FRIDAY'S SCORES
@Eastern Illinois 8, Belmont 6
@Jacksonville State 7-7, Southeast Missouri 0-6
Morehead State 25, @SIUE 3
#25 Tennessee Tech 9-15, @Murray State 2-5
@Austin Peay 18-11, Eastern Kentucky 15-9
EASTERN ILLINOIS 8, BELMONT 6
CHARLESTON, Ill. - The Eastern Illinois baseball earned their third conference win of the season today defeating Belmont 8-6. The Panthers combined for six unanswered runs through the first four innings of play.
With the win Eastern Illinois advances to 11-20 (3-10 OVC), while Belmont drops to 13-20 (8-8 OVC).
Tyler Jones picked up his fourth win of the season tossing 6.0 innings, with eight hits, six runs (three earned), and four strikeouts. Michael Starcevich came in to relieve Jones in the seventh inning. Starcevich earned himself his sixth save of the season, finishing with two hits, and two strikeouts.
The Panthers struck the scoring column first in the bottom of the first inning. Dougie Parks drove in the first run of the game for the Panthers with a double to left center, which scored Jimmy Govern who reached on a fielders choice earlier in the inning. Hunter Morris would follow up with a single through the right side that would score Parks.
Eastern Illinois would rally in the fourth inning to jump out to a 6-0 lead. Josh Turnock got the rally kicked off with a leadoff single. After a Matt Albert walk, Ryan Knernschield would move the two base runners into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. Tyler Tesmond would hit a comebacker to Tyler Vaughn who was unable to field the line drive cleanly allowing Turnock to score. Joseph Duncan kept the rally alive belting a double to left which would score Albert. Jimmy Govern was able to clear the bases, hitting a two run single up the middle.
Belmont would put pressure on the EIU pitching staff as they would score five runs in the top of the fifth inning. Hunter Holland led off the inning reaching first on a wild pitch after striking out. A hit by pitch would put Devon Gardner on first. The Bruins would score their first run of the game when Zach Ehrhart hit into a fielders choice. Belmont's offense would hit four straight singles to keep the fifth inning rally alive driving in three runs.
Turnock and Tesmond were able to extend the Panthers lead driving in two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Turncok hit a one run single to left, and Tesmond would hit a one run single down the right field line.
Tyler Vaugn suffered the loss on the mound for Belmont tossing 4.0 innings, with eight hits, six runs, two walks, and three strikeouts.
Duncan finished 2-for-5 this afternoon with a double, run, and RBI. Govern finished 1-for-4 with two RBIs, a run, and stolen base. Tesmond went 2-for-4 with two RBIs, and a run.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 7-7, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 0-6
OXFORD, Ala. - Jacksonville State finished off a doubleheader sweep of Southeast Missouri in walk-off fashion as freshman Cole Frederick opened the 11th inning with a solo home run to lift JSU to a 7-6 win in the nightcap at Choccolocco Park.
With the much-needed two wins in OVC play, JSU improved to 18-13 overall and moved to 8-6 in OVC outings, while SEMO dropped to 16-20 on the season and 10-7 in OVC play. The two teams will wrap up the weekend series on Saturday at 1 p.m. The two schools bumped up the start time on Saturday to avoid the impending rain late on Saturday. JSU has now claimed its first series win over the Redhawks since 2013 when Jax State completed a three-game sweep.
The Gamecocks were riding momentum in to the second game of the twinbill after redshirt sophomore Garrett Farmer turned in a gem on the mound and the Gamecocks' offense broke open a 2-0 contest in the seventh with a five-run inning en route to a 7-0 blanking of SEMO. The shutout was JSU's seventh of the season, and the third against conference foes. The seven shutouts rank second in NCAA Division I Baseball. Central Florida has tallied eight shutouts on the season.
Farmer tossed a career-long 8.0 innings and fanned a career-best 10 strikeouts in the outing. His previous best was also in OVC as he went 8.2 innings against Eastern Illinois and tallied nine strikeouts. The Huntsville, Alabama right hander remained unbeaten on the season with a 4-0 mark. After giving up a leadoff double by Chase Urhahn, SEMO's line up did not get a hit off Farmer until a two-out single by Trevor Ezell in the sixth. The lone threat SEMO had against Farmer was in the first frame with a pair of Redhawks in scoring position with no outs. He preceded to strikeout the side to get out of the jam. SEMO finished with just two hits off Farmer and three for the contest off JSU pitchers. Junior Austin Brewster finished the game in the ninth. The three hits is the fewest allowed by the JSU pitching staff since limiting Morehead State to four hits and a run last season.
