FRIDAY'S SCORES
Kentucky 8,
@Austin Peay 4
@Jacksonville State 14, North Alabama 1
@UAB 8,
SIUE 3
Morehead State 6, @Furman 3
@Tennessee Tech 3, Western Illinois 2
Illinois State 27,
@Belmont 11 (11 innings)
Grambling State 7,
Eastern Kentucky 4 (New Orleans, La.)
South Dakota State 15,
UT Martin 3 (Russellville, Ark.)
KENTUCKY 8, AUSTIN PEAY 4
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Center fielder Garrett Spain and third baseman Malcolm Tipler each had two-run triples, but Austin Peay State University’s baseball team could not hold off Kentucky in an 8-4 season-opening loss, Friday, at Joe and Cathi Maynard Field at Raymond C. Hand Park.
Austin Peay (0-1) faced a 2-0 deficit after five-and-a-half innings when second baseman Garrett Kueber opened the frame by battling back from a 0-2 count by fouling off a pair of pitches before taking four straight balls for a walk. After Kueber advanced on a wild pitch, Kentucky intentionally walked right fielder Parker Phillips, bringing Spain to the plate.
Spain would quickly tie the game with a two-run triple that sailed over the Wildcat left fielder’s head and to the wall. However, the opportunity to take the lead with Spain at third base would evaporate as UK reliever Daniel Harper struck out the next batter to end the threat.
One inning later, the Govs buzzed around the bases. Catcher David Martinez was hit by a pitch to start the frame. Two batters later, Kueber again walked giving the Govs two runners board for a second time. This time it would be Tipler’s turn to do the damage with a triple that whistled past the Kentucky right fielder’s head, allowing two runs to score for a 4-2 Austin Peay lead.
Kentucky (1-0) recovered in the eighth inning, again using the long ball to inflict damage. Designated hitter T.J. Collett hit a three-run homer to left, giving Kentucky a 6-4 lead. It was one of four home runs hit by the Wildcats on the day, with third baseman Breydon Daniel, right fielder Jaren Shelby and first baseman Dalton Reed each adding solo shots.
Governors starter Jacques Pucheu was left with no decision but held Kentucky to two runs on three hits in his six innings of work, striking out five batters. Reliever Harley Gollert (0-1) would suffer the loss after pitching the eighth inning.
Kentucky starter Zack Thompson held Austin Peay scoreless over his four innings, striking out nine of the 16 batters he faced and allowing only one hit while walking three. UK reliever Carson Coleman (1-0) notched the win by retiring all seven batters he faced, striking out four.
Spain and Tipler each went 1-for-4 with two RBI to pace the Austin Peay offense with Phillips and catcher David Martinez also recording hits on opening day.
Reed led UK with a 3-for-5 outing while Daniel, Hill, Shelby and Collett each had two hits.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 14, NORTH ALABAMA 1
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Jacksonville State christened its new stadium with a decisive 14-1 win over in-state rival North Alabama on Opening Day of the 2019 season.
Friday marked the Gamecocks return to campus after a two-year hiatus to Oxford, Alabama and Choccolocco Park while the new Rudy Abbott Field at Jim Case Stadium was being constructed over the past two seasons. The last time Jax State played on campus was in May, 2016. Not even an overcast day and threat of rain dampened the excitement surrounding the opening of the state-of-the-art, multi-million stadium as 1,112 witnessed on offensive outburst by the Gamecocks.
Jax State collected nine extra base hits out if its 14 total hits on the day, including a trio of home runs. Senior catcher Nic Gaddis proved early why he was named a preseason all-conference selection and a preseason All-American as he belted a pair of two-run home runs. It marks the second time in two seasons that the Trenton, Georgia native has turned in a multi-home run day as he posted two home runs last season at Morehead State. Junior transfer Taylor Craven recorded his first home run as a Gamecock with a two-run blast in the sixth. Gaddis' first home run of the day started the scoring for JSU in the first and his second extended the lead in the fourth. He finished the day with four RBI. Jax State tallied a pair of RBI triples, one each by sophomore Isaac Alexander and junior Chase Robinson. Robinson finished with two RBI.
The last time JSU played at Rudy Abbott Field in 2016, it was the top doubles-producing team in NCAA Division I Baseball, the 2019 club is off to a great start in that category with four doubles. Junior Andrew Naismith collected two of the four doubles, while junior transfer Alex Webb and redshirt freshman Nash Adams accounted for the other doubles. Jax State had five new faces register first hits in a Red and White uniform, led by junior transfer and leadoff hitter Tre Kirklin and Adams. Kirklin and Adams tallied two hits each and combined for three RBI.
