SATURDAY'S SCORES
Belmont 4, @Morehead State 2
@Murray State 8, UT Martin 1
@Austin Peay 8, Eastern Illinois 4
@Tennessee Tech 7, Southeast Missouri 4
@Southern Illinois 7-4,
SIUE 6-0
BELMONT 4, MOREHEAD STATE 2
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Behind dominant pitching from Jalen Borders and two timely home runs from Brodey Heaton and Tommy Crider, the Belmont University baseball team clinched a series win over Morehead State on Saturday with a 4-2 victory at Allen Field.
With Saturday's win, Belmont (23-13, 9-3 OVC) has now won all four of their Ohio Valley Conference series this season and snapped a nine-series win streak that Morehead State held at home dating back to 2020.
Crider's solo home run in the ninth inning to give Belmont a 4-2 lead meant the junior from Madison, Ala., has homered in three straight games. The designated hitter hit a two-run homer on Thursday, and a two-run homer on Friday before Saturday's home run to center field, giving him a team-high eight long balls on the year.
After the first two games in the series saw a combined 39 runs scored, a pitcher's duel on Saturday seemed unlikely. However, Jalen Borders delivered one of his best starts of the season, going 6 2/3 innings with six strikeouts and only one earned run to get the win.
Belmont's offense was quieted early, with five strikeouts of Bruin batters starting the game and Belmont not getting their first hit until a single in the fourth inning.
After a solo home run from Morehead State gave the Eagles a 1-0 lead in the second inning, Borders locked in and scattered just three more hits and one more unearned run in the seventh before exiting.
Morehead State held the one-run lead until the sixth inning, when John Behrends walked to get on base and set the table for Brodey Heaton, who with two outs hammered his second home run of the series over the right field fence to give Belmont a 2-1 lead.
The Bruins manufactured a run in the seventh when Mason Landers doubled to left-center to lead off the inning, then advanced to third base on a grounder from Jack Capobianco.
Jackson Campbell flared a shallow fly into left field that was caught by the Morehead State second baseman. Belmont rolled the dice, sending Landers from third and had the gamble pay off, with the sophomore third baseman getting to home plate before the throw.
After Borders exited in a 3-2 game in the seventh, Will Jenkins (SV, 2) came on in relief and was lights out, going 2 1/3 hitless innings to collect his second save of the season.
Landers finished 2-for-3 with a double, Crider finished 2-for-4 with a home run, and John Behrends went 1-for-2 with two walks.
MURRAY STATE 8, UT MARTIN 1
MURRAY, Ky. - Murray State (18-16) baseball defeated UT Martin 8-1 on Saturday afternoon at Johnny Reagan Field in Murray, Kentucky. Racers starting pitching combined for 17 innings on the weekend with zero earned runs and helped complete the Racers first sweep since Illinois State on March 10 and 11.
Adrien Reese toed the rubber for MSU and tossed five shutout innings while allowing just two Skyhawks hits and striking out three. Reese now holds a 2-2 record on the year and has pitched 28.2 innings this season. Jacob Pennington threw three innings in relief, allowing just one run and striking out three before Matt Boynton slammed the door with a scoreless ninth inning.
Seth Gardner and Jordan Holly led the Racers offense with two hits each. Gardner also collected two RBIs in the performance while Holly drove in one, scored a run of his own, and swiped two bags. Alex Crump smacked his sixth double of the season while scoring three times for Murray State. Third baseman Bryson Bloomer grabbed two RBIs and a stolen base in the contest to go with a base hit.
AUSTIN PEAY 8, EASTERN ILLINOIS 4
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Starting pitcher Drew McIllwain held Eastern Illinois to one hit over the first six innings, leading Austin Peay State University’s baseball team to a 8-4 Ohio Valley Conference victory in the series finale against Eastern Illinois, Saturday, on Joe Maynard Field at Raymond C. Hand Park.
McIllwain (3-4) allowed his first hit to second baseman Lucas Diluca – the second batter of the game. He promptly followed that by retiring the next nine batters he faced before DiLuca walked in the fourth inning. McIllwain then induced a double play and again went on a tear, retiring nine consecutive batters to get to the seventh inning.
Meanwhile, Austin Peay (14-22, 7-5 OVC) had Eastern Illinois starter Blake Malatestinic (3-2) on the ropes early. The Govs loaded the bases in the second inning with a hit batsman and back-to-back singles. However, they could not knock the Panthers starter out of the game with center fielder Skyler Luna’s sacrifice fly driving in the inning’s only run.
The Governors had more luck in the fifth, sending 11 men to the plate. Catcher Jack Alexander hit a two-run home run and designated hitter John McDonald and right fielder Harrison Brown followed with back-to-back doubles to knock Malatestinic out of the game. First baseman Ty DeLancey then hit the third double of the inning with two outs to drive in two more runs for a 7-0 lead.
Austin Peay would tack on one more run in the sixth with McDonald and Brown again hitting back-to-back doubles – the sixth and seventh two-baggers of the day – for a 8-0 lead.
Eastern Illinois (24-9, 7-2 OVC) broke up the shutout bid in the seventh with one out. McIllwain issued three consecutive walks to pinch hitters before left fielder Bryce Hayman hit a two-out grand slam to end McIllwain’s outing. Reliever Collin Loose struck out the second batter he faced to end the game.
McIllwain notched his third win after allowing four runs on two hits and four walks while striking out five batters in 6.2 innings.
Malatestinic surrendered five runs on seven hits and four walks over four-plus innings to suffer his second loss of the season.
