FRIDAY'S SCORES
@Marshall 3,
Morehead State 1
@East Tennessee 7,
Eastern Kentucky 6
@#1 Arkansas 7,
Murray State 6
@Southeast Missouri 4, Illinois State 3 (10)
@Southern Illinois 14,
UT Martin 7
@SIUE 11, South Dakota State 3
@Kansas State 6,
Eastern Illinois 3
@Jacksonville State 6, Southern Miss 0
@#4 Ole Miss 12,
Belmont 4
@Northwestern State 10,
Austin Peay 8
MARSHALL 3, MOREHEAD STATE 1
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - Freshman first baseman Jackson Feltner, who is from just 45 miles away from Huntington, W.Va., hit his first career home run Friday at Marshall, but it came on the short end of a 3-1 decision to the Thundering Herd at the Kennedy Center YMCA Field.
The Eagles slipped to 2-6. It was Marshall's first game of the 2021 season.
In the sixth inning, Marshall's Geordan Blanton singled to lead off and eventually made it to third base. With the bases loaded, Blanton scored on a balk by Eagle starter Jason Goe.
Feltner cranked his home run with two out in the top of the seventh on rhe first pitch he saw from former MSU pitcher Jeffrey Purnell. Purnell tossed 2.2 innings and was credited with the win.
The Herd clinched the victory with two runs in the bottom of the seventh. Blanton scored again with the bases loaded, this time on a walk off John Bakke. A sacrifice fly scored the final run.
While he absorbed the loss, fifth-year senior pitcher Goe (0-3) struck out a season-high eight in 6.0 innings. Goe combined with pitchers Jarrett Miller, Cory Conway and Bakke to notch 11 strikeouts. It's the third straight double-digit K effort for the Eagle pitching staff.
EAST TENNESSEE 7, EASTERN KENTUCKY 6
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. - Eastern Kentucky University’s baseball team took a 5-3 lead midway through the game but couldn’t hold off a sixth inning rally by East Tennessee State University in a 7-6 loss on Friday.
After a three-run home run in the bottom of the third gave the Buccaneers a 3-0 lead, the Colonels came right back and answered in the top of the fourth. With one out and the bases loaded, Kendal Ewell singled to center to score two. A sacrifice fly by Chance Bodine tied the score. With two on and two out, Cam Ridley cleared the bases with a triple to right center and put the visitors ahead 5-3.
Eastern (2-6) had the bases loaded and one out in the top of the sixth but came up empty. ETSU (6-3) took advantage in the bottom half of the inning. With two outs and the bases loaded, Ethan Cady doubled to right center to bring home three. Bryce Hodge capped the four-run inning with a RBI single to center to put East Tennessee in front 7-5.
An RBI double by Logan Thomason in the top of the eight got EKU within one. The Colonels got the tying run on first with two outs in the ninth but the comeback attempt didn’t go any further.
Ridley finished 3-for-3 with a run and two RBIs. Ewell was 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI.
Cady was 2-for-4 with two runs and six RBIs for East Tennessee.
#1 ARKANSAS 7, MURRAY STATE 6
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - The Murray State Racers made a bid Friday to upset No. 1 Arkansas, but lost a late lead in a 7-6 defeat at Baum-Walker Stadium in Fayetteville.
The Racers (5-3) had their four-game winning streak snapped, while the Razorbacks, the top ranked team in NCAA D-I, improved to 8-0.
MSU got a pair of two-run homers in the top of the fifth inning from Brock Anderson and Trey Woosley for a 6-3 lead. It was Anderson’s third long ball of the spring and the first for Woosley.
Lefty Shane Burns made the start for the Racers and left the game trailing 3-1. He pitched three innings and gave three runs on three hits, five walks and four strikeouts. Jacob Pennington entered the game in the fourth and kept the Racers in the lead with 3.2 innings of work on 2 runs on four hits with five strikeouts and no walks.
Arkansas took the lead for good with a two-run homer by Robert Moore off MSU’s Alec Whaley to make it a 7-6 Razorback lead in the bottom of the eighth.
Jordan Cozart made a bid to tie it in the ninth inning with a long fly ball out to the wall in left center. The next two batters struck out and Arkansas had the 7-6 win.
Both teams had eight hits in the game. Woosley had two hits, while Jake Slunder, Bryson Bloomer, Ryan Perkins, Cozart, Anderson and Tanner Booth all had one hit each. Slunder and Perkins each drove in a run.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 4, ILLINOIS STATE 3 (10)
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Freshman Peyton Leeper delivered a sinking line drive base hit in the bottom of the 10th inning to give Southeast Missouri (3-5) a 4-3 walk off win over Illinois State (2-4) Friday in a flair for the dramatic at Capaha Field.