While the JSU offense was posting nine runs in the first four frames, redshirt junior Garrett Farmer kept the Lions' bats silent except for an RBI single in the second inning. Farmer, who made his second career start on Opening Day, held UNA to three hits in five innings of work to secure the win. The Huntsville, Alabama product carded six strikeouts and walked one. The duo of senior Austin Brewster and junior Alex London combined to hold UNA to one hit over the final four innings. Brewster posted a pair of strikeouts, while London fanned three.
UAB 8, SIUE 3
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - UAB scored a come-from-behind 8-3 win Friday, defeating SIUE to open the 2019 baseball season.
The Cougars scored all three of their runs in the first three innings and held a 2-1 lead following a Raul Elguezabal two-run homer in the second inning. UAB led 1-0 when Peyton Cordova-Smith doubled to open the second inning. Elguezabal connected for his first home run as a Cougar with one out.
J Paul Fullerton's grand slam in the bottom of the inning put the Blazers up for good 5-2. Jordan Ross scored on a balk in the third inning to cut the lead to 5-3.
UAB scored a single run in the third and added two more in the fifth for the final tally.
SIUE starter Collin Baumgartner worked 4 1/3 innings and allowed seven runs. He struck out four and walked two. Ryan Byrd allowed a run in 2/3 of an inning of work before Tyler Hutchinson worked the final three scoreless innings. He struck out one.
UAB starter Alex Pondick allowed all three of SIUE's runs in 3 1/3 innings. Riley Davis followed with 3 2/3 innings of scoreless relief to earn the win.
Ross finished with a pair of hits and a run scored. Elguezabel was 1 for 4 with the pair of RBIs.
Fullerton was 1 for 3 with the grand slam for UAB. Colton Schultz finished 2 for 4 for the Blazers.
MOREHEAD STATE 6, FURMAN 3
GREENVILLE, S.C. - A trio of timely sacrifice flies, two home runs, and stellar efforts by two pitchers propelled the Morehead State baseball team to a 6-3 win at Furman on college baseball opening day Friday.
Junior lefty Dalton Stambaugh picked up the victory, tossing 5.0 innings with six strikeouts. Sophomore righty Alex Garbrick, who missed the entire 2018 season recovering from surgery, was nearly untouched in his first action back. He collected a four-inning save, struck out five and only surrendered an eighth-inning RBI double.
At the plate, senior Hunter Fain drilled a solo homer run in the sixth inning to give the Eagles a 4-2 lead, while junior DH Dom Peroni (who led the team by going 3-for-5) put the finishing touches on the run scoring with a solo homer in the seventh, his first Division I round-tripper.
The Eagles jumped on top 1-0 in the third when junior rightfielder Ryan Layne sent a sac fly to right centerfield to score senior shortstop Reid Leonard. After the hosts moved ahead 2-1 later, the Eagles regained the upperhand for good in the fifth.
Senior leftfielder Jake Hammon singled home senior first baseman Trevor Snyder, while sophomore second baseman Bryce Hensor joined in the "small ball" effort with a sac fly to score Layne to make it 3-2.
Meanwhile Garbrick retired the first six Paladin batters he faced before opening the eighth with a walk. He coaxed a double play henceforth to erase that runner.
The Eagles had 11 hits, led by Peroni and two each from Snyder, Leonard and Layne. Hammon extended his reached-base streak to 23 games from last season and his hitting streak to 18 games. Senior centerfielder Connor Pauly was held hitless but did draw a walk to up his team-best reached-base streak to 30 games since last year.
TENNESSEE TECH 3, WESTERN ILLINOIS 2
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - The Justin Holmes era started off on a high note for the Tennessee Tech baseball team, as the Golden Eagles opened the 2019 season, the first under Tech's newest head coach, with a 3-2 victory over Western Illinois.
With light, cold rain sporadic throughout, and a whipping wind blowing in most the game, the Golden Eagles built an early lead and leaned on a strong showing from their pitching staff to earn their head coach his first career victory.
Making the first start of 2019 for the Golden Eagles was junior college transfer Caleb Morgan, a native of Grenada, Miss. The right-hander was impressive in his debut in the purple and gold, gaining the win after completing five innings. He surrendered just a single hit and a pair of walks while striking out eight Leatherneck batters.
