FRIDAY'S SCORES
@Morehead State 17-5, Murray State 3-3
Southeast Missouri 12, @Belmont 0
@Eastern Kentucky 10, Tennessee Tech 5
Jacksonville State 6, @UT Martin 1
Eastern Illinois 4, @SIUE 3 (10)
Arkansas State 12,
@Austin Peay 7
MOREHEAD STATE 17-5, MURRAY STATE 3-3
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Morehead State senior catcher Jack Gardner drove in 11 runs on the day, including nearly tying the program record with three home runs and nine RBI in game one, as the Morehead State baseball team secured its sixth OVC series win with two victories over Murray State at Allen Field Friday.
Gardner powered his team to a 17-3 win in the opener, and then the Eagles edged the Racers in a bit tighter battle in game two, 5-3. Not to be left out, graduate student Jason Goe struck out a season-high 11 Racer batters to keep Murray State at bay in the opener as well.
Morehead State stayed in first place in the OVC at 12-5 and moved to 22-15 overall. Murray State, sitting a close second behind the Eagles at 11-7 entering the day, slipped to 21-19 overall and 11-9 in OVC contests. The Eagles have now claimed six straight wins over Murray State since 2019.
Gardner nearly completed the home run cycle in the opener, launching a grand slam first, a two-run bomb in the fifth and a three-run clout two innings later. He was in the on-deck circle in the bottom of the eighth but didn't get another chance to tie the home run record of four set by Jamey Bennett in 1979. Gardner's single-game outburst came within one of Sam Hoehner's record of 10 RBI set in 1998 versus Eastern Kentucky.
Senior third baseman Stephen Hill staked the home team to an early 2-0 lead with a two-run homer, his third long ball of 2021, in the first inning. Murray State tied the game 2-2 with a solo homer in the second and RBI double in the third. The Racers could have had mre damage, but the Eagles threw out two runners at the plate trying to score in the first two innings.
Gardner's power show started in the third with a grand slam, Morehead State's third bases-clearing blast this season. It was part of a six-run inning as freshman left-fielder Jacob Ferry and senior second baseman Bryce Hensor added RBI singles. Morehead State tacked on eight more runs in the fourth through seventh innings. Freshman shortstop Colton Becker belted his fourth homer of the year for three runs in the fourth.
Gardner was at it again in the fifth with a two-run bomb and then nailed the three-run round-tripper in the seventh. Freshman center-fielder Ryley Preece smacked a run-scoring single in the eighth to account for the 17-3 margin.
In game two Gardner drove in his 10th RBI in as many innings played with a check-swing ground out in the first to score Preece from third. Murray State's Bryson Bloomer tied the game in the second on a solo homer.
Hill put the Eagles back on top 2-1 in the fifth when his grounder was deemed a fielder's choice as Prrece was caught in the run down between second and third, but Hensor scored on the play. A Jake Slunder homer for the Racers knotted the game at 2-2 in the sixth, but Becker made it 3-2 in the bottom of the frame. A long ball to deep left was run down and caught on a diveing play, but freshman first baseman Jackson Feltner scored on the sac fly.
Gardner plated his final RBi of the day in the seventh on a double. The Racers crept back to within 4-3 on a solo smash by Brock Anderson in the eighth, but Ferry added insurance with his fifth home run in the bottom of the stanza.
Junior closer John Bakke worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his OVC-best seventh save.
Gardner had the first nine-RBI game for Morehead State since Major Leaguer Taylor Davis' nine-RBI game versus EKU in 2010. Gardner's three homer day was also the first of that stat variety since Niko Hulsizer versus Alabama A&M in 2017.
Conway moved to 8-2 with another relief-appearance win the second game. He is tied for second in the nation in Division I in wins and leads the nation in relief wins.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 12, BELMONT 0
NASHVILLE - Dylan Dodd allowed just two hits and struck out eight in seven innings to lead Southeast Missouri (20-15, 12-7) to its 20th win of the season, a dominating 12-0 series-opening victory over Belmont (19-20, 11-11) Friday.
Dodd again put together a spectacular performance on the mound, this time retiring 20 of the 22 hitters he faced. He no-hit BU for five innings and retired the Bruins in order during the second, third, fifth and sixth frames.
