THURSDAY'S SCORES
@Morehead State 13, Southeast Missouri 9
Belmont 8, @Eastern Kentucky 5
Jacksonville State 4, @Austin Peay 3 (10 innings)
@SIUE 11, Murray State 6
@UT Martin 6, Tennessee Tech 2
@VMI 5,
Eastern Illinois 4
MOREHEAD STATE 13, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 9
MOREHEAD, Ky. - In a contest that featured 30 combined hits, Morehead State baseball hammered four home runs and rallied with a big fourth-inning to oust Southeast Missouri 13-9 Thursday at Allen Field.
The win moved the Eagles to 35-19 overall and 17-11 in the OVC and tied the program's record for regular season wins (35 in 2015). Southeast Missouri slipped to 23-30 overall and 10-18 in the league and will need to beat the Eagles both times the rest of the weekend or risk missing the OVC Tournament for the first time.
Senior center-fielder Connor Pauly smacked two home runs - his first multi-homer game - and went 4-for-4, while senior first baseman Trevor Snyder matched Pauly at the plate by going 4-for-4 while also cranking a home run. Pauly became the first Eagle to reach 10 long balls this season.
MSU fell behind 5-1 after three-and-a-half frames but erupted for a six-run fourth inning to lead 7-5 and never trailed again. Among the power for the Eagles, senior catcher Hunter Fain crushed his first career triple, a two-run three-bagger, and junior second baseman Dom Peroni ripped an RBI double. Junior DH Jon Burghardt clobbered his sixth home run this month during the fourth-inning scoring rally.
MSU starter Dalton Stambaugh only wnt four innings and allowed four earned runs but left with the lead and was credited with the win to improve to 7-3. Junior righty Blake Preston and senior lefty David Looney were touched up a bit in the middle frames but kept SEMO trailing before freshman Landon Weins came on to allow no earned runs in the final 2.2 innings and grab his second career save.
Five Redhawk hitters had multi-hit days, including Tyler Wilber with four hits. Devon Wilson belted a three-run homer in the top of the fourth to give his team the 5-1 lead. But, the Eagles forced SEMO into just a 1-for-6 effort with runners in scoring position in the last four innings.
Senior shortstop Reid Leonard played in his 228th career game to set the Morehead State career record.
Included in the Eagles' 16-hit day was Fain and sophomore third baseman Stephen Hill collecting two each.
BELMONT 8, EASTERN KENTUCKY 5
RICHMOND, Ky. - Belmont University Baseball defeated Eastern Kentucky University 8-5 in a crucial Ohio Valley Conference game on Thursday night.
Belmont got going early, setting the tone in the top of the first inning. Senior Zach Ehrhart (Mt. Juliet, Tenn.) worked a leadoff walk to give BU an early base runner. Fellow senior Chas Hadden (Morristown, Tenn.) kept the momentum going with a single to right center field that put runners on first and second. Another walk from BU loaded the bases with nobody out. Senior Hunter Holland (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.) was able to put BU on the board with a sacrifice fly and the Bruins increased its lead with a ground ball from senior Devon Gardner (Maryville, Tenn.) for a 2-0 lead after the first complete inning.
The Bruins doubled its lead in the top of the second. With three-straight walks to open the inning, BU loaded the bases with no outs. An infield single that Hadden beat out and a sacrifice fly from junior Chandler Adkins (Knoxville, Tenn.) gave BU a 4-0 lead after the visitor's half of the second.
The Colonels got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third after three base hits allowed two runs to score to cut the BU lead in half 4-2.
In response to the two run third by EKU, Belmont's bats got really hot in the top of the fourth. Arguably BU's most powerful hitter, sophomore Jackson Campbell (Russellville, Ky.) started the inning off with a solo home run that he hammered well past the left field fence. A base knock up the middle from Hadden and the second long ball of the inning, this time from Holland, gave BU a commanding 7-2 lead.
The teams traded runs in the seventh inning. BU scored its eighth run of the ninth on a two-out rally. Freshman Grayson Taylor (Cullman, Ala.) started the rally with a double to the left field wall. Taylor scored when Campbell send a blooper for a hit to shallow right field.
