TUESDAY'S SCORES
@Eastern Illinois 10, Maryville 3
Belmont 10, @North Alabama 8
Southeast Missouri 8, @UT Martin 1
@Jacksonville State 8, Kennesaw State 4
@#2 Vanderbilt 6,
Eastern Kentucky 4
@#6 Ole Miss 13,
Austin Peay 1
EASTERN ILLINOIS 10, MARYVILLE 3
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois (17-14, 7-8 OVC) defeated the Maryville Saints (10-14, 8-8 GLVC) in grand fashion. Christian Pena's eighth-inning grand slam sealed the victory for the Panthers, as they won their tenth non-conference win of the season. Ryan Ignoffo was awarded the win after 1.1 innings of work with two strikeouts. Hayden Birdsong shut the door on any prayer of the Saints mounting a comeback. The Panthers won, 10-3.
The Saints were quick to set the tone as their lead-off batter roped a triple into right-center field. Kyle Lang was given the start but had let up a 1-0 start early.
Eastern Illinois tied the game in the bottom of the third, as a wild pitch scored Sean Lynch Jr. Maryville quickly responded with a solo shot to deep center field, giving the Saints a 2-1 lead.
Maryville added another run before the Panthers struck back. Tarron Lawson started the inning with a double into right-center, followed by a Lynch Jr. single to put runners at the corners. DiLuca poked in a single and advanced to second on the throw to home as he scored Lawson. Dane Toppel grounded out to the shortstop but scored another Panther and put Sweeney in the batters' box. Sweeney struck out but reached first on a wild pitch that sent another Panther home to score. Sweeney scored the same as he reached base: on a wild pitch. This gave the Panthers a 5-3 lead heading into the sixth.
Sweeney's solo homer in the seventh gave Panthers plenty of insurance, growing the lead to 6-3, but the Panthers wanted more. In the eighth, with DiLuca, Sweeney, and Ryan Knernschield on base, Christian Pena stepped into the batters' box and belted a deep shot over the fence to emphatically send the Saints marching home. The Panthers won 10-3.
BELMONT 10, NORTH ALABAMA 8
FLORENCE, Ala. - Belmont University head baseball coach Dave Jarvis officially tied Dave Whitten (1969-97) for the most wins in program history on Tuesday night at Mike D. Lane Field, with the Bruins defeating North Alabama 10-8.
Jarvis has won 663 wins during his 24 years at Belmont, needing just one more to become the winningest coach in program history.
After Belmont got two runners on in the top of the first inning, junior Logan Jarvis hit an RBI single to give Belmont its first run. Singles from freshman Brodey Heaton and junior Grayson Taylor allowed the Bruins to stretch its lead to three runs later in the inning.
Loading the bases in the top of the second inning, Logan Jarvis hit the first grand slam for the Bruins since the 2019 season to extend the Belmont lead 7-0. North Alabama scored a run in the next-half inning, but Logan Jarvis' sixth RBI of the day in the top of the fourth inning allowed Belmont to regain its seven-run advantage.
Having a game with at least five RBIs for the second consecutive season, Logan Jarvis set a new career-high on Tuesday in addition to tying his career-high in hits with four. Sophomore Tommy Crider and freshman Guy Lipscomb added to Belmont's lead later in the top of the fourth inning, hitting a pair of RBI singles to push Belmont in front by nine.
North Alabama, however, did not go down quietly. The Lions responded with a five-run bottom of the fourth inning to cut Belmont's lead 10-6. A sacrifice fly and a throwing error allowed two more runs to score for the Lions in the bottom of the sixth inning, forcing Belmont to hold on to a 10-8 advantage in the final three innings of play.
Graduate student Connor Anderson retired North Alabama in order in the top of the seventh inning while sophomore Aaron Hubbell claimed five of the final six outs by way of strikeout to seal the win for Dave Jarvis and Belmont. Hubbell earned his third save of the season, matching a career-high five strikeouts in the process. Freshman Will Jenkins tied a career-high three strikeouts in just his second career start while junior Korey Bell earned his first win of the season.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 8, UT MARTIN 1
MARTIN, Tenn. - Lincoln Andrews had a career-high three hits and Southeast Missouri (16-14) used a six-run second inning to propel a 8-1 win over UT Martin (11-17) Tuesday night at Skyhawk Field.
Andrews finished at 3-for-5 with a double, one run scored and one RBI.
SEMO sent 12 men to the plate in a 25-minute top of the second inning. The Redhawks notched three singles, two doubles, a triple and one home run during their big surge.
Wads Stauss led got things started with a leadoff home run to right field. Andrews singled, went to second on a wild pitch and scored on a double by Ty Stauss. Danny Sperling followed with a single and T. Stauss scored. Jevon Mason then doubled to left center. A two-RBI triple by Tyler Wilber came after that. Shortly after a pitching change, Danny Wright knocked in Wilber on a single to left putting the Redhawks ahead, 6-0.
SEMO added another run when Wright walked in a run with the bases loaded in the third inning. Andrews' single through the right side capped the scoring in the eighth.
The Redhawks collected 12 hits for its seventh double-digit hit game in 10 contests.
Andrew Keck joined Andrews with multiple hits. Keck added a single and a double, while SEMO's other seven starters each contributed a hit. For W. Stauss, the home run marked his team-high ninth of the season. Additionally, Wilber extended his hitting streak to eight games.
