TUESDAY'S SCORES
#2 Louisville 14,
@Eastern Kentucky 4
@Eastern Illinois 8, Indiana State 7
@Miami (Ohio) 8,
Morehead State 0
Belmont 9, @Lipscomb 7
Southern Illinois 7,
@Southeast Missouri 5
Murray State 8, Evansville 1 (Paducah, Ky.)
Western Kentucky 21,
@Austin Peay 17
Jacksonville State 11, @Alabama 8
@Union 12,
UT Martin 6
Middle Tennessee 18,
@Tennessee Tech 7
#2 LOUISVILLE 14, EASTERN KENTUCKY 4
RICHMOND, Ky. - The Eastern Kentucky University baseball team showed some fight in front of a packed house, but could not topple the No. 2 University of Louisville Cardinals as the Colonels lost, 14-4, on Tuesday afternoon at Earle Combs Stadium.
EKU (21-20, 7-11 OVC) found itself down 7-0 after two innings, thanks in part to two Brendan McKay two-run homers .
Ryland Kerr got the first hit of the day for the Colonels in the bottom of the third inning with a single to center field. Cornell Nixon followed him to the plate and notched a double that trickled down the left field line, giving Kerr enough time to score from first base. Eastern trailed 7-1 after the third.
The Cardinals (34-6, 17-4 ACC) responded with a three-run top of the fourth when McKay hit his third home run of the day, a three-run shot over the wall in center field, giving Louisville a 10-1 advantage.
The score remained the same until the bottom of the sixth when Eastern rallied. Nixon led off the inning with single to left center, and Shea Sullivan drew a walk in the next at-bat. An Alex Holderbach double brought Nixon home, and put Sullivan on third. With the bases loaded after Taylor Blair was hit by a pitch, Logan Starnes singled to right field, bringing Sullivan and Holderbach across the plate. The Colonels finished the inning down 10-4, but this is as close as they would get.
Louisville added four more runs in the eighth and ninth, including the fourth McKay home run of the day, matching the most any player has hit in a game the season. In the end the Colonels were outgunned and fell to the Cardinals, 14-4.
Nixon and Starnes led the way for Eastern, Nixon with two hits and Starnes with two RBIs.
McKay finished the day with four home runs and nine RBIs. Drew Ellis picked up three hits and one RBI for the Cardinals.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 8, INDIANA STATE 7
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois baseball picked up their seventh win in a row after a earning an 8-7 comeback win over Indiana State on Tuesday at Coaches Stadium. The Panthers are now 14-27 on the year, while Indiana State dropped to 18-20 overall.
Indiana State broke the scoring column first with a run in the top of the opening inning, but the Panthers responded right back to tie the game in the bottom-half of the frame. Joseph Duncan doubled into the gap in right-center field to open up the inning and moved up to third on a groundout. Logan Beaman brought home Duncan soon after with an RBI groundout of his own to tie the game at one.
Indiana State regained the lead in the top of the third on a Dane Giesler lead-off solo home run. Kyle Moore followed the Giesler with a two-out triple and later scored on a wild pitch to give the Sycamores a 3-1 advantage.
Eastern Illinois had another answer for Indiana State in the bottom of the third. Ryan Knernschield and Duncan recorded back-to-back singles to start the inning for the Panthers. Jimmy Govern drove in Knernschield with an RBI double to pull the Panthers within one. Beaman followed with an RBI sacrifice fly to tie the score at three as Govern moved up to third on the play. Govern trotted home on a two-run blast off the bat of Dougie Parks as the Panthers overtook the lead at 5-3.
The Sycamores responded in the next half-inning to tie the score at five. After Giesler was hit by a pitch with two away in the inning, Tony Rosselli tied the game with a two-run home run to left.
Frankie Perrone gave the Panthers a 6-5 advantage as the redshirt junior outfielder tripled and scampered home on a passed ball in the bottom of the fourth inning.
After a quiet fifth and sixth inning from both squads, Indiana State got things going again in the top of the seventh. The Sycamores opened up the frame with four-straight singles to overtake the lead at 7-6.
The EIU comeback began in the bottom of the eighth inning. Andrew Curran led off the inning getting hit by a pitch and moved up to third following a sacrifice bunt and a groundout. Duncan brought home Curran as the game-tying run with an RBI double into the gap in left-center field. Govern bounced a ball through the left-side of the Indiana State infield and brought home the game-winning run in Duncan. Alex Stevenson closed the door on the Sycamores in the ninth as the freshman shut down Indiana State in order in the ninth to earn his first save of the season.