In the bottom of the seventh, a leadoff double came around to score for EKU to make the score 8-3. The Colonels continued to chip away at the lead in the bottom of the eighth. With two outs, a 2-run homer cut the BU lead 8-5. Sophomore Kyle Brennan (Franklin, Tenn.) took over the mound in the bottom of the eighth and got the final out needed with a strikeout to keep BU ahead.
In the bottom of the ninth, Brennan got the three outs needed to secure his ninth save of the season and the 8-5 BU victory.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 4, AUSTIN PEAY 3 (10)
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Jacksonville State inched closer to capturing the 2019 Ohio Valley Conference regular season championship with a 4-3 series-opening win in 10 innings over Austin Peay on Thursday night at Raymond C. Hand Park.
The Gamecocks, who have four walk-off wins in the last five games, plated the go-ahead run in the 10th with a sacrifice fly by junior Devin Brown with the bases loaded. The winner of the final weekend series of the regular season will be crowned the regular season champion and securing the top seed in the 2019 OVC Baseball Championship in Marion, Illinois next week. Jax State won its seventh consecutive game and improved to 32-21 (20-8) on the season. APSU dropped to 30-21 overall and 19-9 in the OVC. Friday's game two of the series is set for 6 p.m.
Brown, from Smiths Station, Alabama lifted a fly ball to right field to push the winning run across the board. Senior Nic Gaddis, who had a pair of hits on the night, started the 10th with a lead off single. Sophomore Isaac Alexander bunted to move the runner over but reached on a bunt single. Junior Andrew Naismith worked a walk to load the bases ahead of Brown. The second baseman put an 0-2 pitch in play to score Gaddis.
The Gamecocks started fast with a pair of runs in the first inning with a lead off home run by junior Tre Kirklin. Kirlin became the first Gamecock to lead off a game with a home run since Michael Bishop started a game with SIU Edwardsville with a home run on March 15, 2014. Scoring Alexander had an RBI single, sophomore Cole Frederick, who finished with a three-hit night. Gaddis added JSU's third run with an RBI double.
The three-run cushion was all redshirt junior Garrett Farmer needed until the Govs erased the deficit with a run in the seventh and tied it with a two-run eighth. Farmer was phenomenal for the six innings before APSU broke up the shutout with a lead off home run by Parker Phillips. Farmer matched his career high in strikeouts with 12 in the outing. It's the third time he has fanned 12 in an outing and the second time this season. The Huntsville, Alabama righty turned in 12 strikeouts against Florida International on Match 1.
Sophomore Jackson Tavel kept APSU from taking the lead with one out in the eighth with the bases loaded. He induced a ground ball back to the mound to start a home to first base inning-ending double play. Sophomore Christian Edwards finished the final two frames and tallied three strikeouts. He picked up his sixth win of the season.
SIUE 11, MURRAY STATE 6
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Collin Baumgartner struck out 10, Justin Perkins homered twice and SIUE downed Murray State 11-6 Thursday in the first of a three-game Ohio Valley Conference series at Simmons Baseball Complex.
The Cougars improved to 10-18 in the OVC, while remaining in the race for the eighth and final spot in next week's OVC Championship. SIUE is 18-31 overall. Murray State dropped to 22-27 overall and 15-13 in OVC play.
Baumgartner was perfect through the first three innings, and SIUE built a 9-0 lead in the process.
Justin Perkins gave SIUE a 3-0 lead in the first with a two-run homer following and RBI-single from Peyton Cordova-Smith.
Baumgartner settled in to work six innings, allowing two runs on eight hits while piling up a career-high 10 strikeouts.
SIUE added two runs in the second, two more in the third thanks to RBIs from Brendan Ryan and Jordan Ross and two in the fifth on a two-run homer from Ryan.
The Racers fought back, scoring twice in the twice in the sixth inning against Baumgartner, including a solo home run from Ryan Perkins, Justin's twin brother. Murray State then scored four times in the seventh against SIUE reliever Chris Robinson. Jordan Cozart and Jaron Robinson each had two-RBI hits to cut SIUE's lead to 9-6.
Justin Perkins' second two-run home run of the game in the seventh opened the game back up in the Cougars favor, putting SIUE up 11-6.
