SUNDAY'S SCORES
@Austin Peay 14, Belmont 2
@Jacksonville State 8, Tennessee Tech 7
Morehead State 6-0, @UT Martin 2-2
@SIUE 5, Eastern Kentucky 2
Southeast Missouri 10, @Eastern Illinois 9 (10 innings)
AUSTIN PEAY 14, BELMONT 2
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - First baseman Parker Phillips’ two-run home run – his 40th career homer – put Austin Peay State University’s baseball team in the lead through three frames and they didn’t look back in a dominant 14-2 Ohio Valley Conference victory against Belmont, Sunday afternoon on Joe Maynard Field at Raymond C. Hand Park.
With the win, the Governors won the three-game OVC series, 2-1, and moved into a tie with Belmont for the league lead after four of 10 conference weekends. The Govs and Bruins end the weekend tied with Jacksonville State and Murray State with .667 win percentages.
Trailing 1-0 entering the bottom of the third, Austin Peay (14-12, 8-4 OVC) saw third baseman Gino Avros earn a leadoff walk. After the Govs moved him with a sacrifice bunt, center fielder Garrett Spain tied the game with a single. That brought Phillips to the plate where he hammered the ball to left center for a two-run home run and a 3-1 lead.
Belmont (13-14, 8-4 OVC) would work to respond in the fourth inning. Right fielder Devon Gardner began the frame with a double, but Austin Peay starter Brandon Vial caught him trying to steal third for the second out of the inning. That out would prove pivotal as third baseman Logan Jarvis singled after the out and scored on center fielder Hagan Severance’s single, cutting the Govs lead to 3-2.
The Governors would add to their lead in the fifth inning with five consecutive batters reaching base with two outs. Designated hitter Matt Joslin’s two-run bases loaded single giving APSU a 6-2 lead.
But it was a monstrous seventh inning that broke the game open for the Govs. Sending 13 men to the plate, the Govs scored eight times in the frame. Shortstop Garrett Kueber, the ninth man to the plate, hit a two-run single that proved to be the biggest hit in the frame but he was one of six Govs with an RBI in the inning.
The offensive outburst benefitted Vial (3-2) who went five innings and held Belmont to two runs while scattering eight hits over five innings. Four Govs relievers combined to hold the Bruins scoreless over the final four innings.
Joslin led the Govs with a 2-for-3, three RBI day. Spain had his first career four-hit day with a 4-for-5, two RBI, three runs-scored performance.
Belmont starter Korey Bell (0-2) suffered the loss after allowing three runs on two hits and four walks in three innings. Severance led the Bruins offense with a 3-for-4, one RBI effort.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 8, TENNESSEE TECH 7
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Jacksonville State completed a sweep of Tennessee Tech in walk off fashion, 8-7, on Sunday afternoon on Rudy Abbott Field at Jim Case Stadium.
Trailing 8-7 entering their final at bat, senior Nic Gaddis crushed a 1-1 pitch from Tech's Daniel Holley 380 feet over the left field wall to tie the contest. Jax State pinch hit with junior Taylor Craven to face Holley and delivered the game winner as he sent a 1-1 toss in the same vicinity that Gaddis' round tripper went. Craven, from Wadley, Alabama took over the team lead in home runs with his home run that sailed 370 feet out of Rudy Abbott Field. Gaddis matched the team lead with his sixth of the season prior to Craven's walk off home run. The Trenton, Georgia native finished the day 3-for-5 at the plate and four RBI. On the weekend, he finished 6-for-14 and drove in five runs. In the four games during the spring break week, Gaddis turned in a 9-for-16 week at the dish with eight RBI, four doubles and a pair of home runs. He had a home run on Wednesday against Alabama State.
It's first time JSU has posted back-to-back home runs this season and the first time since last season when Chase Robinson and Cole Frederick had back-to-back home runs on May 6, 2018 against Morehead State.