Devin Rose earned his second win of the season in four innings of relief. Rose allowed just two runs while on the bump.
Duncan finished the day with a four-hit game to lead the EIU offense. Govern and Knernschield added two hits each for the Panthers in the win.
MIAMI (OHIO) 8, MOREHEAD STATE 0
OXFORD, Ohio - The Morehead State baseball team was held to five hits and fell 8-0 at Miami (Ohio) Tuesday night at McKie Field.
The Eagles slipped to 27-13 overall, while the RedHawks moved to 17-25.
Only five of the eight runs charged against the Eagles were earned, but the MSU pitchers issued eight free bases. Starter Alex Garbrick was saddled with the loss to fall to 3-2. He gave up just three hits and two earned runs in 3.2 innings. Junior righty Seth Boyle struck out three and did not surrender a run in two relief frames.
Sophomore shortstop Reid Leonard, junior second baseman Braxton Morris, senior rightfielder Will Schneider, junior third baseman Eli Boggess and senior catcher Jimmy Wright all recorded hits. Morris upped his reached-base streak to 18 games.Sophomore catcher Hunter Fain was hit by a pitch and moved his reached-base streak to 12 contests.
The RedHawks broke open a 1-0 game when they scored four times in the fourth via five free bases.
BELMONT 9, LIPSCOMB 7
NASHVILLE - Senior centerfielder Tyler Walsh (Evansville, Ind.) carved his name atop the Belmont baseball record books en route to the Bruins 9-7 victory over Lipscomb to claim the Battle of the Boulevard Tuesday night at Dugan Field.
Walsh tallied his second outing where he stole three bags, with his final stolen base making him the all-time leader in stolen bases in program history - breaking the 10-year record. The veteran has robbed 60 bags in his four-year career as a Bruin, moving him past former Belmont standout Matt Reynolds who compiled 59 from 2004-07.
Before the Bisons even had a turn at the plate, Belmont got runners to reside on every base and took a 4-0 lead on a grand slam from sophomore Hunter Holland (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.) in the opening frame. The Bruins got out to a hot start with consecutive base knocks from junior Kyle Conger (Brentwood, Tenn.) and senior Nick Egli (Brentwood, Tenn.), allowing redshirt-freshman Matt Cogen (Franklin, Tenn.) to load the bases on a free ride to first for Holland to launch his fourth long ball of the year.
Lipscomb attempted to even the contest, loading the bases in the home half of the second with only one down. The squad managed to work a run off starting hurler Casey Queener (Brentwood, Tenn.) with a RBI single from Tyler Bethune who reloaded the bags and kept Queener in the jam. However, the righty escaped the frame with minimal damage – fanning the next two Bisons he faced to leave BU with a 4-1 advantage.
The Bruins continued to tack on the runs in the third, increasing their lead to five runs on a double that painted the left line courtesy of Tyler Walsh (Evansville, Ind.). Sophomore Chas Hadden (Morristown, Tenn.) and Holland compiled a single and walk to put Bruins on first and second for Walsh to break up his cold spell at the plate and collect a couple RBIs.
The Bruins temporarily lost their defensive rhythm in the third as they gave up six runs, five which came with two outs in favor of Lipscomb. A solo shot over the left field wall started the scoring frenzy for the Bisons before a two-run dinger and a bases loaded hit-by-pitch brought them within one. Lipscomb took its first lead of the game when a throwing error from third baseman Ben Kocher (Zionsville, Ind.) allowed two more Lipscomb runs to cross and go up, 7-6.
Walsh etched his name in the record books in the top of the fifth frame, stealing a pair of bases to sit at third and set up Conger to drive in two runs and give Belmont back its lead. Walsh first got on after wearing a pitch before Kocher would take a free ride himself on a base on balls. Conger then dropped a two-bagger into deep right centerfield that put BU up, 8-7.
After a rough third inning, Belmont found a way to silence Lipscomb's bats for the next six stanzas – as six different BU relievers combined to hold the Bisons scoreless in that span. Senior Brennan Washington (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) inherited a pair of base runners and gave up a walk to load the bases in the seventh, but strikes out two Bisons and triggered the final out to get out of the frame unscathed. Senior closer Dom Veltri (Clarksville, Tenn.) went on to clinch his seventh save of the year.
Kocher gave the Bruins a little cushion with a hard-hit infield single that drove in Hadden who got on with the help of a Bisons error to BU up, 9-7.
