SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Eastern Illinois 8, Austin Peay 7
@Murray State 6, UT Martin 4
@Southeast Missouri 7, Eastern Kentucky 6
@Jacksonville State 10-2, SIUE 0-4
@Tennessee Tech 4-8, Morehead State 3-7
EASTERN ILLINOIS 8, AUSTIN PEAY 7
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois baseball (23-21, 13-14 OVC) clinched the series in the ninth inning of play against Austin Peay (17-29, 12-12 OVC). The Panthers allowed four runs in the top of the ninth, putting the Governors in the driver's seat heading into the final half-inning. The Panthers constructed an unheard-of rally of four hits along with a crucial error that allowed the Panthers another opportunity. Dalton Doyle stepped into the box and delivered one of the biggest hits of the season. A single to right field scored the game-winning run and clinched the Panthers fourth OVC series win of the season by an 8-7 margin.
Both the Panthers and Governors were off to a slow start in the series finale. It wasn't until the fifth inning that the Panthers broke the scoreless tie. DiLuca managed a walk on four straight pitches, and after advancing to second on a wild pitch to Sweeney, the Governors decided they weren't going to give the OVC's RBI leader a chance to pad his stats; intentionally walking the shortstop. Ignoffo made Austin Peay pay with a three-run shot over the right-field fence, giving EIU a 3-0 lead.
Austin Peay tied the ballgame back up after a four-hit, three-run seventh inning.
In the ninth inning, the Govs went through their entire lineup while adding four runs.
Tarron Lawson stepped into the box, leading off the Panthers' final shot, and delivered a sharp ground ball through the right side to put a runner on and kick-start the rally. Pena followed with a single through the opposite side to put runners on first and second. They advanced after a wild pitch, and with two outs, DiLuca poked a grounder just past the outstretched glove of the Austin Peay second basemen.
The Governors again decided that they were better off taking the bat out of Sweeney's hands as they loaded the bases for Ignoffo. Ignoffo hit a ball to the shortstop, but the Governors infielder threw it into the dirt out of the reach of the first baseman, as two Panthers scored to put the lead at 7-6 in favor of APSU. Ryan Knernschield had a battle for the ages, as he fought tooth and nail for a walk to keep the rally going.
After a long stare at his bat and breath, he stepped into the batter's box and cracked a ball to right field just in front of the outfielder. His heroics scored the go-ahead run and gave EIU the 8-7 victory.
MURRAY STATE 6, UT MARTIN 4
MURRAY, Ky. - The Murray State Racers baseball team (26-20, 15-9 OVC) completed the series sweep of the UT Martin Skyhawks (15-26, 7-14 OVC) with a late comeback victory, 6-4.
This was the Racers second late come from behind win of the series as they erased a three-run deficit to force extras in game one before walking it off in the eleventh.
With the 3-0 weekend, Murray State moves into second place in the OVC standings with a conference record of 15-9 behind only Southeast Missouri who holds the tiebreaker over the Racers.
Trey Woosley had career-high three hits in the game. He also scored two runs and had two RBIs.
Ryan Perkins collected his seventh multi-hit game of the season, legging out his first triple of the season and scoring two runs.
UTM chased Racers starter Jack Wenninger early in the game, grabbing a three-run lead after the first two innings.
Quinton Kujawa was clutch for the Racers coming in in relief to throw 4.0 innings, only allowing one run to keep Murray State in the game.
In the fifth, Jake Slunder cut the deficit to one with a two-run double off the left center field wall.
The Skyhawks regained their two-run cushion in the next inning courtesy of a sacrifice fly.
Both Ryan Perkins and Trey Woosley jumped on the first pitches they saw in the seventh inning. Perkins legged out a stand up triple, his first of the season and immediately came home on an RBI single from Woosley. After a sacrifice bunt moved Woosley to second, Bryson Bloomer evened the game at four with an opposite field RBI single.
Murray State picked a good time to take its first lead of the game. The Racers jumped ahead 5-4 when Jordan Cozart was hit by a pitch to start the eighth and scored from first on a RBI double from Alex Crump. The Racers weren't done yet, Trey Woosley delivered his second RBI in as many innings to give the Racers a 6-4 going into the ninth inning.
