FRIDAY'S SCORES
@Southeast Missouri 4, UT Martin 1
@Belmont 4, Morehead State 3
@Jacksonville State 6, Eastern Illinois 5 (12 innings)
SIUE 9, @Tennessee Tech 8
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 4, UT MARTIN 1
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Dylan Dodd and Logan Winder handed out 13 strikeouts and did not walk a batter in the 4-1 Southeast Missouri (10-3) victory over UT Martin (4-9) in the Ohio Valley Conference opener.
Left-handed pitcher Dylan Dodd tied a career-high eight strikeouts in seven innings on the mound.
Logan Winder went two innings with no hits and recorded a season-high five-straight strikeouts to finish the Skyhawks off.
Tyler Wilber went 2-for-4 on the day with one run and one RBI. He would record a career-high two doubles in the contest.
The Skyhawks took an early lead as Blake Daniels hit a home run over the left field wall. UTM led 1-0 with one out in the top of the first, a lead that would linger until the bottom of the third.
Tyler Wilber hit a two-out double down the left foul line, scoring Devon Wilson who was walked to start the bottom of the third to tie the game 1-1.
Wilber would hit another two-out double to left field in the bottom of this fifth. Austin Blazevic was walked and Wilber advanced to third base on the same wild pitch, putting runners on the corners. UTM starting pitcher, Winston Cannon, was called for a balk, scoring Wilber and allowing SEMO to take a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fifth.
In the bottom of the sixth, SEMO would load the bases with two outs. Alex Nielsen would reach on a fielder's choice, followed by back-to-back walks for Devon Wilson and Connor Basler. Danny Wright got a base hit to the short stop, who dove for the ball and allowed all the runners to be safe, scoring Nielsen. The Redhawks would lead 3-1 at this time.
In the next at-bat, Nick Wohlbold would throw a wild pitch, allowing Wilson to score. SEMO took a 4-1 lead.
As UTM came up to bat in the top of the seventh, Dylan Dodd retired the batters in order with the help of a busy outfield. The first batter flew out to Trent Pobst in left field, next was a fly out to Danny Wright in center and finally was a sliding catch by Devon Wilson in right foul territory. Wilson would go crashing into the fence to make the final out of the last inning for Dodd.
Winder would record five strikeouts to finish the game, two in the top of the eighth and three in the ninth.
BELMONT 4, MOREHEAD STATE 3
NASHVILLE - Belmont University Baseball opened Ohio Valley Conference play with a hard-fought victory Friday night, defeating Morehead State 4-3.
Each team notched a hit in their half of the first inning, but neither team was able to get on the board in the first.
Belmont took the lead early, scoring a pair of runs in the bottom of the second inning. After a couple quick outs, freshman Grayson Taylor (Cullman, Ala.) got things going with a double to the right-center field gap. Junior Hagan Severance (Brentwood, Tenn.) then crushed a ball past the left field fence to give Belmont an early 2-0 lead.
Morehead State responded in the top of the third, cutting the lead in half. Senior pitcher Casey Queener did an impressive job of limiting the damage at one run after three base hits and a walk gave the Eagles four base runners in the inning.
The Eagles tied things up in the top of the fifth inning after a leadoff hit and an RBI double knotted it up 2-2. Morehead took the lead later in the inning, scoring an unearned run for a 3-2 lead.
Belmont retook the lead in the bottom of the seventh. Severance continued his impressive night at the plate with a one-out infield single to put the tying run aboard. Junior Zach Ehrhart (Mt. Juliet, Tenn.) was then hit by a pitch putting the go-ahead run on base. Junior Chandler Adkins (Knoxville, Tenn.) delivered a clutch single that cleared the bases and gave Belmont a 4-3 lead.
The Eagles looked to start a rally in the top of the eighth, leading off with a base knock to right center field. The Bruins dug in defensively and turned a double play to keep momentum in their favor. Morehead didn't let up however, putting the tying run on with a pinch-hit double. Sophomore Kyle Brennan (Franklin, Tenn.) stranded him at second though with a massive strikeout to end the inning.
With a narrow lead, Brennan and the Bruins were just three outs from a conference opening victory. Brennan retired the Eagles in order to notch his first win of the season, preserving the 4-3 victory.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 6, EASTERN ILLINOIS 5 (12)
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Sophomore Cole Frederick delivered his second walk off home run in his Gamecock career as his lead off blast in the 12th inning handed Jacksonville State a 6-5 win over Eastern Illinois in the Ohio Valley Conference opener on Friday at Rudy Abbott Field at Jim Case Stadium.
Frederick, who belted a home run last season to top Southeast Missouri in 2018, sent Josh Cooper's 1-1 pitch over the left field fence for the 340-foot game winner. The win improved Jax State to 6-9 overall, while EIU fell to 3-8 on the season. The two teams will meet in the second game of the series on Saturday. Game time has been bumped up to 12 p.m. CST to avoid the weather.
It marks the second walk-off win by the Gamecocks this season. JSU walked it off in the ninth inning of a 12-10 win over North Alabama on the first weekend of the season.
Sunday's series finale remains at 1 p.m. Tickets are available online at JSUGamecockSports.com and all JSU students and fans 18 years old and younger are admitted free.
The Gamecocks scored all six runs on extra base hits as half of their hits were extra bases and run-producing hits. EIU finished with 13 hits in the setback.
The Panthers opened the scoring rather quickly with a leadoff home run by Jimmy Govern. Govern had both of his hits in the first two at bats with an RBI single in the third inning. EIU's Hunter Morris led all hitters with three hits in the contest.
Junior Chase Robinson gave JSU its first lead of the day with a two-out opposite field, two-run home run just down the left field line. His seventh home run of his career pushed junior Andrew Naismith home after he reached with a single. Naismith came up big with his first career triple as the Auburn, Alabama first baseman cleared the bases after a Nic Gaddis double and back-to-back walks by Taylor Craven and Isaac Alexander.
Jax State starter Garrett Farmer, pitching with a 5-2 cushion, allowed an EIU run in the fourth and sixth before his outing ended with one down in the sixth inning. Farmer, who did not figure in to the decision for the third consecutive Friday, struck out five and did not issue a walk. EIU equalized in the seventh with an unearned run off of a JSU errant throw.
Both teams combined to use 11 pitchers in the extra inning affair and both bullpens got out a jams from the eighth inning till the end. JSU had the go-ahead run at third base in the seventh and the winning run on base ninth, tenth and eleventh.
EIU looked like it would break the 5-5 deadlock in its half of the 12th inning as it had the bases loaded with one out. Junior Corley Woods was inserted on the mound and needed two pitches to induce an inning-ending double play. EIU's Christian Pena grounded Woods' pitch to third base for Brook Brannon to get the lead runner and Gaddis retired Pena with a throw down to first base.
Woods picked up the win in his brief stint and earned his first win of the season, while Cooper was touched for the loss.
SIUE 9, TENNESSEE TECH 8
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - x