SATURDAY'S SCORES
Murray State 15-24, @Eastern Illinois 9-20 (Mattoon, Ill.)
@SIUE 17-19, Austin Peay 11-13
@UT Martin 24, Tennessee Tech 17
@Southeast Missouri 16-9, Morehead State 9-8
Belmont 11, @Purdue 1
MURRAY STATE 15-24, EASTERN ILLINOIS 9-20
MATTOON, Ill. - Murray State (21-18) baseball took both games of the Saturday doubleheader to complete the sweep over Eastern Illinois at Lake Land College in Mattoon, Illinois. The Racers took game one of the doubleheader 15-9 before mashing their way to a 24-20 victory in game three. MSU set the school single-game home run record with 10 homers in the series finale.
Jacob Pennington highlighted the Racers potent offense in game one of the day with two home runs in the contest. The redshirt sophomore would collect six RBIs and score four runs in the game while also drawing two walks. Shortstop Drew Vogel got his impressive day started in game one with three hits including his 12th double of the season. Jake Slunder blasted his fourth homer of the season in the contest while scoring three runs and driving in two. Bryson Bloomer smacked two doubles in the game to bring his season total to seven. Alex Crump and Parker Estes each had a multi-hit game to get the Racers impressive offensive day started.
Hayden Wynja earned the start for MSU while going 5.0 innings and striking out four while allowing just three earned runs. Cade Vernon earned the win after tossing 1.2 shutout innings and striking out two in the relief appearance.
Game two of the doubleheader proved to be a monumental affair for Murray State as they slugged 10 home runs to set the new school record for single-game homers.
Bloomer continued to smack the baseball in game two as he went for two home runs and six RBIs in the first inning alone. The third baseman would finish the game 4-for-6 with three home runs and eight RBIs with four runs scored. Vogel also blasted three home runs in the game as the duo becomes the first pair of teammates in recent MSU memory to have three home runs each in the same game. Brennan McCullough smacked two homers of his own against the Panthers while scoring four runs and drawing a walk. Riley Hawthorne and Cayden Shaver each touched their first round-trippers of the year to bring the total home run count in the game to 10. Shaver would also hit a double while Hawthorne went for an impressive five hits in the game. The Racers combined for 21 hits in the finale while scoring the second-most runs in a game this season.
Alex Jarrell earned the win after throwing 4.0 innings while allowing just two earned runs.
SIUE 17-19, AUSTIN PEAY 11-13
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - SIUE scored a combined 36 runs on 40 hits, including six home runs, Saturday on its way to a doubleheader sweep of Austin Peay at Simmons Baseball Complex. The Cougars won by scores of 17-11 and 19-13 to sweep the three-game Ohio Valley Conference series.
The Cougars have won four in a row and improved to 18-18 overall and are now 6-6 in the OVC. Austin Peay slipped to 15-25 overall and 7-8 in league play.
The Cougars moved into fourth place in the OVC standings following the weekend sweep.
SIUE sent 21 hitters to the plate in the first inning of the night cap, scoring a remarkable 17 runs on 15 hits. The 17 runs fell a tally shy of the NCAA record for first-inning runs, while the 15 hits equals the record for first-inning hits.
Austin Peay scored six times in the ninth to pull within six.
Josh Ohl and Drew Mize each had four hits in the game. Three of Ohl's hits came in the first inning. Brady Bunten and Brennan Orf each had three hits in the game. Brett Pierson was 2-4 with a home run, single and four RBIs, all of which came in the first inning. Orf and Richie Well both had three RBIs in the game.
It was a big inning in the early game which also vaulted SIUE to victory. After Austin Peay took a 9-4 lead with a six-run fifth, the Cougars responded with 10 runs on nine hits in the bottom of the inning. SIUE sent 14 hitters in the plate in that inning.
The Cougars belted five homers in the early game, two of which came off the bat of Orf.
Orf was 9-11 in the series with three home runs and six RBIs.
Brett Johnson homered and finished with three hits. Steven Pattan also finished with three hits and two RBIs. Connor Kiffer homered and had four RBIs in game two.
