WEDNESDAY'S SCORES
Austin Peay 4, @Kansas State 2
Morehead State 9, @Alabama State 4
Eastern Illinois 11, @Robert Morris (Ill.) 5
@Missouri State 5,
Murray State 4 (10 innings)
Tennessee Tech 17, @Alabama A&M 0
Belmont 8, #5 Vanderbilt 5 (First Tennessee Park)
SIUE at Evansville (postponed)
AUSTIN PEAY 4, KANSAS STATE 2
MANHATTAN, Kan. - Third baseman Malcolm Tipler’s sacrifice fly in the ninth inning broke a tie and Austin Peay State University’s baseball team held on for a 4-2 nonconference victory against Kansas State, Wednesday afternoon at Tointon Family Stadium.
With the game tied 2-2, Austin Peay (14-8) saw its first two batters of the ninth inning reach base, one courtesy a Kansas State defensive miscue. After a sacrifice bunt moved both runners into scoring position, the Wildcats loaded the bases by intentionally walking center fielder Imani Willis.
The move did not pay off as Tipler his a fly ball deep enough to drive in the tie-breaking run. Shortstop Garrett Kueber added an insurance run with a single to right, giving the Govs a 4-2 lead.
Reliever Brett Newberg returned to the mound in the bottom of the ninth and overcame a two-out Governors miscue to secure the win and his season’s second save. Tyler Thompson (1-3), who relieved Newberg in the eighth and retired the only batter he faced, picked up his season’s first win.
Austin Peay built an early 2-0 lead with runs in both the first and third innings. First baseman Parker Phillips drove in the game’s first run with the Govs third straight single in the first. Austin Peay scored again in the third on right fielder Kyle Wilson’s single but was left wanting after loading the bases with no outs and not scoring additional runs.
Kansas State (12-9) could not solve the Governors pitching until the fifth inning. Right fielder Hanz Harker doubled to open the inning and left fielder Will Brennan and first baseman Jordan Maxson each singled to drive in a run, tying the game. However, the Wildcats would not get another base runner until the ninth inning, the Govs pitching staff retiring 12 straight batters.
Tipler ended the day 3-for-3 with a double and the game-winning RBI on the sacrifice fly. Kueber added a 2-for-5 outing that included the insurance run. Eight of the Govs starting nine posted a hit in the win.
KSU reliever Jared Marolf (1-2) suffered the loss after allowing two unearned runs on two hits and a walk in the ninth inning. The Wildcats were held to five hits in the contest.
MOREHEAD STATE 9, ALABAMA STATE 4
MONTGOMERY, Ala. - The Morehead State baseball team connected on six extra-base hits, and freshman right-hander Will Lozinak tossed seven efficient innings in his first career start as the Eagles powered past Alabama State 9-4 at the Wheeler-Watkins Complex Wednesday.
The victory moved Morehead State to 13-9 with its sixth straight triumph.
Lozinak, a 6-5 hurler from Hollidaysburg, Pa., only allowed one run and five hits in the first seven frames.
Nursing a 3-1 lead in the sixth inning, junior catcher Hunter Fain boosted that cushion by three with a three-run homer over the wall in right field. The Eagles made it 9-2 in the top of the ninth when Tyler Niemann, Braxton Morris and Trevor Snyder started the inning with three consecutive doubles to right field. Snyder's two-bagger plated the other two as he collected seven RBI in the two wins at ASU this week.
Niemann and Morris each doubled twice. Morris led the way offensively with a 3-for-5 day. Snyder also had three hits and four RBI, while Niemann had two doubles. Morehead State now has double-digit hits in six consecutive games.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 11, ROBERT MORRIS (ILL.) 5
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - The Eastern Illinois baseball team was able to take their midweek game against Robert Morris-Springfield. The Eastern Illinois offense was able to overpower Robert Morris defeating the Eagles, 11-5.
Jimmy Huber hit his first home run of the season belting a solo home run. Ryan Knernschield finished the day with three hits, and two doubles.
