FRIDAY'S SCORES
Tennessee Tech 5, Oral Roberts 2 (Mobile, Ala.)
@Southeastern Louisiana 1,
SIUE 0
Boston College 8,
@Austin Peay 3
@Murray State 6, Butler 4
Miami (Ohio) 15,
@UT Martin 6
Eastern Illinois 11,
@Little Rock 0
@Kennesaw State 9,
Morehead State 5
Toledo 3,
@Belmont 2
Southeast Missouri 7, @#22 Dallas Baptist 6 (12)
TENNESSEE TECH 5, ORAL ROBERTS 2
MOBILE, Ala. - The Tennessee Tech baseball team kicked off both the 2022 campaign and the return of head coach Matt Bragga to the helm of the program in style Friday afternoon, picking up a 5-2 victory over Oral Roberts at the South Alabama Invitational in Mobile, Ala.
The purple and gold produced solid offense and timely pitching to secure the win over the reigning Summit League champions, stranding 20 ORU base runners across the contest. The Tech offense banged out 13 hits, with seven Golden Eagles securing at least one in the season-opener.
Tech got the action started in the third inning, with second baseman Zach Bondurant leading off the frame with an infield single to shortstop. Three batters later, third baseman Gabe Lacy came through, ripping an RBI single to center field for a 1-0 lead.
Oral Roberts knotted things at 1-1 in the fifth, but reliever Brock Myers finished off the final two outs without allowing further damage on the scoreboard. The Cookeville crew was quick to recapture its advantage, scoring twice in the top of the sixth.
After a Lacy double opened the frame and the ORU defense gathered two outs, designated hitter Hayden Gilliland rallied the troops with an RBI single up the middle. Right fielder John Dyer followed with a single to right field, setting up Will Long for another big hit. The Tech catcher delivered with a single of his own to right field, driving in another marker for a 3-1 lead.
Right-hander Matt Gelorme came up clutch when it counted out of the bullpen, getting the purple and gold out of a bases-loaded jam by inducing a ground ball to set up a 4-6-3 double play. The Tech newbie also escaped a bases-loaded situation in the seventh and limited ORU to a single run in the eighth, once more escaping a situation with the bases juiced.
With a 3-2 lead, the Tech offense added key insurance in the top of the ninth, with first baseman Golston Gillespie lacing an RBI single to right-center field. Gilliland made it a 5-2 edge for TTU, grounding out to first base to drive in his second run of the game.
Sophomore Jackson Berry came on for the purple and gold in the bottom of the ninth, entering the contest with a pair of runners and no outs. The youngster escaped his own bases-loaded jam, striking out the final batter of the game to secure the save and the opening-day victory for Tech.
Myers picked up the win with two-thirds of an inning of work. Starter Peyton Calitri put forth a solid effort, allowing just one run on six hits in four and one-third frames. Gelorme led the Tech staff with four punch-outs on the day while tossing two and two-thirds innings out of the pen.
Offensively, Lacy turned in an incredible day at the dish, gathering a career-high four hits in five at-bats. He also scored two runs with an RBI. Gilliland drove in a team-high two runs on two hits while Dyer chipped in a pair of knocks as well. Johnson rounded out the multi-hit efforts for the purple and gold.
SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA 1, SIUE 0
HAMMOND, La. - SIUE baseball dropped a heartbreaker, falling 1-0 at Southeastern Louisiana to open its 2022 season.
Southeastern Louisiana scored the game's only run with a three-hit fifth inning against SIUE reliever Kaid Karnes (0-1). Southeastern Louisiana catcher Bryce Grizzaffi drove home the run with a one-out single.
The Cougars finished with just five hits, two of which came in the ninth inning, when SIUE put three runners on. Brady Bunten roped a one-out double to the right field corner but was thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a triple.
Ole Arntson walked and then Braedyn Brewer singled to right field. Richie Well hit a slow bouncing ball to third base. Well was called out at first on a close play which was reviewed, but ultimately left as called on the field.
Brewer paced the Cougars at the plate, going 3-4 in his SIUE debut.
