SUNDAY'S SCORES
Morehead State 7, @Eastern Illinois 5
Belmont 13, @Murray State 10
Eastern Kentucky 9, @Jacksonville State 6
@Austin Peay 10, UT Martin 4
Southeast Missouri 10, @#20 Tennessee Tech 6
MOREHEAD STATE 7, EASTERN ILLINOIS 5
CHARLESTON, Ill. - The Morehead State baseball team rallied in the late innings for the second straight game, and second-year pitchers Dom Masullo and Cory Conway combined to allow zero hits and zero runs in the final 5.1 innings as the Eagles won the series at Eastern Illinois with a 7-5 triumph Sunday.
Morehead State, which improved to 27-18 and 14-7 in the OVC, trailed 5-2 but tied the game in the sixth and took the lead for good in the eighth.
Meanwhile, Masullo entered in the fourth frame and proceeded to shut down the hosts for the next 2.1 innings while just walking one. Conway, who improved to 6-3 out of the bullpen this year, walked only one as well and slammed the door with three nearly flawless innings. He struck out two of his nine outs.
At the plate, the Eagles took a 2-1 lead on senior DH Tyler Niemann's two-run homer in the second frame. But, EIU moved ahead 5-2 on back-to-back round-trippers by Dougie Parks and Hunter Morris in the fourth.
In the sixth, the Eagles tied it 5-5 as senior third baseman Eli Boggess singled home junior first baseman Trevor Snyder. With one out, junior right-fielder Jake Hammon laced a two-run single that skipped off the second baseman's outstretched glove.
The Eagles grabbed the final lead in the eighth when junior catcher Hunter Fain lifted a sac fly to center field. Junior shortstop Reid Leonard tacked on another tally with an RBI single, and then Conway struck out two in the bottom of the ninth.
Leonard extended his reached-base streak to 37 games with a first-inning, first-pitch single. Boggess totaled three hits, while Leonard and Niemann collected two hits.
BELMONT 13, MURRAY STATE 10
MURRAY, Ky. - Belmont Baseball picked up a 13-10 victory after a big ninth inning in which senior Ben Kocher (Zionsville, Ind.) plated the go-ahead run.
The Bruins made a statement early in the matchup. Senior Cully Day (Mahomet, Ill.) got things going by working a four-pitch leadoff walk. Sophomore Matt Cogen (Franklin, Tenn.) singled through the right side and senior Ben Kocher (Zionsville, Ind.) was hit by a pitch to load the bases with two outs. Senior Austin Reynolds (Smyrna, Tenn.) came up clutch with a two-out RBI double that plated two runs to give Belmont a 2-0 lead after the top half of the first inning.
Senior Casey Queener (Brentwood, Tenn.) earned his 10thstart on the mound for the Bruins Sunday afternoon. After retiring the first batter, Queener found himself in a jam with the bases loaded and two outs, but he got his first strikeout of the game to end the inning with no damage done.
The Bruins bats came alive in the top of the second. Freshman Jordan Henshaw (New Market, Ala.) worked a leadoff walk for the second-straight inning before junior Hunter Holland (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.) delivered a double to left field that put both base runners in scoring position. Both runners would both score on consecutive Murray State wild pitches to take a 4-0 lead. Cully Day scored the final run of the inning with a homerun over the right field fence to give the Bruins a 5-0 lead.
After a scoreless third, the Racers cracked the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth with a triple and a sacrifice fly that scored the base runner. The Bruins' got out of the inning with little damage after Queener forced a fly out to end the inning with a score of 5-1 in favor of the Bruins.
Murray State continued to chip away at the lead in the bottom of the sixth. After two hit batsmen and a walk, the Racers loaded the bases with two outs. A high floating RBI double to left center scored all three base runners and the BU lead was cut 5-4 before the Bruins could get out of the inning.
Belmont responded in the top of the seventh, tacking on their sixth run of the night. Freshman Jackson Campbell (Russellville, Ky.) worked a one-out walk to give the Bruins a base runner. Junior Devon Gardner (Maryville, Tenn.) followed that up with a single, pushing Campbell to scoring position. Junior Hunter Holland (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.) recorded the ninth BU hit of the night with a RBI single to give the Bruins a 6-4 lead.
The Racers responded, taking their first lead of the night in the bottom of the inning. After a base hit and a walk, Ryan Perkins hit a two-out, three-run homer over the right field fence to give Murray a 7-6 lead. The Racers would load the bases once again and scored on a wild pitch, increasing their lead 8-6, before freshman Kyle Brennan (Franklin, Tenn.) struck out the side.
Murray State tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the eighth to increase their lead 10-6.
Belmont came into the ninth needing four runs to keep the game going. Campbell, junior Zach Ehrhart (Mt. Juliet, Tenn.), and Henshaw worked three-consecutive walks to put the tying run at the plate. Holland worked the fourth-straight walk of the inning which plated a run, making it a 10-7 game. The next two batters were retired, and Cogen stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs and delivered a RBI single to right center to plate two and pull the Bruins within a run. Junior Chas Hadden (Morristown, Tenn.) kept things alive for the Bruins, as he delivered a shot to right field that scored Holland to knot things up 10-10. Campbell laid down the fourth-consecutive base hit that scored the 12th run. A Racers error allowed another run to score, but Campbell was thrown out trying to cross home plate to end the inning.
The Bruins took a 13-10 lead into the bottom of the ninth, looking to close things out. Brennan forced two groundouts and a fly out to secure the victory.
The Bruins out-hit the Racers 14-7 and committed just one error. Queener finished his outing with five strikeouts and four walks in six innings of work. Brennan picked up his second win of the season, improving to 2-1 overall.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 9, JACKSONVILLE STATE 6
OXFORD, Ala. - Alex Holderbach hit his sixth home run in the last four games and Nick Howie drove in three runs as the Eastern Kentucky University baseball team beat Jacksonville State University, 9-6, on Sunday to win the Ohio Valley Conference series.