Ohl also finished the weekend with nine hits. Bunten, Mize and Johnson finished the series with eight hits each. Pierson and Pattan both had five hits for the weekend
Both SIUE starters earned wins. Kaid Karnes allowed nine runs, all of which were unearned, in the first game. He struck out seven in five innings. Collin Baumgartner, making his first after missing two weeks, allowed two runs over four innings in the second game. He struck out three.
With six home runs Sunday, the Cougars have now hit 67, which is a new record for home runs in a season at the Division I level. The overall school record is 69 set in 1998.
UT MARTIN 24, TENNESSEE TECH 17
MARTIN, Tenn. - In an offensive showcase the likes of which hadn't been seen for quite some time – and in some facets, never prior reached – the University of Tennessee at Martin baseball team nearly set the scoreboard ablaze in Saturday afternoon's wild outing against Tennessee Tech, smashing the Golden Eagles for 24 runs (the Skyhawks' most ever against an NCAA Division I opponent), eight doubles, five homers, and two separate innings of scoring eight or more times. By the time the dust settled on a helter skelter contest that featured a combined 41 runs and 20 extra-base hits, the orange and blue stood on top of the purple and gold by the frenetic final of 24-17.
Resembling more of a gridiron matchup than one on the diamond, the Skyhawks' offensive avalanche – involving all but two innings of scoring at least once – effectively tied the weekend series at one game apiece for the team's second Ohio Valley Conference W of the year. Grasping 47 total bases (the most for UTM in a single game in 18 years), the home side produced a litany of remarkable performances, although no one shined quite as bright as senior shortstop Casey Harford, who turned in a stat-line for the ages in the seven-run triumph.
As if a 4/5, two-run, two-RBI day in the series opener wasn't enough of a statement, Harford blasted three more homers in Game 2 alone, becoming the first UT Martin player in the history of the university to land four extra-base hits in one bout by adding a double to his ridiculous afternoon. Enjoying the same company as Gary Barfield in 1991 and Chad Wyatt in 1995 – although the only one of that group to go yard three times against a conference opponent – Harford's astonishing achievement wasn't the only noteworthy bullet point that the Skyhawks inked on Saturday.
The aforementioned eight doubles stand as the most for the program since an April 2006 contest vs. Saint Louis, while the 24 hits altogether hasn't been duplicated since a bout with Murray State six years back.
Approaching today's tussle, the all-time UT Martin record for runs in a single inning stood at eight, accomplished on numerous occasions. The Skyhawks cemented another flurry of that kind in the 2nd inning, before one-upping even that lofty figure with a new school-best nine runs in the bottom of the 4th. Over that three-inning stretch, UTM cascaded 19 hits to put themselves in front by a 20-9 margin, a hole too large for the Golden Eagles to escape from.
Listed among Harford's ethereal day at the plate was the first collegiate home run by freshman Blaze Bell next to a team-high six RBI, yet another long-ball by Jack Culumovic (to give the team five in all) beside three RBI and two runs, a 4/5 effort on two doubles and three runs batted in from Wil LaFollette, and a three-hit, four-run showing from second-baseman Alec Beaman. Eight UTM batters ended Game 2 with two hits or more in an otherworldly offensive day.
UTM's eight-run 2nd frame started and ended with a LaFollette RBI, while a Beaman base hit, sacrifice fly, Bell homer, and Harford homer were sandwiched in between. Another sacrifice fly and Harford repeat HR put the Skyhawks ahead 11-7 after three busy innings that would, unbeknownst to Tennessee Tech, get even busier in a hurry.
A pair of RBI doubles from centerfielder Will Smith and catcher Chance Merithew, Culumovic's three-run bomb, two singles from Beaman and Bell, and two TTU-assisted runs on a wild pitch and bases-loaded walk ballooned the advantage to 11 with only 24 outs recorded following the Skyhawks' record-breaking 4th stanza. The navy and orange would still dish out four more scores to give themselves an even larger cushion that kept their in-state foe at bay.
Harford's third rocket (and fourth of the series) in the bottom of the 5th preceded Smith's second run-scoring double of the day and Bell's sixth RBI in the next frame. LaFollette added in his team-best 11th double of the year in the 7th to bring home first-baseman Ethan Whitley, concluding the game's whirlwind style with a seven-score difference in favor of the Skyhawks.
