SUNDAY'S SCORES
Austin Peay 6, @Eastern Illinois 3
@Murray State 8, UT Martin 5
@Jacksonville State 4, SIUE 3 (11 innings)
Eastern Kentucky 6, @Southeast Missouri 3
Mercer 4
, @Belmont 2
AUSTIN PEAY 6, EASTERN ILLINOIS 3
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Catcher David Martinez’ three-run home run in the third inning gave Austin Peay State University’s baseball team a lead it would not relinquish on the way to a 6-3 Ohio Valley Conference victory against Eastern Illinois, Sunday, at Coaches Stadium.
Austin Peay (29-20, 19-8 OVC) swept the three-game OVC series against Eastern Illinois to remain tied atop the league standings with Jacksonville State, which swept its three-game series against SIUE. That tie will be broken in a winner-take-all three-game series when the Governors host the Gamecocks, Thursday-Saturday, on Joe Maynard Field at Raymond C. Hand Park.
Eastern Illinois (24-27, 13-17 OVC) grabbed its first lead in the series – and ultimately its only lead of the series – when it loaded the bases in the first inning on a pair of walks and a single. Catcher Ryan Knernshield beat out a potential inning-ending double play, which allowed a run to score for a 1-0 lead.
The Governors mounted their response two innings later. Left fielder Aaron Campbell tied the game with a double to drive in third baseman Gino Avros. Martinez followed and hit a fly ball that found its way over the wall in right center for a three-run home run and a 4-1 lead. Second baseman Malcolm Tipler would add another run with a single that drove in designated hitter Matt Joslin for a 5-1 lead.
Austin Peay starter Ryan Kouba (4-0) would take advantage of the run support to post a five-inning outing that saw him allow two runs on four hits. The Governors bullpen took over and would allow one run on two hits over the final four innings. Greg Leban would strike out five of the six batters he faced in the seventh and eighth innings before closer Brett Newberg notched his seventh save with a hitless ninth.
Joslin would lead Austin Peay’s offense with a 3-for-5 outing, scoring once. Shortstop Garrett Kueber also had two hits and six other Govs hitters posted a base hit each.
Eastern Illinois starter Blake Malatestinic (2-4) suffered the loss after allowing five runs on eight hits over three innings. Right fielder Tyler Tesmond went 2-for-4, including a leadoff home run in the seventh, to lead the Panthers offense.
MURRAY STATE 8, UT MARTIN 5
MURRAY, Ky. - It was senior day for the Murray State baseball team, Sunday afternoon at Reagan Field, but it was a couple of juniors who played hero for the Racers as they took down UT Martin, 8-5.
Brock Anderson went 2-3 with a game-tying three-run home run in the seventh while Jordan Cozart hit a go-ahead grand slam in the eighth. Senior Jaron Robinson also went deep, going back-to-back with Cozart.
Shane Burns pitched 5.2 innings, striking out seven while allowing three runs. Seniors Peyton Hayes and Blake Clynes combined to throw 1.2 innings with four strikeouts while Justin Thomas pitched the ninth to earn his first save of the season.
Both starting pitchers dominated for the first four innings before the Skyhawks took a 3-0 lead with a run in the fifth and two in the sixth.
In the bottom of the sixth, Ryan Perkins walked to start a two-out rally before Jake Slunder singled to set the stage for Anderson, who smacked a three-run home run to right-center field, tying the game at three.
Both teams went down quietly in the seventh, but in the eighth, UT Martin took the lead with a two-run home run to dead center.
However, as they have done many times this season, the Racers did not quit, rallying in the eighth with five runs to take the lead.
Dylan Letellier started the comeback with a pinch-hit single before Perkins hit a pop-fly single to right. After Slunder struck out for the second out, Anderson walked, bringing Cozart to the plate with the bases loaded. Cozart fouled off the first pitch before turning on one, sending it over the left-center field wall for the Racers' first grand slam this season. Robinson then followed with a solo home run as the Racers went back-to-back for the first time in 2019 as well.
In the ninth, Thomas struck out his first two batters before inducing a pop-up to four-year Racer Joe McMahon behind the plate to end the game.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 4, SIUE 3 (11)
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - The Jacksonville State baseball team completed its Ohio Valley Conference weekend sweep of SIU Edwardsville on Sunday in the same fashion that it has done in the previous three games this week as Isaac Alexander's RBI single in the 11th inning handed JSU a 4-3 walk-off win on Sunday on Rudy Abbott Field at Jim Case Stadium.
The Gamecocks have now strung together four consecutive walk-off wins dating back to Wednesday's extra-inning walk off of eighth-ranked Georgia. JSU opened the SIUE series with a walk-off grand slam off the bat of junior Alex Webb on Friday and claimed the series on Saturday in dramatic style as Nic Gaddis capped off his Senior Day with a solo home run to down the Cougars.
Alexander drilled the first pitch he saw from SIUE's Cole Milam in his plate appearance in the 11th to left field for the game-winning RBI with two outs in the frame. The Muscle Shoals, Alabama shortstop pushed sophomore Cole Frederick across the plate. Frederick, who had one of Jax State's three hits on the day and the game-tying sacrifice fly in the eighth, reached base on a walk and moved in to scoring position on a wild pitch. SIUE pitched around Gaddis to face Alexander in the 11th.
JSU struggled offensively throughout the day against SIUE starter David Llorens and the three Cougar relievers. Llorens was effective in five innings but was touched for a pair of runs in the fifth inning. Redshirt freshman Nash Adams cranked a two-out, two-run home run over the left field fence. Adams plated junior Andrew Naismith, who started the inning with a free pass from Llorens. Adams' fifth home run of the season brought the Gamecocks within a run and gave life to the club.
SIUE tallied three runs in the first three frames to take the early lead. Peyton Cordova-Smith recorded a two RBI double to left center off of JSU's Dylan Hathcock. SIUE added the third run on a wild pitch in the third inning.
After the third inning, the Jax State bullpen kept the Cougars off the scoreboard over the next eight innings. Redshirt freshman Trey Fortner was the first arm out of the bullpen with three string innings, allowing just one hit. Sophomore Jackson Tavel tossed 2.2 innings and posted three strikeouts. Senior Austin Brewster finished the ninth and pitched the into the 10th before freshman Michael Gilliland needed five pitches to get out of the top half of the 11th. Gilliland picked up the win and moved to 3-1 on the season.
The Gamecocks entered the last home weekend series with a share of first place in the OVC and with the sweep of SIUE, they will head to Austin Peay next weekend with a regular season title on the line. APSU swept Eastern Illinois in Charleston this weekend to set up the winner-of-the-series-take-all set in Clarksville, Tennessee. Both clubs have identical 18-8 conference marks. The series will also determine seeding for the 2019 OVC Baseball Championship in Marion, Illinois on May 22-25. The series with the Governors will start on Thursday evening at 6 p.m. and continue with a Friday start time of 6 p.m. and wrap up the regular season on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Sunday's win also extended a streak of seven consecutive seasons with 30 or more wins. In 18 seasons under head coach Jim Case, JSU has posted 30 or more wins in 16 of the 18 seasons.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 6, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 3
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Eastern Kentucky University’s baseball team scored all six of its runs off four home runs in a 6-3 series clinching victory over Southeast Missouri State University on Sunday.
After losing the series opener by one in 12 innings, the Colonels (28-23, 14-13 OVC) won the final two games to clinch their second straight Ohio Valley Conference series victory. Sunday’s win also secured a spot for Eastern Kentucky in the upcoming eight-team OVC Tournament. The Colonels will not be anything lower than a six seed in the tournament.
EKU trailed 3-2 going into the top of the eighth inning. With one out and one on, freshman catcher Brent Lovell drove a pitch over the wall down the left field line to put the visitors in front by one, 4-3. Eastern got some insurance in the top of the ninth inning when Daniel Harris IV hit his second home run of the game. His two-run shot over the wall in center set the final score.
Redshirt sophomore reliever Darren Williams retired the side in order in the bottom of the ninth for his third save of the season, and his second in the last two games. Williams struck out four and did not allow a hit in two innings of work.
Eastern Kentucky scored first on Will Johnson’s home run to lead off the game, his 14th of the season. A solo home run to start the second inning by Harris put EKU in front 2-0.
Southeast Missouri (23-29, 10-17 OVC) got on the board with one run in the bottom of the second and took a 3-2 lead on a pair of RBI singles by Alex Nielsen and Hunter Southerland in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Harris finished the game 2-for-4 with two runs and three RBIs. Lovell was 1-for-3 with a run and two RBIs.
MERCER 4, BELMONT 2
NASHVILLE - Belmont University Baseball dropped a 4-2 decision to Mercer Sunday afternoon after impressive pitching performances from both teams.
Mercer got on the board early after a Belmont error allowed the leadoff double to come around and score for a 1-0 Mercer lead after the first inning.
Despite an incredible performance by starting pitcher sophomore Logan Bowen (Bowling Green, Ky.), the Bears took a 2-0 lead, due to another error, after three complete innings.
The pitching duel continued to be a good one through the sixth inning with no runs scored from either side.
The bats woke back up in the seventh inning. The Bears scored a run in the visitor's half of the inning for a 3-0 lead. Belmont responded in the home half of the inning.
With one out, freshman Grayson Taylor (Madison, Ala.) got things going with a single to center field. Consecutive base hits from freshman Tommy Crider (Cullman, Ala.) and sophomore Jackson Campbell (Russellville, Ky.) loaded the bases. Senior Zach Ehrhart (Mt. Juliet, Tenn.) then waited out a bases-loaded walk to put BU on the board and cut the lead 3-1. The second run of the night for BU came when senior Chas Hadden (Morristown, Tenn.) singled through the left side to score another run. The potentially tying run was thrown out of at the plate to end the inning 3-2.
Mercer scored the final run of the night in the top of the ninth for a 4-2 lead. Belmont was unable to mount the ninth inning comeback and fell 4-2.