SLU starter Will Kinzeler (1-0) limited SIUE to just two hits over the game's first six innings. He struck out four. Gage Trahan worked the seventh and eighth, allowing a single hit and striking out three.
Karnes allowed only the run on three hits over 3 1/3 innings of relief. He struck out six. Karmes entered the game with the bases loaded in the third and worked a fly ball to end the inning.
SIUE starter Noah Matheny started and worked 2 2/3 scoreless innings. He surrendered three hits and three walks, but also struck out three.
Jake Bockenstedt worked the final two innings for the Cougars. He did not allow a run on two hits and fanned two. SIUE pitchers recorded 11 strikeouts in total.
BOSTON COLLEGE 8, AUSTIN PEAY 3
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - First baseman John McDonald drove in a pair of runs, including the season's first run, but Austin Peay State University's baseball team could not hold on and dropped its season opener, 8-3, to Boston College, Friday afternoon, on Joe Maynard Field at Raymond C. Hand Park.
Austin Peay (0-1) got on the board in the bottom of the first inning, taking advantage of a Boston College error when McDonald singled to drive in center fielder Skyler Luna for the season's first run.
Boston College (1-0) responded with the game's next five runs to take control. The middle of the Eagles order got things started in the second inning with three batters reaching base to start the rally. Designated hitter Parker Landwehr, catcher Peter Burns, and center fielder Barry Walsh each drove in runs for a 3-1 lead. Landwehr and shortstop Vince Cimini each drove in runs in the third inning to give BC a 5-1 lead it would not relinquish.
McDonald went 2-for-4 with two RBI to lead the Govs offense. Third baseman Michael Robinson went 2-for-3 and drove in the Govs third run in the ninth inning.
Austin Peay starting pitcher Harley Gollert (0-1) struck out the side in the first inning but ended the day with the loss after allowing five runs on five hits and three walks over 4.1 innings.
Boston College starter Joe Mancini (1-0) notched the win after holding Austin Peay to two runs on three hits over five innings.
First baseman Joe Vetrano went 3-for-4 with two RBI to lead the Eagles' offense. Landwehr finished the day 2-for-5 with two RBI. The top three in the BC order were held hitless, but the bottom six combined for nine hits and seven RBI.
MURRAY STATE 6, BUTLER 4
MURRAY, Ky. - Murray State baseball secured the 6-4 comeback victory over Butler on Friday (Feb.18) afternoon at Johnny Reagan Field in Murray, Kentucky. After trailing 2-0 into the fourth inning and 4-1 into the sixth inning, the Racers used a four-run sixth inning to pull ahead for good.
An infield single from Brennan McCullough started the rally for the Racers, followed by an Alex Crump hit by pitch. Following a Bulldog wild pitch, freshman designated hitter Carson Garner singled to center field to plate McCullough and continue the rally. Following another infield single, this time from Drew Vogel to drive in Crump, Jordan Holly walked. Another wild pitch from Butler plated the tying run before graduate outfielder and preseason All-OVC member Jake Slunder singled to bring in the go-ahead run.
Crump would homer in the seventh inning to give the Racers a two-run lead; plenty for the Racers bullpen. Jacob Pennington got the win after throwing 2.2 scoreless innings in relief with five strikeouts. Alec Whaley would get the save after striking out the side in the ninth.
MIAMI (OHIO) 15, UT MARTIN 6
MARTIN, Tenn. - Redshirt junior Jack Culumovic put forth one of his most impressive individual performances in the navy & orange on Friday evening in the University of Tennessee at Martin's 2022 baseball season-opener, although the remainder of the UTM offense mostly wasn't up to par against a powerful Miami (Ohio) batting order, succumbing to a 15-6 defeat at Skyhawk Field.
Officially denoting the first time that the program began a season on their home turf since 2010, the Skyhawks never found themselves in possession of the lead against a Redhawk roster that featured six different multi-hit showings and a six-inning, 10-strikeout performance from Miami starting pitcher Jonathan Brand.
Consequently, the highly-anticipated UT Martin debut of acclaimed junior college slinger Rhett Fetner ended in seven runs allowed over a period of four innings, putting the hometown squad into a hole too large to dig out of as four other pitchers saw time at the mound.