Connor Holden closed out the game in the ninth, retiring the UTM batters in order for his seventh save of the season.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 7, EASTERN KENTUCKY 6
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Tyler Wilber went 3-for-4 and narrowly missed hitting for the cycle as Southeast Missouri (23-17, 15-9) overcame a five-run deficit to pull off a 7-6 series clinching win over Eastern Kentucky (16-29, 10-17) Saturday.
SEMO recorded its ninth series win of the season and seventh in Ohio Valley Conference play.
The Redhawks trailed, 5-0, after EKU scored three runs in the first and two in the third.
With two outs in the bottom of the third, Connor Basler walked and Jevon Mason doubled before Wilber hit a three-run home run to right just over the glove of right fielder Kendall Ewell. Wilber's sixth home run of the season narrowed the Colonels lead to 5-3.
SEMO went on to score the next four runs of the game en route to taking the lead.
After Peyton Leeper delivered a two-out RBI-triple in the fourth inning the Redhawks pulled ahead, 6-5, on a big two-out, two-RBI single by Connor Basler in the bottom of the sixth.
Wilber singled and later scored on a double by Andrew Keck to increase SEMO's lead to 7-5 in the seventh.
EKU would not go down quietly in its final at-bat in the ninth.
Cam Ridley reached on a one-out triple to right center and scored on an ensuing base hit by Ewell to make it a one-run ballgame.
Freshman reliever Kyle Miller got Daniel Harris IV to hit into a fielder's choice. Leeper made a diving stop on Harris' grounder and threw out Ewell at second base. Miller then forced Caleb Upshaw to fly out in foul territory in the right field corner to nail down his third save of the season.
Austin Williams struck out four in 2.1 strong innings before Miller came on with one out in the dramatic ninth inning.
Hunter Ralls (2-1) was credited with the win. Ralls relieved starter Noah Niznik in the fourth inning and threw three scoreless innings. Ralls allowed three hits and struck out one, as well.
Jacob Abbott (2-3) suffered the loss for EKU. Abbott scattered three hits and allowed two runs in 1.1 innings.
SEMO outhit the Colonels, 11-9, and registered double-digit hits for the 18th time this season.
Wilber fell a triple shy of the cycle, going 3-for-4 with a double, home run and one single. He also added two runs scored and three RBI.
Keck finished at 3-for-4 with the decisive RBI-hit, while Basler went 2-for-3 with two RBI and a run scored.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 10-2, SIUE 0-4
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Brant Glidewell worked into the ninth Saturday, leading SIUE to a 4-2 win in the finale and a series win on the road at Jacksonville State. The Cougars and Gamecocks split a doubleheader Saturday with JSU winning the early game 10-0. It is the Cougars' third series win in Ohio Valley Conference play this year.
SIUE improved to 12-12 in the OVC and 22-20 overall. Jacksonville State is 23-23 overall and 13-11 in the OVC. The series win moved SIUE to within a game of the top four, which qualifies for the OVC tournament.
Glidewell tossed eight shutout innings before hitting a batter and giving up a two-run home run. He allowed the two runs on just five hits. He walked one and did not strike out a hitter on his way to his team-best sixth win.
Braydon Bone collected his second save in as many days, taking over in the ninth and retiring all three hitters he faced for his fourth save of the year and the 11th of his career. He is now one back of SIUE's top five.
The Cougars broke out on top with two runs in the second inning. Raul Elguezabal led off the inning with a double and Ole Arntson walked. Both scored on a two-run single by Steven Pattan.
Brett Johnson led off the third inning with a double and advanced to third on a passed ball. He scored on an error later in the inning. The Cougars added to their lead in the sixth when Arntson and Avery Owusu-Asiedu collected back-to-back singles to open the inning. Pattan moved the runners up with a sacrifice bunt and Ethan Copeland made it 4-0 SIUE with a sacrifice fly to right field.
Elguezabal, Arntson and Pattan each had two hits for the Cougars.
In the opener, the Gamecocks chased SIUE starter Jake Bockenstedt with a five-run third inning. Bockenstedt worked just 2 2/3 innings, allowing five runs on six hits. He walked one and struck out three. He fell to 2-1 with the loss.
Brett Johnson and John Stallcup each had two hits for the Cougars, who only had seven hits in game two.
