SUNDAY'S SCORES
Belmont 7, @Murray State 1
@SIUE 7, UT Martin 0
@Tennessee Tech 8, Morehead State 6
Southeast Missouri 6, @Austin Peay 5
@Butler 2-2,
Eastern Illinois 0-1
BELMONT 7, MURRAY STATE 1
MURRAY, Ky. - With dominant pitching leading the way, the Belmont University baseball team secured their first conference sweep since 2020 with a 7-1 drubbing of Murray State on Sunday at Johnny Reagan Field in Murray, Ky.
Belmont (19-9, 5-1 OVC) outscored Murray State 34-13 over the course of the three-game series, taking each contest by at least six runs.
The sweep is the first for Belmont on the road and the first OVC sweep since they went on the road and won three in a row over Morehead State from March 7-8, 2020.
Jalen Borders pitched effectively for the Bruins but did not go long enough to qualify for the win, tossing 4 1/3 innings of one-run ball with three strikeouts and three walks.
Ethan Harden (W, 1-1) secured the first win of his collegiate career by tossing 2 2/3 shutout innings, recording three strikeouts while allowing just one hit and one walk.
Will Jenkins and Kyle Brennan each threw one scoreless inning to keep Murray State off the scoreboard.
Just as they did on Friday and Saturday, Belmont jumped ahead in the first inning, plating two runs with John Behrends singling to left field to bring in Carson Shacklett, who had reached on an error by the Racer second baseman, and Brodey Heaton doubling to left field to bring in Behrends.
The Bruins followed up the quick start with four more runs in the second inning.
Grayson Taylor singled to right-center field to drive in Blake Barton, Guy Lipscomb delivered a sacrifice fly to left to bring in Taylor, Tommy Crider picked up an RBI groundout to score Shacklett, and Mason Landers rounded out the crooked frame with an RBI single down the left field line to drive in Behrends.
Behrends ended his day 2-for-3 with two runs scored, two walks, an RBI, and a stolen base.
Leading 6-0 after the second inning, the Bruins' heavy lifting was behind them. Both bullpens pitched well, with each team only mustering one more run apiece.
Belmont's defense continued its stellar play in the field, turning two double plays and robbing the Racers of a couple of would-be hits, on groundballs that nearly sneaked through to the outfield.
Murray State threatened on a couple of occasions, including in the fourth inning, when they plated a run and looked poised to cut into the Belmont lead with one out when they loaded the bases.
However, Borders struck out the next Racer batter on just three pitches then got the third out by inducing a weak comebacker that he calmly tossed to first base.
Murray State would not score the rest of the day.
Brodey Heaton finished 3-for-5 with a double, an RBI, and a stolen base, and Blake Barton picked up his first career RBI and first career multi-hit game with a 2-for-4 performance.
SIUE 7, UT MARTIN 0
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - SIUE baseball shut out UT Martin for the second consecutive day, securing an Ohio Valley Conference series win and also giving SIUE Head Coach Sean Lyons his 100th career win. The Cougars blanked the Skyhawks 7-0 Sunday at Simmons Baseball Complex.
SIUE won its first OVC series of the year and improved to 12-13 overall and 2-4 in the league. UT Martin fell to 8-17 overall and 1-5 in the OVC.
SIUE lefthander Kaid Karnes (2-2) was dominant in a seven-inning start. He allowed just five hits, walked one and struck out a career-high 11 UT Martin hitters. The 11 strikeouts are the most by an SIUE pitcher this season.
Spencer Smith relieved Karnes and retired all six hitters he faced over the final two innings. He struck out four.
At the plate, the Cougars finished with 13 hits and got RBIs from six different players.
SIUE got out on top in the first thanks to an RBI-hit from Josh Ohl. Connor Kiffer added an RBI-double in the third to make it 2-0. Brett Pierson and Richie Well drove home runs in the fourth before SIUE scored three more in the fifth inning. Brady Bunten, Steven Pattan and Pierson all had RBIs in the fifth.
Ohl finished 3-5 while Well and Kiffer were both 2-5. Brennan Orf also was 2-5 for the Cougars.
TENNESSEE TECH 8, MOREHEAD STATE 6
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - An early offensive salvo boosted a fantastic start on the mound for the Tennessee Tech baseball team Sunday afternoon, as the Golden Eagles salvaged a victory in their Ohio Valley Conference-opening series against Morehead State, 8-6.
