FRIDAY'S SCORES
UMass-Lowell 12,
Morehead State 6 (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.)
Austin Peay 4, South Dakota State 2 (St. Louis, Mo.)
@Jacksonville State 7, Southern Illinois 4
@Kansas 5,
Murray State 3
@UNC Wilmington 5,
Eastern Kentucky 4
@College of Charleston 6,
Southeast Missouri 3
@Tennessee Tech 7, Little Rock 3
Youngstown State 8,
@Belmont 4
@ULM 4-7,
Eastern Illinois 3-6
@Southeastern Louisiana 11,
SIUE 2
@Troy 14,
UT Martin 2
UMASS-LOWELL 12, MOREHEAD STATE 6
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. - The Morehead State baseball team fell victim to a late-inning scoring flurry by UMass Lowell as the Eagles opened 2018 by falling 12-6 to the Riverhawks at the Swig and Swine Classic at newly-christened Shipyard Park.
Despite taking a 4-0 lead in the third inning and a back-and-forth battle in the middle innings, MSU saw UML scored six times in the seventh and eighth frames to pull away. At the plate, Morehead State could not rally, striking out five times in its final three at bats.
Seven Eagle pitchers issued 12 free bases, including the 11 walks and a hit batter. UML broke a 6-6 stalemate in the seventh with three RBI singles and a bases-loaded free pass.
Morehead State surged ahead 4-0 in the third. Junior leftfielder Niko Hulsizer's potential sacrifice fly was muffed by the UML rightfielder, allowing junior centerfielder Connor Pauly to score. An ensuing throwing error on senior Eli Boggess' dribbler to third pushed Hulsizer and junior Reid Leonard across, and senior second baseman Braxton Morris plated Boggess on a single.
The Eagles scored their fifth and sixth runs in the in the fifth and sixth frames. Junior DH Adam Rapp crushed an RBI double in the fifth, and Boggess recorded an RBI single in the sixth.
Leonard, Morris and Pauly each tallied two hits, part of a nine-hit day for the batters. Pauly also scored twice. UML hammered two home runs, including a two-run and a three-run smash.
Senior right-hander JC Hatcher was pinned with the loss, surrendering four runs in his two frames of work.
AUSTIN PEAY 4, SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 2
ST. LOUIS - Shortstop Garrett Kueber scored on a wild pitch in the seventh inning to give Austin Peay State University’s baseball team a lead it would not relinquish in a 4-2 victory against South Dakota State, Friday afternoon at Billiken Sports Park.
Austin Peay (1-0) saw its offense rally just after South Dakota State’s Newt Johnson tied the game, 2-2, with a leadoff home run in the top of the seventh. Kueber walked to lead off the bottom of the seventh and was moved over on a sacrifice bunt and deep fly out. With first baseman Parker Phillips at the plate, a pitch got past the Jackrabbits catcher and Kueber raced home and was ultimately called safe.
Phillips would ultimately walk and, after designated hitter Kyle Wilson’s single, would score on left fielder Andrew Flaherty’s single to set the final score.
Kueber, who made his Governors debut, ended the day responsible for three of Austin Peay’s runs as part of a 1-for-4, two RBI outing. His two-run double in the second inning was the Govs first base hit and gave them a 2-1 lead.
Austin Peay starting pitcher Michael Costanzo struck out seven batters over five innings, limiting SDSU to one unearned run on a three hits and a walk. Reliever Brett Newberg (1-0) picked up the win after tossing 3.2 innings and allowing one run on four hits. Ross Walker retired the only batter he faced to notch the save in his Governors debut.
Johnson led South Dakota State with a 1-for-3, two RBI effort at the plate. His sacrifice fly in the first inning helped the Jackrabbits take advantage of two Austin Peay defensive miscues for an early 1-0 lead.
SDSU relief pitcher Austin Suhr (0-1) was tagged for the loss after allowing two runs in 3.2 innings. Starting pitcher Brady Stover allowed one hit but walked five in a three-inning outing.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 7, SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 4
OXFORD, Ala. - Sophomore Andrew Naismith went 3-for-4,including a pair of home runs to power Jacksonville State past Southern Illinois, 7-4, on Opening Day at Choccolocco Park on Friday afternoon.