SEMO ran its record to 20-10 all-time in home-openers in its NCAA Division I era. The Redhawks also snapped an 11-game losing streak in its series against ISU.
Danny Wright led off the Redhawks final at-bat with a single up the middle and Jevon Mason was hit by a pitch. Ty Stauss advanced both runners on a sacrifice bunt. With two outs after Connor Basler flied out to right, Leeper singled home the winning run on his first career walk off hit.
It was a see-saw battle leading up to the thrilling finish.
ISU jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning with the help of back-to-back two-out doubles by Jack Butler and Ryan Cermak.
The Redhawks tied things up with two runs of their own four innings later. Peyton Leeper led off the bottom of the fifth with a walk, went to second on a wild pitch and stole third. Tyler Wilber followed with a double down the left field line and Leeper scored. Andrew Keck then delivered a one-out double to right and Wilber touched home to make it a 2-2 ballgame.
ISU regained the lead in the top half of the sixth. Butler reached on a one-out single. Jordan Libman hit into a fielder's choice and moved into scoring position on an error. Jake McCaw drove in Libman on a base hit up the middle putting the Redbirds up, 3-2.
SEMO loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the seventh and tied game at 3-3 on Mason's two-out bases loaded walk.
Starting left-hander Dylan Dodd struck out eight and walked one while allowing eight hits and three runs through seven innings.
Relievers Austin Williams and Blake Cisneros kept the Redbirds off the board the final three innings. Williams and Cisneros both came up with big strikeouts while ISU threatened late. Cisneros (2-1) was credited with the win after striking out two in a no-hit 10th inning.
Derek Salata (0-2) suffered the loss for ISU. Salata scattered two hits and allowed the winning run in two-thirds of an inning.
Both teams posted 11 hits. Leeper and Tyler Wilber combined for five of those at the top of SEMO's lineup. Leeper went 2-for-5 with a run scored and one RBI, and Wilber was 3-for-4 with a run and one RBI. Stauss also had two hits for the Redhawks.
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 14, UT MARTIN 7
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The University of Tennessee at Martin baseball team registered a season-best 14 hits today at Southern Illinois but the Salukis had three big scoring innings in a 14-7 Skyhawk setback.
Blake Daniels led the way for UT Martin (3-4) offensively, going 3-for-4 with two RBI’s and a run scored. Wil LaFollette also had two hits, a walk and two runs scored while Casey Harford (two hits, one RBI, one run scored) and Christian Hall (home run, two walks, two RBI’s) also paced the Skyhawks.
On the mound, Winston Cannon (1-2) was charged with the loss after allowing four earned runs in four innings. Mitchell Ford did not allow an earned run over innings of relief while Ryan Insco (one inning), Grayden Stauffer (0.1 innings) and Jefferey O’Doherty (0.2 innings) also made appearances out of the UT Martin bullpen this afternoon.
The Skyhawks got on the scoreboard first as Will Smith tripled down the right field line with one away in the top of the first. On the next pitch, Harford lifted a sacrifice fly to right field to give UT Martin a 1-0 lead.
After the Skyhawk defense turned an inning-ending double play to wrap up the bottom of the first, UT Martin added another run in the top of the second. LaFollette reached on an infield single and moved up 90 feet on a sacrifice bunt by Blake Davis. Daniels then pulled a single to right field, plating LaFollette and giving the Skyhawks a 2-0 advantage.
The Salukis (9-0) scored four runs in the bottom of the second and added another run in the top of the third to take a 5-2 lead.
UT Martin used a two-out rally to score a pair of runs in the fourth. LaFollette singled with one away and advanced to second on a two-out single by Daniels. After Sean Dixson followed with an opposite-field single, both LaFollette and Daniels scored on a throwing error to shave the Skyhawk deficit to 5-4.
Cannon pitched a clean fourth inning, sitting Southern Illinois down in order. UT Martin got the first two hitters on the basepaths in the top of the fifth but could not push across a run.
The Salukis put three runs on the scoreboard in the fifth and once again, the Skyhawks had their first two batters reach in the top of the sixth. However, UT Martin could not cut into its deficit. Southern Illinois would score an unearned run in the bottom of the sixth to make the score 9-4.
The Skyhawks got back in it during the top of the seventh, plating three runs on five hits. Harford hit a leadoff single and came around on a towering homer by Hall, the second of the 2021 campaign for the sophomore lefty out of Calera, Ala. Houston Wright later singled with one away and following a Davis single, Daniels stayed hot with an RBI single through the right side which pulled UT Martin back within two at 9-7.
Ford kept the Salukis off the scoreboard in the seventh, inducing an inning-ending double play. The Skyhawks brought the tying run to the plate in the eighth after Benny DeTrude led things off with a single but could not tally a run.