After the visiting Eagles claimed each of the first two games of the series on Friday and Saturday, the purple and gold turned to veteran hurler Connor Adams on the mound for game three. The southpaw stepped up in a huge way, going on to earn his second win of the year behind a masterful showing.
Adams limited the red-hot Morehead bats to just one run on three hits and two walks over the opening five frames, piling up a season-high seven strikeouts. Fanning three over the first two frames, the Tech starter looked sharp to start the game, but the Eagles looked to strike in the third.
Bryce Ray led off the frame with a solo home run, trying to break through against Adams, but the Golden Eagle lefty refused to let it bother him, punching out the next two batters. He escaped the third without further damage and then went three-up and three-down in the fourth after the Tech bats backed his strong effort.
In the bottom of the third, the purple and gold sent 10 batters to the plate, exploding for five runs. After a quick out, third baseman Gabe Lacy singled to left field to set up left fielder Jason Hinchman for some fireworks.
On a 2-0 offering, the Tech slugger blasted a two-run shot to left-center field, easily clearing the fence for his 13th long ball of the season and 56th of his career. With the home run, he moved into a tie for the national lead and into sole possession of third place on the OVC's career charts, trailing only the league's all-time leaders, former Golden Eagles Kevin Strohschein and Zach Stephens, both of whom boast 62 to their respective names.
The Golden Eagles quickly loaded the bases after the bomb, using a single, a walk, and a hit-by-pitch to set up right fielder Ryan Guardino for a big chance. The junior watched four straight pitches miss, drawing an RBI walk to make it a 3-1 lead.
One play later, Tech would score on a throwing error from third base, looking to turn a double play starting at the plate. The throw pulled the Morehead catcher off the dish, allowing designated hitter Luke Jones to reach safely. Second baseman Zach Bondurant drove in one more for Tech, grounding out to third base for a 5-1 lead.
Tech plated two more runs in the second, starting with a lead-off bomb from Lacy. The junior turned on a 1-1 offering, just barely keeping the ball fair down the left-field line for his fifth round-tripper of the year. Later in the frame, Guardino added an RBI single to left field, driving in shortstop Ed Johnson who singled earlier in the frame.
Adams got his first taste of trouble on the hill in the fifth, allowing back-to-back, two-out hits and a walk to load the bases. He settled down just in time, earning a clutch swing and miss on a full count for his seventh punch-out and a huge scoreless frame.
The visiting Eagles struck for three in the sixth inning and threatened for more, but Tech hurler Frankie Cresta limited the damage after entering with no outs, a run scored and two in scoring position.
Prior to the run, Johnson drove in one more insurance run for the Golden Eagles, ripping an RBI single to third base.
Morehead threatened for a big inning in the eighth, loading the bases after scoring one unearned run off Cresta, who tossed two and two-thirds frames with just the one run allowed. Colt Taylor entered to save the day, forcing a fly out to left fielder for the final out of the frame.
The Eagles tried to rally one more time in the ninth, scoring once off Taylor with a sacrifice fly with no outs. The Tech reliever rebounded with a strikeout, but a wild pitch and error put runners on first and second with two outs. Taylor dug deep and used four pitches to strike out the final Morehead batter of the game, picking up his first save as a Golden Eagle
Johnson led the Tech offense with three hits on the day, scoring twice. Hinchman and Guardino each drove in a pair while Jones drew a team-high three walks. Lacy, catcher Hayden Gilliland, and center fielder Austin Turner each contributed multi-hit games as well.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 6, AUSTIN PEAY 5
CLARSKVILLE, Tenn. - Southeast Missouri (19-7, 4-2) hit four home runs, including two by Ty Stauss and the late game-clinching homer by Tyler Wilber to edge Austin Peay (10-19, 3-3), 6-5, Sunday afternoon.
A total of eight home runs were hit between the teams as SEMO finished strong with 12 hits. The Redhawks pulled off their 14th come-from-behind win of the season.
SEMO trailed, 3-0, before mounting its comeback by hitting a home run in three-straight innings.
Stauss got things going when he launched a solo home run to left in the top of the fourth inning for the Redhawks first run of the ballgame.
In the fifth, Ben Palmer homered on a 2-0 pitch to left center to make it a 3-2 contest.
An inning later, Stauss came up again and hit his second round-tripper, a two-run shot to right center grabbing SEMO its first lead at 4-3.
Jevon Mason began the seventh inning with a single, advanced to third on an ensuing double by Peyton Leeper and scored on a Wilber single to give the Redhawks a two-run cushion.
APSU responded hit a long ball in both the seventh and ninth innings to get within a run on both of those occasions.
