TUESDAY'S SCORES
Eastern Illinois 12, @Arkansas-Pine Bluff 4
@Belmont 8, Toledo 7
@Lipscomb 9,
Austin Peay 7
Jacksonville State 14, @Kennesaw State 10 (15 innings)
Murray State 8, @North Alabama 5
@Central Arkansas 5,
UT Martin 3
EASTERN ILLINOIS 12, ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF 4
PINE BLUFF, Ark. - The Panthers monster day on offense sealed the 12-4 win in the first game of the series against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
The lineup managed 11 RBI on 11 hits in Tuesdays victory.
The top of the lineup collectively went 8-13 including five walks. Trey Sweeney went 4-for-4 and notched six RBI, and to add to that already stellar stat sheet, drew two walks. Sweeney was also accountable for the Panthers one home run.
Foster Anshutz pitched six full innings and recorded six strikeouts. Anshutz only allowed two hits and two walks, and held the Golden Lions scoreless in his time on the mound.
The Panthers record moves to 7-6 (2-1 OVC), while UAPB moves to 6-11. Panthers will suit up for one more tomorrow before heading to Murray State for a weekend series.
BELMONT 8, TOLEDO 7
NASHVILLE - Thanks to a ninth-inning walk-off single from sophomore Tommy Crider, the Belmont baseball team won its fifth game by walk-off with an 8-7 victory over Toledo on Tuesday at Rose Park.
Belmont has now extended its winning streak to eight games, marking the first time since the 2015 season where the Bruins have had eight or more consecutive wins. Sophomore John Behrends tied his career high of three hits and three runs scored while junior Kyle Brennan picked up his fifth win of the season after pitching the final two innings and collecting two strikeouts.
Toledo took a six-run lead after three innings of play, but Belmont responded with a single from Behrends and an RBI single from junior Logan Jarvis in the bottom of the fourth inning to score the Bruins' first run. A fielding error by Toledo later in the inning allowed Belmont to score another run, cutting the Rockets' lead to four runs.
A solo home run in the top of the fifth inning put Toledo ahead 7-2, but junior Jackson Campbell capitalized with two runners on base in the bottom of the sixth inning by hitting a two-RBI double to cut the Rockets' lead down to three runs.
With two runners on base in the bottom of the seventh inning, freshman Brodey Heaton came up with a double to right center to cut Toledo's lead 7-6. Heaton scored the tying run later in the inning, advancing to home off a wild pitch.
Following Behrends' leadoff single in the bottom of the ninth inning, Belmont looked to advance the Chattanooga, Tenn., native to second base off a sacrifice bunt. Despite the Bruins being forced into a fly out, Behrends stole second base in the first pitch of the next at-bat to put the go-ahead run in scoring position.
Like the Bruins had done four times already this season, Crider hit a single up the middle on the next pitch to score Behrends from second base and give Belmont the 8-7 walk-off win.
LIPSCOMB 9, AUSTIN PEAY 7
NASHVILLE - Austin Peay State University’s baseball team hit three home runs but a pair of late miscues proved costly as it dropped a 9-7 decision to Lipscomb, Tuesday night, at Dugan Field.
Austin Peay (6-10) showed plenty of mettle through the first five innings, responding each time Lipscomb scored. After the Bisons scored in the first, designated hitter Alex Hay tied the game in the second with a two-run line-drive home run to right.
Lipscomb (10-5) would take advantage an Austin Peay miscue in the fourth to regain the lead. Shortstop Brian Moore singled to drive in a run and later scored on a wild pitch to level the score.
But the Bisons lead would not survive the next half inning. Third baseman Gino Avros singled to start the inning. Center fielder Garrett Spain followed with a home run to straightaway center field, giving the Govs a 5-4 lead. One batter later, left fielder TJ Foreman hit his first home run to left, extending the APSU lead to 6-4.
Austin Peay would tack on a run in the top of the seven with first baseman Ty DeLancey’s double that drove in Avros. However, Lipscomb would again jump on a pair of Govs miscues to retake the lead. An infield error extended the inning and right fielder Ty Jones drove in a run with a single to right.
Reliever Drew McIllwain appeared to get the third out on a strikeout but the ball skipped in the dirt and got to the backstop allowing Lipscomb to load the bases. Second baseman Haddon Adams cleared the bases with a grand slam to left, setting the final score.
Spain went 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBI to pace the Govs offense. Avros and Foreman also had two hits each as the Govs finished the day with 10 hits.
McIllwain (1-1) suffered the loss after allowing five runs (one earned) on four hits in his two innings on the mound.
Lipscomb reliever Wyatt Folsom (2-0) picked up the winning after 1.1 scoreless innings. Tyler Guilfoil followed with a scoreless ninth for his fifth save. Adams went 3-for-4 with four RBI to lead the Lipscomb offense.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 14, KENNESAW STATE 10 (15)
KENNESAW, Ga. - The Jacksonville State baseball team outlasted Kennesaw State in a 14-10, 15-inning, marathon on Tuesday night at Stillwell Stadium on the KSU campus.
