SATURDAY'S SCORES
#16 Tennessee Tech 18, @Morehead State 17
Southeast Missouri 10, @Eastern Kentucky 9
Jacksonville State 11, @SIUE 9 (10 innings)
Eastern Illinois 9, @Austin Peay 3
Belmont 7, @Northwestern 5 (11 innings)
Murray State at UT Martin (cancelled)
#16 TENNESSEE TECH 18, MOREHEAD STATE 17
MOREHEAD, Ky. - The game had it all. A huge offensive explosion in the first inning. A nearly five-hour rain delay. A season-record broken and, of course, a comeback for the ages. At the end of the day, which started at noon CT and did not end until nearly 9:30 p.m., it was the No. 16 Tennessee Tech baseball team that came out on top, rallying for an 18-17 victory at Morehead State.
The Golden Eagles (46-7, 27-3) capped an historic regular season with one of the most thrilling and intense finishes anyone could dream up, erasing a nine-run deficit over the final three innings to down the hometown Eagles (32-23, 18-12) by a riveting final of 18-17.
After falling to the Eagles on a walk-off single the night prior, the Golden Eagles came out firing on all cylinders in the first inning of the contest, dropping a five-spot on the scoreboard on a pair of round trippers from a couple of senior leaders. Starting catcher Brennon Kaleiwahea kicked it off with a two-run blast to center field. A few batters later, shortstop David Garza circled the bases with a three-run shot to left center field.
Morehead scored twice to answer, but a Tech run in the second made it a 6-2 lead. Again, the Eagles had a response, scoring four times in the bottom of the second to knot the game at 6-6. In the fourth, Morehead struck again, this time sending three across the plate to snag a 9-6 advantage.
Tech used the power of the long ball to chip away at that lead in the fifth. Junior Nick Osborne unloaded for a solo shot to left center field for his ninth home run of the season. Just a few pitches later, senior Collin Harris sent one to the nearly identical location, also representing his ninth dinger of the year.
With the gap down to just one, Morehead put a couple of runners on base with one out in the bottom half. And just like that, the skies opened up, dumping a massive rain shower over Allen Field that caused a four-hour, 55-minute delay.
By the time the two sides returned to action, day had turned to night and a new ball game looked like it was about to break out. Or at least the Eagles treated it like a new contest. The home team found new life with the break, unloading for eight runs in the bottom of the fifth to take a commanding and nearly insurmountable lead of 17-8.
Things looked particularly hairy for the visitors after both sides traded zeroes in the sixth. But head coach Matt Bragga's squad showed that same resiliency it had all season long that led to a program record in wins.
In the top of the seventh, Tech started to make its move. Taking advantage of a Morehead miscue, Garza reached second base with a single out. Osborne followed by driving him in with a single up the middle. Two batters later, redshirt freshman Zell Walker hammered a base knock to third base that drove in Osborne to make it a 17-10 contest. At the time, those two runs may have seemed unimportant, but they represented what was left to come.
Ty King worked a scoreless bottom half to hand the bats back over to his teammates, and the offense began to hum. Kaleiwahea drew a leadoff walk while junior Kevin Strohschein backed him up with a single to right field. On the next pitch, senior first baseman Chase Chambers rocketed a single to shortstop to drive in a run, prompting a pitching change.
The trade on the mound didn't matter as junior second baseman John Ham single up the middle for another RBI. A ground ball out advanced the runners to second and third base, allowing Chambers to dent home plate on a wild pitch a few offerings later. Osborne hit a grounder to third for the second out of the inning, but Tech's fourth run of the frame would cross to cut it to a 17-14 game.
Andrew O'Dwyer took his turn on the bump for the Golden Eagles in the eighth, handing the home team another goose egg for the scoreboard in his inning on the mound. And then the Golden Eagle offense went back to work.
Center fielder Alex Junior took four consecutive pitches out of the zone for a leadoff walk and Kaleiwahea soon followed, earning a free pass after starting with an 0-2 count. Strohschein ripped a single to right field, loading the bases with no outs for the slugger Chambers.
Morehead went back to its bullpen, looking for a southpaw to match-up with the left-handed swinging first baseman. The Farragut, Tenn. native made them wish they kept looking. On the very first pitch, Chambers demolished a Herculean blast to right field for a grand slam, sending the Golden Eagle dugout into a frenzy. With one swing of the bat, the senior brought Tech back from the dead and on top of the scoreboard for an 18-17 lead.
The grand slam marked the fifth of the four-year senior's career, tying the program's all-time record held by A.J. Kirby-Jones (2008-10). It also provided him with RBI No. 75 on the year, putting him just two away from breaking the all-time, single-season, program record of 76 set by Brandon Thomasson in 2014.
