WEDNESDAY'S SCORES
Saint Louis 8,
@Eastern Illinois 5
Marshall 13,
@Morehead State 11
Murray State 5, @Evansville 4
@UT Martin 12, Alabama A&M 2
SIUE, @Bradley (cancelled)
SAINT LOUIS 8, EASTERN ILLINOIS 5
CHARLESTON, Ill. - After falling behind seven runs to start the game, Eastern Illinois rallied back to pull within three runs, but due to inclement weather in the area, the EIU comeback attempt got cut short as the game was called after six innings with Saint Louis picking up an 8-5 win over the Panthers.
Eastern Illinois had their seven-game win streak snapped with the loss and dropped to 14-28 on the season. Saint Louis improved to 24-14 on the year.
Saint Louis jumped out to a commanding 7-0 lead with six runs in the first and one run in the second on a home run by James Morisano.
After Dougie Parks singled to lead off the bottom of the second, he came around to score on an RBI triple by Andrew Curran and cut the Saint Louis lead to 7-1.
The Billikens got the run back in the top of the third. After leading off the inning with a triple, Trent Leimkuehler scampered home on a wild pitch to extend the Saint Louis advantage to 8-1.
Eastern Illinois began to rally in the fourth and fifth innings. Matt Albert scored on a wild pitch in the fourth as the Panthers kept the offense rolling in the fifth. Justin Smith walked to start the inning and moved up to second on a single by Logan Beaman. Parks walked to load the bases ahead of a wild pitch that allowed Smith to come in to score. Nicholas McCormick singled to right field to plate Beaman and Parks and pulled the Panthers within three at 8-5. That would be as close as the Panthers would get however as a thunderstorm moved into the Charleston area and cause the game to be called after six innings played. The game was deemed official because more than five innings were played.
Brent Stephens took the loss on the mound for the Panthers in the start.
Frankie Perrone, Beaman, Parks, McCormick and Curran all collected one hit each for the Panthers.
MARSHALL 13, MOREHEAD STATE 11
MOREHEAD, Ky. - The Morehead State baseball team tallied 18 hits, including four extra-base hits, but visiting Marshall nailed four home runs and got a go-ahead three-run home run in the eighth as the Thundering Herd slipped past the Eagles 13-11 at Allen Field Wednesday night.
Morehead State fell to 27-14 overall and lost for just the second time in 20 outings at home in 2017. Marshall moved to 20-21.
Senior Will Schneider, sophomore Reid Leonard and junior third baseman Eli Boggess all recorded three hits apiece. Two of the four Marshall homers came with at least one runner on base. The final one was tallied by leftfielder Andrew Zban and gave the visitors the 13-11 final verdict.
The Eagles scored three times in the first inning via five hits before the 'Herd answered with solo tallies in the second and third and four in the fourth to grab a 6-3 lead. A two-run single by senior DH Jimmy Wright, followed by a two-run double by freshman catcher Brody Shoupe, catapulted Morehead State back to a 7-6 advantage in the fifth. Leonard's single then pushed MSU ahead 8-6, but a two-run blast by Sam Finfer allowed Marshall to tie it 8-8 in the sixth frame.
Tied 9-9 in the seventh, Schneider crushed his eighth homer, a two-run job, to left field for the 11-9 lead. Shoupe and Wright both had three RBI.
On the mound, senior lefthander Cable Wright was saddled with the loss, allowing the final home run, which was a line drive over the short right field fence. He fell to 2-1. Will Ray tossed the seventh and eighth frames and was credited with the victory to move to 2-2. Matt Reed allowed two ninth-inning hits, including a double by sophomore outfielder Niko Hulsizer, but stranded runners on the corners for his fourth save.
MURRAY STATE 5, EVANSVILLE 4
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - For the first time since 1958, the Murray State baseball team swept the season series from Evansville as the Racers earned their second win in as many nights against UE on Wednesday, defeating the Purple Aces 5-4 in Evansville.
