FRIDAY'S SCORES
@Austin Peay 8, Jacksonville State 7
@UT Martin 9, Tennessee Tech 8
@Eastern Kentucky 8, Belmont 1
Murray State 17-2, @SIUE 6-6
@Lipscomb 3,
Southeast Missouri 0
AUSTIN PEAY 8, JACKSONVILLE STATE 7
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - First baseman Bobby Head had four hits, including a late two-run home run to help Austin Peay State University’s baseball team win the opening game of its Ohio Valley Conference series against Jacksonville State, 8-7, Friday night on Joe Maynard Field at Raymond C. Hand Park.
The win was head coach Travis Janssen’s 150th victory at Austin Peay. He is only the third Governors head coach to record 150 wins with the program.
Jacksonville State (23-24, 13-12 OVC) struck in the opening inning with catcher Alex Webb’s two-run home run. However, that lead did not survive the bottom of the inning as Austin Peay used a pair of singles and three consecutive walks to tie the game. Shortstop John Bolton supplied a third single in the inning to give the Govs a 3-2 lead.
Austin Peay (19-29, 13-12 OVC) extended its lead with two runs in the third. Center fielder Garrett Spain singled to start the inning and Head followed with a double. A wild pitch scored Spain and designated hitter John McDonald supplied a sacrifice fly to drive in Head for the 5-2 advantage.
After going scoreless for five consecutive innings, the Gamecocks broke through in the seventh for three runs to regain the lead. The first three batters reached to load the bases and pinch hitter Alex Strachen drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. Designated hitter Zeth Malcolm drove in two with a single, tying the game 5-5.
The Governors opened the seventh with three consecutive singles and left fielder Jeremy Wagner drove in a run with a fourth single to give APSU the lead again. Head then supplied a two-run home run that went 401-feet to left center field to supply what proved to be much-needed insurance runs and a 8-5 lead.
Jacksonville State slashed the lead back to a run in the ninth with second baseman Cole Frederick’s two-run home run, but reliever Harley Gollert retired the next two batters to end the game.
Gollert (4-4) picked up the win after allowing four runs on four hits over the final three innings. Starting pitcher Luke Brown was left with no decision after limiting Jacksonville State to three runs on seven hits over the opening six innings.
Head finished the night 4-for-5 with two RBI and three runs scored. Wagner went 2-for-3 with two RBI behind him in the order.
JSU reliever Dylan Hathcock (3-5) was tagged for the loss after allowing a run on five hits in 2.2 innings. Starter Isaiah Magwood surrendered five runs on five hits and four walks in 3.2 innings.
Frederick and Webb each had two RBI to lead the JSU offense.
UT MARTIN 9, TENNESSEE TECH 8
MARTIN, Tenn. - On an emotional night at Skyhawk Field, Wil LaFollette made sure the University of Tennessee at Martin fans went home happy as he crushed a walk-off solo home run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning for a 9-8 triumph over Tennessee Tech.
LaFollette's shot snuck just inside the right field foul pole, sending the Skyhawk dugout into a frenzy as his teammates mobbed the freshman out of Chelsea, Ala. at the plate. It marked the 12th round-tripper of the season for LaFollette, pushing him into seventh on UT Martin's single-season list.
Blake Daniels went 3-for-4 with a walk and two runs scored out of the leadoff spot while Casey Harford also reached base safely four times (two hits, two walks, three RBI's, two runs scored). LaFollette's homer was his second hit and second RBI of the evening as the lefty slugger helped the Skyhawks improve to 16-26 (8-14 in Ohio Valley Conference play).
On the hill, Sam Folks delivered a quality start (6.1 innings, five hits, three earned runs, six strikeouts) but did not factor into the decision. David Hussey moved to 3-1 on the season after tossing two perfect frames while Eric Steensma also produced a shutout appearance with 0.2 clean innings.
Eight UT Martin seniors were honored during a pregame ceremony as Winston Cannon, Daniels, Billy Edwards, Folks, Andy Horne, Hussey, Matthew Shunk and Nick Wohlbold were recognized for their career contributions.
Folks made short work of the Golden Eagles (18-23, 11-14 OVC) in the top of the first, allowing the Skyhawks to take their first lead of the game in the bottom half. Daniels and Harford each singled before Christian Hall drew a nine-pitch walk to load the bases. Daniels came into score on a double play and Harford crossed the plate after LaFollette legged out an infield single to make the score 2-0.
Tennessee Tech scored once in the top of the second but Folks silenced the Golden Eagles over the next three frames, two of which were ended by Tennessee Tech being caught stealing. In the fourth, Folks sat a pair of batters down on strikeouts to keep UT Martin on top by a 2-1 margin.
A leadoff single by Noah Thigpen in the fifth inning led to another run. After he advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Edwards, Thigpen moved to third on a Daniels double and came in to score on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Hall.
The Golden Eagles scored three runs – one unearned – in the top of the sixth to take a brief 4-3 advantage but the Skyhawks put up a crooked number with five runs in the bottom half.
Davis shot a double into the gap in left center with one way and raced home on a Jack Culumovic RBI single up the middle. Edwards then came up with a go-ahead RBI single to left center to nudge UT Martin ahead 5-4. Daniels followed with a double before Harford jumped on the first pitch from Tennessee Tech reliever Brock Myers for a long homer to left center. The three-run jack resulted in a five-spot on the scoreboard and an 8-4 Skyhawk lead.
