SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Murray State 7, Eastern Kentucky 3
@Austin Peay 7, SIUE 6
Morehead State 3-5, @Jacksonville State 0-9
@Tennessee Tech 9, Belmont 7
MURRAY STATE 7, EASTERN KENTUCKY 3
MURRAY, Ky. - Following a rain delay, the Murray State Racers baseball team (21-16, 11-7 OVC) defeated the Eastern Kentucky Colonels (13-25, 7-14 OVC) to sweep the series, 7-3, on Alumni Weekend.
With the sweep, Murray State improves to second in league play while Eastern Kentucky sits at the bottom of the OVC.
Sam Gardner put together his fourth-quality start in a row, going 7.0 innings and tying his career-high, nine strikeouts, for the third time this season. He allowed only two runs on six hits to set the tone for the Racers.
Bryson Bloomer and Jake Slunder paced the offense this weekend as each finished the series with multi-hits performances in all of the games.
Murray State tied a program record with three triples in the game seeing Slunder hit his third of the season, Jacob Pennington his first career and Ryan Perkins his first of the season.
The Racers were outhit by the Colonels 8-7 but used the wet field conditions to their advantage as the EKU made four errors in the game.
Bloomer drove in the Racers first run in the bottom of the first and never trailed the rest of the game.
Murray State put up picket fences in the third, fourth and fifth.
Eastern Kentucky pull within two, getting one run back in the top half of the fifth on a solo shot and the other on an RBI single in the seventh.
In the bottom half of the inning posting three runs. Two runs came home after the Colonels' left fielder slipped in the outfield and Ryan Perkins raced around for his fourth career triple.
EKU added one more in the eighth but Jacob Pennington came on to close the game out for the Racers and shutdown the threat.
AUSTIN PEAY 7, SIUE 6
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Centerfielder Garrett Spain supplied three RBI, third baseman Gino Avros started a walk-off double play, and Austin Peay State University’s baseball team held on for a 7-6 victory against SIUE, Saturday on Joe Maynard Field at Raymond C. Hand Park.
With the win, Austin Peay won the three-game Ohio Valley Conference series, 2-1. In Friday’s action, Austin Peay won Game 1, 7-6 in 12 innings, while SIUE won the nightcap, 11-3. It is the Governors’ second-straight OVC series victory.
Austin Peay (14-23, 11-10 OVC) got on the board first with a three-run third inning. Shortstop John Bolton and Avros opened the innings with back-to-back singles. After a fielder’s choice put runners at the corners, Spain rifled the ball to right field that got to the wall for a two-run triple. Right fielder Bobby Head then hit a single to left field, scoring Spain for a 3-0 lead.
The Governors would extend their lead to 7-1 with another three-run outburst in the sixth inning. Again, Spain was in the middle of the action, hitting a high bouncing ball toward the right side of the infield. The SIUE second baseman fielded the ball, but his throw home could not catch Bolton, who scored on the infield hit. Two batters later, catcher Jack Alexander hit a double to the wall in left-center to drive in two more runs.
SIUE (18-16, 9-9 OVC) could not solve Austin Peay starter Drew McIllwain (1-2), who held the Cougars to three hits and a run over six innings. After he departed, SIUE strung together five consecutive one-out singles. Third baseman Raul Elguezabal and first baseman Ole Arntson each drove in a run during the stretch of singles, narrowing the APSU lead to 7-3.
The Cougars applied even more pressure on the Govs’ bullpen in the ninth. SIUE opened with a walk and a double before second baseman Connor Kiffer singled into center fielder to drive in both runners. After a strikeout, designated hitter Brady Bunten singled, putting the go-ahead run on base. After reliever Nick Wellman entered the game, Arntson’s hit a hard ground ball to Avros, which led the Govs’ third baseman to the third-base bag to start a game-ending double play.
McIllwain struck out a career-high eight batters in his season’s first victory, allowing just one run and two walks over six innings. Nick Wellman induced the game-ending double play from the only batter he faced to pick up his first collegiate save.
Spain went 4-for-5 with three RBI to lead the Govs offense. Alexander was 2-for-5 with two RBI.
SIUE starter Brant Glidewell (4-1) suffered his season’s first loss after allowing four runs on eight hits over five innings. Elguezabal went 3-for-5 with an RBI, and four other SIUE hitters had two hits each.
MOREHEAD STATE 3-5, JACKSONVILLE STATE 0-9
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Morehead State freshman first baseman Jackson Feltner launched three home runs, including two in the opening-game win, and senior second baseman Bryce Hensor totaled four hits on the day as the Eagle baseball team split a double dip at Jacksonville State Saturday.
