SUNDAY'S SCORES
Morehead State 11, @SIUE 6
#25 Tennessee Tech 23, Murray State 7
Belmont 5, @Eastern Illinois 2
Eastern Kentucky 8, @Austin Peay 5
@Central Arkansas 4,
UT Martin 3 (12 innings)
MOREHEAD STATE 11, SIUE 6
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Junior Jordan Freese crushed a ninth-inning grand slam to break a 6-6 tie and lift the Morehead State baseball team to a series sweep over SIU Edwardsville Sunday. The Eagles rallied again today for an 11-6 win.
Morehead State is now 23-14 overall and 11-4 in the OVC. The Eagles have won six consecutive conference games.
Freese, serving as the designated hitter, had just two RBI on the season but broke out with six runs knocked in today, including the no-out, bases-clearing bomb.
Trailing 5-2 in the seventh, Morehead State strung together four singles, including RBI knocks by Freese and juniors Connor Pauly and Hunter Fain, to tie the game 5-5. An RBI fielder's choice off junior Jake Hammon's bat gave the Eagles the lead for good.
In the ninth, junior Reid Leonard drew a leadoff walk and Pauly rapped a single to center field. Fain then laid down a perfect bunt, beating out the throw to first for a hit.
The lefthander Freese took a 1-0 offering from SIUE reliever Braydon Bone down the right-field line and over the fence just inside the foul pole.
MSU trailed 4-0 after five frames as the Cougars belted a pair of two-run homers. Junior Trevor Snyder got MSU on the board scoring on a wild pitch, and Freese laced an RBI single to cut the deficit in half.
Lefty reliever David Looney (1-3) picked up the victory, striking out five SIUE hitters in his 2.1 innings, including two in the bottom of the ninth.
Fain and Freese had three hits apiece, while Pauly and Snyder collected two safeties.
#25 TENNESSEE TECH 23, MURRAY STATE 7
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - The free-swinging bats of the Tennessee Tech baseball team left no doubt in earning its 20th straight victory Sunday afternoon, leading the Golden Eagles (29-5, 17-1) to a 23-7 win at Murray State (17-18, 5-10) for the team's fifth consecutive Ohio Valley Conference series sweep.
Tech extended the nation's longest winning streak to a program-best 20 on the day, representing just the second team in OVC history to post at least 20 straight wins in a season and the most since the 1975 Murray State squad won 22 in-a-row.
While the Golden Eagles pounded out 18 hits, they also showed marvelous patience at the plate, drawing 14 walks on the day. That marked the most by a Tech team since 2014 and led to five straight innings of runs to open the game.
Junior John Ham got it started, blasting his 12th home run of the season, a three-run shot, to center field on the first pitch he saw. Senior David Garza made it back-to-back dingers with a solo shot to left field, leading to an early 4-0 lead.
Scoring a single run in each of the second and third frames, the Golden Eagles really blew the game open in the fourth. Senior Chase Chambers worked a brilliant seven-pitch walk with the bases loaded to drive in a run. Ham followed by reaching on an error at shortstop to drive in another.
After a quick out, junior right fielder Nick Osborne delivered the knockout punch, hammering the first offering to left field for a grand slam and 12-0 lead. He added an RBI with a double in the fourth while Brennon Kaleiwahea drove in two in the inning with a double of his own.
In the seventh, Tech scored five more runs, marking the fourth time this season the prolific offense reached at least 20 runs in a game. The highlight of the inning? A three-run moon shot to left field by none other than Osborne.
On the hill, the Golden Eagle received another fantastic performance by their starter, southpaw Alex Hursey. The junior tossed six scoreless frames while holding the Racers to just three hits and pair of walks. He also struck out four batters while moving to 5-2 on the year.
Andrew O'Dwyer and Seth Noel posted back-to-back scoreless frames in the seventh and eighth, each punching out a pair of Murray State batters.
Osborne's performance led the day, as the junior finished 3-for-7 with three runs scored and eight RBI. Ham seemingly scored every time he reached base, denting home plate five times as part of a 3-for-4 performance with four RBI.
BELMONT 5, EASTERN ILLIINOIS 2
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Belmont Baseball earned a 5-2 victory over conference opponent Eastern Illinois University behind another impressive outing by starting pitcher junior Casey Queener (Brentwood, Tenn.).
Eastern Illinois struck early in the matchup to take an early 1-0 lead. After Queener struck out the first batter he faced, the next batter send a solo home run over the left field fence to take an early lead.
Belmont finally cracked the scoreboard in the top of the third inning. After a leadoff walk by senior Cully Day (Mahomet, Ill.) the next two batters were retired, but junior Devon Gardner (Maryville, Tenn.) got things going again with a single to left field. The Panther's left fielder then committed a fielding error that the Bruins took advantage of as Day came across home plate for the first Belmont run of the afternoon. Sophomore Matt Cogen (Franklin, Tenn.) plated the second run with a RBI double, marking his sixth consecutive hit in as many at-bats dating back to Saturday.
The Belmont lead didn't last long as the Panthers knotted things back up in the bottom of the inning with their second solo long ball of the game.
After two complete innings of scoreless action, the Bruins retook the lead in the top of the fifth. After a leadoff single by senior Austin Reynolds (Smyrna, Tenn.), a sacrifice bunt from junior Hunter Holland (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.) pushed him into scoring position, he then scored on a throwing error to take the 3-2 lead. The Bruins continued to threaten as they had runners on the corners with two outs after senior Kyle Conger (Brentwood, Tenn.) worked a walk, but the next batter was retired.
