FRIDAY'S SCORES
Tennessee Tech 9, @Eastern Illinois 3
Jacksonville State 5-21, Murray State 3-3 (Birmingham, Ala.)
Eastern Kentucky 5-9, UT Martin 3-4
@Austin Peay 6-7, Southeast Missouri 5-6
@SIUE 5, Belmont 4
Morehead State 5, @Kansas 3 (11 innings)
TENNESSEE TECH 9, EASTERN ILLINOIS 3
CHARLESTON, Ill. - The second-longest winning streak in the nation officially reached 10 games Friday afternoon, as the Tennessee Tech baseball team (19-5, 9-1) claimed a 9-3, Ohio Valley Conference victory at Eastern Illinois (9-15, 1-6).
The Golden Eagles earned their seventh consecutive win in league play behind a healthy dose of offense and some good pitching from a pair of arms. Senior starter Travis Moths garnered his NCAA-leading sixth victory of the season while junior closer Ethan Roberts earned his sixth save of the year.
Moths tossed five and two thirds innings on the day, limiting the Panthers to just five hits and two earned runs with a pair of strikeouts. He moved to 6-1 on the season, tying for the national lead for victories.
Roberts struck out the first five batters he faced while closing out the final three and one third innings. He allowed just two hits, a walk and a single earned run while finishing with seven total punch outs. In claiming his sixth save of the year, he also moved within one of tying the Golden Eagle program record for career saves. His 21 saves trails only former Tech closer Seth Lucio, who was drafted by the San Diego Padres in the 2014 MLB First Year Player Draft.
As for the offense, the Tech lineup pounded out 14 hits for its nine runs while also drawing six walks, despite being held scoreless over the first four frames.
The Golden Eagles finally dented home plate with a pair of runs in the fifth, scoring the first on an RBI fielder's choice off the bat of junior Alex Junior. Fellow junior Kevin Strohschein followed two batters later with an RBI single.
Tech snagged another run in the sixth thanks to an RBI double from junior Nick Osborne, taking an important 3-0 lead. Eastern Illinois answered in the bottom half, scoring twice with two outs to make it a game. Roberts came on in relief and promptly picked up the third out with a strikeout.
Then the Tech bats really went to work. After a leadoff single to right field by Junior, senior Trevor Putzig blasted his seventh home run of the season to left field for a 5-3 lead.
Strohschein followed with a base knock and senior Chase Chambers earned a four-pitch walk to keep the momentum rolling. Two batters later, senior shortstop David Garza broke the game wide open, connecting on a 2-2 offering for his fourth long ball of the season, a three-run shot to left center field.
Garza finished 3-for-5 with three runs scored and three RBI while Putzig earned a 2-for-4 showing with three RBI and a pair of walks. Strohschein kept his hot start to the year going with a 3-for-6 day at the dish and Osborne joined him with a 3-for-4 performance at the plate.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 5-21, MURRAY STATE 3-3
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Jacksonville State baseball team pounded out 30 hits combined in a doubleheader sweep of Murray State on Friday at Young Memorial Field.
The Gamecocks opened the twinbill with 5-3 win in the opener and exploded for a 21-2 series-clinching win in the nightcap. The Gamecocks will be looking for their first OVC sweep of the season. JSU moved to 14-9 overall and improved to 5-3 in league play, while the Racers dropped to 14-13 on the season and 5-6 against OVC foes. The series wraps up on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Young Memorial Field on the UAB campus. Admission is free to the series finale and it will also be available on the OVC Digital Network and streamed on the Gamecock Sports Network.
Jax State combined for a productive offense and solid pitching in the two-game sweep. The Gamecocks limited the Racers to 19 combined hits with 10 of those nine coming in the opening contest. JSU sophomore Garrett Famer picked up the win in the opener after tossing seven solid frames and allowed one run in the outing. Farmer posted seven strikeouts and scattered seven hits. In game two, junior Derrick Adams followed Farmer's lead with another quality pitching outing against OVC competition. Adams turned in six complete innings and did not allow a run. Going back to his 7.2 innings of scoreless work at Eastern Illinois, the Decatur, Alabama native has turned in 14.2 scoreless innings in his last two league outings. Adams allowed three hits and registered a pair of strikeouts.
