WEDNESDAY'S SCORES
@Eastern Illinois 8, Lindenwood-Belleville 5
Austin Peay 7, @Western Kentucky 3
Troy 10,
@Jacksonville State 5
@UT Martin 9, Christian Brothers 8
EASTERN ILLINOIS 8, LINDENWOOD-BELLEVILLE 5
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois took a three-run lead after the second inning and cruised the rest of the way as the Panthers defeated Lindenwood-Belleville, 8-5, on Wednesday afternoon at Coaches Stadium.
Eastern Illinois, winners of three-straight, improved their record to 10-27. Lindenwood-Belleville dropped to 25-20 following the loss.
Matt Albert got the offense rolling for the Panthers with a lead-off double in the second inning. After advancing to third on a fly out, Ryan Kernernschield drove in Albert with an RBI single to center. Andrew Curran followed with a base knock of his own to put runners on first and second. Joseph Duncan brought home the two base runners with a two-run triple and put the Panthers ahead, 3-0.
Lindenwood-Belleville finally got to EIU starter Devin Rose in the third as the Lynx had runners on second and third with just one out in the inning. Alex Wittenauer brought home the first run in the inning with an RBI groundout. Cory Lubinski brought the Lynx within a run with an RBI single to right field.
Dougie Parks got the two runs back for the Panthers as he hit a solo home run in both the third and fifth innings. The two home runs marked the second-straight two-home run game for Parks.
The Lynx made things interesting late with a pair of runs in the top of the seventh, but the Panthers answered right back in the eighth. After Nicholas McCormick singled to lead off the inning, Josh Turnock worked a walk to put a pair of runners on. Hunter Clark came on as a pinch runner for McCormick as both he and Turnock came around to score on a Curran two-run triple. Duncan supplied the Panthers with another run on a sacrifice fly to center and put EIU up, 8-4.
After Lindenwood-Belleville put a run across in the top of the ninth, Michael Starcevich came into the game and threw one pitch to record the final out in the contest and earned his fourth save of the season.
Rose picked up his first win on the mound for the Panthers as he allowed just two runs over the course of five innings.
Curran led the way for the Panthers as he finished a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate. Duncan and Parks both added two hits each for Eastern Illinois.
AUSTIN PEAY 7, WESTERN KENTUCKY 3
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - Junior starting pitcher John Sparks set the tone with four scoreless innings and Austin Peay State University’s baseball team notched a 7-3 nonconference victory against Western Kentucky, Wednesday night at Nick Denes Field.
Austin Peay (17-18) supplied Sparks early run support, using three doubles and a single to plate two runs in the second inning. Center fielder Imani Willis pushed across the Govs first run with a double that followed designated hitter Brett Newberg’s earlier double. Two batters later, left fielder Malcolm Tipler extended the lead with his RBI double.
Sparks (2-1) made the most of the early run support, retiring the first seven batters he faced. Shortstop Kevin Lambert singled with one out in the third and the Hilltoppers used an out to move him to second. Govs catcher Parker Phillips then helped his teammate by gunning down Lambert at third base to end the frame.
Phillips would use his bat to help pad the Govs lead in the fifth, lacing a double into the left center gap to drive in a run. Austin Peay would tack on a fourth run courtesy a WKU error.
The Govs offense tacked on another two spot in the sixth. Center fielder Imani Willis led off the inning with a single and right fielder Chase Hamilton kept the inning alive with a two-out single. Third baseman Alex Robles smashed a double into left field, scoring two runs and extending the Govs lead to 6-0.
Western Kentucky (12-26) failed to break through against Sparks, squandering back-to-back one out walks in the fourth. Govs reliever Tyler Thompson did not provide the Hilltoppers any openings early in his outing, retiring six of the first seven batters he faced.
The Hilltoppers used a pair of doubles in the seventh to spark a rally. Catcher Hunter Wood and First baseman Chris Rogers hit the consecutive doubles to break up the shutout bid. Thompson would get two outs on the board before surrendering a run-scoring single to pinch hitter Grayson Ivey. The Govs righty would end the Hilltopers best rally with a strikeout to sustain a 7-2 Govs lead.
Sparks notched the win in his first start this season after four scoreless frames that saw him allow just one hit while striking out three.
Phillips led the Govs offense with a 3-for-4, two RBI effort that included two doubles and a leadoff home run in the seventh inning. Robles also finished with three hits and two RBI.
WKU starter Bailey Sutton (1-1) could not escape the loss despite holding the Govs to two runs on six hits over his three innings. Six different WKU hitters recorded a hit each.
TROY 10, JACKSONVILLE STATE 5
OXFORD, Ala. - Troy scored eight runs in the first three innings en route to a 10-5 win over Jacksonville State on Wednesday night at Choccolocco Park.
With the setback, the Gamecocks fall to 18-16 overall and will now turn their attention to an important Ohio Valley Conference weekend against Belmont at Choccolocco Park. The series begins on Friday, April 21 at 6 p.m. The series will continue throughout the weekend with 1 p.m. start times on Saturday and Sunday. The Trojans improved to 19-17 overall and will host the Gamecocks on May 3 at Riddle-Pace Field.