The Gamecocks have now claimed four wins in walk-off fashion and swept their nemesis from Cookeville, Tennessee for the first time since 2010. JSU opened the Ohio Valley Conference series with a 5-3 win on Friday night and collected a series win with a 12-10 come-from-behind slugfest on Saturday evening. JSU moved to .500 on the year at 14-14 and improved to 6-3 on conference play. The Golden Eagles dropped to 11-15 overall and 2-10 in OVC contests. Jax State will be idle during the midweek and will travel to Cape Girardeau, Missouri next weekend for a series with Southeast Missouri.
The Tech offense mirrored the start it had on Saturday, scoring early runs in the first and second inning to take a 4-0 lead. TTU plated three runs in the third frame with a three-run home run by Jason Hinchman.
JSU answered in the bottom half of the inning with three runs on four hits, coupled with a pair of Tech fielding miscues. Junior Alex Webb, who had five hits on the weekend, had an RBI single for the first run on the home side of the scoreboard. Gaddis pushed a run across the board by putting the ball in play and reaching on a fielder's choice. Robinson plated the third run of the inning with an infield single.
Tech's second of two straight three-run innings extended the lead to 7-3 after it posted four hits, including an RBI triple as the big hit in the inning.
The Jax State bullpen did its job the rest of the way and allowed the offense to climb back in to the contest. The trio of redshirt junior Tyler Wilburn, sophomore Colin Casey and sophomore Christian Edwards combined to finish the final 7.1 innings without issuing another Golden Eagle run. The three pitchers scattered eight hits and posted nine strikeouts, including four each by Wilburn and Edwards. Edwards collected his second win of the season after throwing the final 1.2 innings. Wilburn was the first man out of the pen and went 2.2 innings and settled in after Tech scored the three runs in the fourth. Casey tossed a pair of innings before handing it over to Edwards late in the game.
JSU answered Tech's run-scoring inning with a two-run bottom of the fourth. Redshirt freshman Nash Adams started a two-out rally with one of his two singles on the day. Frederick, who also had a two-hit day, singled down the line in left field. Webb drew a walk to load the bases before Gaddis laced a double down the line in left field for the two runs.
In the JSU seventh, it was able to get the game within a run as Gaddis opened the inning with a double. Sophomore Isaac Alexander tallied a two-out single back up the middle, plating Gaddis.
MOREHEAD STATE 6-0, UT MARTIN 2-2
MARTIN, Tenn. - Junior right-handed pitcher Jason Goe had a career-best start, and senior shortstop Reid Leonard set the Morehead State career hits record as the Eagle baseball team split a doubleheader at UT Martin Sunday. The Eagles won the opener 6-2 before falling 2-0 in the seven-inning nightcap.
The Eagles now sit at 18-10 overall and 5-4 in the OVC. The Skyhawks are now 11-16 and 4-8 in the league after taking the series two games to one.
In game one Goe worked eight strong innings and struck out a career-high 13 batters while only surrendering two hits to improve to 3-1. Goe didn't walk a batter either on a career-high 101 pitches.
Leonard poked a single to right field in the third inning to eclipse Drew Lee's previous MSU career hits mark of 277. Leonard also cranked a double later in the game.
MSU scored once in the first, third and seventh frames and tacked on three in the eighth on 14 total hits. Senior first baseman Trevor Snyder drove in the first two runs, while Leonard had the final tally with a sac fly in the eighth. Senior centerfielder Connor Pauly also crushed a two-run triple to the wall in left field to plate the fourth and fifth runs.
Pauly, along with junior designated hitter Dom Peroni, had three hits each. Junior righty Jake Ziegelmeyer allowed a ninth-inning run but also recorded two more punchouts.
In game two, UTM scratched across a run in the first inning off a pair of singles and a ground-rule double. The hosts then added the second tally on an RBI double in the bottom of the fourth.
The Eagles had runners in scoring position in the first, third, fourth and fifth innings but the Skyhawk pitchers and defense thwarted every chance.