The jax State offense gave the pitching staff leads to work with early in both games as it jumped on the Racers' starting pitching from the start. In the opener, JSU scored all five of its runs in the first four plate appearance and weathered a late rally by the Racers. The Gamecocks had lone runs in the first and second and added a two-run third, highlighted by an RBI single by freshman Isaac Alexander. Alexander led the Gamecocks in the first game with a 3-for-4 contest at the plate. The Muscle Shoals, Alabama shortstop opened the day with the first triple by JSU this season to start the second inning and had a pair of singles. Senior Trent Simpson also had a multi-hit day in the opener with a 2-for-3 day at the dish, including double. Simpson was credited with his fourth save of the year after shutting things down in the ninth. Simpson would finish the day 4-for-8 with his eighth home run of year in the JSU's five-run first inning of the nightcap.
After opening the game with a 5-0 lead, JSU would go on to score multiple times in six of the eight plate appearances. Senior Taylor Hawthorne, who collected six hits on the day, went 5-of-6 in the second game and delivered five RBI to lead all Gamecocks. The five hits set a new career high for the Prattville, Alabama outfielder and the matched his career mark for RBI in a game.
Including Hawthorne's and Simpson's multiple hits, JSU had five others contribute with multiple hits in JSU's season-high 21 hits. Senior Hayden White had three hits, followed by senior Clayton Daniel, junior Nic Gaddis, sophomore Andrew Naismith and freshman Cole Frederick had two hits each. Naismith and Alexander had home runs in the second game and the team finished with seven doubles for 10 extra base hits in the big offensive production.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 5-9, UT MARTIN 3-4
MARTIN, Tenn. - Alex Holderbach drove in four runs in game one, and Nick Howie drove in five runs in game two as the Eastern Kentucky University baseball team swept an Ohio Valley Conference doubleheader at the University of Tennessee at Martin on Friday. The Colonels won by scores of 5-3 and 9-4.
With the wins, EKU moves to .500 (4-4) in conference play and improves to 11-16 overall. Eastern also clinched its second straight OVC series victory.
In game one, the two teams battled to a 1-1 tie into the seventh inning. In the bottom half of the seventh, Ben Aslett hit a two-run home run with two outs, and a 3-2 count, to swing the lead to the Skyhawks.
In the top of the eighth inning, Holderbach ripped a two-run double into right center to tie the game 3-3.
The Colonels took the lead again in the final inning. Daniel Harris IV started the ninth with a single through the left side and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. With two outs later in the inning, Cornell Nixon was hit by a pitch and Ryland Kerr drew a walk to load the bases for Holderbach. The junior singled to left to drive in two more runs and give the visitors a 5-3 lead.
Aaron Ochsenbein came on to pitch the bottom of the ninth. After walking the first batter of the inning he struck out the next two. With a runner on first and two outs, Ochsenbein got Aslett to ground out to second to end the game and pick up his fourth save of the season.
Holderbach finished 2-for-3 with two walks, a run and four RBIs. Logan Teague started and allowed just one run on six hits over four and one-third innings of work. He walked four and struck out five.
Just like they did in game one, the Colonels took the lead by scoring in the top of the first inning of game two. Howie drove in a run with a single up the middle and Will Johnson platted a run with a single of his own.
The Skyhawks (5-19, 2-9 OVC) tied the score, 2-2, with two runs in the bottom of the fourth, and took a 3-2 lead with a run in the bottom of the sixth.
Eastern however exploded for seven runs combined in the seventh and eighth innings. Howie highlighted a four-run seventh inning with a three-run home run over the wall in left center. The sophomore drove in a run in the eighth with an infield single.
Howie finished 3-for-5 with a run and five driven in. Kaven Brown started for the Colonels and turned in his first quality start of the season. He allowed three runs on seven hits over seven innings. He did not walk a batter and struck out six.
AUSTIN PEAY 6-7, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 5-6
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Austin Peay State University’s baseball team won both ends of its Ohio Valley Conference against Southeast Missouri in walk-off fashion, Friday at Raymond C. Hand Park. The Governors won the opener 6-5 on second baseman Garrett Kueber’s two-run double before a 7-6 victory in the nightcap was clinched on a balk.
Austin Peay (16-11, 7-4 OVC) trailed most of the day’s first game and faced a 5-4 deficit entering the ninth inning. Center fielder Imani Willis singled with one out and third baseman Malcolm Tipler singled with two outs to bring up Kueber. The Govs shortstop took the second pitch he saw and drove it into the right center gap to drive in both runners for the win.
