WEDNESDAY'S SCORES
Morehead State 8, @Marshall 2
@#24 Missouri 21,
Southeast Missouri 6
@Southern Illinois 8,
Murray State 3
@Saint Louis 10,
SIUE 3
MOREHEAD STATE 8, MARSHALL 2
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - Junior Jon Burghardt kick-started a late-inning scoring surge with his first Division I home run, and the Morehead State baseball team took advantage of 15 free bases issued by Marshall pitching as the Eagles completed a season sweep of the 'Herd with an 8-2 triumph at the Kennedy Center Wednesday.
The Eagles improved to 29-17, also taking a 5-4 win at Marshall last Tuesday. Marshall slipped to 23-22 overall. The Eagles are now just one victory away from the program's fifth consecutive 30-win campaign.
Burghardt, the designated hitter today, broke a 1-1 tie in the sixth inning with a towering two-run laser over the bullpen behind the right-field fence. He was also at the plate when the Eagles' first run scored in the fourth as he hit into a double play but a run came across.
MSU went on to built its lead to 6-1 with a three-spot in the seventh and added two more in the eighth. All along, the Eagle batters drew 10 walks and were hit five times. Five different Eagles were put on base twice by walks, while senior shortstop Reid Leonard and junior right-fielder Ryan Layne were plunked twice.
Layne cranked a two-run double to left field in the seventh frame, while sophomore infielder Stephen Hill plated a run in the eighth on a double. Senior center-fielder Connor Pauly's RBI single in the eighth pushed across the seventh tally.
On the mound, sophomore righty Will Lozinak (5-1) collected the victory. He completed five innings, allowed just four hits, and fanned three on strikes. Juniors Blake Preston and Jake Ziegelmeyer each worked an inning, while senior David Looney only gave up an unearned run. Sophomore Cory Conway got the final out. The Eagle defense turned three double plays in the contest.
#24 MISSOURI 21, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 6
COLUMBIA, Mo. - No. 24 Missouri (31-15-1) pounded out 20 hits in a dominating 21-6 victory over Southeast Missouri (20-26) Wednesday in midweek action at Taylor Stadium.
SEMO scored the first run of the game when Connor Basler scored on a fielder's choice in the top of the first inning.
Mizzou answered by scoring the next 11 runs, including three in the bottom of the first, one in the second and eighth in the third.
The Tigers had seven hits in their big third inning, including a two-RBI double by Peter Zimmerman and two-RBI single by Clayton Peterson. Mizzou added three unearned runs and plated another run on a groundball out.
Mizzou tacked on another three runs in the sixth inning and followed that six more tallies in the seventh.
Back-to-back RBI-doubles by Devon Wilson and Danny Wright gave SEMO two runs in the top of the fourth and the Redhawks scored twice again in the seventh. Turner Fritts and Alex Nielsen each walked with the bases loaded to get SEMO its runs in the seventh. SEMO's final run came on a wild pitch in the top of the ninth.
Mizzou's 21 runs were the most scored by any opponent against SEMO this year.
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 8, MURRAY STATE 3
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Murray State baseball team found themselves in a familiar spot down 7-1 late in the game, but they were unable to mount a comeback Wednesday night, falling to Southern Illinois, 8-3.
The Racer offense was unable to string together hits as they had just five for the game while the Salukis were able to take advantage of nine walks by Murray State pitchers and five Racer errors.
The Salukis put an unearned run on the board in the first to take an early lead, but MSU answered with a run in the second to tie it up. Cozart doubled to lead off the inning and was moved over to third on a groundout by Darmafall before coming into score on a sacrifice fly by Robinson.
Southern Illinois took the lead in the third with two runs and extended their lead with three runs in the fourth and another in the sixth to go up 7-1.
After coming back from two separate 7-1 deficits over the weekend to Eastern Kentucky, the Racers looked like they might do it again as they scored two runs in the seventh with a bases-loaded walk and a wild pitch, but that was all Murray State would get the rest of the way.
SAINT LOUIS 10, SIUE 3
ST. LOUIS - The SIUE baseball team fell 10-3 at Saint Louis Wednesday in a non-conference mid-week clash.
With the loss, the Cougars drop to 16-26 overall, while the Billikens improve to 19-24.
SIUE's Cameron Prayer (0-2) picked up the start, pitching two innings and picking up the loss for the Cougars. Grant Fremion (2-1) picked up the win for Saint Louis in a relief effort.
The Cougars started the scoring with a Justin Perkins single in the second inning, driving in Brock Weimer. The Billikens then strung together eight straight runs through seven innings to go on top of the Cougars 8-1.
The Cougars made a late comeback, scoring two runs in the eighth inning, but fell short. In the eighth, SIUE's Jordan Ross doubled to left-center, driving in Brett Fehr. Also in the eighth, Eric Giltz singled to right, driving in Ross.
SIUE's Brendan Ryan went 2-3 on the night, with a double
Cole Milam recorded three strikeouts in a one-inning relief effort for the Cougars.