MSU (20-21) was able to break a 4-4 tie in the top of the ninth thanks to some shaky defense by the Purple Aces and mother nature as Caleb Hicks reached on a pop up to the short stop that he misplayed and the wind blew back over his head, allowing Tyler Lawrence to score. For as shaky as the Purple Aces' (13-27) defense was, MSU's was up to the task as they Racers were able to turn a double play in the ninth to close out the victory.
Evansville got on the board first on the night thanks to a solo home run in the bottom of the first. In the third, MSU was able to push ahead for the first time as a Brandon Gutzler sacrifice fly to the warning track brought home Aaron Bence and tied the score at 1-1. Later in the inning, Lawrence would score thanks to one of six errors by UE in the game and the score was 2-1.
After the Purple Aces were able to tie the game in the bottom half of the third, they were able to take a 4-2 lead thanks to a pair of runs in the fifth. However, MSU would battle back as an Adam Bauer pinch hit, sacrifice fly RBI to left made it 4-3 and in the seventh, Kipp Moore was able to score on another UE throwing error.
Alec Whaley came on to get the save in the ninth for the Racers, the first of his career. Blake Clynes picked up the win as he pitched a scoreless eighth. Tyler Horsley and Justin Perkins also kept UE off the board in their relief appearances on the night. Trevor McMurray got the start and the no decision as he pitched 4.1 innings and allowed three earned runs off four hits while walking four and striking out five batters.
Lawrence had a nice night at the plate for the Racers, as he was the only one with multiple hits in the win. Lawrence went 3-for-4 with a pair of runs on the night while Bauer went 1-for-1 for the game. Bryan Chilton, Brandon Gutzler, Caleb Hicks and Davis Sims also had hits Wednesday.
UT MARTIN 12, ALABAMA A&M 2
MARTIN, Tenn. - With inclement weather threatening in the evening forecast, the University of Tennessee at Martin baseball earned a 12-2 victory over Alabama A&M in a shortened seven-inning game on Wednesday afternoon.
Left-handed freshman Sam Folks picked up his first career start for the Skyhawks and was the difference as he handled the Bulldog lineup with relative ease throughout the day.
UT Martin (18-21, 7-11 OVC) gave the young lefty some early run support as they pushed across four runs in the bottom of the first inning. The Skyhawks tallied five total hits, all singles, in the frame, including RBI-base knocks by Tyler Albright, Tanner Wessling, Dan Kerwin and Anthony Adduci to give the home team the early 4-0 advantage.
The Skyhawks extended their lead in the fifth inning with a three-run outburst. Senior Ryan Helgren came home on a wild pitch, followed by Adduci’s second RBI-single on the day and Ben Aslett’s one-run basehit to left to extend UT Martin’s lead to 7-0.
Alabama A&M (10-36) picked up their first run of the game in the sixth inning, before the Skyhawks shut the door for good when they came to bat. The second four-run inning on the day from the home team stretched the lead to double-digits. Kerwin picked up his second extra-base hit on the night with an RBI-double to left-center, while Adduci brought home his third run of the game with a sacrifice fly. Aslett capped off the inning, with his career-high third RBI of the game, with a double to deep left-center to drive in two runs and give UT Martin the 11-1 advantage.
Both the Skyhawks and the Bulldogs exchanged a single run in the seventh, thanks to a pinch-hit RBI-double from freshman Robert Worley, which ultimately ended the contest after seven innings, to give UT Martin their sixth victory in its last seven games by a 12-2 margin.
Folks (1-0) tossed a solid 6.0 innings, allowing just one earned run and striking out seven en route to his first collegiate victory. Konnor Aherin tossed one inning in relief for UT Martin to close out the game. Owen Stubberfield (0-2) took the loss for Alabama A&M.
At the plate, Kerwin (4-4, three runs, two RBI’s) led the way, while Aslett (3-4, three RBI’s) and Adduci (2-3, three RBI’s) were also big contributors in the Skyhawk offense.