The Gamecocks bounced back from falling to the Owls last week in Jacksonville. JSU improved to 7-8 on the season, while KSU dropped to 10-7 overall. The 15-inning affair was the longest since JSU's 16-inning confrontation with Troy in 2016. The extended affair brought back memories of the JSU-KSU Sunday match up in 2014 that went 17 innings. JSU claimed a 9-8 decision at Rudy Abbott Field.
Jax State plated four runs in its last at bat after stringing together four hits and taking advantage of one of the Owls' five errors on the night. Junior Cole Frederick, who was bumped up the leadoff spot in the order, delivered one of his five hits in the 15th to give JSU its third lead in extra innings with an RBI single. Frederick finished with three RBI on the night and gave JSU a 6-4 lead in the ninth inning with a solo home run. He joins senior Andrew Naismith with five hits in a single game this season. Naismith collected five hits against Gardner-Webb earlier in the year. Tanner Anderson posted his first RBI of the season with a double and scored on Tre Kirklin's infield single and throwing miscue. Alex Webb finished the inning with an RBI single.
The top four hitters in JSU's lineup combined for 13 of the 16 hits on the night. Kirklin, from Kennesaw, Georgia, opened the scoring with a two-run home run in the fourth inning. He finished with three hits, while Webb added three hits. Anderson tacked on a pair of hits.
JSU's three-run seventh broke up a 2-2 deadlock as a pair of miscues by KSU opened the door for a big inning. Pinch hitter Chase Robinson had a one-out double followed by back-to-back sacrifice attempts that were misplayed by KSU to score runs. Webb singled to right field for the third run.
The Owls always had an answer for JSU's scoring with the first of two home runs by Alex Carballo. JSU took a 6-4 lead to KSU's last at bat, but Carballo equalized the game with a two-out, two-run home run to send the game into extra frames.
After three scoreless innings by both clubs, JSU broke the 6-6 tie with an RBI single by pinch hitter Javier Ramirez. KSU answered again with a solo home run to start the home portion of the inning.
Jax State carried a 10-7 lead into the 14th after Kirklin scored on an error, followed by an Isaac Alexander RBI ground out. Down to its last out, KSU rallied with three runs to extend the game.
Both teams used seven different pitchers as freshman Camden Lovrich, who started the first game against KSU, picked up the win after tossing the final 1.1 innings.
MURRAY STATE 8, NORTH ALABAMA 5
FLORENCE, Ala. - Some timely hitting early and a couple of home runs late gave the Murray State baseball team an 8-5 victory over North Alabama, Tuesday evening in Florence, Alabama.
Sean Darmafall was the only Racer with multiple hits, but he made them count as he hit an RBI single and his first home run of the season. Brock Anderson also went big fly with a two-run shot for his eighth home run of the season, the fourth most in the nation.
After a shaky start on the mound by Joe Ivey, Jacob Pennington and Jase Carvell picked him up as they combined to pitch 7.1 innings, allowing just two runs, neither of them earned, while striking out nine.
The Lions took the early lead with three runs in the second before Pennington came out of the pen and shut the door before any more runs came across.
The Racers were not down for long as they scored five runs in the top of the third. Bryson Bloomer put the Racers on the board with an RBI single before Trey Woosley singled in two more to tie the game. Darmafall gave MSU with a single before Tanner Booth added a fifth run with a double.
North Alabama tied the game with single runs in the fourth and fifth, but the Racers retook the lead when Darmafall hit a solo home run to lead off the sixth.
Anderson provided the insurance in the seventh with a two-run home run.
UNA threatened one more time in the seventh as they had runners on second and third with two outs, but Carvell came out in relief of Pennington and struck out his batter to end the threat. Carvell then put the Lions down quietly in the final two innings to earn the save.
CENTRAL ARKANSAS 5, UT MARTIN 3
CONWAY, Ark. - The University of Tennessee at Martin couldn't overcome a sixth-inning rally from Central Arkansas as they fall 5-3.
UT Martin experimented with various pitchers as three pitchers (Freshmen Boston Smith, Warren Lee and Wesley Bomar) saw their first glimpse of game action. For Smith, his chance to make an impact came in the form of his first career start. He proved to be effective as he went 3.1 innings allowing just one run on two hits while striking out three batters.
After Smith left the game, the run support started to kick up in the late innings. Heading into the fifth inning, the Bears lead 1-0, but around that time, the runs began to pick up a little for the Skyhawks. In that inning junior, Billy Edwards laid down a sacrifice bunt to score junior Blake Davis from third to tie the game. Edwards' sacrifice bunt is his first RBI of the season in his first start of the season. Just an inning later, UT Martin took the lead with one swing as freshman Christian Hall launched one to right field to give the Skyhawks the 2-1 edge.
Soon Central Arkansas rallied for three runs in the sixth and finished it off with an insurance run in the seventh to make the advantage 5-2. UT Martin grabbed one more in the eighth with a sacrifice fly to finish all scoring. The Skyhawks had one more chance to rally in the ninth but ultimately fell 5-3.