SATURDAY'S SCORES
Murray State 13, @Morehead State 3
@Belmont 4-0, Southeast Missouri 1-5
@Eastern Kentucky 9-3, Tennessee Tech 3-16
Jacksonville State 12-14, @UT Martin 8-4
Eastern Illinois 15-5, @SIUE 10-7
Arkansas State 11,
@Austin Peay 5
MURRAY STATE 13, MOREHEAD STATE 3
MOREHEAD, Ky. - The Murray State Racers (22-19, 12-9 OVC) opened the month of May by defeating the Morehead State Eagles (22-16, 12-6 OVC) in a run-ruled, seven-inning, 13-3 win.
Murray State's bats came to life in a big way and the offense exploded for 13 runs to top Morehead State. Three Racers notched multi-RBI games and the same three went deep as part of big day for the bats.
Sam Gardner was once again stellar on the mound, going all seven innings, only allowing six hits while striking out five.
Jake Slunder had a career day setting new highs in home runs and runs batted in and tied a career-high in runs scored. He finished today a grand slam short of the home run cycle for a total a six RBIs and four runs scored.
Brennan McCullough also had a great day at the plate, going with 3-for-4, hitting his first career home runs and driving in a career-high three runs while also scoring three.
Bryson Bloomer extended his hitting streak to eight games with a double and a home run, plating three runs.
Slunder, McCullough and Bloomer combined for 12 of the Racers 13 runs in the game.
The scoring started early with Slunder reaching on an error by the shortstop and coming around to score on an RBI single from Brock Anderson.
Murray State quickly added to its lead as Slunder hit his first of three homers, a three-run shot in the second inning.
A solo home run off the bat of Morehead State's Jacob Ferry cut the lead to 4-1.
The Racers doubled it score with two two-run home runs in the fifth for its biggest inning of the game. Bloomer hit his second home run in as many games and McCullough hit his first as a Racer.
Morehead State again tried to claw their way back into the game scoring two runs on two hits in the bottom half of the inning.
But, Murray State tacked on two more in the sixth courtesy of a Slunder solo home run and an RBI double from Bloomer.
McCullough lead off the seventh with a solo shot to right field on an 0-2 pitch. Slunder carried his third of the game over the wall in right center, a two-run home run to best his previous career-high of five RBIs. These three runs forced the mercy rule into effect as the game was cut short after seven innings.
BELMONT 4-0, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 1-5
NASHVILLE - Tyler Wilber extended his hitting streak to 15 games and Southeast Missouri (21-16, 13-8) split a doubleheader with Belmont (20-21, 12-12) Saturday. The Redhawks dropped game one, 4-1, but took the nightcap, 5-0.
SEMO shutout BU twice to claim its eighth series win of the season and sixth in Ohio Valley Conference play. The eight series victories are the Redhawks most in a season under fifth-year head coach Andy Sawyers.
The Redhawks scored twice in the third inning and added three more runs in the fourth to finish off the Bruins in game two.
Wilber singled home Connor Basler following back-to-back one-out walks and Danny Wright scored Jevon Mason when he hit into a fielder's choice putting SEMO ahead, 2-0, in the top of the third.
Peyton Leeper and Danny Sperling each doubled home a run before Basler knocked in Sperling on a single to left field extending the Redhawks lead to 5-0 in the fourth.
Austin Williams (1-3) picked up his first career win. Williams struck out three, walked one and gave up four hits in 3.2 innings.
Williams, starter Collin Wilma and reliever Kyle Miller combined on the six-hit shutout.
SEMO outhit BU, 11-6. Wilber, Wade Stauss and Sperling led the way with two hits apiece.
The Bruins used a three-run first inning to propel their game one win. A hit batsman, three-straight hits and a sacrifice fly led to the runs in the decisive frame.
Andy Bean (5-1) worked seven innings, struck out four, walked two and allowed just one run on three hits. Kyle Brennan struck out three in the final two innings to get his third save.
Noah Niznik (2-5) took the loss.
Leeper had two of SEMO's three hits against Bean.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 9-3, TENNESSEE TECH 3-16
RICHMOND, Ky. - Eastern Kentucky University’s baseball team clinched an Ohio Valley Conference series victory with a 9-3 win over Tennessee Tech University in the first game of a doubleheader at Earle Combs Stadium on Saturday.
