SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Morehead State 15, Murray State 11
Southeast Missouri 4, @Belmont 1
@Eastern Kentucky 12, Tennessee Tech 8
@SIUE 11, Eastern Illinois 3
Jacksonville State 5, @UT Martin 4
@Notre Dame 5,
Austin Peay 2
MOREHEAD STATE 15, MURRAY STATE 11
MOREHEAD, Ky. - The Morehead State baseball team erupted for 14 runs in the fourth through sixth innings to top Murray State, 15-11, in a game that started late Friday night and finished in the early Saturday morning hour at Allen Field.
The Eagles held firm in second place in the Ohio Valley Conference at 15-9 while improving to 31-18 overall. Morehead State found itself trailing 3-0 after three innings but rallied back with three runs in the fourth and fifth and eight in the sixth. Sophomore designated hitter Trevor Snyder's three-run homer, his first four-bagger of the year, in the fifth gave the Eagles a lead they never relinquished. Sophomore catcher Hunter Fain delivered a three-run homer in the sixth.
Snyder led the way with five RBI, while sophomore shortstop Reid Leonard, junior third baseman Eli Boggess and junior second baseman Braxton Morris all collected three hits apiece. The Eagles, who lead the nation in hits, had 16 tonight.
Also of note, sophomore leftfielder Niko Hulsizer had a sixth-inning RBI double, giving him 20 on the year. He is the first player in program history now with at least 20 home runs and 20 doubles in the same season. Senior centerfielder Ryan Kent was held hitless but did have two RBI and played in his 211th career game to tie David Shoupe for the MSU career lead in games participated in.
Starting pitcher Aaron Leasher surrendered four earned runs in five innings but did strike out seven to improve to 7-3. Ryan Dills took the loss, issuing six earned runs in five frames.
Davis Sims finished 4-for-4 with two home runs and five RBI to pace the Racers.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 4, BELMONT 1
NASHVILLE - Southeast Missouri (25-22, 13-12) picked up a 4-1 victory over Belmont (34-35, 15-13) in the series opener Friday. Justin Murphy led the way for the Redhawks, narrowly registering a complete game on the evening.
SEMO out hit the Bruins 8-6 in the contest and got multi-hit games from Josh Haggerty and Brian Lees. Haggerty reached base a season-high three times on the night.
Through eight and two-thirds, Murphy gave up only one run on six hits. He added four strikeouts and two walks, while retiring 12 straight batters late in the game. Carlos Vega came in with two out in the ninth and needed only one pitch to pick up his sixth save of the season.
BU starter Tyler Vaughn went seven innings for the Bruins, giving up four runs on seven hits, striking out four and walking two. Kyle Klotz pitched the final two innings, giving up only one hit while tallying three strikeouts.
The Redhawks opened scoring in the third, plating two runs to take the early lead. After a leadoff walk by Haggerty, Dan Holst hit a two-out homerun to right for his sixth of the season.
In the fourth, SEMO added two more runs to take a 4-0 lead. The Redhawks collected four hits in the inning, including three straight to begin the frame. Lees opened with a double down the left field line. Chris Caffrey eventually knocked in Lees with a single up the middle after Tristen Gagan moved him over with an identical hit. Danny Wright laid down a sacrifice and Haggerty drove in the second run with an infield single to second.
Tyler Walsh and Clay Payne responded for Belmont in bottom half of the fourth, getting a run on the board with back-to-back doubles.
Six different Bruins collected a hit on the night and only two went for extra bases.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 12, TENNESSEE TECH 8
RICHMOND, Ky. - Alex Holderbach drove in six runs to help the Eastern Kentucky University baseball team beat visiting first-place Tennessee Tech University, 12-8, on Friday at Earle Combs Stadium.
Eastern trailed 8-7 heading into the bottom of the sixth. After the first two batters were retired, Cornell Nixon started the rally with an infield single. Shea Sullivan followed with a single to right center and Ben Fisher walked to load the bases. Holderbach, down to his last strike, laced a triple to center to clear the bases and give the Colonels a 10-8 advantage.
Holderbach finished 3-for-3 and scored two runs to go along with his half-dozen RBIs.
EKU (24-26, 10-15 OVC) got off to a good start, scoring four runs in the first inning. Holderbach got it started with a sacrifice fly. With two outs in the inning, Nick Howie drove in a run with a single up the middle. Ryland Kerr’s 2-run double to right center capped the big inning.