For the second night in a row, Jax State struggled on the mound as the Trojans accumulated 12 of their 15 total hits in the first three innings. Freshman Cody Dodd, making his second start of the season, suffered the loss in the contest after going 2.1 innings and touched for seven runs on eight hits. Redshirt freshman Tyler Wilburn was the first of four JSU arms out of the bullpen and settled things down against Troy with a season-high six strikeouts. Wilburn led the pitching staff that struck out 13 Trojans. Along with Dodd's three strike outs, Corley Woods had a pair of strike outs in two innings, while Justin Hoyt registered two in the ninth.
Troy's Max Newton, making his first career start, got off to a shaky start against JSU after the Gamecocks posted four of their five runs in the first inning. JSU senior A.J. Reynolds had a game-tying RBI to start the scoring before Nic Gaddis tripled down the right field line, clearing the bases and then scored on a throwing error on the relay from the outfield.
The Trojans quickly began chipping away at the early deficit with a pair of runs in the second and took the lead in the third with a five-run inning. Newton, pitching with a four-run cushion retired the next 13 Gamecocks before senior Josh Bobo's lead off single in the fifth snapped the string. Newton collected the win with 5.0 innings of work, allowed five JSU hits and just two earned runs.
Jax State had an opportunity for a big inning in the sixth after the first two Gamecocks reached base via a Trojan error and a base hit by Joe McGuire. Reynolds delivered his second RBI of the night with a single to right field. JSU had the bases loaded with one out, but were unlucky with a line drive to first that doubled up the runner to end the threat.
Troy's bullpen was solid as it allowed just two JSU hits over the final four innings and carded five of the nine strike outs.
McGuire and Reynolds combined for four of JSU's seven hits on the night, while Gaddis and Reynolds had multiple RBI in the contest. Troy's Justin Friend paced the visitor's line up with a 3-for-4 night and a pair of RBI.
Belmont will bring an overall record of 17-18 overall and 11-7 in the OVC and have won four conference series. The Bruins won their lone midweek contest over Southern Illinois on Tuesday, 9-3. Belmont will enter the weekend listed third in the OVC standings.
UT MARTIN 9, CHRISTIAN BROTHERS 8
MARTIN, Tenn. - For the second time in a 24-hour span, the University of Tennessee at Martin used some late game heroics to claim a 9-8 walk-off victory. This time the Skyhawks pushed across the winning run on a bases loaded wild pitch, as UT Martin took the victory over Christian Brothers.
Very similar to last night, UT Martin found themselves down by three runs late in the game but battled back to tie the contest, before ultimately finding a way to capture their second straight dramatic win.
UT Martin (14-20, 4-11 OVC) found the scoreboard first with a four-run outburst in the first inning. Keylen Steen picked up his fourth RBI in a two-day span with an RBI-single through the right side. The Chehalis, Wash. native’s base hit also loaded the bases for the Skyhawks and brought up lefty slugger Creighton Eldridge. The center fielder did not disappoint as he drilled his team-high fifth triple of the season deep to center field to clear the bases and give UT Martin the 4-0 lead.
The Skyhawks picked up another run in the third inning as Eldridge knocked in his fourth RBI on the night with a sacrifice fly that scored UT Martin right fielder Tanner Wessling and push the UT Martin lead to 5-0.
Christian Brothers (13-30, 7-20 Gulf South) showed their resiliency in the top half of the fifth inning, as the Buccaneers took advantage of three Skyhawk errors in the inning to push across five runs of their own and tie the game at 5-5.
The Buccaneers took their first lead of the game just one inning later as the visiting squad posted three more runs, including a two-run homer from catch Riley Kilgore, to claim the 8-5 lead.
Josh Hauser picked up a huge RBI-single in the sixth to trim the Bucaneer margin. It was the shortstop’s ninth RBI on the season and it brought his squad one run closer 8-6.
Wessling came to bat in the bottom of the seventh inning and launched his first home run of the season at a time his team needed it most. His two-run shot scored Ryan Helgren and brought the Skyhawks even 8-8. It was Wessling’s first big fly of his senior campaign.
The Skyhawks loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, when in stepped freshman Connor Aube for his second chance to walk-off for UT Martin in as many nights. This time the freshman from Falmouth, Maine did not even have to take the bat off his shoulder as an errant pitch from Buccaneer reliever Taylor King brought home Dan Kerwin, as the Skyhawks earned the 9-8 decision.
Alex Evans (5-4) came on for the second straight night and pitched a scoreless ninth inning to earn the winning decision. King (1-3) was saddled with the loss for Christian Brothers. Jake Patzner started the game for UT Martin tossing 4.1 innings, allowing just three earned runs and striking out six batters.
Wessling (3-5, three runs, two RBI’s), Kerwin (2-4, two runs), Eldridge (2-4, four RBI’s) and Hauser (2-4, one RBI) all had multiple hits in the winning effort.