SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Eastern Illinois 6, Belmont 2
Southeast Missouri 4, @Jacksonville State 1 (10 innings)
Morehead State 10, @SIUE 6
@Central Arkansas 10-3,
UT Martin 4-0
EASTERN ILLINOIS 6, BELMONT 2
CHARLESTON, Ill. - The Eastern Illinois baseball team was able to stretch their winning streak to two games, defeating Belmont Saturday afternoon. The Panthers were able to hold off the bruins to take the second game of the series, 6-2.
With the win Eastern Illinois advances to 12-20 (4-10 OVC), while Belmont drops to 13-21 (8-9 OVC).
Alex Stevenson got the start on the mound for the Panthers for the second game of the series. Stevenson tossed 6.1 innings, with six hits, two runs, two walks, and two strikeouts. Stevenson was able to pick up his second win of the season, improving to 2-5 on the season.
Jake Haberer earned his first save of the season tossing 2.2 innings in relief. Haberer struck out three batters and allowed two hits.
The Panthers jumped out to a quick lead in the bottom of the second inning when Ryan Knernschield hit a two run single to left center with the bases loaded.
Belmont was able to answer back in the top of the fourth inning tying the game at two. Chas Hadden got the Bruins on the board with a double to right field. Ben Kocher would drive in the tying run for the Bruins with a sacrifice fly to right field.
EIU battled back in the fifth inning to grab the lead for the second time in the game. Knernshield earned his third RBI of the game driving another single to left field, scoring Dougie Parks.
Matt Albert would extend the Panther lead in the bottom of the eighth inning clearing the bases with a three run double.
Jimmy Govern finished 3-for-5 with a run. Parks went 1-for-2 with three walks, two runs, and a double. Albert finished the day 1-for-2 with three RBIs, two walks, and a double. Knernschield finished 2-for-4 with three RBIs, and a walk.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 4, JACKSONVILLE STATE 1 (10)
OXFORD, Ala. - Southeast Missouri (16-20, 11-7) avoids the sweep with a 4-1 win at Jacksonville State (18-14, 8-7) in the second consecutive extra inning ball game. Trevor Ezell singled in the top of the tenth to put the Redhawks ahead of JSU.
Devon Wilson got the first hit of the day for both teams in the top of the third. Wilson singled to right field but was left on base after the next two batters went down swinging.
JSU came back in the bottom of the third with a leadoff single but produced no other hits that inning. The Gamecocks did not get a runner in scoring position all day, despite having six hits.
In the top of the tenth, Wade Stauss got a leadoff walk. Stauss advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Connor Basler. Michael Berra comes in to pinch run for Wade Stauss. With two outs, Peyton Faulkner battled his way onto base to extend the half inning and bring up Trevor Ezell.
Ezell singled to center and Michael Berra scored to take the 2-1 lead. Tristen Gagan follows up with a double off the left center wall. This moved the score to 4-1 in the top of the tenth.
In the bottom of the tenth, Aaron Stretch finished the deal with a strikeout and two other outs assisted by his defensive teammates.
Carlos Vega pitched nine full innings with nine strikeouts and no earned runs. Aaron Stretch came in to pitch in the bottom of the tenth where he recorded his second save of the season.
Vega's earned run average drops to 1.64 this season after today's game.
MOREHEAD STATE 10, SIUE 6
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Morehead State baseball fell in the hole 3-0 at SIU Edwardsville Saturday, but a quartet of Eagle hitters combined for eight hits ad eight RBI as MSU rallied for a 10-6 victory.
Morehead State moved to 22-14 overall and 10-4 in the OVC with its fifth consecutive league victory. The Eagles have now won seven straight over SIUE since 2016 and have scored double-digit runs in six straight over the Cougars.
Trailing 3-0 in the fourth, MSU struck for four runs to take the lead for good. Junior catcher Hunter Fain, who also got the Eagles on the board first with a solo homer in the third, also had a run-producing double in the fourth to make it 5-3.
Fain (2-for-5), junior Connor Pauly (2-for-5), junior Reid Leonard (2-for-3) and junior Trevor Snyder (2-for-4) all contribuetd to a 10-hit day. Snyder also clubbed his team-best ninth home run of the day (in the seventh inning) and scored three times. Leonard, who moved his reached-base streak to 27 games, punched a two-run single to right field in the fifth to make it a 7-3 MSU advantage.
On the mound, senior JC Hatcher (3-1) was credited with the victory, tossing 2.1 innings. He was tagged for two runs but coaxed two inning-ending double plays. Freshman Cory Conway also forced a double play, and sophomore Dom Masullo needed just one pitch to close out the game on a ground out.
The visitors tagged home team pitcher Kenny Serwa (2-3) for seven earned runs in 4.0 frames.
CENTRAL ARKANSAS 10-3, UT MARTIN 4-0
CONWAY, Ark. - The University of Tennessee at Martin baseball squad dropped both ends of today’s doubleheader at Central Arkansas. The Skyhawks battled but fell 10-4 in Game 1 and narrowly lost out in Game 2 by a score of 3-0.
