FRIDAY'S SCORES
Eastern Kentucky 4, @Eastern Illinois 3
@Murray State 9-2, Southeast Missouri 5-4
@Austin Peay 9-7, Morehead State 1-6
@Jacksonville State 9, Belmont 0
@SIUE 8, UT Martin 5
@Tennessee Tech 3-7, Central Arkansas 2-9
EASTERN KENTUCKY 4, EASTERN ILLINOIS 3
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Corey Conklin’s two-out, two-run triple in the top of the ninth inning sent the Eastern Kentucky University baseball team to a 4-3 win over Eastern Illinois University in an Ohio Valley Conference series opener on Friday.
The Colonels (21-14, 8-5 OVC) entered the ninth trailing 3-2. A.J. Lewis began the inning with a single to right and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. The next batter popped up in foul territory along the first base line for the second out of the inning. Freshman Logan Thomason kept EKU’s hopes alive with a walk. Conklin then sent the first pitch he saw into the right center gap to plate two runs and put the visitors in front by one.
The Panthers broke a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the eighth on an RBI single through the left side by Trey Sweeney. With two outs and runners at second and third base, closer Aaron Ochsenbein came in to pitch. He threw one pitch and got a fly ball to end the threat.
Ochsenbein (3-0) retired the side in order in the bottom of the ninth on a pair of ground balls and a strike out.
Logan Teague started for Eastern Kentucky and turned in his second quality start of the season. The senior allowed three runs, two of which were earned, on eight hits in seven and one-third innings. He walked one and struck out three.
Eastern Illinois starter Spenser Dexter limited EKU to two runs on seven hits in seven innings. He struck out six and did not walk a batter.
Conklin’s only hit proved to be the game-winner. He went 1-for-2 with three RBIs. Thomason was 2-for-2 with a walk, a run and an RBI. Lewis finished 2-for-3 and scored twice.
Sweeney had two hits in four at bats and drove in three for the Panthers (16-18, 8-8 OVC).
The Colonels tied the game 2-2 in the top of the seventh on a sacrifice fly from Thomason and a sacrifice bunt by Conklin.
MURRAY STATE 9-2, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 5-4
MURRAY, Ky. - Southeast Missouri (16-19, 6-11) split a doubleheader with Murray State (16-17, 10-5) Friday at Reagan Field. SEMO dropped game one, 9-5, but won the nightcap, 4-2.
In game two, the Redhawks led, 4-1, after scoring once in the fourth, sixth, seventh and eighth innings.
Trent Pobst walked with the bases loaded and Hunter Southerland scored in the top of the fourth. Two innings later, Devon Wilson grounded out and Andrew Keck touched home. In the seventh, Hunter Southerland drove in Tyler Wilber on a two-out single to left. Wilson then knocked in Keck on a single in the eighth.
MSU had two on with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning when Daniel Bergtholdt struck out Vito Iovino to end the game. Bergtholdt picked up his first save of the season.
Austin Sachse (4-4) struck out eight and walked just one in 5.2 scoreless innings. Sachse gave up four hits and faced 23 hitters.
Peyton Faulkner, Southerland and Keck each had two hits to lead the Redhawks.
MSU keyed its game one victory with a seven-run third inning. The Racers had four extra base hits in the inning, including a two-run home run by Bryan Chilton.
The Racers led, 9-0, before SEMO scored five runs over the final three frames. Keck knocked in two runs on a single. Keck drove a 3-2 pitch through the left side to score Danny Wright and Pobst in the top of the seventh. Wilber doubled, went to third on a balk and touched home on a wild pitch in the eighth inning. Connor Basler ripped a two-out single to cut MSU's lead to 9-5 in the ninth.
Dylan Dodd (4-3) allowed eight runs on eight hits, while striking out five in 3.2 innings.
Trevor McMurray (2-4) picked up the win striking out six and allowing two runs on five hits in six innings of work.
SEMO finished with eight hits. Wilber and Keck led the way with two apiece.
AUSTIN PEAY 9-7, MOREHEAD STATE 1-6
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Center fielder Garrett Spain's hard ground ball to first base in the 11th inning proved enough for third baseman Gino Avros to score from third providing Austin Peay State University's baseball team a 7-6 walkoff victory against Morehead State, Friday night, in Ohio Valley Conference action on Joe Maynard Field at Raymond C. Hand Park.