The Tech offense wasted little time breaking into the new campaign, scoring in the first inning. Shortstop Jay Meuse started things off by legging out an infield single to second base with one out. Preseason Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year Kevin Strohschein followed by working a walk. It was sophomore first baseman Jason Hinchman who came through with the big knock, slapping a base hit through the right side to drive in Meuse for a 1-0 lead.
That advantage grew to 3-0 in the bottom of the third, beginning with the first fireworks show of 2019. Leading off the frame, junior outfielder Anthony Carrerahammered a 1-0 offering to right center field for a solo shot, giving the reigning NCAA leader in long balls an early head start to the new year.
Meuse followed with his second base hit of the game, this one to right field. Strohschein reached next on a fielding error by the Western Illinois shortstop, allowing Meuse to reach third and setting up Hinchman for more glory. The slugger smashed a liner to center field, plenty deep enough to drive in Meuse.
Senior southpaw Andrew O'Dwyer took over on the hill in the sixth inning, tossing one and two thirds frames with just a single hit allowed and three punch outs. Junior right-hander Jacob Cole came on for Tech next, looking to finish off the final eight outs.
The Mt. Juliet native finished the seventh inning with a strike out and allowed just a single run in the eighth despite allowing three base runners. He did fan two more in the frame, entering the ninth with a 3-1 advantage.
A single, dropped foul ball and double to start the frame put the reliever in a bit of a pickle, with the go ahead run coming to the plate. Cole showed moxie, however, inducing a week ground ball to himself for the first out. He then forced a ground out to second base that, despite allowing a run to score, recorded the second out of the inning.
He nabbed the final out on his own, striking out the final batter of the frame to secure his first save in a Tech uniform and the team's first win of the year. Cole tallied four Ks on the day, with just one earned run allowed in two and one third innings.
A defensive star on the day was junior catcher John Elford. The Tech backstop caught not one, not two, but three Leatherneck baserunners stealing on the day. He nearly had a fourth on his plate, but the ball was knocked out of the shortstop's glove on the ensuing slide, allowing the Western Illinois runner to reach second successfully.
ILLINOIS STATE 27, BELMONT 11 (11)
NASHVILLE - Belmont University baseball hosted Illinois State on a soggy and cold Friday afternoon. The game had a little bit of everything in its 11 innings that spanned over five hours. After a battle t0 the 11thinning, Belmont ultimately dropped a 27-11 decision to the Redbirds.
Starting pitcher Casey Queener (Brentwood, Tenn.) took the mound for the first time this season and would throw four innings. The Redbirds got off to a quick start with a leadoff single up the middle to give them an immediate base runner. A hit batsman and another base hit allowed two runs to cross the plate, giving the Redbirds a 2-0 lead. Queener was able to limit the damage, notching three strikeouts in the inning.
The score remained the same with three-consecutive three up, three down innings. Illinois State cracked the scoreboard once again in the top of the fifth after three base hits and a sacrifice bunt sent the third run across the plate.
Belmont finally got things going and cracked the scoreboard in the bottom of the sixth inning. Junior Chandler Adkins (Knoxville, Tenn.) worked a leadoff walk to start the inning. Sophomore Jackson Campbell (Russellville, Ky.) followed that up with a double to right center field. Freshman Jack Capobianco (London, Ky.) sent the first run across the plate with an RBI groundout. Senior Zach Ehrhart (Mt. Juliet, Ky.) recorded the second RBI of the inning when he laid down a sacrifice bunt to get Campbell across home plate. Belmont cut the lead in half with a score of 4-2 after six complete frames.
Sophomore Korey Bell (Brentwood, Tenn.) made his debut in a Belmont uniform when he took the mound for the top of the seventh. He pitched a quick inning, forcing two groundouts and a fly ball to center field.
Belmont blew the game open in the bottom of the seventh. Freshman Tommy Crider (Madison, Ala.) started the inning with a double to center field. The next four batters were walked, giving Belmont a 5-3 lead. An Ehrhart single and two hit batsmen kept the momentum going tacking on two more runs. Illinois State was finally able to get the first two outs of the inning on the next two batters but walked three more before tallying the third out. After 14 at-bats in the bottom of the seventh inning alone, Belmont took a 10-3 lead.
