FRIDAY'S SCORES
@Murray State 8, Valparaiso 2
Wofford 14,
@Belmont 5
Tennessee Tech 4, @ETSU 2 (10 innings)
Eastern Illinois 3, @McNeese 2
@Kansas State 10,
Morehead State 2
SIUE 10, @Memphis 9
MURRAY STATE 8, VALPARAISO 2
MURRAY, Ky. - Murray State (12-4) baseball took their game over Valparaiso 8-2 on Friday afternoon at Johnny Reagan Field in Murray, Kentucky. The Racers now sit at 12-0 at home this season and following today's matchup are 3-0 against future Missouri Valley opponents this season.
Hayden Wynja toed the rubber for Murray State and dominated the game going 6.0 innings pitched while allowing two runs (zero earned) and striking out nine Beacon hitters. The Indianapolis, Indiana native improved to 1-1 on the year before beginning OVC play next weekend. Jordyn Naranjo earned the save in relief after tossed three scoreless innings in relief while allowing no hits and walking just one. The Clinton, Ky. native has now thrown 10.2 scoreless innings this season for the Racers in six appearances.
The Murray State bats continued to impress as they have for much of the year with four of their eight hits being of the extra-base variety. Brennan McCullough mashed his third home run of the season over the right-center field wall for a solo shot in the fourth inning. Seth Gardner provided some excitement in the seventh inning with an inside-the-park home run that ricocheted off the center field fence allowing the redshirt junior to scamper around the bases. The inside-the-park home run from Gardner is just the third in recent memory at MSU following Tyler Owen in 2009 and current Racers outfielder Jake Slunder in 2021.
WOFFORD 14, BELMONT 5
NASHVILLE - The Belmont University baseball team dropped their series opener against Wofford on Friday at E.S. Rose Park, falling 14-5.
The 14 runs is the most for a Bruin opponent this season, and the Terriers' 13 hits is the second-most allowed by Belmont this year.
Belmont (13-6) collected ten hits on the day but left nine men on base.
Joshua South (L, 2-1) exited the game after three innings, giving up nine hits and nine runs, seven of them earned, while recording two strikeouts.
Wofford (12-6) struck first in the second inning with four runs.
Belmont made it as close as it would be in the bottom of the second, with Grayson Taylor belting a two-run homer to left field, his second home run of the season.
Jack Capobianco later scored with two outs on a Wofford error to bring the tally to 4-3 in favor of Wofford after two frames.
The visitors broke the game open with a five-run third inning on five hits and one error, to go up 9-3.
Lane Lamberth pitched well in relief for the Bruins, retiring ten of the first eleven batters he faced. However, Wofford extended their lead in the seventh inning, getting a double, a hit by pitch, a single, and a two-run homer to plate four more runs and take a 13-3 lead, forcing Lamberth's exit.
After a solo homer made it 14-4, Belmont tacked on two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning, with Brodey Heaton getting hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to drive in a run and Drew Lowry recording a sacrifice fly to right field that scored Jack Rando from third base.
Dominic Baratta threw 1.1 innings, allowing no hits, and Caleb Guisewite tossed the ninth inning, allowing only one hit, a solo home run on the first pitch.
Guy Lipscomb finished 2-for-4 on the day, while Jackson Werth, making his first collegiate start, went 2-for-4 with a run scored.
TENNESSEE TECH 4, ETSU 2 (10)
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. - A dazzling display on the mound lifted the Tennessee Tech baseball team to an extra-inning victory over in-state rival ETSU Friday evening, as the Golden Eagles defeated the Buccaneers, 4-2, at Thomas Stadium.
For the second straight week, right-handed hurler Peyton Calitri tossed a gem for the purple and gold, turning in one of the better pitching performances in program history. After taking a no-hitter into the eighth inning of last week's Friday tilt at Southeastern Louisiana, a contest he finished with eight innings of work, one hit, and one earned run allowed, the Tech ace upped the ante in Johnson City.
In his most impressive display on the hill yet, Calitri kept the Bucs guessing all day, allowing just two earned runs while completing 10 innings for the Golden Eagles. It marked the third-longest outing by a pitcher in program history and most inning pitched by a Tech arm since Matt Smith completed 11 against Southeast Missouri on May 17, 2007.
The Tech bats gave him an early lead, with first baseman Golston Gillespie leading off the top of the second with a double down the right-field line. Later in the frame, catcher Will Long sent a long fly ball to center field, driving in Gillespie with a sac fly for a 1-0 lead.
In the fourth, the Golden Eagles struck again, with designated hitter Hayden Gilliland reaching second base on an ETSU miscue in right field. Two batters later, second baseman Nick Spardone drove him in with his own sac fly to center field, making it a 2-0 advantage.
Calitri made his only mistake of the night in the bottom half, hanging a breaking ball that ETSU's Cam Norgren lifted just over the wall in right field for a game-tying home run. The sophomore hurler quickly recovered to record his fourth strikeout of the game and never looked back.
A native of Collierville, Tenn., Calitri spent the next five frames dissecting the Buc lineup, punching out six more batters and holding the home team to just one hit along the way. His effort took the contest to extras for the second consecutive Friday, but this time, it was the Golden Eagles taking home the prize.
Shortstop Ed Johnson led off the extra frame with a huge double down the right-field line, setting Tech up for the eventual win. Jason Hinchman followed by drawing a walk and setting things up for Gillespie. The Golden Eagle slugger delivered, ripping an RBI single to center field for the lead.
Two batters later, Gilliland provided some insurance, peppering his own RBI single to center field for a 4-2 lead. It would prove plenty for the stud on the mound.
After fanning the side in the ninth, Calitri made it four straight Ks with a punch-out to kick off the 10th. Even after a base hit, the righty never wavered, forcing a pop-up and a ground ball out to end the night.