Southern Illinois scored five insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth to provide the final 14-7 margin.
SIUE 11, SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 3
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - SIUE baseball matched its season best for offensive output for the second straight game, knocking off South Dakota State 11-3 in the opener of a three-game series at Simmons Complex.
The Cougars have won two straight and improved to 3-4 for the season. South Dakota State had a four-game winning streak snapped and dropped to 5-3.
The Cougars built a lead with three runs in each of the first two innings. Brady Bunten plated two with a triple and Raul Elguezabal drove home a run with a base hit to give SIUE a 3-0 lead in the first.
Brett Pierson and Connor Kiffer each picked up RBIs in the second inning. Pierson after reaching on an error and Kiffer on a sacrifice fly.
Each team scored a run in the fourth and in the sixth. Kiffer drove home both. He picked up another sacrifice fly in the fourth and collected his third RBI of the day on a groundout in the sixth.
The Cougars scored three more times in the seventh to push the lead to 11-2. Raul Elguezabal scored on a bases-loaded double play before Josh Ohl and Avery Owusu-Asiedu each picked up RBI-hits.
SIUE starter David Llorens (1-1) picked up his first win of the year in his first start. Llorens allowed two unearned runs on four hits. He struck out seven over 5 1/3 innings. Tyler Bastunas allowed a run, but struck out four in 2 2/3 innings of relief. Quin Waterhouse finished the night with a scoreless ninth. He stuck out two.
SDSU starter Adam Mazur (2-1) surrendered seven runs, four earned, on eight hits over four innings in the start.
Brett Johnson, Elguezabal and Ohl finished with three hits apiece. Bunten finished with the hit and two RBIs and Kiffer finished with a hit and three RBIs.
KANSAS STATE 6, EASTERN ILLINOIS 3
MANHATTAN, Kan. - Eastern Illinois (5-5) fell 6-3 against Kansas State (6-2) in the first game of the weekend series. The Panthers commanded a late rally in the eighth to put three runs on the board, but it wasn't enough to overcome the Wildcats.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 6, SOUTHERN MISS 0
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Jacksonville State belted three home runs and the pitching staff accumulated 13 strikeouts to blank Southern Mississippi, 6-0, in the opening game of the weekend series between the two clubs on Rudy Abbott Field at Jim Case Stadium.
The win moved the Gamecocks to 5-4 overall, while the Golden Eagles dropped to 4-5 on the season. The series continues on Saturday with a 4 p.m. first pitch. The contest was pushed up two hours due to the falling temperatures on Saturday evening. The shutout of USM was the first by the Gamecocks since posting an 8-0 win over Central Michigan on February 22 of 2020.
Junior Christian Edwards set the tone for the evening with a stellar performance on the mound and the offense used the home run ball to give him a lead to work with. Edwards tossed the first 5.2 innings of work, silencing USM by retiring the first nine hitters. The Hartselle, Alabama righthander fanned four of the first nine he faced and finished with eight strikeouts in the outing. He limited USM to a base hit and a bunt single. The highlight of his outing came in the fourth inning after USM loaded the bases on a walk and the two hits he surrendered. He got out of the jam by striking out the next three Golden Eagles.
Jax State did not waste time against a solid USM pitching staff as junior Cole Frederick drilled the first pitch he saw from Hunter Stanley over the left field fence for his first home run of the season. Frederick nearly added a second round tripper on the night with a double in the third inning. The Tuscaloosa, Alabama product added his third hit of the day with a single.
The Gamecocks gave Edwards (1-1) more cushion with a two-run fourth inning. Senior Jaylyn Williams started the fourth inning with his second home run in as many games with a delivery over the left field fence. Redshirt sophomore Nash Adams turned in the first of two RBI singles in the contest with a base hit to left field. Adams capped off the scoring for JSU with an RBI in the eighth.
Junior Alex Strachan tallied the third JSU home run of the night with a two-out blast to right center. Junior Isaac Alexander added to JSU's extra bases in the contest with an RBI triple to expand JSU's lead. Alexander posted a three-hit night with a pair of singles to go along with the triple. Williams and Strachan recorded multi-hits games as Strachan had a double, while Williams added a single. JSU had six of its 13 hits against USM pitching go for extra bases.
Redshirt junior Jackson Tavel shook off a tough outing against Samford on Wednesday to keep the USM bats cold. Tavel tossed 1.2 innings and carded a pair of strikeouts and allowed two hits. Redshirt sophomore Trey Fortner closed out the final 1.2 innings, matching Tavel's line of two strikeouts and touched for two hits. USM stranded nine base runners on the night.
#4 OLE MISS 12, BELMONT 4
OXFORD, Ala. - The Belmont University baseball team was defeated by No. 4 Ole Miss 12-4 on Friday at Swayze Field.