Illinois State answered Belmont's big inning with one of its own. Eleven Redbirds went to the plate in the top of the eighth, scoring seven runs on just two hits to tie the game 10-10. ISU took the lead again in the top of the ninth, forcing the Bruins to score another run of their own in the bottom of the inning to keep the game alive.
Senior Hunter Holland (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.) got things going in the bottom of the ninth with a leadoff double. Freshman John Behrends (Chattanooga, Tenn.) kept the momentum by working a walk to put runners on first and second. Adkins put down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners to second and third. Holland was called out at home plate on the next play but Behrends found himself 90 feet from tying the game with two outs. Behrends scored the tying run on a wild pitch to keep the game alive, sending the game into extra innings at a score of 11-11.
Neither team was able to cross home plate in the tenth inning sending the game into what would be a decisive 11thinning. Belmont struggled in the top of the 11thas it was deep into its bullpen and nearly five hours into the game. Illinois State scored sixteen runs in the final inning on six hits and three Belmont errors to take a 27-11 lead. Belmont was unable to answer in the bottom of the eleventh, dropping its opening game of the 2019 season.
GRAMBLING STATE 7, EASTERN KENTUCKY 4
NEW ORLEANS - Eastern Kentucky University’s baseball team built a 4-2 lead in its season-opener against Grambling State University at the Andre Dawson Classic on Friday in New Orleans, but the Colonels couldn’t stave off a comeback and lost 7-4.
The Colonels plated three runs in the top of the third to break a scoreless tie. With runners at second and third, Chris Botsoe doubled to left to bring home both. Daniel Harris IV capped the inning with a sacrifice fly to right.
After Grambling scored twice in the bottom half of the third, Eastern took a two-run lead, 4-2, on Will Johnson’s sacrifice fly in the top of the fourth.
The Tigers tied it in the bottom of the fifth and then took a two-run lead in the sixth when Garrett Smith scored on a wild pitch and Isiah Torres drew a bases loaded walk.
Newcomer A.J. Lewis had two hits in his EKU debut. Freshman Lyndon Weaver went 2-for-3 with a run scored. Botsoe finished 1-for-5 with a run and two RBIs.
Jahmoi Percival had a 3-for-4 day with a run and an RBI for Grambling. Torres drove in two while recording two hits in four at bats.
Five Eastern pitchers combined to walk 10 batters.
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 15, UT MARTIN 3
RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. - The University of Tennessee at Martin baseball team dropped its first game of the 2019 campaign but not before the Skyhawks made a push in the final frame before falling by a 15-3 margin to the South Dakota State Jackrabbits.
UT Martin (0-1) was led offensively by sophomore Blake Daniels’ pair of pinch-hit RBIs. Junior outfielder Sean Dixson paced the club with a pair of hits as Jordan Stoner, Billy Edwards and Daniels all collected a base-knock apiece. Casey Harford and Creighton Eldridge each worked the count to draw two walks each as Ethan Whitley drew one walk.
Right-handed junior Winston Cannon (0-1) was tagged with the loss as he issued six earned runs in his 3.2-inning start but not before he whiffed a trio of Jackrabbits. Fellow righty junior Jefferey O’Doherty proved extremely effective as he came on in relief and recorded five strikeouts in just 1.1 innings on the mound all while allowing no earned runs. Freshman right-hander Marcus Eusebio was called upon next and sat down a pair of batter via the punchout in one inning while senior righty Austin Buzick rung up five South Dakota State batters in his two innings of work. Freshman right-handed pitcher Seth Petry was near perfect in his one inning pitched as he issued just one walk and sat down one batter along the way.
Cannon made quick work of the Jackrabbits in the opening frame of action as he retired the side in order on a strikeout, flyout and groundout, respectively. The Skyhawks looked to open the scoring in the home half of the first as Dixson led off with a single to right field followed by Stoner getting hit by a pitch but to no avail.
South Dakota State tallied a total of 15 runs over the next six innings but went dry in the final two frames of baseball.
UT Martin then circled the wagons for a final push as Harford led off the bottom of the ninth with a six-pitch walk and then stole second and advanced to third base on a wild pitch. Eldridge then worked the count for a seven-pitch free base of his own and swiped second before Whitley drew yet another walk on an eight-pitch battle to juice the bases. Daniels then stepped into the box in a pinch-hit situation but not before a Jackrabbit wild pitch allowed the runners to move up and Harford to score and get the Skyhawks on the board. Daniels ripped a single up the middle in time for Eldridge and Whitley to cross home and give UT Martin another couple of runs.