TUESDAY'S SCORES
Tennessee Tech 3, #1 Tennessee 2 (Kodak, Tenn.)
@#25 Ole Miss 8,
Murray State 2
@#24 Alabama 3,
Belmont 1
@Eastern Illinois 7, Valparaiso 5 (Rantoul, Ill.)
Northern Kentucky 13,
@Morehead State 4
Southern Illinois 3,
@Southeast Missouri 2
TENNESSEE TECH 3, #1 TENNESSEE 2
KODAK, Tenn. - The stars aligned and midweek baseball did not disappoint Tuesday evening, as the Tennessee Tech baseball team delivered one of the most impressive wins in program history by taking down No. 1 nationally-ranked Tennessee by a final score of 3-2.
Competing in a wood-bat contest at Smokies Stadium, the home of the Tennessee Smokies, the Double-A Minor League affiliate of the Chicago Cubs, the Golden Eagles overcame early adversity, from a pair of relatively unlikely heroes coming into the contest. In the process of picking up the school's first victory over a No. 1 team in any sport, Tech also snapped the Vols' 23-game winning streak, the nation's longest, and handed Tennessee just its second loss of the season.
It marked the third win by an OVC team over a No. 1 team in the last three full seasons.
Right out of the gate, the purple and gold look like it would have its hands full with one of the top pitching staffs in the nation, with the first five Golden Eagles being set down on strikes. In fact, it took four and two-thirds frames for the Tech squad to secure its first hit of the night.
What kept the Cookeville crew in the contest early was a very solid start from southpaw Brock Smith, who allowed just two runs, and one earned, over the opening three and one-third innings. The junior struck out four Vol batters and allowed just four hits and while working around five walks.
The nation's consensus No. 1 team took control of the scoreboard in the third, gathering a hit and walk to set up an RBI single for Drew Gilbert through the left side. Later in the frame, the Vols made it a 2-0 lead, scoring a fielding error at third base.
Tennessee threatened to increase that advantage in the fourth, putting a pair of runners on with one out to force Tech head coach Matt Bragga to go to his bullpen. In stepped the biggest hero of the night for the Golden Eagles, with Carter Gannaway taking over on the mound and using just three pitches to record the final two outs of the frame.
The purple and gold responded to the clutch entry of its reliever by providing a little help on the scoreboard, finally breaking through with a pair of outs in the fifth. Designated hitter Hayden Gilliland ripped a single off the foot of UT hurler Wyatt Evans to snap the no-hit bid.
Catcher Will Long followed two pitches later with a base knock to right field. Following a pitching change for the Vols, second baseman Noah Hattier came through with Tech's third-straight base hit, an infield crack to third base that drove in the team's first run of the game.
With Gannaway back out on the hill in the fifth for the purple and gold, the right-hander really began to settle in and set the stage for his best performance as a Golden Eagle. He set the nation's number one offense down in order, collecting his first punch-out of the night to end the frame.
The Tech bats continued to back its hurler in the scoring column in the sixth, delivering the big blow from the game's second superhero showing of the night. With the country's hardest throwing pitcher taking over for the Vols in Ben Joyce, who constantly breaks 100 miles per hour with his fastball, the Golden Eagles learned from the first two at-bats of the frame, both strikeouts.
With two outs, left fielder Jason Hinchman simply ambushed the first pitch he saw, peppering a single up the middle to keep the inning alive. In stepped Tech's caped crusader, right fielder Eric Newsom. Despite falling behind in the count 0-2, and batting under .250 in limited action this season, the slugger calmly continued with his approach and blasted a triple-digit fastball to center field, easily clearing the wall for a go-ahead, two-run home run.
It marked his second round-tripper of the year and just the second long ball that Joyce had surrendered this season. The two runs also represented the first two earned runs given up by the Vol reliever on the year.
Now with a lead securely in his back pocket, Gannaway started to dominate on the mound. In the bottom half of the sixth, he struck out the side with a trio of K's of the swinging variety. He chalked up two more punchies in the seventh, making it 11 straight Vols retired in a row to start his night.
Tennessee finally earned a baserunner off the sophomore hurler in the eighth, with Gilbert drawing a lead-off walk. After a fielder's choice, Luc Lipcius made it two Vols to collect a free pass. Gannaway responded by fanning his seventh batter of the evening and forcing a fly out to center field to escape the threat.
Headed back out for the ninth, Gannaway's career night culminated in one more perfect inning, creating a storybook end for the purple and gold. The right-hander came into the evening scuffling as of late, seeing his season ERA rise to 9.00 after struggling with his command over the past four outings.
Those struggles seemed a thing of the past, as the Tech reliever racked up two more strikeouts to start the ninth. He then forced a ground ball to Tech third baseman Gabe Lacy, who made a clean throw to Golston Gillespie at first for the final out.