Wilber, after previously getting a RBI-hit in the seventh, hit a two-out solo home run to left field to seal the victory.
Kyle Miller came on in the ninth inning and settled in to get three-straight outs after giving up a home run. Miller nailed down his team-high fifth save with back-to-back strikeouts.
Tommy Windt (3-1) earned the win. Windt worked five innings and allowed three runs on three hits. He also struck out three and walked two.
Ten of the game's 11 tallies were scored on home runs.
Mason (2), Leeper (3) and Wilber (2) teamed up for seven hits out of the top three spots in SEMO's lineup. Leeper finished at 3-for-4. Stauss also had a three-hit day going 3-for-4 with two runs and three RBI.
All three of games of this weekend's series between SEMO and APSU were decided by a run.
BUTLER 2-2, EASTERN ILLINOIS 0-1
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - Eastern Illinois dropped a doubleheader at Butler on Sunday.
Butler took game one by a score of 2-0. Starting pitcher Blake Malatestinic (3-1) threw 5.2 innings in game one while giving up four hits, two runs, one walk and five strikeouts. Ryan Ignoffo was able to keep his hitting streak alive with a team leading 13th double. Nicholas Rucker also had a double in game one for the Panthers.
Butler's starting pitcher Nick Eaton was able to set the emple early on while striking out two Panthers in the first inning. Malatestinic came back in the bottom half of the inning to shut down the Bulldogs while going three-up three-down.
The Panthers' bats got going in the second inning after Ignoffo lead off with a double. After a single by Nathan Aide, Ignoffo was tagged out at third trying to advance. Lawson also singled in the inning to give two runners on for EIU, but failed to score any runs.
Malatestinic gave up a leadoff homerun in the second inning to Billy Wurch to give Butler the early 1-0 lead. The Bulldogs added their second run of the day just a few batters later after an RBI double from Garret Gray to put Butler up two.
Both teams would struggle offensively for the rest of the game as EIU would go scoreless. EIU left two men on in the third after Ja'Lil Akbar and DiLuca reached safely. Malatestinic would settle down go pitch three straight outs in the third.
Relief pitcher Cole Graverson would toss five straight strikeouts between the fourth and fifth inning for Butler to keep EIU off the bases. Derek Drees would enter for Butler to close out the game and pick up his fourth save.
EIU would make one last push in the seventh inning after Rucker leadoff the inning with a double. Bryce Hayman would follow him with a pinch hit walk. Ben Gallaher would advance the runners with a sac bunt, but EIU would fail to convert after that.
In game two Butler walked it off in the 10th inning to win by a final of 2-1. EIU loses their first series since Arkansas-Little Rock to open up the season. Starting pitcher Ky Matthews-Hampton made his season debut on Sunday as he threw 4.2 innings, allowed two hits and one run with two strikeouts. Nichols Rucker had the lone RBI on Sunday for EIU.
Throughout this weekend's four-game series, runs were hard to come by for both teams. The most runs scored in was in game two on Saturday when EIU won 3-2. Game two of Sunday's double header was no different.
EIU had a chance to strike early on in the first inning after Riley and Eickhoff both got on base, but Butler managed to turn a double play to escape the inning. Hampton was able to go three-up three-down during his first appearance this season in the first inning.
Both teams would have runners on in the second, but failed to score. Hampton also produced a one, two, three inning in the third for the Panthers.
After a scoreless fourth inning, Butler manged to score a run after Hampton had walked two Bulldogs in a row to have men on first and second. An error by Akbar at short stop allowed Butler to score and go up 1-0 in the bottom of the fifth. Lang would finish out the inning for Hampton.
The Panthers wouldn't go down easy in the sixth as Rucker managed to hit a single into left field to score Eickhoff from third and advance Ryan Ignoffo and Aide. With bases loaded, Adrian Vega of Butler produced two strikeouts to end the inning for EIU.
Each team had a runner on in the seventh, but failed to score. EIU and Butler went three and out in the eighth and ninth innings to force extra innings. In the tenth after a Riley flyout, Lucas DiLuca was walked to have a runner on first. Eickhoff bunted him over to second to give EIU a man in scoring position. Dawson Taylor relieved Vega for Butler and struck out Tarron Lawson to end the top of the 10th.
Wainscott would put two Bulldogs on base after a hit-by-pitch and a walk. Zane Robbins came in for the Panthers, but gave up a single to Scott Jones to center field to win the game for Butler. It was their second walk-off of the weekend.