Farmer was able to pith with a lead after JSU recorded a run in the first plate appearance with an RBI single by senior Trent Simpson. JSU extended the lead with a run in the third with one of freshman Isaac Alexander's three RBI in the opener. Alexander's single to left field scored Simpson to give JSU a 2-0 lead.
The Gamecocks would break open the game with a five-run seventh after taking advantage of a SEMO error to start the inning and a pair of walks mixed in to the big inning. Alexander added two more RBI with a double down the left field line. After the pair of free passes, senior Hayden White delivered the second double of the inning. Alexander and sophomore Andrew Naismith had two hits each to lead JSU at the plate in the series opener.
The second game of the day became a see-saw battle midway through the contest. Jax State took an early 2-0 lead in the first at bat with Alexander's fourth and fifth RBI of the day. The Muscle Shoals, Alabama native, who had the previous walk-off home run for the Gamecocks earlier this season against Radford on February 23, turned in a 4-for-9 day in the doubleheader. SEMO got one of the runs back in the second before JSU extended the lead to 3-1 in third with a Naismith sacrifice fly. The fly ball to left field by Naismith scored senior Nic Gaddis, who finished the contest a double shy of hitting for the cycle.
Gaddis, who went 3-for-4 on the day and reached base four times, started the opportunity to hit for the cycle with a single in the first and then started the run-scoring third inning with a triple. After SEMO took a brief 4-3 lead in the fifth, but that advantage quickly evaporated with a two-run home run by Gaddis in JSU's half of the inning to hand JSU the lead back at 5-4. SEMO bounced back to equalize in the sixth, but Jax State's White smashed a solo home run to centerfield for a 6-5 lead. The Redhawks would knot it up at 6-6 with a run in the seventh.
It was another JSU freshman that gave the offense a spark as Christian Edwards finished the final 3.1 innings on the mound to give his offense a chance to win it in extra innings. Edwards, from Hartselle, Alabama, needed one pitch to get out of a run-scoring threat in the eighth. Edwards would go on to strikeout the next seven Redhawks and strikeout eight of the nine batters he faced. Edwards turned in career numbers with innings pitched and in strikeouts.
Frederick, facing SEMO's Daniel Bergtholdt in the 11th, ended it on a 1-2 pitch from the SEMO closer, who tossed the final 3.2 innings.
MOREHEAD STATE 25, SIUE 3
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Junior Niko Hulsizer hit for the cycle in reverse order and had five RBI, junior Jake Hammon belted two home runs on a five-RBI day, and senior Braxton Morris drove in six runs as the Morehead State baseball team opened the SIUE series with an emphatic 25-3 victory Friday.
The Eagles, who tied a school single-game record with 10 consecutive hits during a 13-run seventh inning outburst, improved to 21-14 overall and 9-4 in the OVC. Dating back to the final game against SIUE last year (a 28-15 win), the Eagles have now put up 53 tallies against the Cougars in 17 at-bats.
Hulsizer was 4-for-5, hitting a two-run homer, a three-run triple, a double and a single in that order after striking out looking in his first at-bat. Hammon nailed a two-run round-tripper in the second inning and a three-run blast to left field in the seventh. The Eagles collected 12 extra-base hits and scored 18 of their 25 runs with two outs, including 12 of the 13 in the seventh with two outs. Juniors Trevor Snyder and Connor Pauly also smacked solo homers, part of a five-homer afternoon for MSU.
On the mound, junior starter TJ Satterly (1-0) picked up the victory, allowing just two hits and striking out seven in six frames. Junior reliever Garrett Rogers finished off the effort wth two scoreless innings. SIUE's only runs came via a three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh.
Besides Hulsizer's and Hammon's four-hit days, junior Hunter Fain and Pauly logged three hits. Fain had a two-run double. Morris had two hits, including a three-run double and also brought two home on sacrifice fly outs. Snyder and freshman Bryce Hensor notched two hits each.
MSU busted the game open early with a six-run second. Snyder, Hulsizer and Hammon homered in the frame before the Eagle bats were held silent until the sixth. That's when they plated four more runs, including a bases-clearing triple by Hulsizer down the right-field line.
The Eagles sent 17 batters to the plate in the seventh, nearly batting around the order twice. A double play and two walks were followed by 10 straight hits, including five doubles.
