FRIDAY'S SCORES
@Belmont 8, Tennessee Tech 7
Austin Peay 5, @UT Martin 2
@Southeast Missouri 11, Murray State 2
BELMONT 8, TENNESSEE TECH 7
NASHVILLE - Trailing 7-5 heading into the ninth inning, the Belmont University baseball team staged a wild comeback and won, 8-7, over Tennessee Tech on a walk-off pinch-hit single from Tommy Crider with two outs on Friday night at E.S. Rose Park.
Friday's victory is the second walk-off win for Belmont (20-10, 6-1 OVC) this season, and marks the Bruins' 20th win of the year.
Belmont has now won six of their last eight.
Crider's base hit off the bench capped a frenzied inning that saw Belmont storm back with productive at-bats from John Behrends, Guy Lipscomb, Brodey Heaton, Mason Landers, and Crider.
After Carson Shacklett struck out to start the ninth inning, Behrends drew a walk and Lipscomb singled to center field to send Behrends to third base. Brodey Heaton then singled off the pitcher's leg to drive in Behrends and bring the score to 7-6, with Bruin runners at first and second base.
With new third baseman Mason Landers at the plate for the first time in the game off the bench, Lipscomb and Heaton gambled with a huge double steal that put runners at second and third.
Landers then put the ball in play with a groundout to the shortstop, scoring Lipscomb and tying the game at 7-7 with two outs.
Crider dug in and sent a short looper into shallow right field that hit the outstretched glove of the Tennessee Tech shortstop before falling out and onto the turf for the game-winning hit.
When the dust cleared, the Bruins had scored three straight runs to secure the come-from-behind walk-off victory.
Belmont is now an OVC-best 6-1 in conference play.
The Bruins fell behind early, with Tennessee Tech (16-11, 1-3 OVC) homering on the second pitch of the game to take a 1-0 lead in the first inning and gathering four more runs in the third inning to lead 5-0.
Belmont scratched across one run in the bottom of the third inning on a Behrends sacrifice fly that scored Grayson Taylor.
Trailing 5-1 in the fifth inning, the Bruins hung a crooked number in the frame with a two-run double from Behrends to left-center that scored Shacklett and Taylor, before Lipscomb singled through the right side to score Behrends.
After stealing third, Lipscomb came home to score on an errant throw by the Tennessee Tech catcher, tying the game at 5-5.
Tennessee Tech got one run in the sixth and one run in the eighth to lead 7-5 heading into the ninth inning.
After Joshua South was knocked out after just three innings, Dominic Baratta was stellar in relief, going four innings and allowing just two runs on two hits while collecting four strikeouts.
Will Jenkins (W, 2-0) earned the win after coming on to toss the eighth and ninth innings, allowing no runs and just two hits to set the table for the Bruins' frantic comeback.
Lipscomb finished 3-for-4 with three stolen bases and an RBI, his eighth game of the year where he has tallied three or more hits. With his 26 stolen bases this season, Lipscomb is now tied for second in program history for stolen bases in a single season, trailing only Matt Reynolds, who stole 30 bags in 2005.
Behrends went 1-for-3 with three RBIs, and Heaton and Shacklett each finished with two hits.
Behrends also made a highlight-reel catch in foul territory in the ninth inning to record the first out.
AUSTIN PEAY 5, UT MARTIN 2
MARTIN, Tenn. - Starting pitcher Tyler Delong struck out nine batters and allowed one run over six innings, leading Austin Peay State University's baseball team to a 5-2 Ohio Valley Conference victory against UT Martin, Friday, at Skyhawk Field.
Delong's (2-1) lone run allowed during his six-inning outing came during the third inning. UT Martin (8-19, 1-6 OVC) opened the frame with back-to-back hits and, after a fielder's choice, shortstop Casey Harford singled to drive in the run for a 1-0 lead.
But Delong shutdown the Skyhawks after the run-scoring hit, striking out the next five batters he faced and retiring 10-straight batters to extend his outing into the sixth inning. He would allow a single and a walk with two out in the sixth but used his ninth strikeout to end the inning.