MISSOURI STATE 5, MURRAY STATE 4 (10)
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Murray State was just one strike away from coming away with a 4-2 victory Wednesday afternoon at Missouri State, but the Bears were able to get a two-out double to left to tie the game at 4-4 in the bottom of the ninth and would go on to win with a walk off single in the 10th.
The Racers (11-11) held the Bears (13-6) to just one hit throughout the first eight innings of the game, but gave up two in the ninth, along with a walk and a hit batter. Brandon Gutzler was able to force extras by throwing a runner out at home on a base hit in the at bat right after Missouri State tied the game. In the 10th, Missouri State was able to get two more hits and end the game with one out in the inning.
MSU started the game off hot offensively, scoring a run in each of the first three innings to take a 3-0 lead in the contest. Mike Farnell was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the first inning to bring home Gutzler for the first run of the game. It marked the fifth consecutive game that the Racers have scored in the first inning.
In the second and third innings, the Racers were able to get solo home runs to push the lead to 3-0. Caleb Hicks sent his third of the season to right field in the second while Farnell blasted his second of 2018 deep over the right field wall.
In the bottom of the third, Missouri State was able to get two runs back and cut the MSU lead to just 3-2, but from there until the ninth, both offenses fizzled out. In the top half of the ninth, the Racers went up 4-2 thanks to an error by the Bears with two outs that scored Jake Slunder from second.
Alec Whaley pitched the 10th and took the loss, dropping his record to 3-2 on the year. Hicks pitched two innings of relief and allowed two runs while striking out a pair of batters. Luke Brown also appeared in relief for starter Trevor McMurray. Brown pitched four hitless innings and punched out a season-best five batters. McMurray went the first three innings of the game and allowed two runs on one hit while walking three and striking out four.
Farnell was the only Racers with more than one hit as MSU was held to just six hits in the loss. Farnell went 2-for-2 at the plate. Grant Wood went 1-for-3 while Davis Sims was 1-of-5 but added his 15th double of the season.
TENNESSEE TECH 17, ALABAMA A&M 0
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - Both the offense and pitching staff were at their best for the Tennessee Tech baseball team in Huntsville Wednesday afternoon, as the Golden Eagles (15-5) defeated Alabama A&M (5-16) in a rescheduled contest, 17-0.
Originally scheduled for a Tuesday match-up in Cookeville, inclement weather sent the Golden Eagles down to Bulldog Field to face the Bulldogs on their own turf, only this time as the "home" team. Even having to play "home" game on the road couldn't stop the Tech team on Wednesday, however, as Tech worked its sixth straight victory and second shutout of the season.
The reigning Ohio Valley Conference Pitcher of the Week, Alex Hursey, earned his third victory of the season on the day, tossing three innings with three strikeouts and holding the Bulldogs to just three hits and no runs. Six other members of the Tech pitching staff combined to close out the contest and finish the shutout.
Nic Dye, Seth Noel, Grant Phillips, Andrew O'Dwyer, Jacob Parham and Zack Wilcox each tallied an inning of work on the day, scattering seven hits across the way without allowing a walk. The six relievers also combined for eight more strikeouts.
It didn't take long for the Golden Eagles to establish the lead for good, needing just three batters to push the eventual winnings runs across. Leadoff man Alex Junior kicked off the attack with a double to right center field. Two batters later, junior Kevin Strohschein smashed a two-run home run for a 2-run lead.
Strohschein set the bench mark for the Golden Eagle offense on the day, finishing 4-for-6 with three runs, five RBI, a double and two home runs. Also enjoying a big day at the plate was junior Nick Osborne, who drove in four of Tech's 17 runs on the power of a double and a home run.
Senior shortstop David Garza drove in three runs in the contest, finishing two for three with three runs and a walk. Second baseman John Ham had a perfect day at the dish, posting three hits in three at bats with two runs scored and an RBI.