Naismith collected four RBI on the day with his pair of blasts over the right center wall at the Oxford, Alabama park. The Auburn, Alabama native, who had a stellar freshman campaign en route to earning a spot on the Ohio Valley Conference All-Freshman Team last season, started his sophomore season with his first two-run round tripper in his first plate appearance in the second inning to give sophomore right hander Garrett Farmer an early lead. He would expand the lead in the fourth with the second home run in the fourth with a solo shot to move JSU's lead to 3-1 after SIU's Logan Blackfan put the first run on the board for the visitors from Carbondale, Illinois. Blackfan joined Naismith with two home runs in the contest.
Farmer, who made his second consecutive Opening Day start after earning the nod last season in the opener at Florida International, was effective in his four innings of work after coming off an injury that cut his 2017 season short after three starts. Farmer earned the win in the contest and held SIU to one hit and a run in his four frames. Farmer, from Huntsville, Alabama, tallied five of the 10 strikeouts by the Jax State pitching staff. Head coach Jim Case used five pitchers in the opener and the group gave up just one walk in the contest.
Senior Trent Simpson began his senior campaign on a high note offensively and relished the role of the club's closer as he earned his first career save in a Gamecock uniform with a ninth inning appearance. Simpson belted Jax State's third home run of the day in the fifth to move the lead to 5-1 after five complete innings. Simpson recorded JSU's first hit of the year with a single in his first at bat. Simpson stuck out the side in the ninth and avoided trouble as SIU threatened with a pair of hits in the ninth.
JSU had three new faces in the lineup on Opening Day and two of the three registered their first collegiate hit. Freshman Isaac Alexander, who started at shortstop, had an RBI single in the sixth and played solid defense at shortstop in his JSU debut. Freshman Cole Frederick, who was inserted at third base, had a hit in his first collegiate contest. Freshman Tanner Anderson earned the start in right field. Senior Taylor Hawthorne, who volunteered to take over in centerfield, continued to be swing a hot bat with a pair of hits.
Case used sophomore Corley Woods as the first guy out of the bullpen. Woods went 2.2 innings and was touched for three hits but allowed the solo run. Senior Grant Chandler made his 74th career appearance to finish the SIU seventh. Redshirt sophomore Tyler Wilburn got JSU out of an eighth inning jam with an inning-ending double play to silence the Salukis' threat.
Along with Blackfan's 3-for-4 day, Jared Kengott was the only other Saluki with multiple hits.
KANSAS 5, MURRAY STATE 3
LAWRENCE, Kan. - Kansas got a three-run bottom of the first inning to do most of its damage and held on from there as Murray State lost its season opener Friday to the Jayhawks, 5-3 in Lawrence.
MSU went just 1-for-10 with two outs in the loss while Kansas went 5-of-13. The Racers also struck-out 10 times while striking out just one KU batter.
Mike Farnell and Caleb Hicks both had two-hit days in the game. Farnell went 2-for-3 with an RBI in his MSU debut while Hicks was 2-of-4 with a pair of doubles. CJ Bush, Farnell and Davis Sims all had ribbies in the loss.
Bush got an RBI single to right in the fourth inning to get the Racers on the board for the first time Friday after Sims led-off the inning with a double and Farnell moved him over to third with a single. The Racers left the bases loaded however to end the inning and limit the damage they could do.
An RBI groundout by Sims in the fifth cut the deficit to 3-2 in the top half of the fifth before the Jayhawks answered with a run of their own in the bottom of the inning to make it 4-2. In the eighth, MSU would again get within a run after Farnell’s RBI single through the right side to score Ramsey Scott. Scott began the inning with a double to left center.
Again, the Jayhawks would answer in the bottom of the inning as a bases-loaded walk pushed the score back out to 5-3. In the ninth, Hicks would leadoff with a double but a flyout and two strikeouts ended the game for the Racers.
Trevor McMurray got the start on the mound for MSU and took the loss Friday afternoon. McMurray pitched 4.1 innings and allowed four runs. Chance Carner and Jake Jones pitched in relief for MSU. Jones went 2.2 innings in his career debut and allowed just one run.
UNC WILMINGTON 5, EASTERN KENTUCKY 4
WILMINGTON, N.C. - Eastern Kentucky University’s baseball team tied the game on an eighth inning two-run home run in its season opener, but the University of North Carolina Wilmington scored in the ninth to win 5-4 on Friday at Brooks Field.
