FRIDAY'S SCORES
Belmont 8-5, @UT Martin 0-10
@Morehead State 5, Eastern Kentucky 2
Murray State 9, @Eastern Illinois 2
@SIUE 6, Southeast Missouri 2
Jacksonville State 11, @South Alabama 2
BELMONT 8-5, UT MARTIN 0-10
MARTIN, Tenn. - The Belmont University baseball team split its Ohio Valley Conference doubleheader with UT Martin, winning game one 8-0 and losing game two 10-5.
Game one saw five Belmont players record multi-hit games, led by freshman Guy Lipscomb with a 3-for-5 outing. Sophomore pitcher Joshua South recorded 10 strikeouts in eight innings pitched, contributing with freshman Jalen Borders in the Bruins' first shutout victory of the season. South's double-digit strikeout performance is the first time a Belmont pitcher has thrown at least 10 strikeouts in a game since March 1, 2019.
In game one, following three shutout innings, Logan Jarvis drew a leadoff walk and scored the game's first run thanks to a Mason Landers RBI double in the top of the fourth inning. A walk and a single in the top of the fifth inning set up the game's second run, with Jarvis collecting an RBI single to right field to give the Bruins a 2-0 lead.
A right field double later in the inning from Jack Capobianco allowed two more runs to score and a single through the right side of the field from Lipscomb put the Bruins ahead 5-0. Jack Rando and Carson Shacklett collected hits to get on base in the top of the eighth inning, setting up three runs off John Behrends' second home run of the season.
The Bruins' pitching staff only allowed three hits in game one, marking a season-low for a nine-inning game in 2021 for Belmont.
In game two, Belmont scored the game's first two runs thanks to home runs from Jarvis and Brodey Heaton. UT Martin, however, stormed to a four-run lead with a six-run outing in the bottom of the fourth inning. A walk, single and a fielding error loaded the bases for the Skyhawks, with a 2-RBI double tying the game.
The Skyhawks hit a bunt single to bring home the go-ahead run, with another RBI double allowing UT Martin to lead 6-2. Belmont chipped away at the deficit in the top of the fifth inning, scoring off a fielder's choice and a throwing error to make it a 6-4 game.
UT Martin responded in the next half-inning with a two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth inning, with a double to left centerfield from Heaton cutting the Bruins' deficit to three runs in the top of the seventh inning. The Skyhawks capped off its scoring with RBI singles in the bottom of the seventh and eighth inning.
MOREHEAD STATE 5, EASTERN KENTUCKY 2
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Morehead State baseball continued its upward trend in 2021 and opened the Ohio Valley Conference portion of the schedule with a 5-2 win over eastern Kentucky at Allen Field Friday afternoon.
The Eagles have now won six of their last seven games, four straight, and evened their record at 6-6. The Colonels slipped to 4-8. Morehead State has now won nine straight home games in the series since 2015.
Friday's low-scoring game started out looking like another slugfest as the home team scored three runs in the bottom of the first, but then the two pitching staffs settled in for a 2-2 stalemate the rest of the way. The Colonels never led but did creep to within 3-2 in the fifth frame before the Eagles tacked on insurance in the seventh.
MSU starter Jason Goe (1-3) collected his first win of the season, fanning seven batters and allowing both eKU runs on just six hits. Senior lefty Cory Conway worked his way out of the eighth with an inning-ending 5-3 double play, and fellow left-hander John Bakke coaxed another 5-3 double play to end the game in the ninth after the Colonels got the first two on base via walks. Bakke's save was the first of his career.
The victory marked head coach Mik Aoki's first career OVC win. The Eagles had dropped the first three in 2020 before the season was canceled.
MURRAY STATE 9, EASTERN ILLINOIS 2
CHARLESTON, Ill. - The Murray State Racers (6-7) started conference play with a big win over Eastern Illinois (8-6) using solo home runs from Brock Anderson, Bryson Bloomer and Tanner Booth to power past the Panthers.
Shane Burns took the ball in the game and took care of business. The southpaw went 7.0 innings, delivering five scoreless frames, allowing just four hits and two runs to earn his first victory of the season.
Jake Slunder tied a career-high in stolen bases, swiping three bags in the game. He was 2-for-5 with a walk, three runs scored and one RBI and Jordan Cozart was back to his usual form, driving in three runs on one hit and a pair of walks.
Murray State opened the scoring in the first. Cozart drove in Slunder on a sacrifice fly to center field. Brock Anderson then tagged his team-high fourth home run of the season to put the Racers up 2-0.
The Panthers got a solo homer in the second to make it 2-1 and the game held there until the fifth.