Junior had an effective day leading off, concluding play with three hits in six at bats with a run scored. Also tallying multiple hits on the day were Cody Littlejohn, who finished 2-for-4, and Brennon Kaleiwahea, who smacked on of the team's four home runs as part of a 2-for-3 performance.
In total, Tech tallied 22 hits, the team's third game with at least 20 hits and sixth showing with at least 15 base knocks.
BELMONT 8, #5 VANDERBILT 5
NASHVILLE - Belmont Baseball defeated No. 5 Vanderbilt 8-5 on Tuesday night at First Tennessee Park. The Bruins bounced back in a commanding way after coming off a three-game losing skid to improve to 8-12.
Senior Kyle Conger (Brentwood, Tenn.) got things started right away with a double down the right field line on the second pitch of the game to put Belmont in scoring position early, but Belmont stranded two runners and was scoreless after the first inning.
Sophomore Michael Matter (Ft. Myers, Fla.) earned his first career start on the mound for the Bruins. After a slow start, Matter forced a double play and made an impressive defensive play to tag out a Vanderbilt runner at first to end the inning scoreless.
Vanderbilt scored the first run of the night in the bottom of the third. Junior Kyle Klotz (Fairview, Tenn.) sat down the first batter that he faced in the inning with his first strike out of the night. After a walk and a base hit, the Commodore's showed some crafty base running to score the first run of the matchup.
Belmont responded quickly, digging in to even the score in the top of the fifth. After a leadoff double by Cogen, senior Austin Reynolds (Smyrna, Tenn.) stepped up to the plate and delivered with a sacrifice fly to center field that knotted things up 1-1.
The Bruins gained momentum in the top of the fifth. After three-consecutive walks, Cogen stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded and one out. He and Hadden delivered back-to-back base hits to knock in three runs that put BU back on top. After another walk and base hit, senior Cully Day (Mahomet, Ill.) came to the plate with the bases loaded for the second time in the inning. Day was able to deliver a RBI single. Cogen then took advantage of a Vanderbilt error to tack on the fifth run of the inning to put BU up 6-1. Belmont's five runs are the most that the Commodores have allowed in a single inning so far this season.
Vanderbilt earned back a run in the bottom of the inning, scoring when a wild pitch got away from the Belmont catcher to narrow the lead 6-2.
The Commodores Put together a big threat in the bottom of the sixth. After a leadoff single, the next two batters flew out to right field. Things got dicey for the Bruins when the next two batters were walked to load the bases. Reynolds ,now on the mound for the Bruins, kept his composure and forced another fly out to get out of a jam and strand three Vanderbilt runners.
The Bruins scored again in the top of the seventh. Much like in the top of the fifth, Reynolds found himself at the plate with Cogen on third. Reynolds once again came up big and delivered his second sacrifice fly of the night to give BU a 7-2 lead.
Vanderbilt scored two more runs in the bottom of the seventh to cut the Bruin lead to just three runs, but Belmont yet again responded right back. Junior Zach Ehrhart (Mt. Juliet, Tenn.) started off the top of the eighth with a single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt laid down by pinch hitter sophomore Andrew Guerci (Franklin Lakes, NJ). Conger delivered his second extra-base hit of the night with a RBI double that scored Ehrhart to give Belmont the 8-4 lead.
Freshman Kyle Brennan (Franklin, Tenn.) had an impressive outing on the bump, throwing the final two innings for the Bruins. He was able to retire the Commodores in order in the bottom of the eighth to put the Bruins within three outs of the victory.
The Bruins were unable to score in the top of the ninth, so they took a four-run lead into the bottom of the inning. The Commodore's leadoff runner reached third base on a three-base Belmont throwing error. With one on and no outs, Hadden made a play in foul territory to put the Bruins within two outs. Belmont would commit their second error of the inning, which allowed a run and put another runner on. With just a three-run deficit, Brennan showed great poise on the mound and struck out the final two batters to secure the 8-5 Belmont victory.
Eight Bruins saw time on the mound for the Belmont squad, striking out 12 and walking six.
Belmont's eight runs were the most allowed in a game by Vanderbilt this season.