Fischer Rausch also had a hand in the shutout adding two scoreless innings.
SEMO registered its first shutout of the season and blanked an Ohio Valley Conference opponent on the road for the first time in six years. Interestingly enough, BU was also on the losing end of that contest by an identical score of 12-0 on May 14, 2015.
The Redhawks took a 4-0 lead in the top of the third inning with the help of three-straight one-out hits. Connor Basler drove in Austin Blazevic on a single to right, went to second on a base hit by Jevon Mason and scored on an ensuing single by Tyler Wilber. Danny Wright then reached on an error and Mason scored. The Redhawks later scored another unearned run when Wilber touched home on a second Bruin mishap.
After Mason and Wilber each singled to start the fifth inning, Wright reached on a fielder's choice and Mason scored to extend SEMO's lead to 5-0.
The Redhawks continued to rattle BU's pitchers in the top of the sixth. In fact, Bruin pitchers allowed four walks and hit three batters in their rough sixth inning that resulted in seven more runs for the Redhawks.
Wade Stauss drew a leadoff walk, went to third on a double by Lincoln Andrews and scored when Blazevic grounded out to second. Peyton Leeper followed with a single to bring home Andrews. With the bases loaded, Wilber and Stauss were both hit by a pitch, while Wright and Keck both walked in a run. Wright scored the final run of the game on a groundout by Andrews.
Wilber remained red-hot at the plate going 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBI. He extended his hitting streak to 13 games and now has seven hits in two games this week.
Mason went 3-for-4 with three runs and Andrew Keck stretched his hitting streak to 12 games.
SEMO outhit BU, 13-3, and scored 28 runs in its last two games.
Dodd improved to 5-1 this season and finished with eight or more strikeouts for the ninth time in 10 starts.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 10, TENNESSEE TECH 5
RICHMOND, Ky. - Eastern Kentucky University’s baseball team scored seven runs in the first two innings on its way to a 10-5 victory over Tennessee Tech University in the series-opener on Friday at Earle Combs Stadium.
Outfielder Caleb Upshaw went 3-for-5 with four RBIs. Cam Ridley was 2-for-5 with a run and two driven in. Logan Thomason finished 2-for-4 with a run scored.
Daniel Harris IV got the scoring started with a RBI double to right center in the first. He advanced to third on an error. Upshaw followed with a ground ball that scored Harris and staked the home squad to a 2-0 lead after one.
A five-run second inning for the Colonels started with a triple by Santiago Peralta. With one out, Brent Lovell drove in Peralta with a single to left center. With runners at second and third later in the inning, Ridley drove home both with a single up the middle. Two more runs scored on an error and a single by Upshaw, giving EKU a 7-0 advantage.
The Golden Eagles closed the gap to four twice, on Cody Littlejohn’s solo home run in the fourth to make it 7-3, and on Golston Gillespie’s two-run home run in the sixth that made it a 9-5 game.
Darren Williams started and picked up the win for Eastern Kentucky (14-26, 8-14 OVC). He allowed five runs on eight hits while striking out six in six innings. Louis Davenport III and Jacob Abbott combined to pitch three innings in relief.
Gillespie had a 3-for-4 game with two RBIs and a run for Tennessee Tech (14-20, 7-12 OVC).
JACKSONVILLE STATE 6, UT MARTIN 1
MARTIN, Tenn. - Junior Alex Carignan delivered four hits to lead Jacksonville State to a series-opening win over UT Martin, 6-1, on Friday evening at Skyhawk Field.
Carignan finished with two doubles, scored a pair of runs to highlight JSU's 20th win of the season and 10th in Ohio Valley Conference action. UTM dropped to 15-21 overall and 7-9 in OVC play. The two clubs will close out the weekend series with a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday.
The Gamecocks jumped on the scoreboard quickly with junior Zeth Malcom's first career home run in the first inning of the contest. Malcom's home run set the tone for both the JSU pitching staff and offensive lineup.
Jax State switched up the weekend pitching rotation with Isaiah Magwood starting the opening game of the weekend. He was able to pitch with a lead after Malcom's solo home run. Magwood was solid in the outing and pitched out of trouble in all five innings. The Skyhawks stranded nine on the base paths, including eight while Magwood was on the mound.