Delivering the best pitching performance of his career, Gannaway completed the final five and two-thirds frames to pick up his third win of the year. He did so without allowing a hit to the nation's top offense and while tallying a career-high-shattering nine punch-outs.
The win marked the third win by an Ohio Valley Conference team over a No. 1-ranked opponent in the last four seasons, joining Morehead State's 5-2 victory over Louisville (Mar. 2, 2021) and Austin Peay's 7-6 win over Vanderbilt (Feb. 27, 2019). It also marked Tech's first win over a national-ranked foe since capturing a 5-4 victory to open the 2018 Super Regional at No. 5 Texas.
#25 OLE MISS 8, MURRAY STATE 2
OXFORD, Ala. - Murray State (15-16) baseball dropped a midweek matchup with national powerhouse Ole Miss 8-2 on Tuesday at Swayze Field in Oxford, Mississippi. The game was the fifth versus a Southeastern Conference opponent this season after prior battles with Alabama and Kentucky.
Racers outfielder Cade Sammons shined for MSU while playing at his old stomping grounds. Sammons, who had a previous stop at Ole Miss before transferring to Murray State, went 2 for 4 on the day with a pair of doubles with an RBI and a run scored in the contest. All four Racer hits were in the two-bag variety with Riley Hawthorne and Cayden Shaver collecting a double each along with Sammons.
Murray State put together a staff day on the mound, utilizing 10 arms on the day. The Racers pitching staff allowed the Rebels to score in just two innings on the day.
Ole Miss transfer Cade Sammons shined, going 2 for 4 with two doubles
Murray State collected four extra-base hits in the game, all in the form of doubles
The Racers used 10 pitchers in the contest with six of the arms tossing at least one scoreless inning
#24 ALABAMA 3, BELMONT 1
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Belmont University baseball team gave No. 24 Alabama all it could handle on Tuesday afternoon in a fiercely fought midweek contest, but came up a little short, 3-1, at Sewell-Thomas Stadium in Tuscaloosa.
Trailing 3-1 in the ninth, the Bruins brought the tying run to the plate with two outs thanks to a pinch-hit single from Blake Barton. However, the Alabama reliever struck out Grayson Taylor to end the game.
Belmont (21-12, 7-2 OVC) limited their SEC opponent to just three runs and eight hits on a staff day, with Jordan Zuger, Chandler Schultz, Dominic Baratta, Dusty Baird, and Aaron Hubbell all chipping in on the mound.
Zuger tied his longest outing of the season by tossing 3 1/3 innings to give Belmont a strong start, recording three strikeouts and limiting the Crimson Tide to three hits.
The Bruin defense was spectacular all game, with Grayson Taylor providing what may have been the top infield play of the season to take away an Alabama run.
Belmont, ranked eighth in the country in fielding percentage, also turned a double play and did not commit an error.
Jack Capobianco led the Bruins at the plate, going 3-for-4 with two doubles and collecting his first three-hit game of the season.
Belmont appeared to strike first in in the second inning after Capobianco doubled down the right field line and then advanced to third base on a wild pitch. After Jackson Campbell flied out to right field, Capobianco tagged and came home, where he danced around two tags from the Alabama catcher before touching home plate. However, Capobianco was ruled out on the play and after a lengthy review, the call stood.
Belmont got their only run in the eighth inning, after John Behrends and Guy Lipscomb orchestrated a double steal to set the table for Brodey Heaton to ground out to first base, driving in Behrends.
The Bruins gave themselves plenty of chances offensively, working deep into counts and getting on base, and were able to move into scoring position with excellent base-running, successfully stealing four bags. However, Belmont went 1-for-14 with runners on and went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 7, VALPARAISO 5
RANTOUL, Ill. - Eastern Illinois (22-8, 5-1 OVC) earn their third straight win at the Rantoul Family Sports Complex as they defeated Valparaiso (11-17, 0-3 MVC) 7-5 Tuesday evening. Starting pitcher Mac Hickman threw in 5.0 innings and allowed four hits, one run, and struck out three on his way to his second consecutive win. Lucas DiLuca had himself a three hit game including a double to left center field. Logan Eickhoff and Dalton Doyle both had two RBIs in the win.
Mac Hickman started his evening strong with a scoreless first inning while tossing a strikeout. Lincoln Riley would draw a walk to leadoff the game, one of three walks for Riley. After a passed ball, DiLuca hit Riley to third. Eickhoff stepped up and was able to hit into a fielder's choice to score the Panthers first run of the game.
Valparaiso was unable to get anything going in the second and third off of Hickman as he did not allowed a hit in either inning. After Riley's second walk and a double by DiLuca to put runners in scoring position, Eickhoff punched a single between third and short to score Riley. DiLuca would also score on a wild pitch in the inning. After a Nathan Aide single, Doyle laid a sac bunt down to score Aide and put EIU up 4-1.
