THURSDAY'S SCORES
@Eastern Illinois 7-6, Austin Peay 4-9
@Southeast Missouri 14, Eastern Kentucky 6
UT Martin 9, @Murray State 3
@Jacksonville State 8, SIUE 2
Morehead State 4, @Tennessee Tech 1
Furman 6,
@Belmont 5
EASTERN ILLINOIS 7-6, AUSTIN PEAY 4-9
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Due to inclement weather in the forecast in the area, Eastern Illinois and Austin Peay shifted their weekend schedule to include a doubleheader on Thursday. EIU starting pitcher Brendon Allen shut down the Austin Peay offense through eight innings as the Panthers picked up a 7-4 win in the series opener. After weather delayed the ending until Friday, Austin Peay won game two 9-6 in 10 innings.
In game one, Allen kept the Austin Peay offense in check through eight innings pitched, but the Governors rallied late in the top of the ninth inning. After Austin Peay scored three runs in the top of the ninth, Michael Starcevich came in to close the door and picked up his sixth save of the season.
After Austin Peay put a run across in the top of the first to open the first game of Thursday's doubleheader, Eastern Illinois responded to tie the game in the bottom-half of the inning. Joseph Duncan led off the inning with a double to left and advanced to third on a groundout. Logan Beaman dropped down a well-placed bunt down the third-base line for a single that brought in Duncan and tied the score at one.
Just like the first inning, Eastern Illinois got things going with a lead-off double, this time off the bat of Hunter Beetley. Andrew Curran moved Beetley to third with a sacrifice bunt. Duncan followed the bunt with an RBI single to put the Panthers ahead, 2-1.
The Panthers broke the game open in the bottom of the sixth inning with five runs in the frame. Matt Albert started the rally with a lead-off solo home run to left. Josh Turnock was hit by a pitch following the home run and moved up to second after a single by Beetley. Curran moved the pair up to second and third with another sacrifice bunt. Eastern Illinois took advantage of the two runners in scoring position as Duncan singled to plate the pair and advanced two second on the attempted throw by Austin Peay trying to catch Turnock at the plate. Jimmy Govern and Beaman followed with back-to-back RBI hits to extend the EIU lead to 6-1.
After the first inning run, Allen threw seven consecutive scoreless innings, but ran into trouble in the top of the ninth. With two runners aboard, Max Remy knocked a pinch-hit two-run triple into the gap in right-center field. Imani Willis followed the triple with an RBI base hit that pulled the Governors within three at 7-4. The Panthers went to their bullpen after the Willis single and allowed just one more hit the rest of the inning as Starcevich got the final APSU batter to strikeout to seal the victory.
Allen picked up his second win of the season as the senior allowed just four runs on 10 hits in eight innings of work. He finished the game with seven strikeouts.
Duncan finished the series opener 3-for-5 with three RBIs to lead the EIU offense. Govern, Beaman and Beetley added two hits each in the win.
In game two, with the bases loaded and down to their last strike in the bottom of the ninth inning, Beetley got hit by a pitch bring home a run and tied the score at six to send the game into extra innings.
Austin Peay regained the lead in the top-half of the 10th inning on a three-run home run by Willis. That stood up as Alex Robles shut down Eastern Illinois when the game was resumed.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 14, EASTERN KENTUCKY 6
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Dan Holst and Tristen Gagan combined for 11 RBI and three home runs in Thursday's 14-6 victory over Eastern Kentucky (24-30, 10-18).
With the win, Southeast Missouri (26-24, 14-14) has officially locked a spot in next week's Ohio Valley Conference tournament. It will be Southeast's 23rd consecutive trip to the OVC Tournament, a league record.
The offense was ablaze in the series opener as SEMO scattered 15 total hits. Brian Lees and Danny Wright each had three hits but the evening was highlighted by two home runs and five RBI by Gagan and six RBI including a grand slam for Holst.
Justin Murphy (7-3) worked only five and two-thirds innings in his start but it was enough to qualify for the win, his seventh of the season. He was hit for six runs on 11 hits, a season high in the hits category. He struck out four and walked only one.
Southeast Missouri used four total pitchers in the contest with Jared Walhoff (1.1 innings) and Blaze Hastings (2.0) seeing the most time.
EKU starter Casey Collins (2-2) recorded only two outs and gave up six runs in the first inning before being knocked out of the game. He was the first of six EKU hurlers. Aaron Ochsenbein pitched two and a third innings and struck out five Redhawks.
EKU used a trio of first-inning hits, the third an RBI base knock coming from Nick Howie, to put the Colonels up 1-0 very early.
The Colonels didn't lead for long in the opening stanza after Gagan launched his 11th home run of the season over the wall in center, a two-run blast, to put the Redhawks on top in the bottom of the inning, 2-1. The scoring continued with two down. With two on, Clayton Evans sent a bounding ball through the left side to plate Lees from second. Following a walk to Connor Basler, EKU went to the pen for Brian Mroz who immediately issued a bases-loaded walk to Kyle Bottger. The Redhawks rolled the batting order over to Holst who lined a base hit through the right side to plate two more runs and make it 6-1 in the Redhawks' favor in the first.