He picked up his third win of the season, striking out a career-high 11 batters with no walks and just five hits allowed across the 10 innings. Gillespie and Johnson both led Tech with two hits while the four runs were driven in by a quartet of batters.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 3, MCNEESE 2
LAKE CHARLES, La. - Eastern Illinois (12-3) continue their hot streak on the road as the Panthers defeat the Cowboys of McNeese State (10-9) by a score of 3-2. EIU has now won their ninth straight this season. The Panthers lead the NCAA with 12 road wins on the season. Starting pitcher Trevor Nicholson (W, 2-0) threw 6.1 innings while giving up one run, two hits, and tossed 11 strikeouts. It marks the second time this season that Nicholson has thrown more than 10 strikeouts in a game. Lucas DiLuca added two hits in Friday's contest to continue his 12-game hitting streak on the season.
Panthers got the action going in the first inning with a Lincoln Riley walk and a DiLuca single to put runners at the corners. Eickhoff would then hit a sac fly for EIU to bring home Riley from third. Eastern would leave two on to end the top half of the inning. Nicholson would start his day off with three-up three-down with three swinging strikeouts.
In the top of the second, EIU would add two more runs after Gallaher, Bryce Hayman, and DiLuca all reached safe to lead the bases. Eickhoff would then reach safely on first after an error by the Cowboy's shortstop to score two. Nicholson would give up his only run of the night in the second after walking one, and an error by Ryan Ignoffo at first base to put McNeese State on the board. He would also add three more Ks to his night in the second.
Both teams would be locked in a defensive battle in the third inning with both teams collecting no hits or runs. Lincoln Riley would earn himself a single in the fourth but was caught stealing to end the top half of the inning. Nicholson left one Cowboy stranded in the bottom of the fourth.
Panthers had bases loaded in the fifth inning with DiLuca and Eickhoff earning walks and a single by Ignoffo, but the Cowboys were able to get out of the inning without giving up a run. McNeese State would leave one on as well in the fifth the keep the score locked at 3-1.
Dalton Doyle picked up his second double of the season in the sixth for the Panthers only hit in the inning. EIU would leave him stranded at second to end the top of the sixth. Nicholson would give up only his second hit of the game in the sixth, but added two more strikeouts to put up another scoreless inning.
EIU was held scoreless in the seventh. Nicholson threw one out in the seventh, when Jackson Nichols came in for relief. Nichols would get one strikeout in the bottom of the inning to keep the Cowboys off the board.
After a scoreless eighth for EIU, the Cowboys would get one more run from a single by Kade Hunter to cut the lead to one for EIU. Robbins was able to close out the game though for the Panthers in the ninth inning to pick up his fourth save of the season.
KANSAS STATE 10, MOREHEAD STATE 2
MANHATTAN, Kan. - Morehead State baseball found the going tough in its series opener at Kansas State Friday night as the host Wildcats used seven extra-base hits to fend off the Eagles 10-2.
Morehead State slipped to 7-10, while K-State won its sixth straight game to improve to 9-7.
The bright spot for MSU was left-fielder Alex Jacobs, who went 3-for-3 with an RBI triple (in the sixth inning). With the three-bagger, he extended his hitting streak to seven games and his reached-base to a team-high 15 games. First baseman Jackson Feltner had reached base in all 16 games so far but ended 0-for-4 to halt that feat.
Carter Sakamoto collected his first career RBI when he registered a sac fly in the ninth inning. Ryley Preece, Roman Kuntz and Chase Vinson also notched hits with Vinson's a double in the ninth.
Starter Luke Helton (1-2) went 5.0 innings but was tagged for 11 hits and five earned runs. Sam Replogle worked a scoreless inning.
KSU starter Bryce Adams tossed the first 6.1 innings, striking out seven, for the win. Eagle batters whiffed 11 times in the game.
The home team strung together three doubles, two singles and a triple as they scored five runs in the second inning to set the tone.
SIUE 10, MEMPHIS 9
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - SIUE baseball got out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning Friday and outlasted Memphis for a 10-9 win in the opener of a three-game series.
SIUE improved to 10-6 with the win. Memphis dropped to 10-5.
Ole Arntson drove in runs in the first with a single to left center following walks to Josh Ohl and Connor Kiffer.
The Cougars extended their lead to 5-1 in the fourth with three runs on one hits to chase Memphis starter Connor Shamblin. Brett Johnson picked up an RBI with a bases loaded walk and Kiffer reached on an error to drive in a run. Brady Bunten capped the scoring with a sacrifice fly.
Shamblin (2-1) worked 3 1/3 innings, allowing five runs, four earned, on four hits. He walked six and struck out four.
Memphis added two runs in the bottom of the fourth and then another in the sixth against SIUE starter Brant Glidewell.
Glidewell improved to 2-0 matching his longest start of the season at six innings. He allowed four runs, just two earned, on eight hits. He struck out one.
The Cougars proved opportunistic again in the seventh inning, extending their lead. Steven Pattan took a one-out walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Richie Well popped up a ball on the infield, which was dropped, allowing Pattan to score from second base. Ohl walked and Johnson followed with his Ohio Valley Conference-leading ninth home run of the year to put SIUE ahead 9-4. Bunten homered in the eighth to extend SIUE's lead to 10-4.
Jake Bockestedt worked the seventh and eighth innings for the Cougars without allowing a run. He walked two hitters and allowing two hits.
Memphis then used three hits, two walks, a hit batter and an error to score five times in the ninth inning. Kaid Karnes came in to end the rally getting a popup, a flyout and a strikeout to end the game and earn his first save.
Bunten led SIUE with three hits. He was 3-4 with the homer and two RBIs. Johnson was 1-4 with the home run and four RBIs. Richie Well had two hits and scored twice.