The Beacons were able to get on the board off of Hickman in the fifth as Nolan Tucker lead off the inning with a solo homerun. Hickman would manage to get out of the inning without any more damage.
EIU came back in the bottom of the fifth and put two more runs on. DiLuca started off the inning with his third hit of the ball game. Aide followed him with a single to left field which moved DiLuca to third. Rucker then hit another single to score DiLuca to extend the lead. Doyle would pick up his second RBI later in the inning with a groundout to score Aide and put EIU up six.
Hayden Birdsong would come in relief for Hickman in the sixth and throw three straight strikeouts for his only inning of work. Jesse Wainscott then followed Birdsong in the seventh with a one, two, three inning. Jackson Nichols came in the eighth and allowed two hits, but was able to get a huge pick-off at first to get out of the inning.
The Panthers struck for a final time in the bottom of the eighth with a double steal by Ja'Lil Akbar at second and Bryce Hayman at home to put seven on the board for EIU. Akbar would be thrown out on the play to end the inning.
Zane Robbins would come in to close out the game for EIU, but would struggle to close out the game. Valpo lead off the inning with a double by Brady Renfro. Robbins got a strikeout after that for the first out. After two straight walks, Jeremy Drudge hit a ball to left center off the wall to score three and put Valpo within striking distance. Robbins would give up one more RBI before closing out the game with a fly out to center field and end the game with a score of 7-5.
NORTHERN KENTUCKY 13, MOREHEAD STATE 4
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Despite four solo home runs, the Morehead State baseball team could not complete the season sweep of Northern Kentucky Tuesday, falling 13-4 in the midweek matchup. The Eagles (14-17, 4-2 OVC) struggled to keep NKU (12-18, 6-5 Horizon League) off the base paths, losing their second matchup of the season with the Norse.
Trevor Callahan got the starting nod and came out hot, striking out the first batter he faced in the midst of a 1-2-3 first. Jackson Feltner launched his seventh homer of the season in the bottom half to give Morehead State a 1-0 lead.
Callahan (L, 1-3) struggled in the second inning, hitting a batter with the bases loaded and two outs to tie the game before giving up a bases-clearing double to Manny Vorhees that gave the Norse a 4-1 lead. The Eagles got a run back in the bottom half on a solo shot from Isaias Guzman, his second homer of the season.
Six more runs crossed the plate for the Norse before Morehead State scored again, including three in the third on a bases loaded walk and a two-run double from Brandon Tucker. In the bottom of the sixth, Jacob Ferry launched a pinch-hit solo shot to right field for his first home run of the season to cut the deficit to 10-3.
In the ninth, Bryce Ray led off the inning with his third homer of the year, a solo shot to right center. Of Ray's five hits on the year, three have been home runs.
Morehead State nearly out-hit the Norse, with 10 base hits to their 11. Finding the zone was the main issue for the Eagles Tuesday, as MSU pitching walked 12 NKU batters and hit three more. Of the 15 batters who reached via the free pass, six of them scored.
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 3, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 2
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri (23-8) pounded out 10 hits with Jevon Mason and Brett Graber getting two apiece in a tight 3-2 loss to longtime rival Southern Illinois (24-9) Tuesday night at Capaha Field.
SEMO saw its program record 17-game home winning streak come to an end with the one-run loss in its 91st meeting with the Salukis.
SIU built an early 2-0 lead after scoring once in the first two innings.
Cody Cleveland walked, went to third on a double by Kaeber Rog and scored the game's first run on a fielder's choice. Ryan Rodriguez then led off the second inning with a solo home run in the top of the second.
SEMO cut the Salukis lead during the home half of the second. Ben Palmer doubled down the left field line to bring home Graber, who singled to start the inning.
With one out in the fourth, Nick Hagedorn homered to right field to widen SIU's lead to 3-1.
The Redhawks, however, responded with a round-tripper of their own when Spencer Parker hit his second home run of the season over the left field wall to make it a 3-2 contest.
After SEMO came up empty with runners at first and third in the sixth and seventh innings, SIU reliever Matthew Steidl retired the final seven hitters he faced en route to his third save.
Jordan Gould (3-0) picked up the win in relief after throwing 1.2 scoreless innings. Gould allowed three hits and struck out one.
Bryce Grossius (0-1) suffered his first loss of the season. Grossius allowed three runs on three hits, struck out two and walked four in 3.2 innings.
SEMO outhit SIU, 10-6. Peyton Leeper, Tyler Wilber, Andrew Keck, Ty Stauss, Palmer and Parker also had a hit. Wilber kept his hitting streak intact at six games, while Keck ran his to eight.