Magwood scattered six hits and collected five strikeouts in his return to the weekend rotation. He notched his first win of the season
The Gamecocks manufactured their second run in the fifth inning on Carignan's first of two doubles. He was pushed to third by an Isaac Alexander fly ball and scored on a sacrifice fly from Tanner Anderson. The RBI was Anderson's first of the season and he also added his first hit of the season in JSU's three-run seventh inning.
Carignan sparked the three runs in the seventh to break open the game with a leadoff double. Junior Cole Frederick picked up an RBI on one of UTM's six errors in the game. The big hit came from senior Alex Webb with a two-out, two-run double.
The five-run lead was enough for the JSU bullpen as junior Jackson Tavel and senior Kyle Luigs finished the final four innings with a pair of hits and the lone Skyhawk run in the seventh. Luigs collected his first save in a Gamecock uniform with three innings of work.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 4, SIUE 3 (10)
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Eastern Illinois (20-19, 10-12 OVC) clinched the series opener 4-3 in ten innings against SIUE (19-18, 9-10 OVC). The Panthers grabbed their 20th win of the season in odd fashion, as a wild pitch strikeout scored Logan Eickhoff to give the Panthers' the game-winning run.
The Panthers gathered an early 1-0 lead after a Lawson single to score Knernschield in the third inning. Lynch Jr. followed with a solo-deep-fly to add insurance in the fourth.
A two-out rally came in the fifth started from a Lawson single that was followed by a Gunner Smith double to add to the lead, 3-0.
Cameron Doherty was holding the Cougars to a shutout until the sixth inning. The Cougars sparked a two-out rally of their own, singling four times and drawing two walks to add three runs. Stevenson entered in relief and ended the inning with a pop-up with his first pitch. The Cougars tied the Panthers, 3-3.
The two teams headed to extras after the previous three innings went scoreless.
The Panthers broke the scoreless tie in the top of the tenth inning, started by a Christian Pena single. Eickhoff entered to pinch run for the Panthers and stole second. Smith entered the batter's box and struck out but reached first on a wild pitch which also scored Eickhoff to give EIU the lead.
ARKANSAS STATE 12, AUSTIN PEAY 7
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Austin Peay State University’s baseball team could not overcome an early deficit and dropped the opening game of its three-game nonconference series against Arkansas State, 12-7, Friday night on Joe Maynard Field at Raymond C. Hand Park.
Austin Peay starting pitcher Luke Brown (3-1) began the game with two walks and, after a visit to the mound by head coach Travis Janssen, a single to load the bases. He would surrender a run on a well-turned double play by the Govs defense and escaped the inning with just a run allowed.
However, Brown would not return for the second inning for precautionary reasons, leaving the Govs bullpen to piece together the rest of the game. Ultimately, five relievers would see action as Arkansas State took advantage of the sudden change in pitching plans.
Arkansas State (12-22) would not miss an opportunity to score more than a run in the second inning. The Red Wolves got a run-scoring double from first baseman Jared Toler and a RBI single from catcher Liam Hicks to push the lead to 3-0. An error extended the inning and allowed a run to score and right fielder Tyler Duncan drove in a fourth run, extending the lead to 5-0.
Austin Peay (15-25) would score in the third when second baseman Knaje Guthrie doubled and later scored on a wild pitch. But Arkansas State struck for four runs again in the fourth with Toler driving in three runs with a double, the lead hitting eight runs, 9-1, after four innings.
The Governors would chip away at the deficit with a run in the fifth and four runs in the sixth, closing to within three runs, 9-6. Left fielder Jeremy Wagner had a run-scoring triple and right fielder Harrison Brown followed with a RBI double as part of the sixth-inning outburst.
Arkansas State secured its lead with a three-run eighth inning. Pinch hitter Will Huber hit a two-run home run down the right field line and center fielder Drew Tipton followed immediately with a solo home run to give ASU a 12-6 lead it would not relinquish.
Red Wolves starter Brandon Hudson (3-1) went five innings, holding the Govs to two runs on four hits to notch the victory. Toler went 2-for-4 with four RBI to pace the ASU offense.
Wagner and Guthrie each had two hits and a RBI to lead the Govs offense. Shortstop John Bolton was 0-for-1 with three walks and two runs scored.