TUESDAY'S SCORES
Morehead State 10, @Dayton 7
@Belmont 5-9, Lipscomb 4-10
@Murray State 12, Bellarmine 8
@#4 Tennessee 10,
Eastern Kentucky 1
@Southern Illinois 15,
Austin Peay 0
@SIUE 16, Saint Louis 10
@#1 Vanderbilt 5,
UT Martin 4
MOREHEAD STATE 10, DAYTON 7
DAYTON, Ohio - A six-run fourth-inning propelled the Morehead State baseball team to a 10-7 victory at Dayton Tuesday afternoon.
Morehead State batted around in the frame, accomplishing that feat for the second straight game, as the Eagles improved to 13-11 overall while dropping the Flyers to 10-19.
Leading 9-4 late, the Eagles saw Dayton pull to within 9-7 on a three-run homer, but a couple of ninth-inning doubles provided the insurance needed for the road triumph.
Freshman left-fielder Jacob Ferry staked his team to a 2-0 lead with his second home run of his young career in the second inning. Dayton scratched across a run in the bottom of the second on a bases-loaded fielder's choice ground out.
The Eagles busted the contest open with the six-spot in the fourth. Freshman first baseman Jackson Feltner recorded an RBI double to start the rally. Senior right-fielder Ryan Layne followed suit with an RBI single to score Feltner.
Following back-to-back walks to Ferry and pinch hitter Peyton Dillingham, senior second bagger Bryce Hensor cleared the sacks with a three-run triple. Freshman Ryley Preece drew another walk and Hensor raced home as the pitch got away to make it 8-2. A two-run home by Dayton with two outs in the bottom of the fourth cut the Eagle lead in half, 8-4. Hensor scored another run in the seventh when senior catcher Jack Gardner singled through the left side.
The home team crept to within two in the eighth on a two-out, three-run long ball. Senior keystoner Stephen Hill provided some insurance with an RBI double in the top of the ninth.
Feltner moved his team-best reached-base streak to 14 games, which ranks third best currently in the Ohio Valley Conference.
BELMONT 5-9, LIPSCOMB 4-10
NASHVILLE - The Belmont University baseball team split the Battle of the Boulevard doubleheader with Lipscomb on Tuesday at Rose Park, winning game one 5-4 and losing game two 10-9.
Junior Grayson Taylor tied a career-high three hits in his first game of the 2021 season in game two, with freshman Mason Landers belting two home runs in the second game in the process. Landers is the first Belmont Baseball player since Chandler Adkins to hit two home runs in a game, with Adkins accomplishing that feat on March 8, 2020 at Morehead State.
Junior Kyle Brennan struck out a season-high six strikeouts in game one on the mound, earning his second win of the season in the process.
Lipscomb led the top of the first inning in game one with a lead-off bunt single, snagging a 2-0 lead off a home run in the next at-bat. Following two singles in the top of the fourth inning, the Bisons hit a bunt single that scored another run and pushed them in front by three runs.
A wild pitch and throwing error in the bottom of the fourth inning allowed Belmont to get its first run of the game, with a double from junior Logan Jarvis and a single from freshman Drew Lowry allowing the Bruins to tie the game 3-3. Lipscomb retook the lead in the top of the sixth inning with a solo home run, but the Bruins responded in the following half-inning.
Lowry collected his second RBI of the day in the bottom of the sixth inning to bring home the tying run, with a sacrifice fly from freshman Guy Lipscomb allowing the Bruins to take a 5-4 lead. Despite a single by the Bisons, Brennan forced two strikeouts and a line out in the top of the seventh inning to give Belmont the game one victory.
Lipscomb started game two by scoring five unanswered runs through the first two innings, but the Bruins cut the deficit in the bottom of the second inning. Getting two runners on base, Landers hit his second home run of the season to drive in three runs and cut the Lipscomb lead 5-3.
The Bisons scored three more runs in the top of the third inning, with an RBI from freshman Brodey Heaton cutting the Lipscomb lead 8-4 after three innings. Following a sacrifice fly from Lipscomb in the top of the fourth inning that scored another run, Landers responded with his second home run of the day to add a Belmont run.
A balk scored Taylor from third base in the bottom of the sixth inning, with a single from freshman Jack Rando scoring two more Belmont runs and cutting the deficit to one. Lipscomb added an insurance run in the top of the seventh inning, hitting a solo home run to give the Bisons a 10-8 lead.