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 7, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 5
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southern Illinois (22-20) plated five ninth-inning runs to erase a three-run Southeast Missouri lead to ultimately down the Redhawks, 7-5.
Southeast now sits at 21-18 on the season and suffers only its fifth home loss of the season.
The Redhawks were outhit 13-7 in the contest. Brian Lees was the lone Redhawk with multiple hits, finishing with two hits, one of which was a triple. Chris Caffrey drove in two runs with his fourth home run of the season.
In his first Redhawk start, Chase Hagerty pitched three and a third innings, allowing two Saluki runs on four hits. He fanned two and walked two. Pitching in relief, Robert Beltran worked three and two-thirds scoreless innings, allowing just three hits. He tied a season-high six strikeouts while allowing just one walk.
Jared Waldhoff (1-2) suffered the loss after allowing the go-ahead run to reach in the ninth.
Jamison Steege worked five innings in his start on the mound for Southern Illinois, allowing three runs on four hits. He fanned four hits and allowed no free bases to the Redhawks.
Austin McPheron (5-3) earned the win as the pitcher of record in the ninth. Ryan Netemeyer earned his 13th save of the season after closing the ninth.
The Redhawk bats came alive in the bottom of the second to take a quick lead on the Salukis. Following a triple off the wall in center by Lees, Caffrey stepped in and hit his fourth home run of the season over the wall in left to go up 2-0. For the first time this season, Southeast went back-to-back over the wall as Danny Wright hit his third homer to dead center off the hitter's eye to make it 3-0 in SEMO's favor.
Southern Illinois got a run back in the top of the third when a leadoff hit batsman came in to score on a groundout to second by Logan Blackfan, 3-1.
Will Farmer hit a leadoff solo home run down the left field line in the top of the fourth to cut the Redhawk lead to 3-2.
Southeast scored a much-needed run in the bottom of the eight, its first since the second frame. Pinch running for Caffrey on the base paths at second base and two out, Clayton Evans came around to score on a single to short by Connor Basler to make it 4-2 in the Redhawks' favor.
Dan Holst extended his on-base streak to 27 games by drawing a two-out walk in the bottom of the eighth inning. The speedy Holst scored all the way from first on a double ripped down the left field line by Tristen Gagan, extending the lead to 5-2.
Back-to-back one-out doubles by Ryan Smith and Greg Lambert scored the first ninth-inning run for Southern. Blackfan stepped in and tied the game with one swing with a two-run home run to right center, 5-5. Waldhoff entered and loaded the bases on two walks and an infield single. Jake Hand poked a base hit up the middle, plating two more runs and giving the Salukis a 7-5 lead. Daniel Bergtholdt entered to pitch and fanned both hitters he faced to end the inning.
Netemeyer entered and allowed two walks to leadoff the inning but snuffed the Redhawk offense in the end en route to the save.
Lambert finished 3-for-5, all of which were doubles.
MURRAY STATE 8, EVANSVILLE 1
PADUCAH, Ky. - Jack Hranec pitched a career-high 6.1 innings and struck-out a career-best eight batters while the Murray State offense pounded out 11 hits and a pair of solo home runs on its way to an 8-1 victory Tuesday night over Evansville at Brooks Stadium in Paducah.
After both teams struggled to find their footing offensively through the first five and a half innings, a Brandon Gutzler solo home run to left center in the bottom of the sixth broke a scoreless tie. It was Gutzler's team-leading 10th homer of the season and began a three-run inning for the Racers (19-21).
Later in the sixth, a Caleb Hicks RBI single to right field brought home Tyler Lawrence and extended the lead to 2-0. The very next at-bat, Jaron Robinson got an RBI single up the middle as Kipp Moore scored from third and MSU led 3-0 after six complete.
Evansville (13-26) responded in the top of the seventh with a solo home run to make it 3-1, but that was as close as the Purple Aces would get on the night as in the bottom half of the inning, Lawrence recorded his 56th career double and brought home Gutzler from first. Lawrence's double breaks a tie atop the program record books along with Tyler Pittman for career doubles at MSU.
In the eighth, the Racers busted the game open with four runs in the inning. The first came off the bat of Davis Sims as he hit a solo blast to left field his fourth of the year came in front of his hometown fans. Four batters later, Aaron Bence brought home Moore with a sacrifice fly to center field. Gutzler then recorded his second and third ribbies of the night later in the inning with a single to center field.