Austin Peay (18-15, 11-6 OVC) saw its 4-0 and 6-2 leads disappear as Morehead State rallied for four runs in the eight. The Governors then had to turn aside the Eagles after they put men into scoring position with less than two outs in both the 10th and 11th innings.
But Austin Peay withstood the opportunities and created their own in the 11th. Avros led off the inning with a single up the middle and moved to the second on a sacrifice bunt. Catcher David Martinez then singled through the left side, allowing Avros to reach third.
With the infield drawn in, Spain smashed a ground ball to first base. After fielding the ball, the Eagles infielder threw home in an attempt to get Avros, but the throw sailed and Avros slid under the catcher and emphatically touched home to end the game.
The walkoff effort made a winner of reliever Brett Newberg who tossed 3.1 scoreless innings of relief, striking out six and scattering three hits. Governors starter Josh Rye pieced together his second straight quality start – going six scoreless innings while striking out six – but was left with no decision.
Avros posted his first career four-hit outing, scoring three times. Spain went 1-for-4 with two RBI and catcher David Martinez also had two RBI as part of his 2-for-4 outing. Left fielder Aaron Campbell followed up his three-hit opener with a 2-for-5 performance that saw him score twice.
Zach Boyd hit a pinch hit RBI double in the seventh and added a three-run double in the eighth to lead Morehead State with a 2-for-3, four RBI outing. Third baseman Stephen Hill tied the game with his RBI single in the eighth, his lone hit of the game.
Morehead State reliever Landon Weins (3-1) surrendered one run on four hits and two walks over his 3.1 innings of relief and suffered the loss. Eagles starter Will Lozinak allowed six runs on eight hits over 6.1 innings but was let off the hook after the Eagles late rally.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 9, BELMONT 0
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - The Jacksonville State baseball team struck for six runs in the first three plate appearances and redshirt junior pitcher Garrett Farmer tossed seven shutout innings en route to a 9-0 blanking of Belmont in the opening game of a key Ohio Valley Conference series on Friday night on Rudy Abbott Field at Jim Case Stadium.
With the win, the Gamecocks moved atop the league standings at the midway point of the OVC slate at 9-4 in OVC contests and 18-15 overall. Belmont dropped to 15-18 on the season and 10-6 in the conference.
Redshirt freshman Nash Adams quickly put JSU on the scoreboard against the OVC Preseason Pitcher of the Year, Casey Queener. Adams belted a leadoff home run off of Queener, who would be touched for six of the nine runs. The Gamecocks chased Queener after just three innings, the shortest outing of the season for him. JSU was gifted a second run on a throwing error by the Bruin catcher in the first inning. Adams drove in two runs on the night with a sacrifice fly in the third inning.
Junior Alex Webb continued to swing a hot bat on Friday with three doubles on the night and pushing a pair of runs across the plate. Webb's first double in the second inning scored both runs. In the last eight games, the Columbia, Tennessee native has accounted for 14 hits, eight doubles and 12 RBI. His second double in the sixth was just ahead of senior Nic Gaddis' two-run home run that extended the lead to 6-0. It was Gaddis' seventh home run of the season, tying him for the lead on the team in home runs. He scored after his third two-bagger on Isaac Alexander's fielder choice in the eighth.
All nine starters recorded hits against the two Belmont pitchers as the Gamecocks collected 13 hits. Junior Chase Robinson added a pair of hits, while freshman Carson Crowe registered a multi-hi
While JSU kept expanding its lead in the first three innings, Farmer limited the Bruins to just two hits on the night in seven innings of work. Both hits came from Belmont leadoff hitter Zach Ehrhart. Ehrhart started the game with a single but was picked off by Farmer. After retiring the next eight Bruins, Ehrhart opened the fourth inning with a single. Farmer finished the night with five strikeouts and issued a walk.
Redshirt junior Tyler Wilburn tossed the final two innings and posted a pair of strikeouts.
SIUE 8, UT MARTIN 5
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - SIUE scored a series-opening 8-5 win over UT Martin Friday at Simmons Baseball Complex.
SIUE snapped a five-game losing streak with the win an improved to 6-10 in Ohio Valley Conference play and 10-21 overall. UT Martin fell to 13-20 overall and 4-9 in league play.