Taylor collected an RBI single to right field that scored another Belmont run in the bottom of the seventh inning, putting runners at the corners with no outs. Lipscomb, however, forced three straight putouts to take game two and split the doubleheader with Belmont.
MURRAY STATE 12, BELLARMINE 8
MURRAY, Ky. - The Murray State Racers (15-12) overcame their biggest deficit of the season, seven runs to defeat the Bellarmine Knights (9-17), in the very first meeting between the two programs, 12-8, as the Knights made the jump to Division I in 2020.
The Racers smashed three home runs in the game, all two-run shots. Jake Slunder slipped his homer just over the left field line wall while Brock Anderson and Tanner Booth hit no-doubters to center and left, respectively.
Alex Crump had a career-high three hits, going 3-for-4 from the DH spot with two RBIs and two runs scored.
Bryson Bloomer matched Crump's three hits and also scored one run and drove in another.
Bellarmine used two big innings to post seven runs and jump out to a 7-0 lead in the fourth.
The Racers got on the board in the bottom half of the inning as Anderson was hit-by-pitch to lead-off followed by back-to-back singles from Bloomer and Crump to plate Anderson.
The Knights added another run in the sixth but they couldn't contain the Racers offense any longer as MSU scored ten runs in next two innings.
Five consecutive Racers reached base to start the sixth, two hit-by-pitches and three singles scored four runs. Slunder capped off the inning with a two-run homer, his second of the year.
Murray State wasted no time in the seventh picking up where they left off as Anderson's ninth long ball of the season put the Racers ahead 9-8 for the first time in the night. Booth crushed a two-run shot to make it an 11-8 game.
In the eighth, the Racers manufactured a run without a hit. Slunder walked and quickly advanced around the bases, on a stolen base, a wild pitch and scored on a Jordan Cozart sac fly to center.
The Murray State pitching staff featured nine different arms. Quinton Kujawa made his first start of his Racer career, going 1.0 innings, giving up no hits and struck out two.
Malik Pogue made his Racer debut and struck out the side in the third.
Jordyn Naranjo took the victory for his second of the season.
The final three MSU pitchers of Jake Jones, Alec Whaley and Connor Holden combined for three scoreless innings, allowing one hit.
#4 TENNESSEE 10, EASTERN KENTUCKY 1
RICHMOND, Ky. - Eastern Kentucky University’s baseball team closed to within three in the top of the fourth before No. 4 University of Tennessee scored four runs combined in the fourth and fifth innings on its way to a 10-1 victory on Tuesday at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
Trey Lipscomb’s two-run double fueled a 4-run bottom of the first inning for the Volunteers (25-5).
Daniel Harris IV started the top of the fourth inning with an infield single. He reached second on a steal and moved to third on a ground ball. When Kendal Ewell singled up the middle, Harris came home and made it a 4-1 game.
After scoring a run in the bottom of the fourth to push the lead back to four, Tennessee added three more in the fifth, two of which came on a 2-run double by Logan Steenstra, to make it 8-1.
John Farley pitched two scoreless innings for EKU (9-18). He allowed just one hit, did not walk a batter and struck out a career-best four. Center fielder Cam Ridley had two hits in four at bats. Harris finished 1-for-2 with two walks and a run scored.
Lipscomb had a 2-for-4 day with a walk, two runs and two RBIs. Steenstra was 2-for-4 with a run and three driven in. Tennessee used nine different pitchers for each inning, eight of which did not allow a run.
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 15, AUSTIN PEAY 0
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Austin Peay State University's baseball team could not solve a pack of Southern Illinois pitchers and ended its road trip by falling 15-0, Tuesday night at Itchy Jones Stadium.
Southern Illinois (21-6) entered the game looking to snap out of a stretch that saw it drop five of its last six. The Salukis bats wasted little time opening up a lead with nine runs in the first two innings. SIU scored five runs in the first all with two outs, with first baseman Phillip Archer and designated hitter Vinni Massaglia supplying two runs each with a double and home run, respectively. Archer would belt another two-run double in the second, giving SIU a 9-0 lead.
That was enough for the Salukis pitching staff as seven pitchers combined on the shutout, limiting the Govs to seven hits. Starter Noah Farmer (3-1) held the Govs to three hits over his three innings to earn the win on the staff day.
Austin Peay (9-17) got two-hit performances from designated hitter Ty DeLancey and right fielder Skyler Luna. Starter Greg Norman (1-2) suffered the loss after allowing five runs in the first.