Murray State started the fifth with Seth Gardner walking and moving to second on a sac bunt by David Hudleson. Gardner came home on a RBI double to left center from Slunder. Slunder then stole third and back-to-back walks from Ryan Perkins and Cozart loaded the bases. Anderson made it three in a row to score Slunder easily. Trey Woosley plated Perkins on a fielder's choice to extend the lead to 5-1.
Slunder lined a two-out single to center and stole his third base of the day. Perkins walked and both runners advanced on a wild pitch. Cozart doubled off the wall in left center field to bring Slunder and Perkins home.
Bloomer opened the seventh inning with a solo home run off the scoreboard in left field and after a Panther pitching change, Booth hit a solo homer of his own, making it a 9-1 game.
The Panthers got one run back in the bottom half of the inning but it was too little too late.
The Racers bullpen of Cade Vernon and Jacob Pennington combined for two innings, allowing no runs and got out of a bases loaded one-out jam in the eighth to seal the first conference win for the Racers.
Five different players contributed to the scoring and six collected hits in the game.
SIUE 6, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 2
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - A five-run sixth inning was the difference Friday as SIUE picked up its fifth consecutive win, a 6-2 victory over Southeast Missouri in the Ohio Valley Conference opener for both teams.
The Cougars have won six of their last seven games and improved to 6-4 overall and 1-0 in OVC play. SEMO slipped to 5-7 overall and 0-1 in league play.
SIUE starter David Llorens (2-1) and SEMO starter Dylan Dodd (1-1) each worked into the sixth inning. SEMO had a 2-1 lead when the Cougars got to Dodd in the sixth.
Raul Elguezabal led off the inning with a single to center. Ole Arntson followed with an RBI-double to left and Avery Owusu-Asiedu tripled to the gap in right center to put the Cougars ahead for good.
Following a pitching change, Josh Ohl doubled down the left field line before Brett Johnson was hit by a pitch. Richie Well then lined a double to left to drive home both runners for the 6-2 advantage.
Dodd allowed four runs, three earned, on seven Cougar hits. He struck out 10 and walked one. The only run he allowed before the sixth was on a bases-loaded walk to Connor Kiffer in the fifth. He allowed only four hits over the first five innings.
Llorens worked six innings to pick up his second straight win. He gave up two runs on three hits. He stuck out eight and walked three. Tyler Bastunas earned his first save of the season with three scoreless innings in relief.
Elguezabal and John Stallcup each finished with a pair of hits for SIUE, which put up nine hits.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 11, SOUTH ALABAMA 2
MOBILE, Ala. - Junior pitcher Christian Edwards turned in a career night with 12 strikeouts in six innings and the Jacksonville State offense pounded out 12 hits in an 11-2 win over South Alabama on Friday night at Stanky Field in Mobile, Alabama.
The win was the first by JSU (6-7) over USA (6-7) since 2015 and the most runs scored against the Sun Belt program in the 26 games-played between the two in-state programs. The win also inched head coach Jim Case to another milestone as it was his 599th career win – all of which have come at Jax State.
Edwards was sensational in his fourth start of the year with his strikeout total and in complete command of the contest for six innings. His previous career high in strikeouts was nine against Eastern Kentucky in the 2018 Ohio Valley Conference tournament as a freshman. The last time a Gamecock hurler had 12 or more strikeouts was Garrett Farmer, who fanned 12 against Austin Peay during the 2019 championship run. The Hartselle, Alabama righthander, along with senior Corley Woods in relief, held the Jaguars to one hit on the night. USA plated its two runs on Ethan Wilson's two-out double down the left field line in the third inning.
USA's two runs came after Jax State sent nine hitters to the plate and five touched the plate in the visitors half of the third. Redshirt junior Zeth Malcom, making his second career start as the designated hitter in Friday's batting order, started it with an RBI sacrifice fly. Senior Alex Webb, who finished with four RBI on the night, recorded his first one with a single. Senior Jaylyn Williams followed with a double ahead of Alex Strachan's home run to left field. It was Strachan's second of the season and 17th of his career.
The Gamecocks chased USA starter Jeremey Lee, who entered the contest without giving up an earned run in three outings after three innings. The Jaguars used six pitchers in the loss.
JSU nursed the three-run lead until breaking the game open with a four-run seventh inning. The frame was highlighted by Redshirt sophomore Nash Adams' second double of the evening along with a fielder's choice RBU by Isaac Alexander and a sacrifice fly by Strachan. Strachan turned in thre RBI. Jax State added two more runs in the eighth on Webb's two-run double to centerfield.
Half of JSU's hits were for extra bases and it scored seven of the 11 runs with two outs in the inning.