#25 TENNESSEE TECH 9-15, MURRAY STATE 2-5
MURRAY, Ky. - A doubleheader sweep kept the nation's longest winning streak intact for the Tennessee Tech baseball team, as the No. 25 Golden Eagles (28-5, 16-1) earned a pair of wins at Ohio Valley Conference rival Murray State (17-17, 5-9) Friday evening.
The Tech squad used a pair of stellar pitching performances to provide time for its offense to go work, leading to victories of 9-2 and 15-5 on the day.
In game one, senior hurler Travis Moths tossed six innings of two-hit ball, allowing just one earned and two total runs while striking out five and walking four. He picked up his league-leading seventh victory of the season and moved into a tie for fifth all-time in career wins in program history with David Hess (2012-14).
Finishing the final three innings for Tech was junior closer Ethan Roberts, who entered the game with no outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh. He induced a double play ball that allowed just a single, unearned run to score before punching out Murray's Ramsey Scott for the final out of the frame.
He allowed just one base runner and struck out three to pick up his league-best seventh save of the season. The local Sparta, Tenn. product also tied Seth Lucio (2012-14) for the program's all-time saves record of 22. Roberts set the single-season record last season with 13.
Junior Marcus Evey also fired a gem on his way to his fourth win of the season, completing seven innings while allowing just three hits, a walk and two runs. He struck out four and retired 11 Racer batters in-a-row at one point, providing the bats their chance at blowing open the game.
In Tech's first victory of the day, it was junior Kevin Strohschein who kicked off the scoring, ripping a double through the right side for an RBI in the top of the third. Two frames later, the slugger hammered a solo blast to left field, his 11th of the year.
Senior Chase Chambers followed with a double to left field and junior John Ham brought him home with a two-run shot to left center field, his 11th of the season. Leading 5-1, Tech tacked on two more in the seventh after Ham legged out a triple to right center field for an RBI. Senior David Garza followed with an RBI single to left field.
In the ninth, pinch-hitter Anthony Carrera added to the fireworks, crushing a two-run bomb to right center field for the 9-2 lead.
Game two played out very similar, with both team pretty even until a few innings in. Senior third baseman Trevor Putzig put the Golden Eagles in the lead right away, torching a solo shot to left field for the 1-0 lead.
Murray State managed to match the run in the third with a home run of its own, but it didn't take long for Tech to respond. With Evey flinging magic on the bump, the Golden Eagles settled in and batted around the lineup in the fourth, plating six to break open the game.
With two quick outs, the Tech offense rallied behind a double down the left field line by junior Nick Osborne. Two batters later, senior Collin Harris drove in a run with a single to right field. Then, junior center fielder Alex Junior blew the game wide open by going Ralph-Waldo-Emerson on a 3-1 offering for a three-run moon shot to right center field.
On the very next pitch, Putzig made it back-to-back jacks with his second, long ball of the game, a solo tater to left center field and clear over the scoreboard. It marked his team and OVC-leading 12th dinger of the season. Chambers followed two batters later with an RBI double to make it a 7-1 game.
Tech would score in each of the next four innings as well, including a four-spot in the sixth, to claim the easy 15-5 win. On the day, the Golden Eagles totaled 35 hits and 24 runs.
Strohschein led the potent offense with a 7-for-9 effort in the two games, scoring three runs and driving in two. Chambers finished 3-for-8 with three runs scored and four RBI. Chambers now ranks fourth all-time on the program's career RBI list with 175 while Strohschein ranks just behind in fifth with 173. The two also rank third (Chambers) and fourth (Strohschein) on the career home runs list, with 41 and 40 blasts, respectively.
Putzig wrapped up his day with a 3-for-9 performance that included five runs scored and two RBI, not to mention a pair of home runs. Ham posted a 4-for-8 day with five RBI and three runs scored.
AUSTIN PEAY 18-11, EASTERN KENTUCKY 15-9
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - First baseman Parker Phillips hit five home runs on the day, leading Austin Peay State University’s baseball team to a sweep of its Ohio Valley Conference doubleheader against Eastern Kentucky, 18-15 and 11-9, Friday at Raymond C. Hand Park.
Phillips hit three home runs, including a first-inning grand slam, in the series opener as part of a 4-for-5, seven RBI contest. He followed that with home runs in the second and eighth innings in the nightcap as part of a 2-for-3, three RBI outing.