Harrison Brown went 3-for-4 with two RBI, including two doubles for the Governors only multi-hit outing of the finale.
TENNESSEE TECH 7, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 4
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - A big inning, a huge swing, and a trio of solid pitching performances led the Tennessee Tech baseball team to an Ohio Valley Conference series-clinching victory Saturday afternoon, as the Golden Eagles (20-13, 4-5) edged Southeast Missouri, 7-4, at Quillen Field and Bush Stadium at the Averitt Express Baseball Complex.
Starter Connor Adams was impressive after working around some early trouble, picking up his fourth win of the year after tossing five and one-third frames. The Redhawks (24-10, 8-4) doubled on the first pitch of the game, but the southpaw answered back with a strikeout.
A fielding error by the Golden Eagles put runners on the corners, setting up Andrew Keck for an RBI double and the visitors threatening for more. Adams dug deep, producing back-to-back punch-outs to escape further damage.
The Tech bats were quick to back their hurler, with third baseman Gabe Lacy tying the ball game with one swing. The second batter of the bottom of the first, Lacy turned on an 0-1 offering and blasted a no-doubter to left-center field, his sixth home run of the year.
Adams worked around a lead-off walk in the second, gathering another strikeout and a pair of groundouts. The Redhawks jumped back on top in the third, with Tyler Wilber smacking a solo dinger to left-center field.
The Tech starter held strong, limiting the damage to the one run and then working a scoreless fourth with two more punchies. The Golden Eagle bats went to work in the bottom half, working hard to provide some scoring for their starter.
With one out, first baseman Golston Gillespie drew a four-pitch walk and was followed by a single through the left side by shortstop Ed Johnson. Right fielder Ryan Guardino loaded the bags with a base knock down the right-field line.
Noah Hattier squared the game up in the following at-bat, smacking a line drive to center field that was caught on the dive. The swing allowed Gillespie to tag and score the tying run, giving Hattier a sacrifice fly.
Center fielder Austin Turner kept the pressure on by roping a double to left field, driving in the go-ahead run for the purple and gold. On the play, Tech picked up a second run as an errant throw from left field rolled through the infield and threatened to squeak by the Southeast Missouri catcher.
The Redhawk backstop stopped the ball with his mask, an illegal action that resulted in an error and the two remaining Tech baserunners advancing one base. Guardino came into score on the play, making it a 4-2 Tech lead. Lacy increased that advantage to 5-2 on the first pitch he saw, lacing an RBI single to left field.
Both sides traded goose eggs in the fifth and SEMO tried to get something going in the sixth, with Keck smashing a solo bomb to center field to cut the Tech lead to two. Adams recorded one more out before exiting the game following a base hit. The Golden Eagle junior finished the day with six strikeouts and just the three earned runs allowed.
Travis Odom took over on the hill and worked around his own walk, garnering back-to-back groundouts to escape the jam. He tossed a scoreless frame in the seventh, securing a punch-out and two more groundouts to take the team to the stretch.
The Golden Eagles gathered some much-needed insurance in the bottom half, thanks to one swing from one of the team's sluggers. After catcher Hayden Gilliland drew a one-out walk, Gillespie took his turn in the box, fouling off the first pitch he saw.
He responded by pulverizing the next offering, crushing a two-run round-tripper to right field off the press box at Tech Softball Field. It marked his eighth dinger of the season and jumped the Tech lead up to 7-3.
Reliever Frankie Cresta entered the ball game in the eighth, allowing a single to the lead-off batter. A wild pitch and back-to-back groundouts allowed the run to score, but Cresta shut the door on any more scoring with a fly ball out to left field.
The right-hander secured the victory for the purple and gold in the ninth, book-ending a groundout with a pair of strikeouts.
Lacy and Johnson led the Golden Eagles with two hits each while Lacy and Gillespie posted team-highs of two RBI. Seven different Tech batters collected at least one knock on the day.
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 7-4, SIUE 6-0
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Southern Illinois swept both games of a doubleheader from SIUE Saturday at Itchy Jones Stadium. The Salukis won game 6-5 before shutting out the Cougars 4-0 in the nightcap.
SIUE has lost three in a row and fell to 14-18. SIU Carbondale improved to 26-9.
The Salukis walked off in game one, scoring the winning run on a single by Nathan Bandy in the bottom of the ninth against SIUE reliever Jake Bockenstedt.
SIU took a 2-0 lead in the third, before the Cougars got a run back in the fourth on a Josh Ohl RBI-hit. SIUC extended the lead to 5-1 in the fourth before Well's first home run, a solo shot, made it 5-2 in the sixth.
Well tied the game 5-5 in the eighth inning with a three-run home run. Well finished the game 2-5 with the pair of home runs and 4 RBIs.
The Salukis regained the lead in the bottom of the eighth thanks to a leadoff home run by Pier-Olivier Boucher.
Brett Pierson led off the Cougar ninth with a single, and he moved to second with a sacrifice bunt from Steve Pattan. He then scored on an RBI-single from Drew Mize, to tie the score 6-6.
Bockenstedt (2-4) took the loss. He retired only one in the ninth inning.
In addition to Well, Brett Johnson, Josh Ohl, Pierson and Mize each had two hits in the game.
SIUE managed only four hits against SIU Carbondale righthander Ben Chapman (1-2) who picked up the complete game and struck out four. Connor Kiffer, Brady Bunten, Pierson and Mize each had a single hit in game two.
SIUE starter Kaid Karnes (3-3) also worked all seven to record his first career complete game. He allowed all four runs on eight hits and struck out four.