Howie had a 4-for-5 game with a run and three RBIs.
The Golden Eagles (34-17, 20-5 OVC) erased the deficit in the top of the fourth inning. Chris Brown’s three-run home run over the wall in left field started the rally. The two tying runs scored on an EKU error later in the inning.
TTU took the lead with three runs in the fifth. Collin Harris drove in a pair with a double to right center.
Chase Chambers finished 2-for-5 with two runs scored for Tennessee Tech. Brown had one hit in five at bats, scored one run and drove in three. Kevin Strohschein went 3-for-3 with two walks and two runs scored.
Brandon Smither (1-0) tossed the final four innings without allowing a run to earn the win. He allowed just two hits and struck out one.
SIUE 11, EASTERN ILLINOIS 3
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - A quick start and fast finish Friday propelled the SIUE Cougars to an 11-3 win over Eastern Illinois in the opener of a pivotal Ohio Valley Conference weekend series at Lee Field.
The Cougars scored five times in the first inning and then used a four-run eighth to win their fourth consecutive OVC game and catch EIU in the league standings. SIUE, which improved to 22-25, is 10-15 in conference competition, the same as the Panthers. Overall, EIU is 18-32.
Both teams are battling for one of the final spots in the conference tournament, set for May 23-28 in Oxford, Ala. Eight of the 11 OVC will qualify. The Cougars and Panthers are scheduled to play at 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday at Simmons Baseball Complex.
Winning pitcher Nelson Martz and catcher Brock Weimer can vouch for that. They were at their best in making sure the Cougars got going in a hurry.
Martz lifted his record to 7-4 with a strong performance, covering a season-high 7 2/3 innings and 121 pitches. He held the Panthers scoreless until the fifth and survived Logan Beaman's inside-the-park home run to center field in a two-run eighth. SIUE relievers Mason McReaken and Michael Shereyk recorded the final four outs.
SIUE gave Martz a five-run lead and that enabled him to pitch without constant pressure.
And Weimer takes ample pleasure in his hitting. He went 3-for-4, reached base four times and drove in three runs. Weimer, who has a team-best 47 RBIs, continued his hot hitting at home. He's batting .362, with 23 runs batted in, at Roy E. Lee Field.
Weimer's RBI double proved to be one of the key hits in the big first inning. Dustin Woodcock contributed a two-run double and Aaron Goecks collected a two-run single. Eric Giltz drove in a run on a squeeze bunt.
Weimer added a run-scoring single in the fourth and the Cougars scored an unearned run in the sixth. Woodcock stroked a two-run triple in the eighth, while Jordan Stading and Weimer supplied RBI singles. Woodcock, Alec Skender and Jared McCunn all had two hits and Skender reached base four times. All figured, eight starters hit safely as the Cougars accumulated 13 hits.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 5, UT MARTIN 4
MARTIN, Tenn. - Jacksonville State posted a five-run second inning and fended off a UT Martin rally the rest of the way to claim a 5-4 win in the opening game of the Ohio Valley Conference road series at Skyhawk Field on Friday night.
With the regular season winding down and postseason tournament jockeying throughout the OVC, the Gamecocks moved to 12-12 in the league and pushed their overall record to 26-22. UTM, also battling to make a postseason run fell to 23-26 overall and 10-15 in OVC play.
JSU used the long ball in the big run-scoring second as senior Peyton Williams delivered the first big blow with a two-out three-run home run that sailed over the scoreboard in left field. Williams, who was inserted in to the lineup after the first inning, collected his second home run of the season and just the sixth of his career. Ironically, the last time JSU visited the West Tennessee town of Martin, Tennessee, the Opelika, Alabama outfielder tallied his first career home run at the same ballpark. His first round tripper of the 2017 season came during the opening weekend of the season at Florida International. Williams plated senior A.J. Williams and freshman Chase Robinson, who reached on a single and walk respectively.
After UTM starter Winston Cannon walked Clayton Daniel, the third Gamecock to get a free pass in the frame, junior Taylor Hawthorne sent a 2-0 pitch from Cannon over the right field wall. It was Hawthorne's second home run of the season and the second time this season that Jax State has had multiple home runs in a single inning this year. JSU had multiple dingers against Southeast Missouri on April 15.