The Cougars broke on top in the bottom of the first scoring a run on two hits and they never trailed. Dustin Woodcock singled to drive in Brendan Ryan with the game's first run. SIUE tacked on two more in the third on an error and an RBI-hit by Raul Elguezabal to go up 3-0.
SIUE starter David Llorens dominated in the early innings. The left-hander retired the first nine hitters he faced and struck out eight. The Skyhawks began chipping away in the fifth inning.
Llorens walked the first two hitters in the inning and then UTM leftfielder Sean Dixson connected on a home run to straight away centerfield to tie the score 3-3.
Brock Weimer and Peyton Cordova-Smith singled to open the bottom of the inning before Justin Perkins parked a one-out, three-run home run over the fence in left center to put the Cougars back on top 6-3.
Llorens started the sixth but left after a walk and a double, which eventually would lead to two more runs to cut the lead to 6-5. Chris Robinson took over and gave up a double before settling in to work four scoreless innings for his first save. Llorens struck out nine over the five innings. He improved to 3-4 with the win. Robinson added five strikeouts in four innings.
UT Martin starter Austen Bullington lasted just 2 1/3 innings and fell to 1-6 with the loss.
The Cougars scored twice in the sixth without a hit. Peyton Cordova-Smith grounded into a fielder's choice which saw Brendan Ryan score from third and Woodcock come in all the way from second.
SIUE outhit UT Martin 11-3. Weimer was 3-4. Cordova-Smith was 2-4.
TENNESSEE TECH 3-7, CENTRAL ARKANSAS 2-9
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - It was a pair of close, down-to-the-wire contests at Quillen Field Friday, as the Tennessee Tech and Central Arkansas baseball teams split their series-opening doubleheader.
Game one of Friday's action featured a pitcher's duel, with Central Arkansas' Cody Davenport dominating early on as the Bears (16-19) took a 2-0 lead into the seventh. Things changed quickly, however, as the Golden Eagle bats came up clutch while the Tech pitching staff kept its strong performance in tact.
In the bottom of the seventh, shortstop Hunter Higdon led things off by reaching on a fielding error. Back-to-back fielder's choices kept a runner on first, but provided a pair of outs with junior Anthony Carrera coming to the plate.
The left fielder fell behind 1-2 in the count, just one strike from ending the frame and Tech's best chance of scoring in the contest. Carrera had other ideas, however, crushing the next pitch over the wall in left field, tying things at 2-2. It marked his eighth long ball of the year.
Both sides traded zeroes in the eighth and Tech (14-18) held the Bears off the scoreboard in the top half of the ninth. UCA gathered two quick outs, looking destined to force extra innings.
Instead, sophomore slugger Jason Hinchman provided the biggest swing of his young career. Working an eight-pitch at-bat, the first baseman uncorked a mammoth blast to left center field, a no-doubt, walk-off dinger to send the Tech dugout into a frenzy as they met him at home plate to celebrate the win.
Also key contributors to the Golden Eagle win were Andrew O'Dwyer and Jacob Cole, who held UCA to just four hits and two runs in the contest. A senior southpaw, O'Dwyer covered the first four innings of the contest, allowing two hits and one earned run while punching out a Tech career-high six batters.
A junior college transfer, Cole tossed the final five frames, also allowing just two hits and single run. The right-hander earned his second win of the season while fanning six Bear hitters.
Game two started much in the same way as game one, with the pitching staffs trading goose eggs through the first three frames. In the fourth, the Golden Eagles blasted some more fireworks.
All-American Kevin Strohschein lifted a pitch the other way, blistering a missile to right field for a solo shot and 1-0 Tech lead. Hinchman made it back-to-back blasts three pitches later, despite falling behind in the count 0-2. It marked his Ohio Valley Conference-leading 15th of the year.
In the fifth, Strohschein was back at it again, crushing a two-run shot to left field for his eighth home run of the season. The Bears answered with a three-spot in the sixth, trimming the Tech advantage to two.
Hunter Higdon got on board the round-tripper train in the seventh, hammering a two-run jack job to right center field for his second of the year and a 7-3 lead. Central Arkansas took advantage of a Golden Eagle miscue in the eighth, tying the game at 7-7 with four runs, including two unearned.
The contest would head into an extra frame, with the Bears scoring twice in the top of the tenth on another Tech error to even the series.