It only took six at-bats for Miami to find their way around the diamond and back to home plate, scoring on a pair of RBI-singles in the 2nd inning from Willie Escala and Brian Zapp, two of the Redhawks' 15 hits on the day to compare to UTM's six.
Junior outfielder and lead-off hitter Reid Halfacre provided the Skyhawks with their first RBI of the semester on a right-field base hit to bring Culumovic home in the 3rd, briefly toying at taking the lead before Miami wrestled the advantage back in their own favor.
A disastrous 4th inning defensively for UT Martin paved the way for a five-hit gap against Fetner, beefing up the lead to 7-1 on a two-RBI single, a two-RBI triple, and a rare balk produced by Nate Stone just for good measure.
Culumovic would do his best to bring the Skyhawks back within striking distance, launching his first home run since May of last spring to the right wall, wrangling designated hitter Houston Wright with him in the bottom of the 5th.
UTM's rally wouldn't stop there in the first ever meeting between the two sides, bouncing back from another allowed 2-RBI single with a three-run burst in the bottom of the 7th stanza. Two sacrifice flies by Will Smith and Blaze Bell – along with a Casey Harford left-field laser sandwiched in between – suddenly whittled the lead down to a trio at 9-6.
However, a 4-0 game-ending run from the visitors continued the evening's evolving theme of Miami one-upmanship, swinging in six hits in their final 11 at-bats to run away with a convincing first-night W on the road.
Ultimately, the UT Martin defense surrendered more than one run in four separate innings, including 10 put together in the 4th and 9th chapters to account for the nine-run difference. Fetner was saddled with the loss in the final tally, giving up nearly half of the Redhawks' scores in 19 at-bats.
Meanwhile, Brand's convincing work on 83 pitches frustrated the UTM offense on a regular basis, holding every Skyhawk except Culumovic with one hit or less. The aforementioned leftfielder ended Friday's bout with a 2/3 effort at the plate with a double and walk to go beside his HR and pair of RBI.
While the first half of the contest saw the Skyhawks unable to generate any offense, the second half of the meeting turned into a separate story of unfinished progress. Altogether, UT Martin stranded at least one batter in their last five innings of work – including three in the 5th and two in the 7th and 9th - adding up for 10 across the entire day.
Aiming for a chance at redemption in tomorrow afternoon's second game against Miami, the Skyhawks will hope to rebound with sophomore Lawson Russell gaining the nod at the pitching position. The Redhawks expect to counter with Kenten Egbert in the mound, whose 1.51 ERA in over 35 innings of action last spring should provide for another interesting day at the office at the midway point of the weekend series.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 11, LITTLE ROCK 0
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Eastern Illinois baseball (1-0) took the first game of their three game series against Arkansas-Little Rock (0-1) by a score of 11-0. Ryan Ignoffo led the Panthers with two doubles and three RBI in the game. Starting pitcher Blake Malatestinic threw six innings allowing five hits, 0 runs, and collected five strikeouts in his first outing of the year.
The Panthers started the day off slow with zero hits threw four innings of work. Malatestinic kept the Panthers in the game by stranding five Trojans on base through the first four innings. Little Rock had four hits through the fourth.
EIU's bats came alive in the top of the fifth when Ignoffo led off the inning with a double to center field. Bryce Hayman followed that with a walk to have runners on first and second. Aide was able to advance Ignoffo to third after a fly out to right field. Worcester then hit a deep shot to center field which scored the games first run from a sacrifice fly. Hayman also collected his first stolen base of the season in the fifth.
Malatestinic was able to hold off the Trojans in the bottom of the fifth before three straight Panthers got on base in the top of the sixth. Lucas DiLuca led-off the inning being hit by a pitch while Eickhoff and Dalton Doyle produced back-to-back walks that led to another Ignoffo double that scored two runs. Panthers went up 3-0 after the sixth.
Nicholson went to work in the seventh and eighth innings as he was able to go six up, six down including a three strikeout inning in the bottom of the eighth.
The top of the ninth saw Eastern Illinois' bats produce eight runs to take an 11-0 lead. Aide started the inning with a double and Worcester followed him with a walk to put runners on first and second. The Trojans switched their pitcher which led to another walk drawn by Ben Gallaher. Riley drew the Panthers fourth straight walk to score the first run of the inning.
With bases load, DiLuca singled to center field to score one. Eickhoff was able to single threw the gap at shortstop to bring home another one. Doyle then grounded out to third which advanced the runners and scored one. Ignoffo added to his day by grounding out to second, but scored DiLuca from third. Eickhoff took advantage of a wild pitch to home to score the sixth run of the inning.
Hayman walked again and advanced to second on a wild pitch, which set up Aide's second double of the game to bring him home. The Panthers scored their final run after Worcester hit an infield single that moved Aide to third and scored from a throwing error by the Trojans.
Nicholson then went back out onto the mound in the ninth to produce three straight oust to end the game, 11-0. Malatestinic picked up his first win of the season while Nicholson earned his first save of the year. The Panthers are back in action Saturday, Feb. 19 at 2 p.m. against the Trojans. LiveStats will be made available.
KENNESAW STATE 9, MOREHEAD STATE 5
KENNESAW, Ga. - A couple of web gems in the field and some opportunistic plate appearances weren't quite enough to overcome a late rally by Kennesaw State as the Morehead State Baseball team fell 9-5 on 2022 opening day at KSU's Stillwell Stadium.
A four-run rally, spurred on by three bases loaded walks drawn and a sacrifice fly, gave MSU a 5-4 lead in the fifth. But the Owls used a four-run rally themselves in the seventh inning and got a 4.2-inning masterful relief appearance to eek out the win.
The Eagles were held to only four hits at the plate, including two from center-fielder Ryley Preece. But in the fifth, second baseman and newcomer Ashton Roy - along with first baseman Jackson Feltner and catcher Brody Shoupe - all drew bases loaded walks to put MSU ahead. A sac fly from left-fielder Alex Jacobs tied the game 4-4, and Shoupe's good eye pulled the Eagles on top.
MSU found itself trailing 4-1 in the fourth inning after a second-inning, three-run homer from the hosts. The Eagles' first run of 2022 came in the fourth when Feltner and third baseman Isaias Guzman were plunked by pitches, and Feltner dove across the plate safe on a wild pitch to Shoupe.
The Owls scored the go-ahead runs in the seventh on an RBI double, run-producing single, a fielding error by MSU and a runner advancing to home as the Eagles caught a runner at second in a defensive run-down.
Opening day starter Luke Helton tossed 5.0 innings, allowing four runs. Right-handed reliever Grant Herron was tagged with the loss, surrendering four runs in 1.2 innings, although only two were earned. Three of the Owls' tallies ended up unearned.
Nathan Holler slammed the door on the Eagles' offense for 4.2 innings, allowing only one hit in the ninth frame, with five strikeouts for the winning decision.
TOLEDO 3, BELMONT 2
NASHVILLE - Despite a leadoff home run from Guy Lipscomb and a pair of four-hit games from Jackson Campbell and Carson Shacklett, the Belmont University baseball team fell, 3-2, to Toledo in the season opener on Friday at E.S. Rose Park.
The Bruins out-hit the Rockets, 15-7, but left ten men on base and committed two fielding errors.
Belmont reached base in every inning, including the ninth, when Brodey Heaton singled with two outs before being replaced by Austin Ehren as a pinch runner. With Ehren representing the tying run, Toledo reliever Camryn Szynski got Logan Jarvis to foul out to end the game.
Joshua South started the game on the mound for the Bruins and went 5 1/3 innings, scattering two earned runs on three hits with five strikeouts and four walks.
Guy Lipscomb began the season with a bang, attacking the second pitch he saw and depositing it over the right field fence for a leadoff home run in the first inning.
oledo tied it up in the top of the third inning, 1-1, but John Behrends worked a walk in the bottom half of the frame to set the table for Brodey Heaton, who doubled down the left field line to score Behrends and give the Bruins a 2-1 lead.