Austin Peay (21-15, 11-6 OVC), which hit eight home runs as a team, won its eighth weekend series in the season’s first nine weekends. The Governors moved up to third place in the OVC standings after the Friday doubleheader sweep.
Eastern Kentucky (16-20, 8-6) saw six different batters hit a home run in the doubleheader. Catcher Alex Holderbach finished the day 6-for-11 at the plate with a team-leading six RBI and a home run.
In game one, Eastern Kentucky grabbed a lead in their first turn at bat, striking for three runs against Austin Peay starter Michael Costanzo. The Colonels saw five consecutive batters reach base safely with one out. Holderbach aided the early rally with a RBI single.
But the Colonels lead would not last the inning as Austin Peay saw its first three batters reach base safely. Phillips then stepped to the plate with one out and lifted a grand slam over the wall in right center to give the Govs a 4-3 lead. The Govs would tack on three more runs after the home run, two scoring after EKU defensive miscues, as they grabbed a 7-3 lead.
Phillips would add a solo home run in the second and two-run home run in the fourth, giving him home runs in each of his first three at-bats. Those blasts sandwiched a two-run home run by second baseman Garrett Giovannelli in the third inning as the Govs extended their lead to 14-4.
The Colonels would try to reel in the Governors, scoring the game’s next five runs. The burst was highlighted by Daniel Harris IV’s solo home run in the sixth and right fielder Chris Botsoe’s solo home run in the seventh.
However, Austin Peay stemmed the Colonels run with the next four runs. Center fielder Imani Willis delivered the decisive blow with a three-run home run in the eighth inning, giving the Govs an 18-10 lead.
Eastern Kentucky had one last gasp and made things uncomfortable in the ninth. Shortstop Ryland Kerr hit a three-run home run and Holderbach followed with a solo shot to narrow the deficit to 18-15 but the Govs returned Brett Newberg to the mound and he got the final out to end the game.
Costanzo (6-1) picked up the win after tossing 5.1 innings. He allowed seven runs on 10 hits and four walks during the outing, but held the Colonels scoreless in the fourth and fifth innings to allow the Govs time to build a lead.
Phillips ended the opener 4-for-5 with three home runs and seven RBI. Willis chipped in a 2-for-5, four RBI outing while Giovannelli was 3-for-6 with three RBI.
Eastern Kentucky starter Logan Teague (3-4) surrendered 10 runs (seven earned) in three innings and suffered the loss.
Holderback ended the opener 4-for-6 with three RBI to pace Eastern Kentucky. Kerr went 3-for-5 with four RBI while center fielder Will Johnson was 2-for-2 with two RBI and three walks.
In game two, Austin Peay opened the scoring in the nightcap with a four-run second inning. Catcher David Martinez delivered the game’s first runs with a two-run home run. Three batters later, Phillips hit his fourth home run of the day – a two-run shot that gave the Govs a 4-0 lead.
The teams exchanged scoring in the fourth inning, leaving the Govs with a 7-2 advantage. However, Eastern Kentucky would score seven unanswered runs over the next three innings to take the lead. Third baseman Cornell Nixon tied the game, 7-7-, with a leadoff home run in the seventh. Holderback would give the Colonels a 9-7 lead with a two-run double later in the seventh.
Austin Peay responded to the lead change in its half of the seventh. Shortstop Kyle Wilson led off with a walk and designated hitter Bobby Head singled, advancing on a throw to third to give the Govs two runners in scoring position. Willis followed and hammered the ball into the right center gap, easily scoring Wilson and Head as he raced to third for a triple, tying the game 9-9. Giovannelli broke the tie with a sacrifice fly to score Willis and the Govs led 10-9.
Phillips would pad the Govs lead with a leadoff home run in the eighth inning. Reliever Brett Newberg then retired six of the seven batters he faced, two by strikeout, to record his season’s fifth save.
Thanks to the late rally, Govs reliever Harley Gollert (3-1) picked up the win after allowing three runs on three hits in the seventh inning. Starter Jacques Pucheu was left with no decision after going 5.1 innings and allowing six runs on seven hits.
Phillips’ two home runs were his only two hits in the nightcap as he went 2-for-3 with three RBI. Martinez went 2-for-3 with three RBI, adding a RBI double to his home run. Willis and Giovannelli each had two RBI in the nightcap.
Eastern Kentucky reliever Andrew McWhorter (0-1) suffered the loss after allowing two runs on two hits in the seventh inning. Holderbach ewnt 2-for-5 with three RBI to pace the EKU offense.