Behind starting pitcher Jacob Smith, Matt Dickey and sophomore Tucker Reed occupied the mound for UTM in the Saturday sun. The latter grabbed his first 2022 win beside a solid 4.2 innings of work, striking out four batters out of 20 faced and helping preserve the W to bring the Skyhawks to a 9-25 record as a whole.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 16-9, MOREHEAD STATE 9-8
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri (28-10, 11-4) completed a series sweep of Morehead State (16-22, 5-7) with a 16-9, 9-8, doubleheader win Saturday at Capaha Field.
SEMO improved to 20-1 at home with its sixth sweep this season.
Game one featured a total of 25 runs and 25 hits between the teams.
The Redhawks fell behind, 4-0, in the top of the first before answering with six during their turn in the inning. Lincoln Andrews hit a grand slam, Brett Graber walked in a run and Ty Stauss delivered a RBI-single in SEMO's big opening frame.
After MSU responded with four more runs to regain a two-run advantage in the top of the second, SEMO put up four more. Tyler Wilber doubled and Jevon Mason scored. Andrew Keck drove in Peyton Leeper and Wilber touched home on a groundout by Graber to put the Redhawks ahead, 10-8.
SEMO didn't trail again the rest of the way.
The Redhawks scored three runs in each of the sixth and seventh innings to polish off their game one victory. Keck scored four runs, while Mason and Leeper each scored three. Stauss paved the way with three hits and six RBI, and Wilber followed with two hits. Graber had two hits and three RBI, as well.
Tommy Windt (4-1) picked up the win out of the Redhawks bullpen. Windt struck out seven, walked none and allowed only one run in 7.2 innings.
Additionally, SEMO had 10 hits.
In the nightcap, Graber hit a two-out walkoff home run to left sending SEMO to a one-run extra inning win in the bottom of the 10th.
The Redhawks again had to come from behind after trailing 6-2 after two-and-a-half innings.
Keck launched a two-run home run to right center to get SEMO within two in the third. An inning later Andrews and Mason both homered to tie the game at 6-6.
After the Eagles regained an 8-6 lead in the top of the seventh, SEMO again tied things up with a pair of runs in the eighth. Andrews hit his third home run of the day, this time a two-run shot to right field with two outs bringing the game to an 8-8 deadlock.
Five of SEMO's nine hits were home runs. Mason, Graber and Andrews had two hits apiece.
Kyle Miller (7-2) claimed the win in relief. Miller struck out five in three scoreless two-hit innings.
BELMONT 11, PURDUE 1
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - - Joshua South threw seven sparkling innings and the Bruin offense exploded for a season-high 17 hits in a series-clinching 11-1 win over Purdue in West Lafayette, Ind., on Saturday.
The win marks the largest margin of victory against a Power Five opponent in school history, eclipsing the 15-6 win over Vanderbilt on April 1, 2009.
By winning back-to-back games over Purdue, Belmont secured their first series win over a Power Five opponent since they took two out of three from Northwestern on the road on May 18-19, 2018.
Belmont (25-14, 9-3 OVC) was led offensively by Guy Lipscomb, who finished 4-for-5 with three RBIs and a walk, John Behrends, who went 3-for-6 with three RBIs, and Jackson Campbell, who collected three hits as well in the win.
Brodey Heaton homered in the ninth and Tommy Crider, Logan Jarvis, and Grayson Taylor all drove in runs as well.
South (W, 5-2) went seven strong innings and scattered four hits while allowing just one run, on a solo homer in the bottom of the second inning. The native of Cookeville, Tenn., collected three strikeouts and only walked two Boilermakers.
Indianapolis native Dusty Baird closed out the game with two scoreless frames in relief, scattering two hits and picking up a strikeout.
Belmont was aided by three Purdue errors, and tallied a season-high 17 hits in the game including Heaton's home run, a Jarvis triple, and doubles for Lipscomb and Behrends.
The Bruins got their leadoff man aboard in seven of the nine innings, cashing in with those leadoff runners on five occasions.
Belmont jumped ahead 3-0 in the second inning, and after Purdue got a solo home run in the bottom of the second, the Bruins added two runs in the third and one run in the fourth to take a 6-1 lead.
Belmont then blew the game wide open with a four-run fifth inning that was highlighted by RBI singles from Lipscomb, Behrends, and Crider, and an RBI grounder from Heaton.