In his second Division I at bat, Tyler Romanik tied the game with one swing in the top of the eighth inning. Alex Holderbach singled to center with one out. With two outs, Romanik stepped to the plate, having already grounded out as a pinch hitter in the sixth. With an 0-1 count, the transfer from State College of Florida sent the ball over the wall in left field to tie the game 4-4.
Zack Canada began the bottom of the ninth by drawing a walk. He moved to second on a passed ball and to third on an error. With one out, Noah Liles hit the ball to second and the Colonels tried to turn the double play to end the inning, but the relay throw to first was not in time and Canada scored the game winner.
EKU led 1-0 and 2-1 early in the game.
Chris Botsoe led off the game by drawing a walk and then scored three batters later when Holderbach singled to center field. After UNCW tied the game in the bottom half of the first, the Colonels (0-1) took the lead again in the second inning.
Brenden Overton got the frame started with a single through the left side. He moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and then scored when Botsoe singled to third base, giving Easter a 2-1 advantage.
The Seahawks (1-0) scored three times in the bottom of the third inning to take a 4-2 lead. Kep Brown tied the game with an RBI single to center. Mason Berne’s run scoring single to third base capped the inning.
Overton and Holderbach each finished 2-for-4. Romanik was 1-for-2 with a run and two RBIs.
Aaron Ochsenbein started for Eastern Kentucky and allowed three earned runs on seven hits in three innings of work. He walked one and struck out three.
Senior Casey Collins (0-1) was stellar in relief. He tossed five innings of one hit ball. He gave up a lead-off walk in the bottom of the ninth, which would ultimately score, before leaving the game. He walked three and struck out five.
COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON 6, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 3
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Southeast Missouri (0-1) dropped its season-opener to the College of Charleston (0-1) by a score of 6-3 Friday afternoon at Patriots Park.
SEMO immediately went to work against CofC starting left-hander Evan Sisk in the top of the first inning.
Trevor Ezell drove the game's first pitch for a single through the right side and stole second. After Alex Nielsen flied out to right, Danny Wright and Chase Urhahn were both hit by a pitch to load the bases with one out. On the next play, Preseason All-American Tristen Gagan walked and Ezell scored the Redhawks first run of the season. Hunter Southerland followed with a double to right center scoring both Wright and Urhahn to put SEMO ahead, 3-0.
CofC got on the board in the bottom of the second with the help of a leadoff triple by Danny Wondrack. Wright covered a lot of ground and crashed into the wall as the ball dropped safely into left center. Wondrack touched home on an ensuing sacrifice fly by Bradley Dixon. With two outs, eight-hole hitter Ari Sechopoulos hit his first home run of the season over the wall in right center making it a 3-2 contest.
Despite his rocky first inning, Sisk had his way with the Redhawks until he gave way to Carter Love in the seventh. Sisk threw five scoreless, no-hit innings and retired the last 11 hitters he faced before exiting the game. Gagan was the only Southeast baserunner in that stretch when he drew a two-out walk in the top of the third.
With Sisk settled in on the mound, the Cougars managed to tie the game in the fifth inning.
Sechopoulos doubled to center and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Luke Manzo. Dupree Hart flied out to center to score Sechopoulos knotting things up at 3-3.
A throwing error and a passed ball resulted in a pair of unearned runs allowing CofC to take the lead an inning later.
Luke Morgan started the inning by getting on base thanks to SEMO's mishap. Logan McRae singled through the left side and scored the go-ahead run on K.J. Bryant's double down the left field line. A passed ball on a strikeout by Sechopoulos allowed McRae to score the other unearned run giving the Cougars a 5-3 advantage.
CofC polished off its opening day win with one final run on a one-out RBI-single by Bryant in the bottom of the eighth.
Sisk (1-0) nailed down the win, allowing just two hits in six innings. He also struck out five and walked two.
Offensively, the Cougars outhit the Redhawks, 10-4, with Morgan, McRae, Wondrack, Bryant and Sechopoulos contributing two hits apiece.
Christian Vick (0-1) took the loss. Vick gave up three runs on five hits, walked one and struck out three in three innings. He relieved right-hander Joey Burris who scattered five hits, struck out two and allowed three runs in the first weekend start of his career.
Ezell went 2-for-4 with a run scored at the top of the Redhawks order. Today's game marked Ezell's first start since Feb. 26, 2017.
Newcomers Southerland and Justin Dirden added SEMO's other hits.