The Golden Eagles won the second game 16-3 in seven innings.
The Colonels grabbed the lead with four runs in the bottom of the third inning of game one. With the bases loaded and one out, Caleb Upshaw singled to left field and two runners came home. A Tech error allowed two more runs to score on a ground ball later in the inning.
Tennessee Tech got within two in the fourth, but never any closer. Cody Littlejohn began the inning with a solo home run. A sacrifice fly by Jason Hinchman made it 4-2.
Max Williams padded the EKU lead with a two-run double in the bottom of the fifth. Two home runs fueled a three-run eighth inning for the home team that stretched the lead to 9-3. Will King hit his first career home run and Kendal Ewell hit a two-run shot.
Upshaw was 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs. Cam Ridley scored twice as well.
Littlejohn was 2-for-4 with two runs and a RBI for the Golden Eagles.
Tennessee Tech scored three runs in the first inning of game two and never trailed. Brett Roberts got the inning going with a RBI single through the left side. Golston Gillespie had a RBI triple. Gavin Johns capped it with a sacrifice fly.
Eastern (15-27, 9-15 OVC) closed to within one, 4-3, in the bottom of the third when Upshaw drove in a run with a double and Charlie Ludwick followed with a RBI single. EKU never got any closer as Tech scored six runs over the next two innings to go on top 10-3.
Upshaw was 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI in game two. Ridley went 2-for-3 with two runs and an RBI.
Theo Bryant IV finished 3-for-3 with three runs and two RBIs for Tennessee Tech (15-21, 8-13 OVC). Gillespie was 3-for-4 with two runs and one RBI.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 12-14, UT MARTIN 8-4
MARTIN, Tenn. - Jacksonville State combined for 26 runs in Saturday's doubleheader to complete the weekend sweep of UT Martin on Skyhawk Field.
The Gamecocks (22-21, 12-9 OVC) claimed the series with a 12-8 win in the opening game of the twinbill and secured the sweep with a 14-4 eight-inning victory in the nightcap. JSU claimed the opener of the series, 6-1, on Friday. The three-game sweep is the second of the season for Jax State and the first away from Rudy Abbott Field at Jim Case Stadium. JSU swept the Skyhawks (15-23, 7-11 OVC) for the first time since the 2016 season.
Jax State finished with 31 hits against the second-best pitching staff in the Ohio Valley Conference in terms of earned run average during the three-game set, including 23 combined hits in the doubleheader. The Gamecocks collected 12 extra base hits with six home runs and six doubles. The JSU pitching staff, the top staff in the league in ERA, had a weekend ERA of 4.16.
In the opener, JSU jumped out to a 6-0 lead after putting together a five-run second inning that was highlighted by a bases-clearing double by senior Alex Webb. Senior Jaylyn Williams switched spots with Webb with an RBI double. Junior Alex Carignan added an RBI in the frame.
After UTM touched junior Christian Edwards for two runs in the home half of the second, JSU kept expanding the lead with a leadoff home run by sophomore Carson Crowe to start the third and broke the game open with three runs in the fifth and two more in the sixth. The trio of runs in the fifth came on a three-run home run by junior Isaac Alexander. Webb added a solo home run in the sixth and an RBI single by junior Alex Strachan.
UTM took advantage of te Jax State bullpen with two runs in the fifth and a three-run eighth. Edwards picked up his fifth win of the year.
In the finale, JSU erased a 1-0 UTM lead with 10 runs over three innings. JSU took the lead with two runs in the fourth and exploded for seven runs in the fifth inning. The seven runs in the frame are the most runs scored in an inning this season. The big hit in the inning came from Tanner Anderson, who collected his first career home run with a three-run blast over the wall in left centerfield. Anderson was one of five Gamecocks with multiple hits. He had the game-tying RBI in the third inning with a single.
Junior Cole Frederick and Williams joined the home run barrage with Frederick opening the eighth inning with a home run and Williams adding a three-run dinger to complete JSU's scoring.
While the Gamecock offense was producing run support, junior Colin Casey turned in six solid innings on the mound and established a new career high in strikeouts with eight in the outing. His previous high was seven against Tennessee Tech earlier in the season as part of the combined no-hitter turned in by JSU.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 15-5, SIUE 10-7
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - SIUE won its 20th game Saturday, taking the finale of a three-game series with Eastern Illinois. The two teams split a doubleheader Saturday with EIU winning the opener 15-10 before SIUE won the late game 7-5.
