FRIDAY'S SCORES
Belmont 13, @Murray State 6
UT Martin 5, @SIUE 3
Morehead State 5, @Tennessee Tech 2
@Austin Peay 4, Southeast Missouri 3
@Butler 1,
Eastern Illinois 0
BELMONT 13, MURRAY STATE 6
MURRAY, Ky. - Behind two mammoth home runs from Brodey Heaton, the Belmont University baseball team secured a 13-6 win over Murray State on Friday in Murray, Ky., at Johnny Reagan Field.
The two-homer explosion marked the first career multi-homer game for the sophomore first baseman from Newburgh, Ind. Heaton joins Tommy Crider as the only two Bruins this season to hit multiple home runs in a game.
Over his last seven games, Heaton is hitting .407 with four home runs and 14 RBIs.
Belmont (17-9, 3-1 OVC) set a season-high mark for runs scored (13) and collected 12 hits in the victory, the seventh time in the last nine games they have recorded double-digit hits.
Guy Lipscomb went 3-for-4 with two doubles, two stolen bases, and four runs scored, and Jackson Campbell finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a triple.
Joshua South (W, 4-1) picked up his fourth win of the season with a stellar start that saw him go 6 2/3 innings with only three earned runs allowed. The junior from Cookeville, Tenn., picked up six strikeouts before handing the ball to Dominic Baratta with two outs in the sixth inning.
Baratta and Dusty Baird combined to record the final seven outs, allowing two runs.
Belmont jumped on the board early, plating three runs in the first inning on a wild pitch and a Crider single that scored John Behrends, Logan Jarvis, and Guy Lipscomb.
Leading 3-1 in the fifth inning, Belmont added to their advantage with three big hits all coming with two outs. Jarvis singled to right-center to drive in Behrends, Campbell tripled to left field to bring in Lipscomb and Jarvis, and Jack Rando singled to right field to score Campbell.
When the dust cleared, the Bruins led 7-2 midway through the game.
Heaton delivered a mammoth three-run homer to left field in the sixth, then hit his second home run of the day on a two-run blast to left field in the eighth inning.
Lipscomb hit the second of his two doubles in the eighth inning, a shot off the fence in right-center field, to bring in Behrends.
UT MARTIN 5, SIUE 3
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - A superb pitching performance from the 1-2 punch of sophomore Rhett Fetner and reliever Seth Petry - coupled with a balanced hitting display and clutch defensive sequence in the bottom of the 8th – supplied the University of Tennessee at Martin baseball team with enough ammunition to snag a Game 1 victory on the road over the Cougars of SIUE on Friday evening, the first win of Ohio Valley Conference significance on the season by a 5-3 clip.
In the second of an eventual five-game road swing just 72 hours after visiting Southern Illinois, the Skyhawks assumed control of the contest from the early stages, not allowing an SIUE player to record a hit until six full innings had already passed. By the time that the Cougars put their first man on-base in the 3rd inning, the navy and orange had already built a 3-0 advantage that they would only add to and keep for the rest of the series opener.
Will Smith and Jack Culumovic – the first two batters in UTM’s order on Friday – finished the encounter with an efficient 6-of-10 mark at the plate (both ending at 3-of-5), and in both of their second turns at-bat in Game 1, they each made their presence felt with three RBI in two swings.
Driving in third-baseman Hunter McLean for his ninth RBI of 2022 in the top of the 3rd, Smith’s run-scoring single perfectly set the stage for a two-score double off the bat of Culumovic just moments later, also bringing home nine-hole hitter Reid Halfacre. The Skyhawks tallied four doubles as a whole and a dagger triple from Smith in the top of the 9th to round up their season-total to 60 extra-base hits.
While Fetner effectively struck out five of his eight batters faced next to zero hits given up, Petry immediately stepped into the fold at the top of the 3rd to help UT Martin preserve their growing lead. Tossing the next four innings while keeping the Cougars without a run to their credit until the bottom of the 7th, the junior turned in perhaps his most impressive individual showing of the semester in his seventh appearance, throwing 64 pitches (44 of which were within the strike zone).
Sprinting home from third-base in the top of the 5th on a sacrifice fly-ball from shortstop Casey Harford, Halfacre’s second run of the evening put the visitors on top by a 4-0 margin, their largest lead of the OVC bout. From there, the Skyhawk defense continued to apply pressure to SIUE, allowing Petry to claim his first win of the year as redshirt-freshman Baylor Jones stepped up to close the game out for the final two and one-third innings.
Managing to cut the UTM lead down to 4-2 approaching the bottom of the 8th, SIUE sent two men on-base with two outs already recorded to put a little added pressure on a Skyhawk defense that had performed exquisitely up to that point. Jones and co. didn’t waiver in a crucial moment, forcing a popup to second-baseman Alec Beaman that cut the rally short.
Smith’s 9th-inning wallop – the team’s second triple of the year thus far to grant Halfacre his third run of the outing – firmly put away any seeds of an SIUE comeback, handing UT Martin their 18th all-time victory over the Cougars and their seventh such win in Edwardsville.
MOREHEAD STATE 5, TENNESSEE TECH 2
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - After struggling on the road to begin the season, the Morehead State baseball team has won two in a row away from Allen Field after taking the series opener 5-2 over Tennessee Tech Friday. The Eagles (11-14, 3-1 OVC) used a three-run ninth, small ball and great pitching to shut down one of the best offenses in the OVC to win their fourth straight game.
Starting pitcher Luke Helton may have picked up a no-decision on his line score, but he put together his best start of the season to date. The Indiana native struck out five Golden Eagles while giving up only one run (unearned) in 5.2 innings of one-hit ball. TTU's run in the first came on an error with two-outs in the inning, but Helton kept them off balance repeatedly the rest of the way to help MSU pick up the win.
Three scoreless innings came and went before Nick Gooden (3-3) and Chase Vinson (1-4) both singled to open the top of the fifth. Colton Becker then came to the plate and laid down a beautiful sacrifice bunt to score Gooden from third and tie the game at one. Becker now leads the OVC in sacrifice bunts with five.
Jarrett Miller (W, 3-1) continued his excellent form out of the bullpen, coming on with two runners on and two outs in the bottom of the sixth and getting out of a jam to keep the game tied. Miller went on to pitch both the seventh and the eighth, striking out four batters along the way. This was his 17th appearance of the season, good for first in the OVC and third in the country.
In the top of the seventh, Alex Jacobs (2-4) extended both his on base streak (23 games) and hit streak (15 games) with a beautiful bunt single. After swiping second and advancing to third on a sacrifice bunt by Nick Gooden, he would score on an RBI single from Ashton Roy to give Morehead State a lead they never lost.
Three more runs crossed the plate in the ninth for Morehead State, as Alex Jacobs and Nick Gooden led off the inning with singles. Colton Becker then stepped to the plate, and smacked a single into center field that scored both runs to give Morehead a 4-1 lead. Becker finished 1-2 with a run scored and three runs batted in.
Isaias Guzman made his return and followed Becker's run-scoring single with one of his own that gave the Eagles a four-run lead. This was Guzman's first action since February 27 vs. Canisius.
John Bakke came on in the ninth in a non-save situation and closed the door on Tennessee Tech's comeback attempt. Bakke struggled some and walked in a run, but ultimately found his command and struck out Austin Turner with the bases loaded to end the game.
AUSTIN PEAY 4, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 3
CLARSKVILLE, Tenn. - First baseman Ty DeLancey and catcher Jack Alexander hit back-to-back home runs in the eighth inning, delivering Austin Peay a 4-3 Ohio Valley Conference victory against league-leading Southeast Missouri, Friday night on Joe Maynard Field at Raymond C. Hand Park.
Trailing 3-2 entering the eighth inning, Austin Peay (9-18, 2-2 OVC) faced off against Southeast Missouri closer Kyle Miller. DeLancey drove a 0-1 pitch deep into the night for a leadoff home run to right-center field. Alexander followed and battled back from an 0-2 count to get to a full count before he homered off the top of the wall in left-center field for what proved to be the game-winning run.
The late rally benefitted Governors reliever Luke Brown (3-3) who provided 4.1 scoreless innings, allowing just two hits while striking out three batters. He entered the game for starter Tyler Delong who set career highs in innings pitched (4.2) and strikeouts (6) while limiting Southeast Missouri to three runs in his second start as a Governor.
Southeast Missouri (18-6, 3-1 OVC) opened the game with a run in the top of the first only to see Austin Peay respond with two runs in its half of the first. The Redhawks regained the lead in the fifth after the first two batters reached base. Second baseman Ben Palmer drove in the tying run with a single and third baseman Peyton Leeper provided the go-ahead run on his two-out single.
Miller (3-2) suffered the loss after allowing the two eighth-inning runs. Redhawks reliever Austin Williams was left with no decision after tossing 2.2 scoreless innings, striking out five of the 10 batters he faced.
Alexander led the Govs offense with a 3-for-4, two RBI effort that included a RBI single in the first inning. DeLancey went 2-for-4 with a RBI. Outfielder Gino Avros also had two hits in the Govs nine-hit outing.
Southeast Missouri was held to six hits, left fielder Jevon Mason leading the way with a 2-for-4 outing.
Austin Peay and Southeast Missouri continue the three-game OVC series with a 1 p.m., Saturday contest at Hand Park. The Governors will retire the jerseys of Nate
BUTLER 1, EASTERN ILLINOIS 0
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - Eastern Illinois (16-5, 3-0 OVC) lose game one of a four-game series against Butler (12-13, 0-0 Big East) after the Bulldogs hit a walk-off single to win 1-0. Starting LHP Trevor Nicholson threw 6.0 scoreless innings Friday afternoon tossing nine strikeouts and only allowing two hits. Ryan Ignoffo added two hits for the Panthers to continue his 14-game hitting streak.
Both offenses were at a stand still for most of the game. EIU had multiple chances with runners in scoring position, but couldn't find a way to score during Friday's game. Nicholson continued his strong season with two strikeouts in the first inning.
The Panthers had a runner on second in both the third and fourth innings, but failed to convert any runs out of those opportunities. Nicholson kept the Bulldogs off the board on the mound as he only allowed one hit in the third and one in the fifth.
EIU had their best opportunity at the plate during the sixth inning. After a groundout by Riley, Lucas DiLuca was hit by a pitch. Logan Eickhoff and Ignoffo both followed that with a single to load the bases. Butler's starting pitcher, Cory Bosecker, was able to strikeout Nathan Aide and Travis Reaves to end the inning and keep the game scoreless.
In the top of the seventh, EIU yet again had bases loaded after Bryce Hayman, Gallaher, and Riley all got on base. Winning pitcher Lukas Galdoni was able to escape the inning after he popped up DiLuca and forced Eickhoff into a fielder's choice.
Nichols relieved Nicholson in the seventh and went one and two thirds and Birdsong closed out the eighth. After a one, two, three inning for EIU in the ninth, the Bulldogs struck to take game one. Birdsong walked two in the inning, and with two outs James Gargano singled down the left field line to score the only run of the game.
EIU had six hits on the day with not errors and 10 men left on base. Butler had one run on four hits and posted no errors.