Southeast plated five runs in the fourth to widen the lead to 10. Chris Caffrey led off the inning with a double and Lees followed with a single to center. Wright drove in Caffrey with a single lined into left. A one-out walk to Connor Basler loaded the bases for Holst who blasted a grand slam to right center, putting SEMO up 11-1 after four.
Ben Fisher blasted a two-run home run to right center to cut into the Redhawk lead 11-3 in the top of the fifth.
Following a 1-2-3 inning by SEMO in the bottom of the fifth, the Colonels continued its scoring in the sixth. EKU plated three runs on five hits in the frame to slice the SEMO lead to five, 11-6.
Gagan's second homer of the game came in the bottom of the seventh, this time a three-run shot to put SEMO back in front by eight, 14-6.
Hastings pitched the final two scoreless innings to hold the Colonels and secure the Redhawk win.
Fisher finished 2-for-5 and drove in three runs for EKU. Shea Sullivan picked up three hits in the contest.
UT MARTIN 9, MURRAY STATE 3
MURRAY, Ky. - In its Division-I program record 25th win of the season, the University of Tennessee Martin baseball team took down Murray State 9-3 on Friday night in game one of a crucial final Ohio Valley Conference series.
The Skyhawks picked up the victory by pounding out 15 hits, while combining it with a solid pitching effort from starting pitcher Winston Cannon and reliever Kyle Laberge to take down the Racers.
UT Martin (25-27, 12-16 OVC) second baseman Tyler Albright started the game with a bang as he smashed a shot off the left field foul pole to put the Skyhawks ahead 1-0 early.
Senior Ryan Helgren kept the offense going in the third inning with a two-RBI single to right field to put the visiting squad ahead 3-0. Murray State picked up a run in the bottom half of the inning, but the Skyhawks still led 3-1 after three.
A beautiful bunt single from right fielder Tanner Wessling brought home Albright in the fifth inning to extend the UT Martin advantage to 4-1. The Racers fought back with a run of their own in the bottom half of the inning to trim the Skyhawk lead to 4-2.
The UT Martin bats were rolling again in the sixth inning, but were also helped out by a key Murray State mistake. Albright put a ball in play to shortstop and two runs came home an errant throw to push the margin to 6-2.
The Skyhawks closed the game out with a huge ninth inning. Albright smacked his second solo homer of the day to kickstart the frame, followed by back-to-back-to-back doubles from red-hot Dan Kerwin, Wessling and Helgren to pick up a trio of runs to put the game away for good. The Racers got one back in the ninth, but it was not enough as UT Martin took game one 9-3.
Cannon (5-4) picked up his fifth victory of the season with a steady 5.0 innings, striking out four and allowing just two earned runs. Laberge (2) tossed the final 4.0 innings, punching out three batters and allowing just one earned run in his second save of the season.
Kerwin (4-5, two runs), Albright (2-5, two homers), Wessling (2-5, two RBI’s), Helgren (2-5, three RBI’s) and Keylen Steen (2-5) all notched multiple hits in the winning effort.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 8, SIUE 2
OXFORD, Ala. - Jacksonville State moved a step closer to securing its Ohio Valley Tournament seed after 13 hits in an 8-2 series-opening with over SIU Edwardsville on Thursday night at Choccolocco Park.
The Gamecocks inched closer to another 30-win season, collecting their 28th win of the season and improved to 15-13 in the OVC. JSU remains in fourth place in the league standings after Thursday's action around the league. SIUE, battling for one of the four remaining spots in next week's eight-team field in Oxford at Choccolocco Park, dropped to 23-27 on the season and 11-17 in the conference. JSU will be looking for its fourth consecutive OVC weekend series win on Friday as the two clubs meet in a 1 p.m. matinee on Friday.
Jax State scored all eight of its runs in four consecutive frames, including a three-run second inning and extended the lead with another three run inning in the fifth. JSU had its best hitting performance since a 14-hit contest on April 22 against Belmont. The Gamecocks used a balanced attack at the plate as eight of the nine hitters recorded a hit and the lone JSU hitter that didn't have a hit, Chase Robinson, was issued a pair of walks and had an RBI along with scoring a run. JSU sophomore catcher Nic Gaddis led the lineup with a three-hit evening. Juniors Nolan Greckel, Taylor Hawthorne and freshman Andrew Naismith had multiple hits in the win. Senior A.J. Reynolds registered a key two-RBI double down the right field line in the three-run fifth.
JSU was able to bunch hits together in the big innings as senior Josh Bobo drove in the first of three runs in the second inning. Bobo's hit was one of five in the frame as Greckel and junior Clayton Daniel followed with RBI singles. With his two hits on Thursday, Greckel has put together back-to-back two-hit games. Daniel's RBI single started a new hitting streak after his 15-game hitting streak was snapped on Tuesday at Samford. The Guntersville, Alabama native pushed his OVC-only hitting streak to 12 games and has now reached base in 26 consecutive league games. Hawthorne, who had an RBI in the fourth to push JSU's lead to 5-2, extended his conference-only hitting streak to 11 games with his multi-hit outing. Gaddis' tallied an RBI single in the third to give JSU a 4-0 lead.