The home team regrouped after the blast, recording three straight outs to head to the ninth with one last chance to undo the damage brought by the Golden Eagles.
Unfortunately for them, another Tech veteran had a date with history. Junior closer Ethan Roberts took to the hill, forcing a weak line drive to shortstop for the first out. After working a full count to the next batter, the right-hander forced more weak contact, a pop fly to left field. It took just four more pitches for the program's all-time leader in saves to finish the job, striking out the final batter of the contest to complete the incredible comeback.
Roberts picked up his 14th saves of the season with the inning of work, breaking his own single-season program mark set last season.
With win No. 46 on the year, Tech sits just two away from breaking the Ohio Valley Conference record of 47 victories, currently owned by the 1980 Western Kentucky and 2013 Austin Peay squads. Also, with five more long balls on the day, the Golden Eagles brought their season total to 121 and require just seven more to set a new standard for the league. Morehead State set the current record with 127 in 2002.
The win also means the Golden Eagles captured each of its 10 OVC series during the 2018 season, including an eye-popping seven sweeps.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 10, EASTERN KENTUCKY 9
RICHMOND, Ky. - Southeast Missouri (26-28, 20-10) wrapped up the regular season with a series sweep of Eastern Kentucky (27-29, 15-15) when it finished a sweep of Eastern Kentucky, including a 10-9 win in the final game of the series.
SEMO picked up its seventh series win and third sweep this year.
Down, 7-3, EKU put up five runs to take a one-run lead in the bottom of the fourth. However, Dirden was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and Connor Basler scored to tie the game with two outs in the fifth. SEMO then added two more runs when Basler tripled home Chase Urhahn and later scored on a sacrifice bunt by Wright to put the Colonels away.
Joey Burris (2-1) was credited with the win. Burris gave up just one run on two hits in 3.2 innings out of the bullpen. Andrew McWhorter took the loss.
The Redhawks again reached double-digit hits with 11. Gagan, Dirden, Alex Canty and Basler paved the way with two apiece. Gagan, Dirden and Canty each homered as well.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 11, SIUE 9 (10)
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Jacksonville State senior Clayton Daniel established himself as JSU's and the Ohio Valley Conference's all-time career hits leader with two hits in the Gamecocks' 11-9 win over SIU Edwardsville in extra innings on Saturday afternoon at the Simmons Baseball Complex.
Daniel entered the regular season finale needing two hits to become JSU's all-time career hits leader and the OVC's leader in hits for a career. The Guntersville, Alabama infield matched the record, held by former JSU standout Bert Smith, who collected 323 career hits from 2006-2010, with a single up the middle in his second at bat. He beat out an infield single in the fifth to break Smith's mark.
His hit in the second inning came after freshman Cole Frederick put the Gamecocks on the scoreboard with a three-run home run, plating the two walks that was issued ahead of Frederick. Daniel scored after reaching in the fifth on Nic Gaddis' fielders choice to extend the lead to 4-0. Daniel added an RBI with a sacrifice fly in the sixth.
JSU put together a four-run seventh, which was highlighted by a solo home by senior Trent Simpson. Senior Nolan Greckel, who finished with a pair of hits, had an RBI single, followed by a two-RBI double by Grant Atkins.
Simpson led JSU's 16-hit attack with four hits and the Oxford, Alabama native collected his eighth save of the season after recording the final two outs in the tenth.
SIUE erased a 9-2 deficit with seven runs combined in the seventh and eighth. The Cougars plated five runs in the seventh and equalized with two runs in the eighth after an hour and 16 minute rain delay.
Junior NIc Gaddis, who went 8-for-16 on the weekend, capped off the three-game set with a two-run home run in the visiting half of the tenth to give the Gamecocks the lead.
Junior transfer Cody Willingham picked up his second win of the season after pitching the final out of the eighth and the ninth.
The win give JSU its 30th win of the season, which is the 15th time that has happened under Jim Case and it's the sixth consecutive 30-plus win season in a row for the program. The Gamecocks finished fourth in the OVC with a 17-12 mark
EASTERN ILLINOIS 9, AUSTIN PEAY 3
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Eastern Illinois secured the eighth seed in the OVC Tournament by completing a sweep of Austin Peay on Saturday. Eastern Illinois improved to 23-30 (12-18 OVC), while Austin Peay dropped to 30-25 (17-13 OVC)
The series finale between Eastern Illinois and Austin Peay was shortened into a seven-inning contest Saturday afternoon.
Eastern Illinois took their momentum into the second game of the afternoon scoring first. Parks got the Panthers on the board with a single to center, scoring Duncan.
Perrone kept hit his second three-run homer of the afternoon to give Eastern Illinois a 4-0 lead.
Austin Peay would cut the Panther lead to one run scoring in both the bottom of the third and fourth innings Malcom Tipler would drive in the Governor's first run of the game. Parker Phillips would drive in the second run of the inning scoring Garrett Giovannelli. Bobby Head would hit a one-run single up the middle in the bottom of the fourth.
Justin Smith would extend the Panther lead to 5-3 in the top of the sixth inning, hitting a one-run single to left field. EIU was able to give their pitching staff run support by adding four runs in the top of the seventh.
Dustin Wilson picked up his third win of the season. Wilson tossed one inning, with one hit, and a strikeout. Jake Haberer picked up his third save of the season tossing two innings, with two hits, two walks, and a strikeout.
BELMONT 7, NORTHWESTERN 5 (11)
EVANSTON, Ill. - Belmont Baseball picked up their second-consecutive win on Saturday in extra innings as they downed Northwestern 7-5.
After holding the Bruins scoreless in the first inning, the Wildcats wasted little time getting on the board, scoring a run in the bottom of the first after a base hit and a couple stolen bases to take an early 1-0 lead.
After the Bruins were retired in order, junior Casey Queener (Brentwood, Tenn.) returned the favor and sat down the Wildcats in order to keep them from extending their narrow lead in the second.
Belmont responded, putting together some offense in the top of the third. Junior Hunter Holland (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.) got things going with a leadoff hit through the left side. Junior Zach Ehrhart (Mt. Juliet, Tenn.) then laid down a successful sacrifice bunt to push Holland the tying run to scoring position. Senior Kyle Conger (Brentwood, Tenn.) stayed hot and ripped his second base hit through the left side to score Holland and tying the game 1-1. Junior Chas Hadden (Morristown, Tenn.) recorded the third hit of the inning to reach base before junior Devon Gardner (Maryville, Tenn.) delivered a two-out hit up the middle to score two runs and give the Bruins a 3-1 lead.
Northwestern responded in a big way in the bottom of the inning, scoring four runs on six hits to retake the lead 5-3.
The Bruins put together a threat in the top of the fourth after senior Austin Reynolds (Smyrna, Tenn.) rocketed a one-out double to the left center field fence and advanced to scoring position on a Holland ground out. Junior Ehrhart then worked a walk and stole a base to put the tying run in scoring position, but the Bruins' were unable to cash in as a ground out ended the inning.
Sophomore Michael Matter (Ft. Myers, Fla.) took over on the mound in the middle of the third and delivered for the Bruins, holding the Wildcats scoreless through five innings and two-thirds innings of relief work, allowing just three hits, and retiring them in order three times.
BU struggled to get much offense moving in the next three innings, recording just one hit when sophomore Matt Cogen (Franklin, Tenn.) doubled in the top of the fifth.
The Bruins' found their groove late in the game and made a ninth-inning rally to knot things up. Holland once again led the inning off with a single to left field and the tying run reached base with the help of a Northwestern error to give the Bruins hope. After a Conger ground out pushed the tying runs into scoring position, Hadden delivered a RBI single to left field to close the gap 5-4. Cogen then delivered a chopper to the pitcher that the Wildcats couldn't handle and scored Ehrhart from third to tie the game 5-5 before the next two Belmont batters popped and grounded out.
Junior Kyle Klotz (Fairview, Tenn.) entered the game in the bottom of the ninth to try and keep the Bruins in the game. Klotz came up big, striking out the first man he faced and forcing two groundouts to retire Northwestern in order to send the game into extra innings.
After the Bruins were retired in order in the top of the tenth, Northwestern put together a threat to end the game. After two walks and a hit-batsmen, the Wildcats had the winning run at third with two outs. Freshman Logan Bowen (Bowling Green, Ky.) was called from the bullpen to try and get BU out of a jam. He came up big with a three pitch at bat, throwing two strikes and throwing the batter out at first to keep the Bruins alive.
Belmont regained the lead in the top of the 11th. The Bruins put the go-ahead run aboard early with a leadoff single, but the runner was caught stealing to give Belmont one out and no runners aboard. Senior Kyle Conger (Brentwood, Tenn.) worked a walk to again put the go-ahead run aboard. After another out, Cogen came up clutch with his third home run in as many days to give the Bruins a 7-5 lead.
Bowen headed back to the mound to try and close the game out for the Bruins after picking up his first win of the season in similar fashion on Friday. Bowen showed great poise, forcing a line out, ground out, and striking out the final batter to pick up his second win in as many days and secure the 7-5 victory.