SATURDAY'S SCORES
#20 Tennessee Tech 6, #22 Missouri State 4
#20 St. John's 11,
Morehead State 5
#20 TENNESSEE TECH 6, #22 MISSOURI STATE 4
OXFORD, Miss. - For the second time in as many years, the No. 20 Tennessee Tech baseball team (49-9) claimed victory in its NCAA Tournament opener, kicking off action (albeit delayed 22 hours due to inclement weather and field conditions) in the Oxford Regional with a 6-4 win over No. 3 seeded Missouri State (39-16).
Much like the Tallahassee Regional in 2017, when the Golden Eagles broke a 1-1 tie in the ninth to win 3-1, Tech one again used late offense to pull ahead and claim victory. Knotted at 4-4 in the eighth, the Golden Eagles would plate the go-ahead runs without the benefit of a hit.
The middle infield of Tech, second baseman John Ham and shortstop David Garza, drew back-to-back walks to lead off the frame, with Garza flashing bunt the majority of his five-pitch at bat. Missouri State's Jake Fromson recorded a quick out following the team's second pitching change of the game, brining senior catcher Brennon Kaleiwahea to the dish.
He immediately laid down a sacrifice bunt to the pitcher, who took a look at Ham extended off third before turning around to make the throw to first base. Ham immediately broke for home plate, and, at the same time, Fromson threw the ball down to the second baseman covering at first. The throw sailed wide and into right field, however, allowing not only Ham to cross safely, but also Garza.
"We were cruising, up four to nothing, and Mo (Travis Moths) was cruising on the bump," head coach Matt Bragga said. "And all of a sudden, the wheels came off a little bit. For our guys to battle back and win, we got out of a man on second with no one out in the seventh and the guy did not score. The guys fought hard and I am proud of them."
Having already entered the contest in the sixth, junior closer Ethan Roberts took his chance at closing out the contest in the ninth. He made it look easy, striking out the side to earn his fifth victory of the season.
The vaunted Tech offense was alive and active early, jumping out to a four-run advantage over the first five frames. The scoring began in the second, with Ham leading off the frame with a double to left field. A single by Garza ended up providing the first run, as Ham would advance to third and then head home after the Bears' center fielder mishandled the ball.
Another single, this one from Nick Osborne, sent Garza to third, allowing for the second run of the inning to score with the next at bat. Kaleiwahea crushed a 1-0 offering to right center field, a ball caught by the right fielder for a sacrifice fly and 2-0 lead.
In the third, it was senior Chase Chambers providing the offense. The slugging first baseman hammered a solo blast to right field to lead off the frame, his 16thlong ball of the season and team's 129th of the year. It also represented his 77th RBI of the season, breaking the Golden Eagle program's single-season record of 76 set by Brandon Thomasson back in 2014.
Tech added another marker in the fifth, this one off the bat of Ham. Chambers drew a one-out walk on five pitches, and then advance to second on a wild pitch. Two offerings later, Ham laced a single down the third-base line, driving in Chambers for the 4-0 lead.
Senior hurler Travis Moths was brilliant early, facing the minimum through the first five innings while allowing just one hit over that span. He gathered two outs in the sixth before being lifted for Roberts following a bases-loaded walk.
After the walk, Missouri State's Ben Whetstone flared a single to shallow center field, plating two to pull within one. The Bears then tied things at 4-4 on a wild pitch, hitting the reset button on the game.
Roberts shoved from that point on, covering the final three and one third innings with just three hits allowed, no walks and whopping seven strikeouts. Moths took the no-decision, finishing five and two thirds innings while allowing just two hits, two walks and four runs. He punched out eight MSU batters in the contest as well.
The two hurlers combined for 15 strikeouts, pitching well and showing just want Bragga wanted from his pitching staff.
"It is valuable to have, and he has been doing it all year," Bragga said of Robert's performance out of the bullpen. "It really sets the tone for the weekend. These two guys are animals and we are lucky to have them."
The Golden Eagles will face off against the winner between No. 1 seeded Ole Miss and No. 4 seeded Saint Louis tomorrow at 4 p.m. CT at Swayze Field with a berth to the regional's championship game on the line.
#20 ST. JOHN'S 11, MOREHEAD STATE 5
CLEMSON, S.C. - Despite getting double-digit hits for the 44th time this year, the Morehead State baseball team saw its season conclude Saturday with an 11-5 setback to No. 20 St. John's at the Clemson Regional at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.
The Eagles wrapped up their OVC Tournament Championship season at 37-26, playing the most games in a season in program history.
The game was marred by a lightning/rain delay for 115 minutes in the eighth inning.
"We fell behind early today, and I thought we hit some balls on the button early," said hed coach Mike McGuire. "I am proud of how my guys battled. St. John's is a good club. They just made some better pitches than we did today and found some holes."
St. John's dotted the scoreboard first in the second stanza and made it 2-0 in the second on Wyatt Mascarella's solo round-tripper.
Morehead State nearly took a 3-2 lead in the third, but junior DH Niko Hulsizer had a would-be three-run homer taken away with a catch over the wall in centerfield.
" I thought that was a big turning point," said McGuire. "We could have had some momentum there, and (their center-fielder) Galazin made a great play to take one away from Niko."
The Eagles scored their first run in the bottom of the fourth when senior second baseman Braxton Morris beat out an infield grounder to start the mini rally. Later in the frame, senior third baseman Eli Boggess' infield single plated Morris.
But, the Red Storm pushed ahead 6-1 in the sixth on Mike Antico's three-run homer with two outs.
MSU rallied again with a three-spot in the bottom of the sixth thanks to six straight hits. Junior center-fielder Connor Pauly, Boggess and junior right-fielder Jake Hammon all had run-scoring singles in the frame.
A two-run long ball by Mascarella off senior reliever Kyle Cantu pushed the Red Storm advantage back to 9-4 in the seventh.
The game concluded the careers of seniors Morris, Boggess, Tyler Niemann, David Calderon, Cantu and JC Hatcher. Niemann, Calderon and Morris were a part of two regional times, the first players in program history to accomplish that feat, and they finished with 143 wins. That's the most by a four-year senior class in program history.
Morris finished with the most games played in program history as well at 227.
Today, the Eagles got multiple-hit games from Boggess, Morris and Niemann. Morris finished with 98 hits in 2018, coming up just one shy of tying the school single-season record.
Starter Garret Rogers only allowed four runs in five innings but was saddled with the setback.
"Our seniors are the winningest players in program history," McGuire concluded. "The four year guys have won more games than anyone, and even our two-year JUCO transfers have won more in two years than any player had. Our juniors have a chance to eclipse that next year, and we have the talent to do it and be right back here (at Clemson or another location) in a regional again."