Sophomore left hander Derrick Adams received the run support he needed as he would silence one of the hottest teams in the OVC entering the weekend. SIUE started the weekend having won 5-of its last-6 OVC games and scored 77 runs over that six-game span. The Decatur, Alabama product limited SIUE to seven hits in seven full innings. The two runs came in the Cougars' half of the fourth with RBI from Dustin Woodcock and Jared McCunn. It was the third time this season that Adams went seven-plus innings as he tossed eight innings in a win over Tennessee Tech and seven frames versus Eastern Kentucky. He has seven quality starts in the season and improved to 7-2 on the season, which ranks third in the OVC in all games and it was his sixth win against OVC competition, matching TTU's Michael Wood. Adams fanned seven Cougars and allowed two free passes in his 117-pitching performance.
Junior Grant Chandler completed the final two innings and was touched for one hit in the eighth inning.
MOREHEAD STATE 4, TENNESSEE TECH 1
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Behind stellar pitching performances from junior lefty Aaron Leasher and senior southpaw Curtis Wilson, and some timely offense, the Morehead State baseball team locked down the No. 2 seed in next week's Ohio Valley Conference Tournament with a 4-1 victory at first-place Tennessee Tech Thursday night.
The sixth consecutive win for the Eagles against the Golden Eagles set up Morehead State for an 8 p.m. ET OVC Tournament first-round game next Wednesday against the winner of the game pitting the seventh and eighth seeds. Morehead State moved to 33-20 overall and 17-10 in the league. Tech fell to 36-18 overall and 22-6 in the conference.
Leasher struck out eight, did not give up an earned run, and only was charged with two hits against him in six innings as he improved to 8-3. Leasher is now just two wins shy of the MSU single-season victory mark held by Harold Sergent in 1964. Wilson nailed down his second multi-inning save in the last three series as he gave up five hits but zero runs in the final three frames.
The Eagles grabbed a 1-0 lead in the third when sophomore leftfielder Niko Hulsizer collected his nation's-best 74th RBI to score fellow sophomore Trevor Snyder. Sophomore catcher Hunter Fain made it 2-0 when he singled in junior first baseman Tyler Niemann in the fourth.
A sac fly by the Golden Eagles cut the cushion in half in the fourth frame, but Niemann and Snyder pushed it back to 4-1 in the eighth. The left-handed Niemann pulled an RBI triple down the right field line, and Snyder singled to left field.
Snyder finished 3-for-4, while Niemann, senior centerfielder Ryan Kent and junior third baseman Eli Boggess had two hits each. Boggess upped the national lead in batting to .431.
FURMAN 6, BELMONT 5
NASHVILLE - Belmont baseball dropped the series opener to Furman in a closely contested battle Thursday evening at E.S. Rose Park. The Bruins got out in front early, but were hindered by a big frame from the Paladins, falling 6-5.
Sophomore Hunter Holland (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.) and redshirt-freshman Matt Cogen (Franklin, Tenn.) have possessed two of Belmont's hottest bats in recent contests and continued to dominate at the plate in game one, producing four hits and three runs for the Bruins. Collectively, the duo has recorded four consecutive multi-hit outings apiece and been a backbone to the Bruins offense.
In his first at bat of his final home series senior Clay Payne (Powell, Tenn.) let one soar over the left field fence in the home half of the third to break up the standstill. The game remained scoreless until Payne ripped his sixth long ball of the season to get the Bruins bats going and take a 1-0 lead.
The squad continued to ride the momentum in the fourth, using a free ride and extra base knock to set up sophomore Holland to drive in two more runs on a single through the left side. The play was made possible after redshirt-freshman Cogen ripped a double to the right corner, increasing his hitting streak to eight consecutive games.
On the mound, starting hurler Tyler Vaughn (Jonesboro, Ill.) was extremely effective on the hill for the five innings he logged. The junior gave up six hits, but never allowed a runner to make a trip around the bases to keep the Paladins scoreless through the first five stanzas. Furman found a way to load the bases in the second, putting the righty in a jam with only one down before he induced a double play to get Belmont out of the frame unscathed.
Furman got themselves on the board in a big way during the sixth, producing five runs on three hits and a pair of walks issued by a pair of BU relievers. The Paladins used a couple of sacrifice bunts to plate the first two runs before Jabari Richards sent a three-run homer to left field and gave the squad a 5-3 advantage.
Senior Tyler Walsh (Evansville, Ind.) brought the Bruins within one courtesy of a throwing error from Furman's pitch that allowed Holland to both get on base and advance to second. From then Walsh sent a laser through the left side to score Holland and keep Belmont in the game, 5-4. Belmont knotted it all up after sophomore Chas Hadden (Morristown, Tenn.) collected a base shot in his first plate appearance after replacing junior Alex Ward (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) at first, but the Paladins secured the victory on a double to centerfield from Brandon Elmy that brought in the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth.