SUNDAY'S SCORES
@Morehead State 10, Murray State 2
@Belmont 6, Austin Peay 4
Eastern Illinois 3, @UT Martin 2
@Southeast Missouri 5, SIUE 2
Bradley 8, @
Tennessee Tech 7
MOREHEAD STATE 10, MURRAY STATE 2
MOREHEAD, Ky. - After two close games to open the series, Sunday's rubber match between OVC rivals Morehead State and Murray State proved to be a one-sided contest as the Eagles used early offense and great pitching to take the finale, 10-2.
Morehead State moved to 9-14 on the season with the win and holds a 2-1 record through the first weekend of OVC play.
Grant Herron (1-1) manned the mound to open the game for the Eagles and pitched brilliantly in three innings of work, striking out the side in the first on his way to seven K's in total. Pitching was a strong spot on the day for Morehead State, as Herron (seven), John Sherman (six), Matt Bettio (four), and Sam Replogle (one) combined to strikeout 18 in the win. Murray State only managed two runs on nine hits.
Morehead State jumped on top early with a run in the first, as Nick Gooden hit a grounder that got past Murray's third baseman Bryson Bloomer, scoring Jackson Feltner from second. After Herron worked his second scoreless frame, the bats heated up and the Eagles pushed five runs across in the bottom of the second inning.
Ashton Roy laid down a textbook bunt to third, and a throwing error allowed Colton Becker to score after advancing to third. Bryson Stripling reached on an error, and then Ryley Preece smashed his team-leading sixth homer out of the yard to make it 5-0 Eagles. Feltner then reached on the third Racer error of the inning, and a Chase Vinson single scored him from second.
A home run from Murray State's Parker Estes plated its first run of the game in the sixth, but Morehead State got that run back and more in the bottom half of the inning, as Roman Kuntz hit a towering three-run homer to right-center, followed by Alex Jacobs' solo shot to make the score 10-1 heading into the final third of the game.
Murray State pushed a run across in the eighth on a bases-loaded walk, but Bettio worked out of a jam and kept the score there. Replogle thwarted any hopes the Racers had at a comeback to give Morehead State the victory.
Preece and Alex Jacobs had two hits apiece as Jacobs upped his team-best reached-base string to 21 games and his hitting streak to 13 straight.
BELMONT 6, AUSTIN PEAY 4
NASHVILLE - A big day at the plate for Grayson Taylor and a record-setting save from Kyle Brennan powered the Belmont University baseball team to a 6-4 win over Austin Peay on Sunday at E.S. Rose Park.
The victory clinches a series win over the Governors to open up OVC action.
Belmont (16-9, 2-1 OVC) clung to a slim 6-3 lead when Brennan entered with one out in the ninth inning and the tying run at the plate.
By securing the win, Brennan earned his NCAA-leading tenth save of the season and the 27th save of his career, breaking Jon Ivie's (2008-11) all-time program record mark of 26 saves.
Jalen Borders (W, 2-1) tossed six shutout innings on the mound for the Bruins, scattering just three hits while recording three strikeouts. The Belmont defense turned a season-high three double plays behind him, with Taylor, Jack Rando, and Brodey Heaton playing a hand in turning all three to help out the sophomore left-hander.
Taylor broke out of a mini-slump in a big way, going 3-for-4 with a home run, a double, and two RBIs.
The junior shortstop highlighted what was tremendous production from the bottom third of the Bruin order, with Taylor, Rando, and Sam Hedges combining to go 5-for-9 with two RBIs and two walks.
Even without Guy Lipscomb in the lineup, the Bruins dominated on the basepaths, collecting six stolen bases in the victory.
Belmont opened up the scoring in the third inning when Rando sent a deep fly ball to center field that allowed Hedges to tag and score from third base.
Later, in the fifth, John Behrends sent a single up the middle to drive in Taylor and bring the score to 2-0 in favor of the home side. In the same inning, Brodey Heaton reached on an error by the Austin Peay pitcher that allowed Carson Shacklett to score and bring the lead to 3-0.
Taylor tacked on two more insurance runs in the sixth inning when he tattooed a ball over the left-center fence with Rando already aboard. The homer was Taylor's third of the season.
After Borders exited following his sixth shutout inning, Aaron Hubbell tossed the seventh and Will Jenkins pitched the eighth and recorded the first out in the ninth, setting the stage for Brennan to pick up his record-breaking save.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 3, UT MARTIN 2
MARTIN, Tenn. - Eastern Illinois (16-4, 3-0 OVC) prevail in the ninth inning as EIU goes on to beat UT Martin (7-14, 0-3 OVC) by a final score of 3-2. Nathan Aide hit a two-run home run in the top of the ninth inning to lift the Panthers past the Skyhawks. Starting pitcher Blake Malatestinic threw 5.1 innings on Sunday while giving up eight hits, twp runs, and had six strikeouts. Zane Robbins earns his seventh save of the season for the Panthers as they go to collect their 16th win of the season.
UT Martin's pitching controlled the game through seven innings as the Panthers did not get their first hit til the fourth inning when DiLuca picked up a single to extend hitting hitting streak to 17 games.
The Skyhawks got on the board early in the first inning with an RBI single by Ethan Whitley off of Malatestinic. EIU's defense would settle down after the first as Malatestinic would throw two strikeouts in the second, and one in the third.
Both teams let runners stranded in thr fourth inning as EIU was struggling to get runners in scoring position to get on the board.
After two singles to start the bottom half of the sixth inning, Birdsong would replace Malatestinc on the mound. The Skyhawks would score one run in the sixth off a single by Alec Beaman to extend their lead to 2-0.
Panthers would have two runners on in the seventh after Aide and Worcester singled, but would fail to convert any runs out of it. EIU would strike in the top of the eighth after a Riley double and a RBI single to right field from DiLuca to get the Panthers on the board and cut the lead to one. Birdsong would strikeout three in the end the eighth.
Ryan Ignoffo would lead off the ninth with a single to set up Aide for the go-ahead to run blast to left center to put Eastern Illinois up one heading into the bottom half of the ninth. Robbins would come in for Birdsong and go three-up three-down to secure the win 3-2 for EIU.
The win gives EIU their fifth series victory of the season. The Panthers would score three runs on eight hits with no errors while UT Martin would score two runs on 11 hits with no errors.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 5, SIUE 2
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Andrew Keck went 3-for-4 with a home run, two runs and two RBI, and Ben Palmer homered and added three RBI to lead Southeast Missouri (17-5, 3-0) to a 5-2 win over SIU Edwardsville (10-11, 0-3) Sunday afternoon at Capaha Field.
SEMO polished off its fourth series sweep of the season. The Redhawks opened Ohio Valley Conference play with a sweep for the first time since 2016. It also marked the first time SEMO swept its opening weekend of conference play under Head Coach Andy Sawyers.
Tied, 2-2, SEMO loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the seventh courtesy of a single by Keck and walks by Brett Graber and Joel Vaske. After a strikeout, Palmer was hit by Cougar reliever Kyle Dixon's pitch and Keck scored the go-ahead run.
In the next inning, Tyler Wilber hit a one-out single and Keck followed with a two-run smash opposite field to right stretching the Redhawks lead to 5-2. For Keck, it was his fifth round-tripper of the year.
The first three runs between the teams came via the long ball in the third inning.
Nine-hole hitter Brett Pierson hit a leadoff home run to left center to give SIUE a one-run lead before SEMO's nine-hole hitter Palmer answered with a two-run homer in the bottom half of the inning. Palmer's second round-tripper of the season put the Redhawks ahead, 2-1.
Avery Owusu-Asiedu reached on a one-out single, stole second and scored to tie the game when Richie Well hit a base hit to center in the top of the fourth.
Starting right-hander Tommy Windt gave SEMO a nice start working 3.2 innings with six strikeouts and no walks. Windt also gave up two runs on six hits before exiting the game in the fourth.
Relievers Blake Cisneros, Austin Williams and Kyle Miller then combined for 5.1 shutout innings the rest of the way. Williams (3-1) earned the win after working 1.1 innings with one strikeout. Miller picked up his second save of the series. He struck out three in two innings retiring six of the eight hitters he faced.
Kaid Karnes (1-2) suffered the loss. Karnes gave up three runs and six hits in 6.1 innings. He struck out four and walked one, as well.
Both teams closed out the series with eight hits.
Wilber (2) and Keck (3) accounted for five of the hits in the heart of SEMO's lineup. Wilber also scored once. Palmer added a game-high three RBI. Addiitonally, Brett Graber reached base for the 22nd consecutive game.
SEMO extended its home winning streak to 13 games. It is its longest home winning streak since the 2016 team won 13 in a row.
BRADLEY 8, TENNESSEE TECH 7
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - For the second time in as many days, it looked as if the Tennessee Tech baseball team would pull off an improbable comeback against visiting Bradley, but the Golden Eagle rally fell just short Sunday afternoon, as the Braves held on for the 8-7 win.
Bradley claimed the series by staving off a big ninth inning from the purple and gold, taking the opener and finale from the home team. It marked just the second series loss for the Golden Eagles this season and the first in the comfort of Quillen Field and Bush Stadium at the Averitt Express Baseball Complex.
Tech built an early lead in the contest, starting with the big bat of left fielder Jason Hinchman. The slugger blasted a two-out, solo home run to right-center field in the first, providing the Cookeville crew a 1-0 lead.
In the second, the Golden Eagles doubled their lead with a sacrifice fly ball to right field off the bat of second baseman Zach Bondurant. An RBI double down the first-base line from first baseman Golston Gilespie, off the outstretched glove of a diving Bradley first baseman, made it a 3-0 Tech advantage in the third.
The Braves fought back in the fourth, plating four runs to jump on top. Bradley collected two earned and two unearned runs in the frame, racking up three hits and a walk.
The purple and gold answered right back, loading the bases and scoring the tying run with a sacrifice fly from shortstop Ed Johnson. Hinchman nearly broke the contest wide open two batters and an out later, crushing a ball to deep left field, but a gust of wind blowing in knocked the shot back and it fell short for the inning-ending out at the warning track.
Bradley put together a response of its own in the top of the fifth, scoring three more times on four hits and a walk to take a 7-4 advantage. On the pitching side, Taylor Catton came on in the fourth for the Braves, shutting the purple and gold out from his entrance through the eighth.
The visitors added what turned out to be a huge insurance run in the top of the eighth, using a lead-off home run to increase the lead to 8-4.
Tech finally broke through against Catton in the ninth, with Hinchman providing the early fireworks. The senior hammered a solo tank to right-center field to lead off the bottom half, his second round-tripper of the game and 10th of the season.
He became just the third Golden Eagle in program history to record at least 10 dingers in three different seasons, joining Kevin Strohschein and Zach Stephens in the exclusive club, both Tech's and the Ohio Valley Conference's career home runs leaders. Both former Tech greats accomplished the feat four times.
Now with 54 jacks in his career, he sits just nine away from breaking both records. He also sits just five away from passing Austin Peay's Parker Phillips for third on the league's all-time chart.
After the Bradley reliever secured back-to-back outs, Tech refused to go down without one last fight. Designated hitter Luke Jones drew a five-pitch walk to keep things alive, prompting head coach Matt Bragga to go to his bench.
In stepped catcher Hayden Gilliland, delivering an incredible pinch-hit display. Working a 3-1 count, the sophomore cracked a two-run blast to right field, pulling the Golden Eagles to within a run. Bondurant peppered a single through the right side, but that would be it for the Tech rally, as Bradley collected the final out.
Eight different Tech batters collected a hit in the contest, with Hinchman and Bondurant each producing a pair.