SIUE 16, SAINT LOUIS 10
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - SIUE baseball took control Tuesday with an eight-run fifth inning on its way to a season-high 16 runs in a 16-10 win over Saint Louis at Simmons Baseball Complex.
The Cougars have won all three meetings between the two teams this year. SIUE improved to 13-12, while the Billikens fell to 8-19.
Saint Louis led 1-0 and 3-1 before the Cougars got on the board with a three-run home run from Brady Bunten in the third inning.
The Cougars trailed 5-4 heading into the fifth inning when they scored eight runs on seven hits. Bunten hit his second three-run home run of the game, Josh Ohl hit his first career home run, a two-run shot, and Brett Johnson added a two-run double in the inning.
Bunten finished with six RBIs. Johnson added another two-run double in the sixth to finish with four RBIs. Dylan Burris had two RBIs and Steven Pattan had two hits, an RBI and three runs.
Brian Chandler made his first start of the year for the Cougars and worked into the fourth. Quin Waterhouse (1-2) allowed a run over 2 2/3 innings. He struck out four for his first win of the year.
Kyle Fitzgerald had three hits and two RBIs to lead Saint Louis. Reid Hendrickson (0-3) gave up five runs on two innings to take the loss on the mound.
#1 VANDERBILT 5, UT MARTIN 4
NASHVILLE - The University of Tennessee at Martin baseball team held three different leads this evening at No. 1 Vanderbilt but its second bid at a win over a ranked opponent this season came up just short as the Commodores snuck away with a 5-4 win at Hawkins Field.
The Skyhawks, who defeated No. 22 ranked Alabama by a 9-4 margin on Feb. 24, led after the first inning, following the top of the third and after the top of the sixth tonight. UT Martin evened Vanderbilt in the hit column (seven apiece) but the Commodores took advantage of two early unearned runs and made two runs in the bottom of the sixth stand up.
Blake Daniels reached base safely three times (two doubles and a walk) out of the No. 2 hole in the Skyhawk batting order, scoring two of UT Martin’s four runs. Casey Harford swatted the only home run of the game – a two-run shot in the top of the third. Wil LaFollette also had two hits and an RBI while Blake Davis (RBI) and Christian Hall (run scored) contributed to the Skyhawks’ offensive attack.
Six different pitchers saw time on the mound this evening in a staff day for UT Martin. Nick Wohlbold drew the starting assignment and allowed a pair of unearned runs over two innings. He was followed by Tucker Reed (one run in two innings), Winston Cannon (one scoreless frame), Seth Petry (1-1, two runs in one inning), Eric Steensma (one shutout inning) and David Hussey (one scoreless frame).
The Skyhawks (10-14) wasted no time getting ahead, tallying one run in the top of the first. Daniels roped a double to center and came around to score when LaFollette jumped on the first pitch he saw for an RBI double, giving UT Martin the upper hand at 1-0.
Wohlbold cruised through the bottom of the first, retiring the side in order after a pair of groundouts were sandwiched around a strikeout. Two errors plagued the Skyhawks in the bottom of the second, allowing two runs to score before Wohlbold stranded a Commodore runner on third to end his outing.
UT Martin mounted up a two-out rally in the top of the third to reclaim the lead. Daniels snuck a double inside the left field line and Harford followed up with a homer – pulverizing a hanging breaking ball over the 35-foot wall in leftfield to tilt the score back in favor of the Skyhawks at 3-2. It was the third longball of the season for the junior shortstop out of Cordova, Tenn.
The Commodores (24-3) tied the game at 3-all in the bottom of the third before Reed induced an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play. Reed also benefitted from another groundball double play in the fourth to keep the score at 3-3.
Cannon entered the game in the fifth and was very sharp, sitting Vanderbilt down in order. He recorded a flyout and groundout on five total pitches before striking out his final batter.
Momentum was on UT Martin’s side going into the top of the sixth. Hall led things off with a leadoff single and he moved up to second base following an Ethan Whitley single. After Noah Thigpen drew a walk to load the bases, Davis lifted a sacrifice fly to center that plated Hall for the go-ahead run.
However, the Commodores would tally two runs on just one hit in the bottom of the sixth, scoring on an RBI hit by pitch and an RBI walk.
Steensma tossed a clean seventh and Hussey was electric during an eight-pitch appearance in the eighth as the righty duo did their part to give the Skyhawks a chance late.
However, Vanderbilt closer Luke Murphy notched his sixth save of the season after a perfect top of the ninth.