The Bruins kept the Panthers off the board for five consecutive innings behind strong work on the mound from Queener. Twice, Queener struck out the side with an EIU runner in scoring position.
The Bruins added to their lead in the top of the ninth. After the first Belmont batter struck out, Conger and Gardner laid down back to back base hits. Conger scored the first run of the inning with the help of a RBI single from junior Chas Hadden (Morristown, Tenn.). Ben Kocher then stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and one out and delivered a sacrifice fly to center field that drove in the fifth run of the game.
With a 5-2 lead, freshman Kyle Brennan (Franklin, Tenn.) took over the mound for the Bruins. Brennan closed things out, earning his second save of the season .
Queener had another outstanding outing, claiming his second win in as many appearances. He went for eight complete innings, striking out 10 and walking only one.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 8, AUSTIN PEAY 5
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Eastern Kentucky University’s baseball team used a three-run top of the seventh to hold off an Austin Peay State University comeback, and take game three of the series on the road.
In the seventh inning, EKU (17-20, 9-6 OVC) got an RBI single through the left side by Nick Howie and an RBI double in the right center gap by Tyler Romanik to push its lead to three and not look back. Howie would score on a wild pitch later in that inning to make it a 6-2 game.
Kyle Wilson’s RBI single up the middle, followed by a Parker Phillips two-run single to right field got the Governors within one, 6-5, but they would never get any closer.
Alex Holderbach went 2-for-4 with one RBI. Daniel Harris IV was 4-for-5 with two runs scored on the day.
EKU struck first in the top of the first inning when Cornell Nixon stole third and scored on a throwing error by the catcher. Holderbach drove in Will Johnson with an RBI groundout to third.
The Governors got on the board when Malcolm Tipler ripped an 0-2 pitch down the left field line for an RBI double in the bottom of the sixth. Bobby Head drove in a run with his sacrifice fly to make it 3-2.
The Colonels scratched two more across in the ninth when Daniel McFarland brought home Chris Botsoe with an RBI groundout. Harris later scored on a pass ball.
Phillips finished 2-for-5 with two RBIs. Tipler went 2-for-4 with a double and one RBI.
Austin Perry (4-1) picked up the win. He started and threw five shutout innings while striking out four batters. He allowed three hits and walked two.
Aaron Ochsenbein picked up his sixth save on the year. He threw three innings, while allowing three runs (two earned), and striking out five.
CENTRAL ARKANSAS 4, UT MARTIN 3 (12)
CONWAY, Ark. - The University of Tennessee at Martin baseball team fell by a 4-3 margin in 12 innings this afternoon to Central Arkansas.
UT Martin (5- 28, 2-13 OVC) was led by Anthony Adduci (two hits and one RBI) while Blake Davis (one hit and one RBI) also provided run support. Tyler Albright tallied a pair of hits and scored two runs on the day. Jordan Stoner and Ben Aslett recorded two hits each as Ethan Whitley, JoJo Allen and Billy Edwards all accounted for one hit apiece. Albright, Davis and Carson Shrode worked the count to draw a walk each also in the contest.
Sam Folks logged five full innings in his start for the Skyhawks. He allowed just two earned runs in his time on the mound. Peyton Cain tossed six solid innings out of the UT Martin bullpen and fanned four Central Arkansas batters with allowing just one earned run. Austin Buzick (0-2) was tagged with the loss as he gave up the deciding run in the 12th inning.
Central Arkansas got on the board first as the Bears struck for a pair of runs in the first inning and claiming an early 2-0 advantage.
UT Martin would work its way into the scoring column in the second frame as Davis reached first base via a walk. A Whitley double would put runners at the corners followed by Billy Edwards reaching base on an error, allowing Davis to cross home plate and narrow the score to 2-1.
Folks made quick work of the Bears in the second as he retired the side in order on a pair of flyouts and a groundout.
Shrode led off the third with a walk followed by an Albright fielder’s choice. An Aslett single then put men on first and second. Collin Edwards was then hit by a pitch to juice the bases in time for a Davis single through the right side to plate Albright and even things up 2-2.
The Skyhawks nearly got ahead in the fourth as Allen reached first on a throwing error followed by a fielder’s choice by Billy Edwards. Stoner then singled to right field to put men at the corners but a double play ball would end the inning before a timely hit.
Folks worked a quick fourth as he retired the side in order again this time on a pair of ground balls and a flyout.
Another opportunity presented itself in the fifth as UT Martin saw Albright lead off the frame with a drawn walk followed by an Aslett single. The following bats would be unable to drive in the two runners.
Folks avoided a bases loaded situation in the fifth as he got the remaining two outs in the inning on a popout and groundout.
Central Arkansas pulled ahead in the sixth by plating one run and taking a 3-2 lead.
UT Martin would narrowly miss out on a scoring opportunity in the seventh as Albright poked a single up the middle followed by an Adduci pinch-hit base knock to left field. Collin Edwards would then be hit by a pitch to load the bases but to no avail.
Cain worked around a leadoff double in the seventh to force a groundout followed by a fielder’s choice. He would fan the final batter of the inning to get out unscathed. Cain would ring up a pair of Bears in eighth. Davis would throw out the only baserunner of the frame as he was caught trying to swipe second base.
The Skyhawks would tally a run in the top of the ninth as Albright recorded a one-out base knock. He would move up to second and then third as well on a pair of wild pitches. Adduci then singled up the middle to plate Albright and knot the score at 3-3.
Cain evaded danger in the bottom of ninth as a pair of runners worked their way on but he would find a pair of fly balls and a groundout to get out of the inning.
The game would go into the 12th inning where Central Arkansas eventually claimed the 4-3 victory on a walkoff home run.