Junior Logan Jarvis led the way offensively for the Bruins with a 2-for-4 outing at the plate, hitting his first home run of the season to go with two RBIs. The outing marks Jarvis' second consecutive multi-hit game, obtaining his season-high three hits in Belmont's last game on Feb. 27 against Creighton. Dusty Baird recorded a season-high five strikeouts in two innings pitched for the Bruins.
Freshman Brodey Heaton finished 1-for-3 at the plate in his first outing of the season, with sophomore pitcher Kory Winning getting his first action of the season on Friday. In one inning pitched, Winning did not allow a hit or a walk in the four batters he faced.
Ole Miss jumped out to a quick lead in the bottom of the first inning, scoring the game's first run off a sacrifice fly and doubling its lead with an RBI double down the right field line. An RBI single and a fielder's choice gave Ole Miss a 4-0 lead before the Rebels scored five more runs in the bottom of the second inning.
An RBI double followed by two RBI singles allowed the Rebels to extend its lead to seven runs, with a sacrifice fly and an RBI single giving Ole Miss a 9-0 lead heading after two innings. Ole Miss scored three more runs following a home run to right field in the bottom of the third inning to push its lead to double digits.
Following a Brodey Heaton single and two drawn walks, Austin Ehren collected the RBI after Ole Miss was caught with catcher's interference to score the second run of the game for Belmont. Kevin Okins scored Belmont's third run of the game off a wild pitch, with an RBI single from Jarvis giving Belmont its fourth run of the game.
NORTHWESTERN STATE 10, AUSTIN PEAY 8
NATCHITOCHES, La. - Newcomers Harrison Brown and Xavier Torres drove in two runs each during a seven-run seventh inning, but Austin Peay State University's baseball team fell to Northwestern State, 10-8, Friday night at Brown-Stroud Field.
Trailing 8-1 after Northwestern State scored four runs in back-to-back innings early, Austin Peay (1-7) pieced together an impressive seventh inning. The Govs sent 13 men to the plate, the first five reaching safely, and scored seven times to tie the game.
The rally started innocently enough as shortstop and leadoff hitter Bobby Head was hit by a pitch. Right fielder Harrison Brown followed by hammering a ball off the wall in centerfield for a run-scoring triple. Pinch hitter Xavier Torres followed with a single to drive in Brown, and the first two runs were on the board.
Left fielder TJ Foreman kept the line moving with a single through the infield, and center fielder Garrett Spain loaded the bases with his single through the infield. That ended the day for NSU reliever Nik Milsaps who Josh Banes replaced. The new Demons reliever would get an out but surrendered the inning's third run when pinch hitter Ty DeLancey hit a sacrifice fly, and the Govs cut the deficit to 8-4.
Designated hitter Malcolm Tipler then singled to drive in Spain, and catcher Jack Alexander doubled into the right-field corner to score DeLancey, slashing the deficit to 8-6. Banes would strikeout the next batter but could not escape the frame. He hit Head to load the bases, walked Brown to push in a run, then gave up a base hit to Torres to tie the game. Bane would induce a fly out to end the threat with the bases loaded, but Govs had done their damage, tying the game, 8-8.
Austin Peay reliever Nolan O'Shoney entered the game in kept Northwestern State off the bases in the seventh and retired the leadoff batter in the eighth. But left fielder Jeffrey Elkins walked to end O'Shoney's outing. Reliever Sebastian Martinez got started with a second out strikeout, but Elkins stole second and scampered to third on a wild pitch to put the go-ahead run 90-feet away. Shortstop Jake Haze hit a blooper to left field that fell just in front of a diving Foreman, allowing Elkins to score and break the tie. NSU would later add an insurance run to set the game's final score.
Torres went 2-for-3 with two RBI off the bench to pace the Govs offense. Brown went 1-for-3 with two RBI and walked twice. Alexander's 2-for-5, RBI effort was the Govs' other multi-hit outing.
Second baseman Daunte Stuart reached in all five of his plate appearances, going 2-for-2 with two RBI and three walks to lead Northwestern State's offense. Elkins, Haze, center fielder Gabe Colaianni joined Stuart with two RBI each.
Austin Peay starter Harley Gollert could not get past the third inning, allowing eight runs (four earned) in 2.1 innings. Reliever Drew McIllwain kept the Govs in the game with a career-best 3.2 scoreless innings while setting a career-high with five strikeouts. Nolan O'Shoney (0-1) suffered the loss after the runner he left on base in the eighth scored to mar his 1.1-inning outing.
NSU starter Johnathan Harmon did not factor into the decision despite holding the Govs to one unearned run over five innings, striking out seven. Reliever Donovan Ohnoutka (1-0) picked up the victory with two innings of scoreless relief to close the game.