Sophomore Will Lozinak tossed 3.2 innings and allowed just the two runs off six hits but was tagged with his first loss of the season (3-1). Sophomore lefty Cory Conway and freshman righty Landon Weins combined for 2.1 scoreless innings.
Winston Cannon fanned seven in 4.1 innings to grab the victory.
MSU had six hits but also struck out nine times on the day.
SIUE 5, EASTERN KENTUCKY 2
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - SIUE baseball avoided a sweep at the hands of Eastern Kentucky, taking the finale of a three-game series 5-2 from the Colonels.
The Cougars improved to 5-7 in the Ohio Valley Conference with the win and 9-16 overall. EKU fell to 16-13 overall and 5-4 in OVC play.
Each team scored a run in the first and again in the third inning for a 2-2 score. Brock Weimer collected an RBI in the first inning and Eric Giltz singled to tie the score in the third.
The Colonels got RBIs from Ryland Kerr in the first and Charles Ludwick in the third. SIUE starter Brian Chandler gave up both runs and left in the third with the bases loaded and one out. Tyler Hutchinson relieved him and struck out the next two hitters.
The Cougars took the lead for good with a three-run fourth inning to chase EKU starter Brennan Kelly. Jordan Ross drove home two with a single and Dustin Woodcock added an RBI hit in the inning.
Hutchinson settled in to throw 3 2/3 innings of scoreless, hitless ball. He struck out four. Kerr was the only EKU base runner to reach, when he walked in the fourth, but was thrown out trying to steal second base.
Hutchinson earned the win to move to 1-1 this year. Kelly (2-3) took the loss for Eastern Kentucky.
Adam Drewry, Chris Robinson and Braydon Bone all threw a perfect inning of relief for SIUE. Bone worked the ninth to earn his fourth save of the year.
Eastern Kentucky's bullpen of Brennan Labarbera and Aaron Ochsenbein combined for 4 1/3 innings of scoreless, hitless relief. The Cougar's Raul Elguezabal was the only batter to reach when he walked in the eighth after a 14-pitch plate appearance.
Giltz finished 3-4 with an RBI to lead SIUE at the plate. Woodcock was 2-4 and extended a hitting streak to 10 games.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 10, EASTERN ILLINOIS 9 (10)
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Tyler Wilber's home run to center field in the top of the 10th inning gave Southeast Missouri (14-12, 4-6) a 10-9 victory over Eastern Illinois (12-13, 5-5) in the series opener Sunday.
Wilber went 3-for-5 on the day with three runs and one RBI.
Alex Nielsen recorded a career-high four RBI on three hits. A string of base hits in three-straight at-bats for Nielsen, he scored on two of them.
SEMO scored a pair of runs in the top of the fifth to take a 2-1 lead after EIU's Christian Pena hit a solo home run in the bottom fo the fourth. In the fifth, Connor Basler hit a two-out double to move Nielsen to third. Brett Gonzalez brought both Basler and Nielsen home on a base hit to left field.
Both the Panthers and the Redhawks scored a pair of runs in the sixth inning, making it 4-3 heading into the seventh. With the bases loaded and on out, Nielsen hit a two-run single up the middle to score Wilber and Fritts.
In the bottom of the innning, the Panthers had three-straight base hits to score one before the first out was recorded. The second run was brought in on a base hit to left center. SEMO held a 4-3 run.
SEMO had a five-run seventh inning to push the Redhawks lead to 9-3. A total of 11 Redhawks went to the plate in the seventh, totaling five runs on three hits. The Panthers issued four walks and one hit batsman during this inning.
The Panthers would tie the game, 9-9, in the bottom of the ninth with a two-out three-run homer to center field.
EIU issued a total of six walks on the day and allowed 13 hits. Southeast struck out 11 batters, and allowed 14 hits.
Both Devon Wilson and Trent Pobst stole two bases on the day. The Redhawks went 5-for-6 on the basepaths