The Cougars improved to 20-19 overall and 10-11 in Ohio Valley Conference play. Eastern Illinois is 21-20 overall and 11-13 in OVC play.
The Cougars pounced on EIU starter Foster Anshutz for three runs in the first inning. Brett Johnson homered to lead off the inning before a single from Connor Kiffer. Raul Elguezabal hit a ground ball to third which may have been an double play, but they never made the return throw from second. Brady Bunten followed and homered to left to put SIUE up 3-0. The Panthers tied the game with three runs on two hits, a walk and a hit batter in the fourth inning.
Elguezabal hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning to put SIUE up for good at 5-3. Kiffer extended the lead with a sacrifice fly in the seventh and Avery Owusu-Asiedu added a solo home run in the eighth to make it 7-3.
EIU picked up a pair of runs in the ninth for the final tally.
Kiffer finished 2-3 with the RBI and a run.
Brant Glidewell worked six innings to earn his team-leading fifth win of the year. He struck out five and improved to 5-1.
With the wind blowing out Saturday afternoon, the opener became a slugfest. The two teams combined for 25 runs on 27 hits and hit seven home runs between them. EIU and SIUE traded leads before the Panthers used a five-run 9th inning to pull away.
Richie Well finished 4-5 with two home runs, three RBIs and four runs scored. Kiffer was 2-3 in game one with an RBI and run.
Brady Bunten finished the day with a home run in each game and five RBIs.
The season marks the first time SIUE has reached 20 wins in a season since 2017 when they won 23 games.
ARKANSAS STATE 11, AUSTIN PEAY 5
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - A big fifth inning by visiting Arkansas State proved too much for Austin Peay State University’s baseball team to overcome in an 11-5 nonconference loss, Saturday afternoon on Joe Maynard Field at Raymond C. Hand Park.
Arkansas State (13-22) again jumped out to an early lead but Austin Peay starter Sebastian Martinez limited the damage to single runs in the first in third innings.
In the first, the Red Wolves scored on right fielder Tyler Dunan’s single which left them with two runners on base with one out. However, the Govs defense ended the threat thanks to a slick double play started by second baseman Malcolm Tipler.
Two innings later, ASU opened the inning with a single and a double but used a sacrifice fly by left fielder Jaylon Deshazier to drive in a run. Two batters later, Martinez escaped the inning with a pop out and the Govs trailed 2-0.
However, Austin Peay (15-26) could not solve Arkansas State starter Will Nash. The right-hander opened the game with four no-hit innings while striking out three. He wouldn’t allow a base hit until shortstop John Bolton’s leadoff single in the fifth, but by then the Red Wolves had broken the game open.
Arkansas State opened the top of the fifth with four consecutive batters reaching safely, Deshazier driving in two runs with a single that ended Martinez’s day. ASU designated hitter greeted APSU reliever Tucker Weaver with a double to left center field, to drive in a third run. A wild pitch and a sacrifice fly would tack on two more runs and ASU had a five-run frame and a 7-0 lead.
First baseman Bobby Head ended the Red Wolves’ shutout bid in the sixth, hitting a 371-foot solo home run to left field with one out in the sixth. But Nash would strikeout the next two batters to end the inning.
Austin Peay would piece together a bigger threat in the seventh. Bolton and catcher Tyler Cotto each singled with one out and second baseman Malcolm Tipler was hit by a pitch to load the bases with two out. Center fielder Garrett Spain earned a bases loaded walk to push across a run. Head then would hit a ball that was misplayed by the ASU second baseman, leading to two more runs. But ASU reliever Tyler Jeans recovered with a key strikeout to end the inning with Arkansas State holding an 8-4 lead.
The Governors would tack on another run in the eighth courtesy third baseman Gino Avros’ bases-loaded fielder’s choice, but could not get any closer than 8-5. The Red Wolves tacked on three runs in the ninth, third baseman Ben Klutts providing a two-run single, to set the final score.
Nash (2-4) held Austin Peay to one run on two hits and two walks while striking out six to earn the victory. Deshazier paced the ASU offense with a 3-for-5, four RBI outing.
Martinez (2-5) suffered the loss after allowing six runs on eight hits, recording six strikeouts in four-plus innings. Bolton had APSU’s lone multi-hit outing, going 2-for-4.