TENNESSEE TECH 7, LITTLE ROCK 3
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - The 2018 season started off with a bang for the Tennessee Tech baseball team, as the Golden Eagles earned a 7-3 victory over Little Rock in the season opener Friday afternoon.
The Trojans jumped on the scoreboard first, plating two runs in the top of the first off of senior starter Travis Moths. The right-handed pitcher recovered quickly and shut down the Little Rock offense through the sixth inning.
Tech's defense backed up the veteran's outing, turning double plays in the second and fourth inning to help end a couple of scoring threats. A leadoff triple in the third by the Trojans offered another threat, but Moths shut the door quickly, striking out the side to end the inning.
Moths also struck out the side in the sixth frame, finishing the contest with eight over six innings while allowing just two earned runs to earn the victory.
Senior shortstop David Garza was the first Golden Eagle to dent the scoreboard of the new season, smashing a solo shot to left field on an 0-2 count in the bottom of the first to cut the deficit in half.
Two innings later, the Tech offense went to work again, plating five in the frame to jump out ahead for good. Garza led off the frame with an infield single down the third base line. Fellow senior Trevor Putzig was plunked with a pitch to put two on with no outs.
Little Rock managed to record two outs before the Golden Eagles returned to their offensive ways. Junior college transfer John Ham recorded his first hit in a Tech uniform, crushing a three-run bomb to left field for a 4-2 lead.
A single by senior Colling Harris set up freshman Jason Hinchman for his first career hit and RBI. The rookie ripped a double to left field, bringing the speedy Harris all the way around from first base. Catcher Brennon Kaleiwahea continued the run, singling to center field to give Tech a 6-2 lead.
Junior right-hander Marcus Evey took over on the hill for Moths, tossing two and two thirds innings. All eight of his outs came via the strikeout, including punching out the side in both the seventh and eighth frames.
The Golden Eagles snagged an insurance run in the sixth while the Trojans put one across in the ninth. Tech turned to junior reliever Zack Wilcox for the final out of the contest, and the right-hander earned the save with the tying run on deck. He forced a groundout that he fielded himself, tossing it to Chase Chambers for the final out.
Ham led the Tech offense with three RBI and a 2-for-4 showing at the plate. Nine out of 10 Tech batters gathered at least one hit in the contest, with five of those players posting multiple hits.
YOUNGSTOWN STATE 8, BELMONT 4
NASHVILLE - Belmont Baseball dropped its season opener to Youngstown State on a cold Friday night at E.S. Rose Park. The Bruins got out ahead early, but were hindered by a big Penguin inning, falling 8-4.
Belmont struck early in the game, making the first move in the second inning. Senior Ben Kocher tallied the Bruins first run off a big hit from senior Cully Day. BU seemed to be carrying the momentum, holding the Penguins scoreless through three innings behind OVC Preseason Pitcher of the Year, junior Dylan King.
Things took a turn in the fourth inning. After two quick outs, Youngstown State put together two base hits with the help of two walks to take the 4-1 lead. This forced Head Coach Dave Jarvis to call on freshman right-handed pitcher Chandler Schultz to take over the mound for his collegiate debut.
Belmont's struggles continued in the fifth inning as BU gave up two more runs before making another change on the mound. Sophomore Jack Rettig made his debut in a Belmont uniform and tossed just over four innings.
Belmont was able to hold the Penguins scoreless through the sixth and seventh innings. One of BU's best defensive plays came on the final out of the seventh inning with a ground out double play.
Kocher was the first at-bat for the Bruins in the bottom of the seventh. He was able to get on base with a walk that seemingly changed the momentum of the game. Kocher made his way to third base before scoring Belmont's second run of the night after a sacrifice fly from senior Kyle Conger. Later in the inning, Jordan Henshaw took advantage of a Youngstown passed ball and made his way cross the plate for another Bruin Run. Belmont ended the inning by cutting the lead to 6-3.
After walking the first batter of the eighth inning, Belmont put together three-straight outs to keep the Penguins from extending the lead.
Belmont took advantage of a Youngstown pitching switch in the bottom of the eighth. Day registered his second hit of the night to advance Kocher to third before Henshaw rocketed a double to send Kocher across the plate yet again to cut the Penguin's lead to 6-4.
