FRIDAY'S SCORES
@Morehead State 8, Southeast Missouri 3
@Eastern Kentucky 3, Belmont 2
Jacksonville State 14, @Austin Peay 5
Murray State 7, @SIUE 4
@UT Martin 7, Tennessee Tech 5
@VMI 7,
Eastern Illinois 3
MOREHEAD STATE 8, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 3
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Morehead State baseball grabbed the lead and then waited through a two-hour lightning delay before tacking on three more runs in the same inning en route to an 8-3 victory over Southeast Missouri Friday at Allen Field.
Morehead State set the program record for regular-season wins by moving to 36-19 overall and also now 18-11 in the OVC. The 2019 team eclipsed the 2015 OVC Tournament Championship and NCAA Regional team's 35 regular-season triumphs.
Senior shortstop Reid Leoanrd also established the program career record with his 60th double in his four-year foray at MSU. The Redhawks fell to 23-31 overall and 10-19 in the OVC and are now assured of missing out on the league postseason tournament for the first time ever.
Tied 2-2 in the bottom of the second frame, a fielding error with two outs left the door open for sophomore third baseman Stephen Hill's RBI double off the wall in right field. Storms moved into the area and forced a 2:15 lightning delay even though no rain fell. Following the delay, senior center-fielder took an 0-1 pitch from SEMO starter Austin Sachse (who came back after the delay) and crashed it off the wall in center-field to drive in two more.
Junior designated hitter Jon Burghardt then made it 6-2 with an RBI single up the middle.
After the delay, sophomore righthander Alex Garbrick kept the visitors at bay for four innings, allowing just two hits and one run. Sophomore lefty Cory Conway closed out the win by tossing the final three frames and surrendering just two hits and no runs. Starter Jason Goe, who was on a pitch count for the final weekend heading into tournament, tossed the first two but did not come back after the long delay. He was still credited with the win to improve to 6-2.
SEMO reliever Daniel Bergtholdt was sharp for the final six innings, giving up just four hits. One of those was an RBI double deep into the left-field gap by Leonard in the eighth inning. His 60th career two-bagger broke a tie with former All-American Drew Lee. Senior left-fielder Jake Hammon gave his team its seventh tally on the scoreboard in the sixth with a sac fly to score senior catcher Hunter Fain, who had doubled off the wall in left field.
On a night when eight of the nine position players recorded at least one hit, Fain led the way with three. Leonard had a single as well in the first inning to extend his hitting streak to 16 games.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 3, BELMONT 2
RICHMOND, Ky. - The Eastern Kentucky University offense scored three runs in the first inning and then the trio of Jacob Ferris, Darren Williams and Aaron Ochsenbein made it hold up in a 3-2 win over Belmont University in game two of an Ohio Valley Conference baseball series on Friday at Earle Combs Stadium.
Will Johnson led off the bottom of the first with a home run to stake EKU to an early lead. It was his team-leading 15th of the season. With two outs, A.J. Lewis drew a walk to keep the inning alive for Daniel Harris IV. Harris sent the first pitch over the wall in center field to give the Colonels (29-25, 15-14 OVC) all the runs they would need. It was his ninth of the season.
Grayson Taylor’s two-out, two-run home run to left in the top of the second accounted for all of the Bruins’ runs.
Ferris (6-4), a freshman, earned the win after allowing just two runs on three hits in six innings. He walked four and struck out two. Williams pitched a spotless seventh inning with one strike out. Ochsenbein closed it out for his ninth save of the season. He allowed one hit, no walks and struck out three in the final two innings.
Johnson finished 2-for-3 with a walk, a run and an RBI. Nick Howie went 2-for-3 with a walk. Harris was 1-for-4 with a run and two driven in.
Taylor had one hit in four at bats, scored once and drove in two for Belmont (26-27, 18-11 OVC). He came to the plate with a runner on and two outs in the top of the ninth, but Ochsenbein got him swinging to end the game.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 14, AUSTIN PEAY 5
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Jacksonville State captured the 2019 Ohio Valley Conference regular season championship on Friday with a 14-5 win over Austin Peay at Raymond C. Hand Field.
The Gamecocks secured the programs third regular season OVC crown and the seventh overall title. It marks JSU's first regular season championship since the 2008 campaign. As the league champion, Jax State also secured the top seed in the 2019 OVC Baseball Championship next week in Marion, Illinois. JSU's first game will be on Thursday, May 23 at 11 a.m. The win marked the 21st league win, which is the most collected by JSU since a 22-OVC win season in 2013. JSU improved to 33-21 overall and 21-8 in OVC action. APSU dropped to 30-22 on the season and 19-10 against OVC foes. The Govs will be the No. 2 seed in the tournament.
JSU overcame a 2-1 deficit in the fifth with 13 runs over the final four plate appearances. The Gamecocks used the long ball three times on the night, including a pair by senior Nic Gaddis. After APSU took its first lead of the series after breaking up a 1-1 deadlock in the sixth, Gaddis knotted the contest with a solo home run down the left field line. Sophomore Alex Strachan gave JSU a lead that it would not surrender with an opposite field two-run home run for a three-run sixth and a 4-2 lead in the game.
Jax State continued to expand that lead in the seventh with its largest run producing inning of the season. The Gamecocks sent 12 batters to the plate and collected five hits, highlighted by Gaddis' grand slam that broke open the tight contest. After Gaddis' third career grand slam and the 27th home run of his career, redshirt freshman Nash Adams had an RBI single, followed by a two-run single by junior Tre Kirklin. Gaddis finished with three hits on the night and five RBI.
In control of the contest, JSU posted three more runs in the eighth with a two-run RBI double by Isaac Alexander and he scored on a wild pitch in the frame. Alexander, Kirklin, Alex Webb and Strachan all had multiple hits in the contest.