Austin Peay (11-20, 4-3 OVC) spent the first six innings trying to solve UT Martin starter Seth Petry, who limited the Govs to two hits through the first six innings without allowing a run. After allowing a one-out single in the first inning, Petry retired 10-straight batters before allowing a two-out single in the fourth. Petry then would allow base runners in the fifth and sixth innings but got a double play in the fifth, and a runner caught stealing in the sixth to escape without a run scoring.
The Govs broke through in the seventh, beginning with an error that allowed leadoff hitter Ty DeLancey to reach base. After an out, right fielder Harrison Brown and third baseman Michael Robinson singled, with Robinson's hit and a second UTM error allowing DeLancey to score the game-tying run.
Austin Peay then turned to its bench and brought in John McDonald to pinch hit a week after providing a game-winning grand slam against Southeast Missouri. The senior delivered a double into the right-center gap, getting Brown home with the go-ahead run. After a Skyhawks pitching change, center fielder Jeremy Wagner added a run with a single and shortstop John Bolton drove in the inning's fourth run with a ground out before UTM could escape the inning.
After taking the 4-1 lead, Austin Peay turned to reliever Luke Brown. He promptly retired the Skyhawks in order in the seventh and worked around a one-out single in the eighth. Brown would run into trouble after allowing back-to-back singles with one out in the ninth, eventually allowing a run, but got a ground out and a strikeout to record his season's first save.
After holding UTM to one run on five hits over six innings, Delong notched his first win as a starter. His nine strikeouts were the most by a Governors' pitcher this season and came with just two walks.
Catcher Jack Alexander went 2-for-4 with an RBI single in the eighth inning – improving his batting average to .412 this season. The Governors were held to eight hits but recorded only one strikeout in the contest.
Petry (1-6) lost despite holding Austin Peay to four runs (two earned) in his 6.1-inning outing. Harford finished the game 2-for-4 with an RBI.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 11, MURRAY STATE 2
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Tyler Wilber went 4-for-5 with two runs, a double and two RBI as Southeast Missouri (21-7, 5-2) cruised to an 11-2 series-opening victory over Murray State (15-13, 1-6) Friday.
The Ohio Valley Conference's preseason number one and two teams hooked up in a game that was played two hours earlier due to chilly temperatures that dipped to the low 40s.
SEMO took its first lead with three runs in the bottom of the third inning and never turned back en route to claiming its program record 15th-consecutive home victory. The Redhawks are now 15-0 at Capaha Field this season.
Peyton Leeper and Wilber got things going with back-to-back singles and scored on an ensuing double down the left field line by Andrew Keck. With one out, Keck touched home on a beautifully executed safety squeeze bunt by Lincoln Andrews to put the Redhawks ahead, 3-1.
SEMO added to its lead when Brett Graber knocked in both Wilber and Keck on a one-out double in the fifth. Wilber reached on his third hit of the game and quickly went to third on Keck's single to right. Graber worked deep in the count before delivering his extra base hit to stretch the Redhawks lead to 5-1.
The Redhawks then blew the game open with six runs in the seventh inning.
Graber singled and Andrews was hit by a pitch. After both runners advanced on a balk, Ben Palmer was intentionally walked to load the bases. On the next play, Ty Stauss walked and Graber scored. Joel Vaske followed with a three-RBI double to clear the bases. Wilber later smacked a two-out, two-RBI double to finish the rout.
In his sixth start, right-hander Jason Rackers (4-0) recorded a season-high seven strikeouts and allowed just one run on six hits in six innings. Rackers tossed five-straight scoreless innings after giving up his only run in the first. He also picked off a runner at first base and went a season-long six innings for the third time this year. Rackers threw 104 pitches.
Left-hander Hayden Wynja (2-3) suffered the loss. Wynja gave up five runs, eight hits, struck out five and walked two in 4.1 innings.
Wilber, who registered his first four-hit game of the season and seventh of his career, was one of five Redhawks with multiple hits. Leeper, Keck, Graber and Vaske followed with two hits each.
As a team, SEMO had 13 hits and improved to 12-1 in games where it reaches double-digit hits.
SEMO posted its largest margin of victory (+9) in a conference game this year. Before today, the Redhawks had not won a league contest by more than three runs.