Gutzler, Hicks and Robinson all led the Racers with two hits each in the win while Gutzler' three RBIs led the way. Lawrence went 1-for-2 with a pair of walks as well.
Hranec picked up his third win of the season with the start while Chad Gendron's sixth save of the year is now tied for the fifth-most in a single season in program history. Gendron pitched 1.2 innings of hitless baseball and struck-out two batters. Derrik Watson also made an appearance out of the bullpen.
WESTERN KENTUCKY 21, AUSTIN PEAY 17
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Junior second baseman Garrett Giovannelli finished with five hits and five RBI but Austin Peay State University’s baseball team dropped a wild 21-17 contest to Western Kentucky, Tuesday night, at Raymond C. Hand Park.
The wild affair saw both teams score seven runs in the first inning. Western Kentucky (13-29) used three home runs to score its seven runs, with designated hitter Kaleb Duckworth hitting a grand slam followed by back-to-back home runs from shortstop Kevin Lambert and left fielder Wyatt Featherson.
Austin Peay (18-20) went a different tack in its half of the first inning. Giovannelli sparked the inning with his leadoff double and after a walk, the Govs got back-to-back singles, including third baseman Alex Robles’ two-run single. APSU saw the next two batters retired, but then laced five consecutive singles, Giovannelli tying the game with his single through the right side.
After WKU scored twice in the second, the Governors broke out for a five runs in its half of the second. Giovannelli played the biggest role with his first home run, a three-run shot to left center that gave the Govs a 12-9 lead.
Austin Peay would extend its lead to five runs, 16-11, with a four-run fourth inning. Giovannelli drove in the first run with a single, his fourth hit of the contest. Left fielder Malcom Tipler followed with a two-run triple into the right center gap then scored on a wild pitch to build the Govs largest lead.
However, that lead would not survive the Western Kentucky fifth inning. Second baseman Tyler Robertson’s three-run home run leveled the score, 16-16.
The teams traded runs in the sixth inning, but Western Kentucky broke the game open in the eighth. Right fielder Thomas Peter gave the Hilltoppers the lead for good with a two-run home run – WKU’s eighth home run of the contest. Robertson would later add a two-run single, extending the lead to 21-17.
WKU reliever Jackson Sowell (1-1) – the eighth pitcher for the visitors – tossed three scoreless innings to secure the victory, striking out seven of the 13 batters he faced while allowing only three hits.
Peter, Lambert and Featherston each had two home runs as the Hilltoppers finished with eight home runs – the most hit by a Governors opponent. Robertson went 4-for-4 with five RBI to pace the offense.
Govs reliever Zach Neff (1-2), the seventh of nine APSU pitchers, suffered the loss after allowing three runs while recording one out in the eighth inning.
Giovannelli went 5-for-7 with five RBI, extending his hit streak to 10 games. He also became the 14th different Govs hitter to record a home run this season. Shortstop Kyle Wilson posted career bests in hits (4) and RBI (4) in six at-bats.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 11, ALABAMA 8
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Jacksonville State traveled to Tuscaloosa for the second time this season and left with a sweep of the two-game series with an 11-8 win on Tuesday night at Sewell-Thomas Stadium.
The Gamecocks (20-18) came to Sewell-Thomas Stadium on February 28 and left with a 2-1 10-inning decision. On Tuesday, JSU collected its second win in as many tries over the Crimson Tide (15-26) and have put together back-to-back wins over UA since 2003 and 2004. It marks the first time since 1980 that Jax State has won consecutive games over the Crimson Tide in a single season.
In a back-and-forth contest in which JSU held leads four different times before overcoming an 8-7 deficit in the seventh with a four-run inning. In the seventh, JSU scored all four runs with two RBI singles. The three-run cushion would hold up as freshman Corley Woods and redshirt junior Justin Hoyt closed down the Crimson Tide threats over the final three frames. Hoyt collected his fourth save of the season and 14th of his career and reached the 100 career strike out mark with a pair of strike outs in the ninth. Woods and Hoyt were two of six pitchers used by the Gamecocks in the midweek tune up prior to a key Ohio Valley Conference weekend on the road at Eastern Kentucky, beginning on Friday.
The 11 runs were the most Jax State has tacked on the scoreboard in a contest with the Crimson Tide and it collected 16 total hits against five different Crimson Tide pitchers. JSU had seven players in its line up post multiple hits and were 10-of-20 with two outs in an inning and drove in six total runs with two down in an inning.
