville’s (12-23, 4-5 Missouri Valley) Trey Hair launched a two-run shot in the top of the third to square things up 4-4. It was the Purple Aces who broke the tie in the fourth inning with a three-run outburst to reclaim the 7-4 advantage.
UT Martin picked one back up in their half of the fourth, as Creighton Eldridge led off the inning with a triple down the right field line and was later brought home on a sacrifice fly by Steen. It was the catcher’s second RBI on the day and it pulled the Skyhawks closer 7-5.
An RBI-single from Stewart Nelson in the fifth pushed the Purple Aces’ lead back to three, as Evansville led 8-5 after five innings. UT Martin loaded the bases in bottom of the sixth, but were unable to come away with any runs as the score remained the same after six.
Another chance with the bases loaded propelled the Skyhawks to two runs in the seventh, as Steen drew a walk to bring home the first run in the inning, while an RBI-fielder’s choice from Aube brought UT Martin within one heading into the eighth inning.
Skyhawk reliever Sam Folks tossed a solid eighth inning, before giving way to his offense in the bottom half. Tyler Albright led off the inning taking a hit-by-pitch from Evansville closer Brandon Gomer. Senior Ryan Helgren then drilled a double into deep right-center field to score Albright all the way from first and even the score at 8-8.
UT Martin then turned to reliever Alex Evans to shut down the 2-3-4 hitters in the Evansville lineup to set the stage for the bottom of the ninth. Steen was plunked by another Gomer offering, before being sacrificed over to second by pinch-hitting Caleb Brewer. That brought Aube to the plate, as he nailed a pitch from the Evansville closer down the left field line to score Steen and give the Skyhawks the 9-8 walk-off victory.
Evans (4-4) picked up the win for his effort in the ninth, while Gomer (1-2) took the loss for the Purple Aces. Evans, Folks and Shane Seckinger combined for a scoreless final 3.1 innings to keep the Skyhawks within reach.
Aube (4-5, three RBI’s), Helgren (3-5, one RBI), Wessling (2-5, two runs scored), Eldridge (2-5, one triple) and Steen (2-2, three RBI’s) all notched multi-hit efforts in the victory, while UT Martin as a team pounded out 16 hits.