Folks came back out for the seventh and notched a strikeout for the first out of the inning. Steensma was summoned and needed only 11 pitches to get back-to-back outs.
The Golden Eagles tied the game with four runs (two earned) in the top of the eighth. Hussey got out of trouble by inducing a pair of sacrifice flies after entering with a pair of runners in scoring position and no outs.
Hussey worked through a perfect ninth to set up LaFollette's memorable drive that gave UT Martin its fifth consecutive victory in the all-time series against Tennessee Tech.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 8, BELMONT 1
RICHMOND, Ky. - Eastern Kentucky University’s baseball team got strong performance in all three phases of the game for an 8-1 series opening win over Belmont University on Friday at Earle Combs Stadium.
Offensively, the Colonels (18-29, 11-17 OVC) had nine hits and seven walks while platting eight runs. The Bruins were held to three hits and one walk, with starter Darren Williams allowing just one unearned run and two hits over eight innings. He struck out six and walked just one on 105 pitches. Defensively, the fielders accounted for 20 of the 27 outs and made just one error.
Down 1-0 in the bottom of the third, Eastern Kentucky scored three runs with two outs in the frame. With the bases loaded Belmont made an error on a ground ball to the shortstop that would have ended the inning. Caleb Upshaw and Daniel Harris IV scored on the play to give the Colonels the lead. Max Williams followed with an RBI single to right for a 3-1 edge.
Eastern put the game away in the bottom of the sixth. With the bases loaded and one out, Kendal Ewell brought home all three with a double to right center. Another Belmont error allowed Harris to score to cap the four-run inning and make it a 7-1 game.
Upshaw hit his 10th home run of the season in the eighth. He finished 3-for-5 with two runs and an RBI. Ewell was 1-for-4 with three RBIs. Will King had a 2-for-4 game with a run scored. Harris scored twice.
Guy Lipscomb went 1-for-3 with a run scored for Belmont (20-26, 12-13 OVC).
MURRAY STATE 17-2, SIUE 6-6
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - SIUE and Murray State split a Friday doubleheader setting up a rubber game in a key Ohio Valley Conference baseball series. Murray State knocked off the Cougars 17-6 in the opening game before SIUE bounced back with a 6-2 win in the late game.
SIUE moved to 23-22 overall and 13-13 in OVC play. Murray State is 28-21 overall and 16-10 in the OVC.
In the nightcap, the Cougars scored four first-inning runs against Murray State starter Sam Gardner (5-5) and never trailed.
Raul Elguezabal gave SIUE its first lead with an RBI-single to drive home Richie Well who walked. Brady Bunten crushed his team-leading 11th homer of the year to plate three and put the Cougars up 4-0.
The Cougars added single runs in the fourth and sixth innings both thanks to RBI-hits from Ethan Copeland who finished the second game 3-3. Avery Owusu-Asiedu scored both teams following doubles. He was 2-4.
SIUE starter Jake Bockenstedt allowed just two runs on five hits over a career-best 7 1/3 innings. He struck out 10.
Rob Parks worked the final 1 2/3 innings without allowing a base runner to earn his third save of the season.
Murray State touched up SIUE starter Noah Matheny (5-3) for seven runs over three innings in game one. He gave up a pair of home runs.
The Racers hit a total of four home runs and scored multiple runs in four innings, including a six-run eighth inning.
Jacob Pennington worked 6 1/3 innings in relief for the Racers to earn the win he struck out seven and allowed just a single run.
SIUE's 23 wins equals the most for the program under Sean Lyons, who also won 23 games in 2017.
LIPSCOMB 3, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 0
NASHVILLE - Right-hander Ike Buxton threw seven scoreless innings with six strikeouts and combined on a three-hit shutout to lead Lipscomb (18-26) to a 3-0 win over Southeast Missouri (24-18) Friday.
Lipscomb evened the series to one game apiece. Tanner Morgan, Tyler Drabick and Tyler Guilfoil also had a hand in the shutout as the Bisons became just the second team to hold SEMO scoreless this year.
Lipscomb scored once in the first, third and fourth innings.
Maddux Houghton doubled to left center and later scored the game's first run on a wild pitch to give the Bisons a quick lead in the bottom of the first.
Robbie Merced and Brian Moore delivered back-to-back singles to set up Lipscomb's next run in the third inning. After both runners advanced on a sacrifice bunt, Merced touched home on a sacrifice fly by Houghton.
Another leadoff single, this time by David Graves, started the bottom of the fourth inning. Graves took second when Ethan Stamps was hit by a pitch, moved to third on a balk and scored when Chaz Bertolani grounded out to short pushing Lipscomb's lead to 3-0.
SEMO had five runners in scoring position for the game including two in the top of the ninth.
Tyler Wilber walked and went to third on a pair of wild pitches. Danny Wright walked and stole second to give the Redhawks runners at second and third with no outs.
Guilfoil, however, settled down to record the next three outs to secure his fifth save of the season.
Buxton (4-4) did not allow a walk and gave up only two hits against the 23 hitters he faced.
Bryce Grossius (3-2) suffered the loss. Grossius gave up three runs on five hits, struck out three and walked none in four innings of work.
Offensively, Wilber, Lincoln Andrews and Connor Basler each singled for SEMO's quiet three hits.
Merced went 2-for-3 with a run scored and a double to lead Lipscomb, which finished with seven hits.