Bryce Grossius (2-1) earned the win. Grossius struck out four, allowed one run and gave up four hits in 3.1 innings.
Seth Petry (1-2) took the loss. Petry scattered six hits, gave up six runs and struck out one in just 1.1 innings.
The Redhawks improved to 2-2 in midweek games this season.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 8, KENNESAW STATE 4
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - The bottom half of the Jacksonville State lineup carried the club to an 8-4 win over Kennesaw State on Tuesday night on Rudy Abbott Field at Jim Case Stadium.
JSU's 7-9 hitters produced half of the eight hits on the night and drove in five runs. The Freshman Derrick Jackson, Jr. finished with two hits and keyed the Gamecocks' three-run fifth that extended a one-run lead with a two-RBI double to the gap in right centerfield.
The win by the Gamecocks gamed a split with their future conference foe as both programs will be members of the ASUN in 2022. JSU avenged a 12-10 setback to KSU on March 24 at Stillwell Stadium in Kennesaw, Georgia. Jax State's win also snapped KSU's seven-game winning streak since returning to competition from COVID-19 protocols.
Freshman Mason Maners, who was in the No. 9 spot in the order, gave the Gamecocks the lead in the fourth inning with a single right back up the middle, plating a pair of runs. Junior Isaac Alexander returned to the lineup and had an RBI single in the fifth.
The Gamecocks (16-15) overcame a 1-0 deficit with an early run by the Owls (19-9) off of starter Isaiah Magwood. Magwood pitched the first three innings, striking out four in the outing and touched for two KSU hits. Freshman Reid Fagerstrom tossed a clean fourth inning after JSU took the lead to secure his first career win on the mound at JSU. The Gamecocks used six pitchers out of the bullpen in the Tuesday night affair.
Senior Tre Kirklin, playing against his hometown school, posted his sixth multi-hit game of the season with two hits. Junior Alex Strachan connected on his second triple of the season, both coming off KSU pitching. His triple started JSU's three-run fifth inning.
#2 VANDERBILT 6, EASTERN KENTUCKY 4
NASHVILLE - Eastern Kentucky University got the tying run to second base in the top of the ninth inning, but couldn’t complete the comeback in a 6-4 loss at No. 2 Vanderbilt on Tuesday.
The Colonels began the ninth down three. With one out, Max Williams was hit by a pitch. Cam Ridley reached on a Vanderbilt error and the runners advanced to second and third. With two outs, Daniel Harris IV extended his hitting streak to 15 straight games and drove in Ridley with an infield single.
A passed ball allowed Kendal Ewell to move to third and Harris, representing the tying run, to advance into scoring position at second base. However, a fly ball off the bat of Caleb Upshaw ended the comeback bid and the game.
Eastern Kentucky scored first and tied the game in the fourth. Cam Ridley was hit by a pitch to start the game. Ewell followed with a single through the left side to put runners at the corners. Ridley came home on a ground ball by Harris for a 1-0 lead.
The Commodores scored one in the second and one in the third to go in front 2-1. However, Upshaw had the answer in the top of the fourth when he led off the inning with a home run over the wall in right field. It was his eighth of the season.
Vanderbilt (26-5) put up four in the bottom of the fifth to break the tie. The scoring started with a three-run home run off the bat of Parker Noland.
The margin remained at four until the eighth inning. Ewell began the frame with a single to center. He moved to second on a ground out and then scored on a single to right by Charlie Ludwick.
Ewell was 2-for-4 with a walk and a run scored. Upshaw went 2-for-5 with a run and an RBI. Ridley scored twice. Jordan Fox, Jake Lewis and Louis Davenport III combined for three and one third innings of scoreless relief to end the game. The trio allowed two hits and struck out four.
CJ Rodriguez had a 4-for-4 night with two runs for the Commodores. Noland was 1-for-3 with a run and three RBIs.
#6 OLE MISS 13, AUSTIN PEAY 1
OXFORD, Miss. - Third baseman Gino Avros opened the game with a home run but Austin Peay State University’s baseball team could not keep pace with No. 6 Ole Miss, dropping a 13-1 decision, Tuesday night at Swayze Field.
Avros took the second pitch of the game out of the park to left, giving Austin Peay (10-20) an early 1-0 lead. He would provide the Govs’ second hit with a double in the third inning, as they battled to solve the Rebels pitching staff.
Ole Miss (25-8) responded thanks to first baseman Cael Baker. He gave the Rebels the lead with a three-run double in the bottom of the first. Two innings later, he provided a home run to left center – a three-run shot that extended the lead to 6-1. The Rebels would tack on three runs in the fifth and sixth innings further extending its lead.
Avros finished the night 2-for-3, adding a third-inning double to his tally. Left fielder Knaje Guthrie and second baseman Malcolm Tipler each had infield singles in the sixth.
Baker went 4-for-4 with six RBI and two runs scored to pace Ole Miss. Shortstop Jacob Martinez was 3-for-4 with two RBI.
Ole Miss starter Tyler Myers (3-1) allowed one run over the opening three innings to notch the win.
Govs starter Sebastian Martinez (2-2) struck out four over two innings but surrendered three runs in the first inning and suffered the loss.