Freshman Isaiah Magwood, who helped Hazel Green High School to a championship last season on the prep level, picked up the win in championship-clinching outing. Magwood went the first five innings and collected five strikeouts and allowed two earned runs. Sophomore Jackson Tavel and junior Corley Woods split the final four innings.
MURRAY STATE 7, SIUE 4
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - The Murray State baseball team has made it a habit coming back late in games to win, yet they had not had a win this season when trailing after eighth innings.
That box can officially be checked off tonight as the Racers came back from four runs down in the ninth to defeat SIU Edwardsville, 7-4, Friday evening.
Brock Anderson and Jordan Cozart started the rally with back-to-back doubles to make it a 4-3 game before four walks and two hit-by-pitches forced in four more runs for the Racers in the inning.
The game moved at a brisk pace for the first six innings with neither team able to push across a run, but in the seventh, SIUE took the lead with four runs, three of them coming on a home run.
The Racers went down quickly in the eighth but in the ninth, the Racers rallied. Ryan Perkins began the inning by reaching first when strike three got past the catcher. Jake Slunder followed with a single before Anderson laced a two-run double to the gap in right-center to cut the MSU deficit in half. Cozart followed with his own double to drive in Anderson to make it one-run game with still no outs in the inning.
After Jaron Robinson struck out, Sean Darmafall was hit by a pitch to put the go-ahead run on base. Bryan Chilton then struck out for the second out before CJ Bush worked a hard-fought walk to load the bases. The Racers then took the lead without Jordan Holly or Perkins taking the bat off their shoulders, looking at eight straight pitches out of the strike zone. The Racers added two more insurance runs in the inning as Slunder was hit by a pitch and Anderson walked.
The bottom of the ninth got a little dicey for the Racers as SIUE loaded the bases with two outs. Peyton Cordova-Smith looked like he was going to extend the game as he sent a fly ball to the left-field corner, but Perkins got on his horse to make a running catch to end the game.
For the Racers, tonight was their 14th comeback win of the season, including the 11th time when trailing after six innings.
UT MARTIN 7, TENNESSEE TECH 5
MARTIN, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Martin used a six-run frame to down Ohio Valley Conference opponent Tennessee Tech this evening by a 7-5 margin.
UT Martin (23-29, 11-18 OVC) was led at the dish by Blake Daniels and Casey Harford as both men plated a pair of runs. Daniels also paced the club in knocks with two on the day including a two-run homer. Stoner did not get a hit but did get credited with an RBI. Rounding out the Skyhawks in the hit column was Sean Dixson, Blake Davis, Ethan Whitley, Tyson Cox and Harford.
Winston Cannon (6-8) clocked in for six strong innings of work today as he allowed just three earned runs to ensure a quality start. He conceded five knocks and a walk but fanned seven Golden Eagles in his time on the bump. David Hussey logged his first career save as he tossed three innings of two-run baseball. The reliever was tagged for just three hits and allowed only one walk as he forced five Tennessee Tech batters to whiff.
Cannon was dealing early as he opened the contest with back-to-back strikeouts, both of the swinging variety. He then induced a ground out to short to end the frame quickly.
The Golden Eagles pushed one run across in both the second and third innings to take a 2-0 lead.
Cannon regained his footing in the fourth as he sat down the side in order again. He fanned the first batter he saw before forcing a pop out to second base and a groundout to short.
UT Martin used a six-run fifth inning for the deciding factor in the matchup. Davis led off the inning with an infield single to third base and moved on up to second on a throwing error by the third baseman. Daniels then sent a two-run blast to left field to tie the contest up. Edwards would then be plunked before a Dixson single to right field put runners at the corners. Eldridge was issued four straight balls to juice the bases. Stoner would be hit by a pitch for the easy plating of Edwards. Harford then shot a hit back up the middle that would be good enough to plate both Dixson and Eldridge. A Golden Eagle balk was called that allowed Stoner to come in and give the Skyhawks a 6-2 advantage.
Tennessee Tech put up another run in the sixth on a solo homer to push back by a score of 6-3.
UT Martin added on a run in the sixth as Daniels got things started with a first-pitch three-bagger to left field. Edwards would then reach on a throwing error by the third baseman which allowed Daniels to come in and extend the Skyhawk lead out to 7-2.
Hussey came on in the seventh inning and sat down the Golden Eagles in order via fly out to right field and a pair of swinging strikeouts. The eighth inning saw him face some slight resistance as he conceded a one-out double down the right field line. However, he kept a cool head to induce a groundout to first base followed by a whiff to get out of the inning.
Tennessee Tech tacked on a couple of runs in the ninth for the final score of 7-5 but not before Hussey would fan a pair of Golden Eagles.
VMI 7, EASTERN ILLINOIS 3
LEXINGTON, Va. - The Eastern Illinois baseball team took on Virginia Military Institute in the second game of their non-conference series on Friday. The Keydets were able to secure the series with a 7-3 win over the Panthers.
With the loss, EIU falls to 25-29 on the season.
Hunter Morris got the Panthers on the board in the top of the first inning when he hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Christian Pena.
The Keydets responded in the next half inning when Jake Huggins would hit a one-run double to left center to even the game.
The Panthers would snatch the lead once again in the top of the third inning on a Pena RBI single down the right field line.
VMI would rally in the bottom of the third hitting three homeruns to take their first lead of the game.
Morris would blast his 12th homerun of the season in the top of the seventh inning with a solo shot to right field.
Alex Spahman suffered the loss on the mound for EIU. Spahman fell to 1-2 on the season after tossing 2.1 innings with two strikeouts.