In the nightcap, Southeast Missouri (10-17, 7-4 OVC) was the team that had to rally from a deficit, trailing 6-1 after seven innings. The Redhawks used a pair of Governors miscues to score three runs in the eighth and two more in the ninth to force Austin Peay to take its final turn at-bat.
The Governors got back-to-back singles from pinch hitter Mike Newberg and Aaron Campbell to put the pressure on and a ground out moved the potential winning run to third base. On a 2-1 pitch to Govs catcher David Martinez, the Redhawks reliever was called for a balk, bringing the winning run home.
Newberg (3-0) notched the win in the opener after tossing three innings and allowing one unearned run. Reliever Harley Gollert (2-1) was credited with the win in the nightcap after allowing two unearned runs in his 1.2 innings of work.
First baseman Parker Phillips went 4-for-9 with four RBI in the doubleheader, hitting a home run in the first game before notching two doubles in the second game. Second baseman Garrett Giovannelli extended his hit streak to 13 games with a 3-for-9 outing on the day.
Redhawks designated hitter Justin Dirden went 5-for-7 with three walks in the doubleheader, including a 3-for-3, two-walk outing in the night cap.
SIUE 5, BELMONT 4
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Jared McCunn's two-out RBI-double in the eighth inning was the difference Friday as SIUE topped Belmont 5-4 in Ohio Valley Conference play at Simmons Baseball Complex.
The win snapped a 12-game losing streak for the Cougars, who improved to 6-18 overall and 2-9 in OVC play. The Bruins dropped to 13-13 and 7-4.
McCunn's hit plated Jordan Ross and broke a 4-4 tie. Earlier in the at-bat he had been hit by a pitch, but the umpire refused to give him first base.
Belmont reliever Logan Bowen (0-2) allowed the run in two innings of work and took the loss. He struck out three. Connor Etheridge started the game and gave up the first four runs on eight hits over 4 2/3 innings.
Belmont took a 3-0 lead, scoring a run in the first inning and two in the second against SIUE starter Ryan Byrd.
Aaron Goecks got the Cougars on the board with a two-run double in the third inning to cut the lead to 3-2.
The Bruins' Jackson Campbell homered in the fourth to extend the lead to two before Goecks and Aaron Jackson each picked up RBIs in the fifth to tie the score 4-4.
Byrd turned in the longest outing of his season, tossing seven innings. He allowed all four runs and struck out six. The Bruins loaded the bases in the seventh against the SIUE starter, but Byrd struck out third baseman Ben Kocher on a high fastball to end the threat.
The Cougars outhit the Bruins 11-7 for the game. Ross, Goecks and Bret Fehr each had two hits. Goecks finished with three RBIs.
Jordan Henshaw was 2 for 4 with two RBIs to lead the way for the Bruins.
MOREHEAD STATE 5, KANSAS 3 (11)
LAWRENCE, Kan. - For the second consecutive game, the Morehead State baseball team and Kansas played extra innings, but this time the victory went to the Eagles as they pulled out a 5-3, 11-inning win over the Jayhawks at Hoglund Ballpark.
The win marked the fifth straight season the Eagles have won at least one game at a Power 5 conference or high-major conference school.
The Eagles (16-12), who had lost in 12 innings last night, scored two runs on a passed ball in the top of the 11th to take the lead. Junior shortstop Reid Leonard led off the inning with a double down the left-field line, junior right-fielder Jake Hammon drew a walk and both moved up a base on a balk by KU pitcher Jonah Ulane. Ulane uncorked a fastball that catcher Jaxx Groshens mishandled, allowing Leonard to scamper home. On the throw back to attempt the out, Groshen's throw sailed over the pitcher's head and all the way into left field, allowing Hammon to cross the plate.
Meanwhile, Eagle reliever Cory Conway retired the hosts in order in the final half-inning to seal the win. Conway (3-1) tossed four complete innings and surrendered only two hits while sitting down three on strikeouts. Senior starter David Calderon fanned seven in the first four frames, and senior righty Kyle Cantu worked three innings, giving up just one earned run.
Senior second baseman Braxton Morris put a charge into a ball and gave his team a 3-0 lead in the third with his first home run of the year - a three-run shot. Morris' four-bagger moved his hitting streak to 23 games, and he walked in the first inning to move his reached-base streak to 29 games.
Leonard, who was 3-for-5, upped his reached-base streak to 20 games. MSU had six hits.