Perkins finished 3-4 with four RBIs and three runs scored. Ryan was 3-4 with three RBIs and three runs. Robinson was 3-5 to pace the Racers.
UT MARTIN 6, TENNESSEE TECH 2
MARTIN, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Martin baseball team defeated Ohio Valley Conference foe Tennessee Tech by a 6-2 margin in the series opener.
UT Martin (22-29, 10-18 OVC) was led in run production by the pairing of Casey Harford (home run) and Hayden Cooper (double) as both drove in a couple of runs. Ethan Whitley and Jordan Stoner paced the club in hits on the evening while one of Whitley’s knocks was a long ball. Creighton Eldridge and Whitley both accounted for one run plated while Eldridge pounded out a hit. Blake Davis rounded out the hit column for the Skyhawks with one knock on the night.
Austen Bullington (4-8) was superb in his six-shutout-inning start. The Newburgh, Ind. issued six base hits but retired three via strikeout. Zach Denney notched his third save of the season as he tossed the final three innings of the contest. He conceded just one earned run on one hit and one walk but sat down five batters on strikes.
Bullington retired the Golden Eagles in order to open the game. He caught the first batter he faced looking before inducing a pair of lineouts to third base. Bullington worked around a bases loaded situation in the second as he gave up a pair of singles and hit a batter all with two outs. He kept a cool head though to sit down the next batter on a swinging strikeout to evade a big inning.
Whitley singlehandedly put UT Martin ahead as he led off the third inning with a solo shot to left center to give the Skyhawks a 1-0 advantage.
In the fourth, Bullington once again sat down the side in order as he saw groundballs rule the innings with a pair to short and the final one to second base. Bullington opened the fifth with a pair of ground outs before allowing a single. He then induced a fielder’s choice to close the frame. Bullington’s last inning of work saw him work around a couple of two-out singles to induce a pop out to short.
With two outs in the sixth, Davis got things going with a two-bagger to left field before Whitley was intentionally walked. An Eldridge single through the right side was enough to plate Davis and scoot Whitley over to third base. With runners at the corners, Cooper then stepped into the batter’s box and roped a double to left center which plated both Eldridge and Whitley to give UT Martin a 4-0 lead.
Denney came on in the seventh and fanned the first batter he faced before he allowed the two batters to reach. One run would come home on a passed ball before another was plated via sacrifice fly as Tennessee Tech inched back by a 4-2 margin. However, Denney regained his footing for the night as he struck out the next batter to get out of the inning.
Down to their last out of the inning again, Stoner got the Skyhawks started for another multi-run inning with a first-pitch triple to right center. A Harford homer would push his ball club’s lead out to 6-2.
Denney found a friendly groundball to short to open the eighth before fanning the next batter. He let a batter slip away via walk after a seven-pitch at bat but punched out the next Golden Eagle to get out of the frame. He slammed the door in the ninth as he struck out the first batsman of the inning. He then received a pair of fly outs to center field to cement the Skyhawk victory.
VMI 5, EASTERN ILLINOIS 4
LEXINGTON, Va. - The Eastern Illinois baseball team kicked off their non-conference weekend series against Virginia Military Institute Thursday afternoon. The Keydets got the best of the Panthers, defeating EIU 5-4.
Michael YaSenka got the ball on the hill for the Panthers to open the series. YaSenka fell to 4-7 on the season with the loss after tossing five innings with nine strikeouts.
Ryan Hatten got the Keydets on the board first in the bottom of the second inning with a two-run homer to left center.
The Panthers would respond in the top of the third when Christian Pena would drive in their first run with a sacrifice fly to center.
VMI would jump out to a 5-1 lead scoring one run in the bottom of the fourth and two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning.
The Panthers were able to score late to cut the Keydets lead to one run. Jimmy Huber kicked off the late inning rally for the Panthers with a solo homerun to right center in the top of the eighth. The Panthers would score two runs in the top of the ninth inning but the Keydets were able to hold them off to secure the series opening victory.
Jacob Menders earned the win on the mound for the Keydets, improving to 5-4 on the season. Menders tossed five innings with one strikeout. Zak Kent earned his first save of the season tossing three innings with two strikeouts.