Youngstown State sealed their fate in the ninth inning. Despite Rettig striking out two batters, the Penguins put two more runs on the board after a two-run homerun off the bat of Blaze Glenn which extended the lead to 8-4. Belmont looked to make things happen in the bottom of the ninth, but were unable to get anything going with a three up, three down inning.
ULM 4-7, EASTERN ILLINOIS 3-6
MONROE, La. - Recap coming soon.
SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA 11, SIUE 2
HAMMOND, La. - Southeastern Louisiana scored six runs in the fourth inning Friday and went on to an 11-2 win over SIUE in the 2018 baseball season opener at Alumni Field.
The Cougars grabbed a 2-0 lead thanks to a two-run single by senior Mario Tursi in the fourth inning. Aaron Goecks and Jared McCunn scored on the hit. Goecks reached on a fielder's choice and McCunn singled earlier in the inning.
Southeastern Louisiana took the lead for good with the six-run fourth. The Lions used four hits and three SIUE errors in the inning to push across the six runs.
Nelson Martz started for the Cougars and tossed 3.2 innings. He allowed five runs on two hits. He stuck out six, but walked four. He took the loss.
The Lions made it 9-2 with three runs in the fifth inning thanks to two hits and another pair of errors.
Mike Miller allowed four runs in just 2/3 of an inning in relief for SIUE. Tyler Hutchinson worked 1.2 scoreless innings out of the Cougars' bullpen. He allowed a hit, struck out three and didn't walk a hitter.
Southeastern added single runs in the seventh and eighth innings for the final margin.
Both teams finished with 10 hits. The Cougars left nine men on base for the game.
Junior transfers Bret Fehr and Peyton Cordova-Smith each picked up two hits.
Southeastern right fielder Mike Taylor had three hits and drove in four runs for the Lions. Josh Green started on the mound for Southeastern Louisiana and allowed two runs over five innings. He struck out three and earned the win.
TROY 14, UT MARTIN 2
TROY, Ala. - The University of Tennessee at Martin baseball team suffered a 14-2 loss in the first matchup of the season against the Troy Trojans this evening.
The Skyhawks (0-1) were led offensively by freshmen Blake Davis (two hits) and Casey Harford (two hits, one RBI). Fellow newcomers Ethan Whitley (one hit, one run scored) and Jordan Stoner (one hit, one walk) also provided hits in the bout. Senior third baseman Ben Aslett was able to reach base twice via base-on-balls.
Dalton Westfall (0-1) found himself in a pickle early in the game as he allowed five earned runs in 1.2 innings. Junior Austen Bullington came in to toss 4.2 innings of relief while conceding five earned runs and fanning three Trojans in the process. Freshman David Hussey threw for 0.2 innings and gave up three earned runs in that stretch. Junior Seth Rayburn came in for one inning of near-perfect baseball as the righty allowed only one walk and fanned one batter.
UT Martin appeared to be in store for a big night in the first inning as Anthony Adduci reached base on a throwing error and Tyler Albright was hit by a pitch to put two runners on but to no avail.
Westfall worked out of trouble in the bottom of the first, fanning the final batter of the inning to strand a pair of Trojan baserunners.
The second inning looked to be another opportunity for the Skyhawks as Davis singled to center field and was then moved over to third base by a Harford double but both runners would be stranded. Troy answered with a five-run inning in the bottom half to take an early 5-0 advantage.
Bullington then silenced the Trojan bats, retiring seven batters in a row at one point. That included back-to-back perfect frames in the third and fourth innings.
The UT Martin fourth inning showed another glimpse of hope as Whitley singled to right field but was thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a double to lead off the frame. Davis provided his second single of the evening while Harford reached on a fielder’s choice and later stole second base. However, the Skyhawks could not get on the scoreboard.
After Troy pushed across four runs in the bottom of the fifth, UT Martin would hit paydirt in the sixth frame as the inning led off with a pair of walks by Aslett and Collin Edwards. Whitley bounced into a fielder’s choice, leaving Aslett as the odd man out. Harford then singled to right field, plating Edwards and getting the Skyhawks on the board. Whitley then pounced on a wild pitch and crossed home plate, narrowing the gap to 9-2.
Bullington followed with a quick sixth frame, retiring the Troy hitters in order in the bottom half of the inning. However, the UT Martin offense pounded out just one more hit in the matchup, as Stoner doubled in the eighth inning but would not cross home plate.
The Trojans would add five unanswered runs in their final two at-bats to provide the final scoring margin.