TENNESSEE TECH 4-8, MOREHEAD STATE 3-7
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Clutch was the theme of the weekend for the Tennessee Tech baseball team, as the Golden Eagles (18-21, 11-13) capped off a doubleheader and series sweep of Morehead State (23-19, 12-9) with an 8-7, walk-off win Saturday evening at Quillen Field and Bush Stadium at the Averitt Express Baseball Complex.
The purple and gold won three-straight, one-run contests for its first Ohio Valley Conference sweep of the year, also defeating the visiting Eagles 4-3 in game one of the day and 3-2 in Friday's contest. It was the third and final game of the series that provided the most excitement, with the Golden Eagles rallying in the ninth thanks to an RBI single from senior Gavin Johns.
Tech seemed destined for victory early, jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the first. Second baseman Brett Roberts started the scoring with an RBI single down the right-field line, sending left fielder Cody Littlejohn to third. Later in the frame, Roberts took off for second base only to stop short and intentionally get in a run down to distract the defense. Littlejohn paused and then sprinted for the plate.
The home squad doubled down in the second, with center fielder Jason Hinchman sparking the frame with a leadoff laser that cleared the fence in right-center field. His seventh round-tripper of the year made him just the fifth player in program history to record 40 home runs in their career.
Later in the inning, shortstop Ed Johnson made it a 4-0 Tech lead with an RBI ground out to shortstop. Morehead State made a dent in the advantage in the fourth, scoring three times with a two-run dinger to left field as the highlight.
Littlejohn gave his squad some more breathing room in the fifth, scoring the exact same way as the first after tripling to right-center field. This time, first baseman Golston Gillespie provided the distraction, taking off for second base to draw the throw and force a run down. Littlejohn scored again as the Eagles chased down Gillespie, reaching the plate before the tag could be applied for the final out of the inning.
Right fielder Theo Bryant IV delivered a pair of huge plays in the sixth, ending the top half of the frame by catching a fly ball and throwing a seed to catcher Hayden Gilliland to nab Morehead's Ryley Preece at the plate for a double play. He then slapped a two-out, RBI-single to left-center field in the bottom half, making it a 6-3 contest.
Morehead State rallied in the eighth, gathering a game-tying, three-run home run from Jackson Feltner. The visitors used their new-found momentum to produce the go-ahead run in the ninth, with a pair of doubles doing the damage.
Without hesitation, the Golden Eagles provided a response. Bryant continued his great game with a leadoff double to right field. Johnson's attempt at a sacrifice bunt fell out of reach of the pitcher, allowing the sophomore to reach safely with a base hit. Littlejohn laid down his own sacrifice bunt, but the Morehead second baseman dropped the throw from the first baseman to allow Tech to load the bases with no outs.
Roberts brought the tying run home and moved the winning run to third base with a ground ball to first, but the Eagles turned a double play to move just one out away from forcing extras. After an intentional walk to Gillespie, Tech head coach Steve Smith opted to insert Gavin Johns as a pinch hitter.
After falling behind in the count 0-2, the Temecula, Calif. native turned in the biggest swing of his career, ripping a single up the middle and past the outstretched glove of Morehead's shortstop. Johns was mobbed by his teammates as Tech clinched its first series sweep of the Eagles since 2013.
Littlejohn finished the contest 3-for-3 with two runs while Johnson and Bryant each registered a pair of hits. Southpaw Jackson Berry claimed his fourth win of the year, tossing one-and-one-third innings out the bullpen.
It took a different rally in the first contest, but the Golden Eagles eked out a 4-3 victory thanks to a spectacular performance on the hill from junior Brock Myers. The right-handed hurler finished the final four-and-two-thirds frames of the contest, allowing one hit, one run and pair of walks while fanning three and picking up his second win of the year.
The visitors from Morehead scored runs in the second and third innings for an early, 2-0 advantage before Tech took the lead for good. In the fourth, Littlejohn led things off by clobbering his team-high 11th blast of the season to left field to cut the deficit in half.
Johnson turned it into a 3-2 Tech lead in the fifth, smashing his fifth bomb of the year, a two-run shot, to left field. The Golden Eagles added a crucial insurance run in the seventh, with third baseman Gabe Lacy scoring on a Morehead State error in left field.