On the day, UT Martin (5-27, 2-13 OVC) was led by Tyler Albright’s four hits and two RBIs. Jordan Stoner tallied a total of five hits in both games while scoring a run. Blake Davis accounted for two hits on the day and scored a run. Carson Shrode, Ben Aslett, Collin Edwards and Ethan Whitley all tallied a base knock to round out the hit column for the day.
Dom Bazzani got the start in Game 1 while Austen Bullington provided 5.1 innings of relief in the contest. Both men combined for a total of five strikeouts in the matchup. Winston Cannon had a strong outing as he logged a quality start in Game 2 and sat down six via the strikeout. David Hussey finished out the game with two great innings of baseball as he allowed just two baserunners and fanned three.
In game one, Albright paced the Skyhawks in the first game as he tallied three hits and drove in a pair of RBIs. Stoner also accounted for three hits while Davis had a pair of base knocks. Shrode, Aslett, Collin Edwards and Whitley rounded out the hit column with one apiece. Adduci tallied an RBI off of the bench for UT Martin.
Bazzani (1-3) started on the bump for the Skyhawks and was tagged for six earned runs in 2.2 innings pitched. He was able to fain a pair of Bears in the start. Bullington provided UT Martin with a solid 5.1 innings out of the bullpen with three strikeouts while allowing just two earned runs in that span.
The Skyhawks looked to get off on the right foot as Stoner led off the game with a single through the left side and would later steal second base. Unfortunately, the UT Martin bats were unable to push him across home plate.
Central Arkansas tallied a run in the first inning to claim an early 1-0 advantage.
A first-pitch single by Davis led off the second and Billy Edwards would later walk to put a pair of runners on the base paths but to no avail.
The Bears struck for a seven-run barrage in the third as a pair of UT Martin errors plagued the Skyahwks. Central Arkansas would push its lead out to 8-0.
Bullington made quick work of the Bears in the fourth as he sat down the side in order on a fly out, a strikeout and a ground out.
UT Martin nearly got on the board in the fifth as Stoner hit a single to left center followed by a Shrode double to left but a timely hit would not be in the cards for the Skyhawks.
Bullington put together an extremely strong fifth inning as he needed just six pitches to get through the frame on a trio of ground balls. He kept things rolling in the sixth as he required a total of 11 pitches to escape the inning, all via fly out.
The Skyhawks finally cracked into the scoring column in the seventh as Stoner got things started with a double down the right field line followed by an Albright single to plate his teammate and narrow the score to 8-1.
Central Arkansas answered with a pair of runs in the seventh to push its lead out to 10-1.
UT Martin put up another run in the eighth as Davis led off with a single up the middle. A Whitley base knock to left center would put a pair on while a Billy Edwards groundout shifted the two runners over, both into scoring position. Adduci then stepped into the box and drove in Davis on a groundout to inch closer with a 10-2 score.
Bullington worked around a one-out walk in the ninth to sit down a pair of Bears via the punchout.
Looking for a comeback, the Skyhawks got off to a good start in the ninth as Shrode worked a seven-pitch walk to lead things off and later advanced to second on a wild pitch. Albright then pushed a ball up the middle to plate Shrode. An Aslett single to right was enough to move Albright to third. Collin Edwards was able to reach first on a fielding error as Albright crossed home plate and narrowed the score to 10-4. Alas, that would be UT Martin had in its bats for the contest.
In game two, Stoner led the club in hits in the matchup with two while Albright tallied one of his own. Shrode was able to draw a walk as hits were scarce in the contest for the Skyhawk lineup.
Cannon (0-6) tossed six solid innings and was able to put together a quality start while also fanning six Central Arkansas batsmen. He faced some trouble in the first inning as he allowed the Bears’ only runs of the game (three, all earned). Hussey twirled two complete innings as he allowed just one hit and one walk in that stretch. He sat down three batters on strikeouts in his time on the mound.
With two outs in the first, Albright rapped his first hit of the game – a double to right center but UT Martin would not be able to capitalize on his position on the basepaths.
Central Arkansas struck early as it tallied all three of its runs in the first and give the score of 3-0.
Cannon atoned for his miscues as he caught both the first and last batters of the second inning looking.
The Skyhawks had a prime opportunity to get on the board in the third inning as Stoner tallied a single up the middle followed by a Shrode walk but to no avail.
Cannon kept things going in the third as he worked around a leadoff hit by pitch to force a flyout and fanned the next two batters on swinging strikeouts. Chugging along, Cannon sat down the first batter of the fourth on a strikeout and then forced a pair of flyouts.
Hussey came on in the seventh and went to work as he retired the first two batters he faced on a groundout and strikeout, respectively. He conceded a single but found a friendly ground ball to get out of the inning. He fanned the first batter of the eighth, forced a groundout and sat down the last man of the inning on a swinging strikeout.