Senior outfielder A.J. Reynolds staked the Gamecocks to an early 2-0 lead in the first inning with a two-run home run over the left field wall. Reynolds was joined by junior Hayden White and freshman Chase Robinson with a pair of RBI each. White had an RBI single in the fourth and his RBI single in the seventh started a string of four consecutive RBI hits and it evened the contest at 8-8. Robinson had an RBI to center field in the third and had one of the RBI in the four-run seventh. Senior Josh Bobo and redshirt freshman Matthew Hammers contributed RBI singles in the JSU seventh. After being inserted in the fifth, Hammers had a 2-for-3 night at the plate. Bobo also had two hits and an RBI.
Junior Clayton Daniel led off the contest with a double, scoring on Reynolds' blast. Daniel finished with a pair of hits along with freshman Andrew Naismith.
Senior Nate Sylvester was the first Gamecock pitcher of the night, making his first career start on the mound. Sylvester, normally a set up guy late in the contest, was solid in a starting role. Grant Chandler, Tyler Wilburn also saw time on the mound before Simpson.
UNION 12, UT MARTIN 6
JACKSON, Tenn. - An early inning push by the home team’s offense resulted in a 12-6 loss for the University of Tennessee at Martin baseball team, as they dropped its first of two mid-week decisions to Union on Tuesday night.
After a quiet first inning from the Skyhawk bats, Union (30-16) was able to push across two runs in the bottom half of the inning on a pair of hits to give the Gulf South Conference opponent a 2-0 lead.
UT Martin (17-21, 7-11 OVC) put their first run of the game on the board in the top of the fourth on an RBI-single from senior Tanner Wessling. The shot up the middle extended the hitting streak for the senior right fielder to 13 games and scored Tyler Albright from second base, who had doubled earlier in the inning, to trim the margin to 2-1 in favor of Union.
It was the Bulldogs who responded with a game-changing bottom half of the inning, as Union scored five runs on six base hits to extend their lead to 7-1. The home team managed another pair of runs in the next inning to give the home squad a comfortable 9-1 advantage.
The Skyhawks fought back in the sixth inning with three runs of their own on two hits. The visitors loaded the bases in the inning with no one out. Centerfielder Creighton Eldridge scampered home on a wild pitch, followed by a sacrifice fly off the bat of Ryan Helgren, and an RBI-groundout from Wessling for his second of the day and 24th of the season. The trio of runs pulled UT Martin closer 9-4.
Josh Hauser picked up an RBI-double in the seventh and Dan Kerwin drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the eight, but that was all the offense the Skyhawks could manage, as Union tacked on three more runs in the later innings to earn the 12-6 victory.
Jake Patzner (1-4) got the start for UT Martin and was hit with the loss. Tommy Weiler (1-1) earned the victory for the Bulldogs.
At the plate, Albright (2-4, three runs), Wessling (2-4, two RBI’s), Eldridge (3-4, one run) and Hauser (2-4, one RBI) all notched multiple hits in the losing effort.
MIDDLE TENNESSEE 18, TENNESSEE TECH 7
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - The Tennessee Tech baseball team dropped its midweek match-up with in-state rival Middle Tennessee Tuesday evening, as the Blue Raiders (20-21) outscored the Golden Eagles (30-13) at Bush Stadium, 18-7.
Middle Tennessee snagged a three-run lead right from the start, taking a 3-0 lead after the top of the first. Tech answered right back, using back-to-back RBI singles from junior first baseman Chase Chambers and senior catcher Chris Brown to cut the deficit to one.
In the bottom of the third, the Golden Eagles took their first lead of the game. After a one-out single through the right side by junior designated hitter Ryan Flick, Brown crushed his ninth home run of the season to right field, giving Tech a 4-3 advantage.
The Blue Raiders took back control in the fourth, tying the game on an RBI double before a three-run long ball provided the visitors the lead for good.
After Middle Tennessee upped its lead to 8-4 in the fifth, Tech cut the deficit in half. Sophomore right fielder Kevin Strohschein led off the bottom of the frame with a triple to center field, setting up Flick for an RBI double down the right field line on a 1-2 offering. Chambers followed with an RBI single to left center field, making it an 8-6 contest in favor of the visitors.
The Middle Tennessee offense never let up, however, scoring 10 more runs over the final four innings as compared to Tech's single run in the bottom of the eighth. The run came off the bat of true freshman Anthony Carrera, who hammered his first career collegiate home run to right field to lead off the eighth.