Cannon (4-4) would pick up the loss after allowing the five runs and giving up all nine of JSU's hits in the contest. Cannon went the first six innings before Kyle Laberge tossed the final three frames.
JSU's Friday night starter Derrick Adams (6-2) once again battled through another series-opening contest. The Decatur, Alabama left hander worked around trouble throughout most of his 5.1 innings on the mound. UTM had the leadoff man reach five of the first six innings. Adams was able to limit UTM to a run in the bottom of the second after JSU put up its five runs. The Skyhawks plated a run in the third and added two runs in the sixth. Adams was touched for seven hits and he fanned four Skyhawks in his 100 pitch performance.
Junior Grant Chandler came in relief for the next 2.2 innings and nursed the JSU lead. UTM had the tying run in scoring position in sixth and the eighth against the Madison, Alabama native. Chandler retired the Skyhawks in order for the first time on Friday night in the seventh. He induced an inning-ending fly ball out to centerfield with the tying run at third. The teams combined to strand 14 base runners throughout the contest.
Redshirt-junior Justin Hoyt was summoned to close the deal in the ninth and the Birmingham, Alabama left hander struck out two of the three UTM batters he faced. The save was his seventh of the season and third against OVC competition.
Hawthorne and Andrew Naismith led the Gamecocks at the plate with two hits each. With his two hits on Friday, Hawthorne now has 11 multiple hit games this season and pushed his hitting streak to 12 consecutive games. Hawthorne's streak is one behind Daniel's string of 13 straight games with a hit. The Guntersville, Alabama second baseman has a nine-game hitting streak in OVC games-only and has reached base in 23 straight OVC games.
NOTRE DAME 5, AUSTIN PEAY 2
SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Austin Peay State University’s baseball team scored the game’s first two runs but could not hold on in a 5-2 nonconference loss to Notre Dame, Friday night at Frank Eck Stadium.
Austin Peay (22-26) went to work early against Notre Dame starter Brad Ross, manufacturing runs in both the second and third innings to build an early 2-0 lead. In the second, first baseman Parker Phillips led off with a double then moved around the bases without the ball leaving the infield. After a groundout, catcher Alex Sala hit a sharp grounder to first base, but Phillips was able to beat the throw home for the game’s first run.
Second baseman Malcolm Tipler’s leadoff walk started the Govs third inning push. With left fielder Cayce Bredlau at the plate, Austin Peay got aggressive and put Tipler into motion. Bredlau responded with a double down the left field line to give APSU runners at second and third. Austin Peay would get a second run courtesy right fielder Chase Hamilton’s sacrifice fly, but could not produce another run.
Meanwhile, Austin Peay starter Josh Rye (6-3) kept Notre Dame’s offense at bay through four innings. The left-hander worked around a single in the first and a second-inning leadoff walk to keep the Irish scoreless. After that walk, he retired the next 10 batters he faced before allowing a fifth-inning walk.
But that walk sparked the Notre Dame (24-26) offense in the fifth. Right fielder Eric Gilgenback leveled the score with a home run to left field. Two batters later, designated hitter Eric Feliz gave the Irish a one-run lead with another home run to right.
Bass (3-7) would help the Irish nurse that one-run advantage. After the double to Bredlau in the third, he would retire eight consecutive batters. Bass would run into a bit of trouble in the sixth after he issued a leadoff walk then a two-out intentional walk, but escaped by inducing a ground out to end the frame.
The Notre Dame bullpen would then retire nine of the final 10 Governors batters they faced in the contest to secure the victory. Reliever Peter Solomon tossed the final two innings, surrendering only one base runner after a two-out error in the ninth, to pick up his season’s third save.
Bass would strike out seven batters in his six innings and worked around four hits and four walks to secure the win.
Left fielder Jake Johnson had the Irish’s only multi-hit outing, finishing 2-for-3 with a run scored. Gilgenback’s two-run home run paced Notre Dame’s five-run output.
Rye suffered the loss after allowing three runs on four hits and two walks over his five innings. He struck out five of the 21 batters he faced in the outing. Relievers Brett Newberg and Alex Robles struck out another four batters over the final three innings.
Bredlau’s 2-for-3 outing was the Govs only multi-hit output. Hamilton and Sala each had a RBI without posting a base hit in the contest.