Toledo would strike back in the sixth inning, getting two runs across to take a 3-2 lead. Belmont earned opportunities in the later innings to come back, but couldn't capitalize on two baserunners in the sixth, a Jarvis double in the seventh, and two more baserunners in the eighth.
Aaron Hubbell took the loss in relief, going 2 2/3 innings with four hits and one earned run allowed, collecting two strikeouts with no walks. Kyle Brennan tossed the ninth inning and retired the side in order.
The Bruins ended the night 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position.
The four hits each for Campbell and Shacklett were career-highs. Belmont only had three total four-hit games throughout the entirety of the 52-game 2021 season.
Jarvis, Heaton, and Lipscomb each collected two hits in the game.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 7, #22 DALLAS BAPTIST 6 (12)
DALLAS, Texas - Jevon Mason went 3-for-5 with two runs, a pair of triples and knocked in the game-winning run in extra innings as Southeast Missouri (1-0) upset #22 Dallas Baptist (0-1), 7-6, in a four-and-a-half hour 12-inning victory Friday night.
SEMO improved to 4-2 in season-openers under Head Coach Andy Sawyers and snapped an eight-game losing streak against ranked teams. The Redhawks last knocked off a ranked opponent when they upended then-No. 20 Tennessee Tech, 10-6, on Apr. 29, 2018.
Newcomer Ben Palmer led off the top of the 12th inning with a walk on four pitches and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Peyton Leeper. Mason stepped in and delivered his game-winning hit to right field.
Reliever Kyle Miller then retired DBU in order in the bottom of the 12th to finish off SEMO's opening day victory.
SEMO put four runners on base in a two-run first inning that saw DBU starting right-hander Luke Eldred throw over 30 pitches.
Mason, a Preseason All-Ohio Valley Conference selection, smacked his first career triple in his first at-bat of the season and scored the game's first run when Tyler Wilber grounded out. Andrew Keck later doubled and touched home on a check swing single to left by Lincoln Andrews to give the Redhawks an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning.
A two-out error allowed DBU to score an unearned run and cut SEMO's lead in the bottom of the first. Cole Moore singled home Andrew Benefield to narrow the Redhawks lead to 2-1.
SEMO loaded the bases in the top of the fourth when Joel Vaske walked and both Ben Palmer and Peyton Leeper singled. On the next play, Mason reached on an error and Vaske scored. Wilber followed with a four-pitch walk and Palmer touched home to extend the Redhawks lead to 4-1.
Freshman Nathan Humphreys belted a two-run home run with one out in the bottom of the fourth to get the Patriots within a run. DBU left the bases loaded after Blake Cisneros forced Andrew Benefield to line out to third.
A two-out error by Benefield allows SEMO to push its lead to 6-3 in the top of the sixth. Mason and Leeper both scored on the play when Benefield threw poorly after fielding a ground ball by Andrew Keck.
With one out in the DBU sixth, Nate Rombach doubled and went to third on an ensuing single by Luke Heefner. Blayne Jones followed with a double to left scoring both Rombach and Heefner. Jace Grady then tied the game at 6-6 on a base hit to center.
The Redhawks came close to ending things in the 10th when Mason and Leeper both walked and moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt by Danny Sperling. Wilber reached on a fielder's choice and Leeper was out on the force at home. The ball then got away from Rombach at catcher, who was able to regroup in time to tag Mason ending the inning.
Miller (1-0) threw six scoreless innings, struck out four and scattered just three hits out of SEMO's bullpen.
In his first career Friday start, right-hander Bryce Grossius recorded six strikeouts and walked one while giving up three runs on five hits in 3.2 innings of a strong no-decision.
Offensively, SEMO had 10 hits. Mason paved the way at the top of the Redhawks order. He also walked twice in the contest. Andrew Keck and Leeper followed with two hits and a run scored.
Luke Trahan (0-1) suffered the loss. Trahan allowed the decisive run on one hit and struck out three in 2.2 innings.
The Patriots put up 12 hits and were led by Jones who went 3-for-6 with a run scored and two RBI.