SUNDAY'S SCORES
@UT Martin 10, Tennessee Tech 9
Belmont 8, @Purdue 6
UT MARTIN 10, TENNESSEE TECH 9
MARTIN, Tenn. - Picking up right where they left off 24 hours after one of the most incredible offensive displays in school history, the University of Tennessee at Marin baseball team made it two in a row over Tennessee Tech in Sunday afternoon's series finale, again receiving a multitude of outstanding performances at the plate to outlast the Golden Eagles at home 10-9.
Successfully bouncing back from a high-scoring loss on Friday to overpower TTU by a combined score of 34-28 over the past two days, the Skyhawks' scintillating sequence of wins over their in-state foe have given the program three consecutive series wins against a visiting side that entered the weekend with quite the intimidating resume.
Now that the debris has cleared from UTM's offensive earthquake over the weekend, head coach Ryan Jenkins' club can admire a three-day period where the roster racked up 48 hits – 21 of them in the extra-base variety – on a .746 team slugging percentage and four separate innings recording four or more runs. A grand total of eight home runs (including four off the bat of shortstop Casey Harford) and 10 more doubles since Friday night have sent the Skyhawks' confidence soaring to new heights on the season following their third Ohio Valley Conference W of the semester.
Submitting their bid to the school record books for the second straight day, UT Martin's trifecta of triples on Sunday alone stands as only the third time since the program transitioned to the NCAA Division I level that the orange and blue poured in three of that kind in a single game, joining a 2004 performance versus Army and a 2009 explosion against Memphis for university-high honors.
Speaking specifically of the Game 3 clincher, the trio of Harford, Jack Culumovic, and Nate Self would account for seven of the team's 11 hits on Sunday next to a couple of scores batted in. Add a three-run moonshot past rightfield from Wil LaFollette – the sophomore's fifth homer of the year – in the bottom of the 5th and a clutch defensive stand in the final frame, and UTM mixed all the ingredients for the series W, reaching a whopping 38 RBI over the past 72 hours.
After snagging two runs in the 3rd stanza, UT Martin snowballed what eventually turned into a six-score 5th inning once Harford boomed his seventh RBI of the weekend (and 27th of the season) on a triple to send Alec Beaman home. Wrapping up an utterly tremendous three-day stretch that featured 27 total bases from Harford alone, the senior infielder sent the Golden Eagles packing with 11 total hits throughout the series, seven of which went for extra bases with four home runs, two doubles, and the aforementioned triple.
By the time that lofty 5th frame had finished, the Skyhawks had extended their lead to 8-6 behind Culumovic's 20th RBI of the spring, LaFollette's three-run bomb, and yet another triple from catcher Chance Merithew to score Nate Self. Two more insurance runs in the 6th and 7th innings paid off nicely for UTM in the grand scheme of things, who fended off a late TTU rally to claim the one-run victory.
Relieving starter Lawson Russell and senior Blake Davis – who took his second personal win of the season on the mound – right-hander Baylor Jones grabbed his second save of 2022 by going the final 3.1 innings and only giving up a pair of scores.
With all three bases occupied and the Skyhawks clinging to a one-run advantage, Jones denied the Golden Eagles a chance at the tie by forcing Tennessee Tech into leaving all their ducks on the pond. Altogether, the visitors stranded 11 runners in defeat to bring UTM their second pulse-pounding win in as many days.
Harford, LaFollette, Culumovic, and lead-off man Will Smith combined for an unreal 29 hits over the duration of the three-game set, helping the Skyhawks amass 40 runs against their conference rival and keep their mountain of momentum intact.
BELMONT 8, PURDUE 6
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Belmont University baseball team earned their first road sweep over a Power Five opponent in program history on Sunday, edging out Purdue, 8-6, at Alexander Field in West Lafayette, Ind.
Belmont (26-14, 9-3 OVC) led 8-2 at the seventh inning stretch and withstood a furious Purdue rally at the end to hold on for their third win in a row over the Boilermakers. Purdue had the tying run on first base with two outs in the ninth, but Kyle Brennan (SV, 13) got a game-ending groundout to secure the victory.
With the win, the Bruins swept a Power Five opponent for the first time since 2000, when they took down Iowa in three straight games at home in Nashville.
One day after picking up four hits in Belmont's 11-1 win on Saturday, Guy Lipscomb went 3-for-5 with two RBIs to lead the offense. Logan Jarvis chipped in a 2-for-4 outing with a home run and two RBIs, and Jack Capobianco collected his second three-hit game of the season, going 3-for-4 with a couple of bunt singles and a double.
The Bruins combined for 31 hits in the final two games of the series, and outscored Purdue 22-9 over the weekend.
Jalen Borders (W, 3-2) continued the theme of strong starting pitching, as he went four innings and allowed just two earned runs. Combined, Andy Bean, Joshua South, and Borders went 18 innings and allowed just five runs on the weekend.
Dominic Baratta pitched well in relief, going 2 2/3 innings with just one run allowed and three strikeouts.
Belmont jumped ahead in the first inning when Carson Shacklett drew a leadoff walk and John Behrends doubled to put men at second and third base with nobody out. Lipscomb then sent a grounder to the right side to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead.
Purdue tied it up 1-1 in the second inning, but the Bruins regained the advantage in the third frame by getting a two-out grounrule double from Mason Landers that drove in Lipscomb, who had stolen second base after singling to leadoff the frame.
Lipscomb's stolen base was his 30th of the season, tying the single-season program record for steals (Matt Reynolds, 2005).
After Landers' RBI double, Jarvis stepped in and smashed his second home run of the season over the right-field wall, a two-run shot that gave Belmont a 4-1 lead.
The Bruins then got two RBI singles in the fourth inning from Lipscomb and Heaton to stretch the lead to 6-1, and tacked on two more in the fifth on an RBI single from Shacklett and a sacrifice fly from Behrends, making it 8-2 midway through the fifth inning.
Purdue rallied with one run in the seventh, two in the eighth, and one in the ninth, but Brennan held on to record the save.
The Boilermakers left 17 men on base, with Borders, Baratta, Will Jenkins, and Brennan able to pitch well with runners on the basepaths behind them.