The Eagles pitched a shutout and won 3-0 in the opener before seeing the home team score six times in the sixth after a lengthy weather delay to hold on and hand MSU a 9-5 setback in the nightcap.
Morehead State still secured a hold on first place in the OVC with a 9-5 record while sitting at 19-15 overall now. The Gamecocks are 19-19 overall and 9-8.
Game one was a classic pitcher's duel between MSU grad student Jason Goe and JSU's Christian Edwards, Feltner ripped the first pitch he saw in the seventh inning over the left-field fence for his sixth homer of th year and s 1-0 Eagle lead.
Feltner struck again in the top of the ninth, this time cranking Kyle Luigs' first pitch of the inning again over the wall in left center for his seventh long ball and a 2-0 lead.
With two outs in the ninth, freshman shortstop Colton Becker connected on an 0-1 pitch from Luigs and belted it over the wall in left field, his third career clout.
JSU made it interesting in the ninth as it loaded the bases with two outs against MSU closer, junior lefty John Bakke. But Bakke coaxed a foul out to end the game with his sixth save.
In game two, Alex Webb homered off MSU sophomore starter Luke Helton to give his team an early 1-0 lead. It was short-lived, however, as sophomore DH Alex Jacobs pushed MSU ahead 2-1 with a two-run double in the second. Senior left-fielder Peyton Dillingham followed with an RBI double to score Jacobs.
Hensor moved his hitting streak to nine games and reached-base streak to 14 outings as he scored Dillingham next with an RBI single.
Feltner pulled out another power bomb in the top of the third, drilling his third homer of the day as the Eagles catapulted ahead 5-2.
A delay of more than an hour occurred in the top of the fourth frame. Unfortunately the lightning seemed to take the charge out of the Eagle bats and into the home team's offense. The Eagles only had four more base runners the rest of the game.
JSU took advantage of a couple of errors in the sixth frame and strung together five hits as well off Eagle reliever Cory Conway to score six times. Four of the runs were unearned.
TENNESSEE TECH 9, BELMONT 7
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - It was a long day at the ballpark for the Tennessee Tech baseball team Saturday, but even a two-hour-and-40-minute rain delay couldn't spoil a well-earned victory over in-state and Ohio Valley Conference rival Belmont.
The Golden Eagles (13-17, 7-9) used the long ball to do their damage at Quillen Field and Bush Stadium at the Averitt Express Baseball Complex, taking down the Bruins (17-18, 9-10) for the second time this season on their home diamond, 9-7. Tech also defeated Belmont in midweek action back on Mar. 23, an 11-4 decision in a contest with no league implications.
It looked like a pitcher's duel early between two of the OVC's premier starters, with Belmont's Joshua South and Tech's Ty Fisher trading zeroes on the scoreboard for the first two frames. While the Golden Eagle southpaw went on to hang another three blank spots on the board for his team, the Tech offense took over in chasing the Bruin ace from the contest after the fifth.
In the bottom of the third, right fielder Theo Bryant IV got the purple and gold offense rolling, crushing a laser off the batter's eye in center field for his second home run of the season. Three batters later, the OVC's Preseason Player of the Year, center fielder Jason Hinchman, took the league's Preseason Pitcher of the Year deep as well, blasting a two-run jack to left-center field.
Hinchman's dinger off of South marked the 38th of his Tech career, moving him past former Golden Eagle slugger Ryan Flick for fifth on the program's career home run charts.
The home bats got back after it in the fifth, putting two of their first three on to set up second baseman Brett Roberts for some more fireworks. The returning freshman connected on a 1-0 offering for a 3-run blast to right-center field, one of his two hits on the day.
Three batters later, senior Cody Littlejohn continued the onslaught, hammering his team-leading eighth round-tripper of the year to right-center field for an 8-0 Tech lead.
The patience of the Belmont bats showed in the sixth inning, drawing three walks as part of a six-run frame. It appeared to pay off again in the seventh as four more free passes gave the visitors a chance at taking a lead. They had to settle for a single run on a sacrifice fly, as Grant Phillips got out of the inning without further damage.
Belmont worked a quick two outs in the bottom of the eighth with a runner on second for the Golden Eagles, but lightning in the area, followed by a healthy amount of rain, brought on the nearly three-hour delay. Coming back into play, Tech picked up a clutch, insurance run off the bat of Bryant. He ripped a single to center field to make it a 9-7 contest.
Rookie southpaw Jackson Berry took over for Phillips after the lengthy pause in the action, dominating a trio of lefty batters for the Bruins. The youngster struck out a pair and forced a weak pop-up to record his first collegiate save. Fisher earned his fourth win of the year, completing five and two-thirds frames allowing four earned runs with five strikeouts.