The two teams split the first two games of the series with Eastern winning the opener 11-7 on Friday and JSU taking the second game, 6-1, on Saturday.
EKU has won eight of its past nine games, and has won five of its seven OVC series this season. The Colonels are 24-21 overall and 14-7 in the OVC, the team’s most conference wins since finishing the 2013 season 16-13. With the win, Eastern stays in a tie for second place in the OVC standings.
Holderbach staked the Colonels to a 1-0 lead in the first when he drove a 1-1 pitch over the wall in right center for his 15th home run of the season and his sixth long ball in the last four games.
Will Johnson hit a solo home run in the fourth to make it a 3-1 game. Daniel McFarland’s solo home run over the wall in right field in the top of the seventh gave the visitors a 6-1 advantage.
After the Gamecocks (23-17, 12-9 OVC) cut the margin to 6-3 in the bottom of the seventh on a ground out and a sacrifice fly, Howie answered in the top of the eighth for the Colonels. With two outs and one on, the sophomore lifted a fly ball over the fence in left field to push Eastern Kentucky out in front 8-3. Those runs would prove to be imperative later in the game. Daniel Harris IV had a run scoring single later in the inning.
Jacksonville State plated three unearned runs in the bottom of the ninth to make it a three-run game, 9-6. Jayden White represented the tying run when he stepped to the plate, but Aaron Ochsenbein got him swinging on a 2-2 pitch to end the game.
Holderbach finished 2-for-5 with a walk, a run and one RBI. The junior catcher entered the weekend leading the nation in RBIs and now has 65 this season.
Howie was 2-for-3 with a run and three RBIs. McFarland had a 2-for-3 day with two runs scored and one driven in. Johnson had two hits in six at bats, scored once and drove in two runs.
Bryan Quillens (2-1) started for Eastern Kentucky and allowed just one run on four hits in five and two-thirds innings. Ochsenbein pitched the final three and one-third innings to pick up his eighth save of the season. He allowed two earned runs on four hits and struck out five.
AUSTIN PEAY 10, UT MARTIN 4
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Starting pitcher Brandon Vial opened with six scoreless innings and Austin Peay State University’s baseball team provided plenty of early run support as it secured an Ohio Valley Conference series with a 10-4 victory against UT Martin, Sunday at Raymond C. Hand Park.
Needing a Sunday win to secure the series the Governors turned to Vial who opened the game by retiring the first 10 batters he faced. He would allow a one out single in the fourth but would not allow a run through six innings.
Austin Peay (25-19, 15-9 OVC) provided its early run support via home runs in each of the first three innings. Right fielder Kyle Wilson hit a three-run homer in the first inning to put the Govs ahead. One inning later, second baseman Garrett Giovannelli added a two-run shot for a 5-0 lead. Finally, center fielder Nick Walker celebrated his birthday with a leadoff home run in the third.
The Governors would follow the home run barrage by producing its final four runs without a base hit. A wild pitch and sacrifice fly in the third extended the lead to 8-0. Then a trio of fielder’s choices after an error led to two more insurance runs in the fourth, pushing the lead to 10-0.
UT Martin (9-32, 5-16 OVC) would get on the scoreboard in the seventh with four consecutive batters reaching base safely. First baseman Ethan Whitley drove in a run with a double and would later score on an Austin Peay miscue. Shortstop Casey Harford added a run with a single before third baseman Billy Edwards closed the scoring with a sacrifice fly.
Vial (2-2) picked up his first conference win in his fourth OVC start. He held the Skyhawks to four runs (three earned) on five hits while striking out four in seven innings of work.
Wilson led the Govs offense with a 3-for-5, three RBI outing. Walker and Giovannelli each had two hit days as the Govs posted 10 hits in the win.
UTM starter Austen Bullington (1-3) allowed eight runs on six hits and three walks in two-plus innings and was tagged for the loss. Left fielder Carson Strode, right fielder Collin Edwards and first baseman Ethan Whitley each had two hits for the Skyhawks, who were held to seven hits.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 10, #20 TENNESSEE TECH 6
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Southeast Missouri (21-23, 15-9) ended the nation's longest winning streak when it upended #20 Tennessee Tech (37-6, 19-2), 10-6, Sunday.
SEMO snapped TTU's streak of 28 wins which began on Mar. 13 when the Golden Eagles swept West Virginia in a doubleheader.
Trevor Ezell went 4-for-5 with four singles and ended the three-game series with 10 hits.
The Redhawks erupted for five runs in the second inning and never looked back. Alex Canty ignited the surge with a solo home run. Chase Urhahn also delivered a two-RBI single before a RBI-hit by Ezell and an error plated the other two runs.
Justin Dirden ripped a double to push across two more runs for SEMO in the top of the fourth inning.
The Redhawks then scored twice more in the eighth and once in the ninth.
Ezell had another run-scoring single and Tristen Gagan doubled home a run in the eighth, while Connor Basler touched home on a wild pitch in the ninth.
Six different Redhawks finished the series finale with multiple hits. Ezell paved the way with four hits and Danny Wright went 3-for-5 with three runs. Urhahn, Dirden, Canty and Basler followed with two hits each.
Cody Creed (1-2) picked up his first career win. Creed worked 1.2 innings and allowed a hit out of the bullpen. He relieved starter Daniel Bergtholdt who struck out two and gave up four runs on six hits in 3.2 innings.
Alex Hursey (6-3) suffered the loss. Hursey scattered seven hits and allowed five runs.
SEMO tallied 17 hits, its most in an Ohio Valley Conference game this season.