SUNDAY'S SCORES
@Southeast Missouri 2, Butler 1
@Missouri State 4,
SIUE 3 (10)
@Little Rock 15, Grambling 9
@Southern Indiana 12, Oakland 11 (11)
UT Martin 5, @Central Arkansas 3
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 2, BUTLER 1
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - A pitchers dual on Sunday afternoon, Southeast Missouri (7-10) picked up the series sweep of the Butler Bulldogs (2-14) as starting pitcher Haden Down (1-1) tossed seven and two-third innings and recorded a career-high 10 strikeouts.
Dow had his longest outing of the season as a Redhawk on Sunday as he faced 27 batters and threw 105 pitches as the St. John, New Brunswick, Canada-native, picked up his first win of the season.
Only nine total hits between both teams on Sunday, Lincoln Andrews drove in the only two Redhawk runs of the contest in the sixth inning.
Leading off the sixth inning, Jevon Mason walked. Mason stole second during the at-bat of Chance Resetich who then laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Mason to third.
The Bulldogs elected to intentionally walk center fielder Josh Cameron who then swiped second base himself as Andrews stood in the box.
Andrews drove the baseball up the middle and into center field to plate Mason and Cameron off of Bulldogs pitcher Aaron Barokas to give the Redhawks a 2-0 lead after the sixth inning.
Butler would make it interesting in the top of the eighth inning. A two-out walk by Dow to pinch-hitter Jake DeFries extended the Bulldogs inning.
A throwing error on Resetich prolonged the Bulldogs' chance in the inning, as centerfielder Joey Urban shot a single through the right side of the infield to plate DeFries, to cut the Redhawks lead in half.
LHP Logan Katen came in to close the door on the Bulldogs in the ninth inning and recorded his second save of the season, as the Redhawks completed the series sweep of Butler by a final score of 2-1.
Lincoln Andrews finished the day going 1-of-4 with two RBI.
The seven, eight, and nine hitters were the only other Redhawk batters outside of Andrews to record a hit. Catcher Nolan Ackerman, second baseman Caleb Rodgers, and short stop Peyton Leeper all recorded a hit on Sunday.
MISSOURI STATE 4, SIUE 3 (10)
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Missouri State centerfielder Spencer Nivens led off the bottom of the 10th inning with a home run to lead the Bears over SIUE 4-3 in the series finale Sunday at Hammons Field.
Missouri State won two oof three in the series to hand SIUE its first series loss of the year. The Cougars are now 10-4. Missouri State improved to 9-5.
Jacob Kampf (2-1) allowed the home run to Nivens to take his first loss of the year. He worked an inning of relief.
SIUE built a 3-0 lead over the first two innings. Drew Mize led off the game with a single up the middle and then scored on a double by Ole Arntson. Mize and Chase Bloomer hit back-to-back RBI-doubles in the second inning to push the Cougars' lead to three.
Missouri State catcher Cody Kelly hit a two-run home run in the fifth to cut the SIUE advantage to 3-2.
Taeg Gollert led off the bottom of the eighth inning with a home run to tie the score 3-3.
Tyler DeLong made his first start with the Cougars and allowed two runs over five innings of work. The only hits he allowed was the home run to Kelly. He struck out six. Garrett Helsel pitched three innings in relief. He allowed the home run to Gollert. He struck out one.
After allowing the three early runs, Missouri State starter Hayden Minton settled in and worked seven innings. He struck out 10 SIUE hitters.
The Cougars finished with just six hits. Mize (2-5) was the only SIUE player with more than a hit. Missouri State finished with seven hits from seven different players.
The Cougars got a two-out pinch hit from Kyle Ratliff in the ninth. Ratliff stole second base but was stranded on base.
LITTLE ROCK 15, GRAMBLING 9
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - The Trojans raced out to an 11-0 lead after the first three innings and denied an attempted comeback from the Tigers to eventually win on Sunday afternoon by a score of 15-9. The win improves Little Rock's record to 9-4 and completes the first weekend sweep of the 2023 season.
Action began in the bottom of the first inning almost immediately. After a leadoff walk from Luke Pectol, Tyler Williams stepped into the box and sent a triple down the right field line to give Little Rock a 1-0 lead. Baserunners would file in behind Williams with a walk and hit by pitch to load the bases with no outs. Skyler Trevino then stepped in the box and crushed the first pitch he saw over the right-center field fence for a grand slam, his second of the season. The Trojans would add one more run in the inning courtesy of a sac fly off the bat of Ryan Lee and when the dust settled Little Rock led by six runs.
Starting pitcher Preston Davis struck out two in the top of the second inning and when Little Rock got back into the dugout the offense was back on the attack. Nico Baumbach started off the bottom of the frame with a solo shot, his seventh homerun on the season, and two more Trojan runs would cross in the inning thanks to base on balls and Tiger miscues.
The bottom of the third had more offense in store for Little Rock, two walks and a double from Trevino brought home his fifth and sixth RBI of the game and the Trojans stretched their lead to the largest margin of the game, going up 11-0.
Both offenses were quiet in the fourth inning before Grambling finally got on the board in the top of the fifth, striking for four runs and cutting the Trojans lead to seven runs. Little Rock was able to get two of those runs back in the bottom of the frame on a wild pitch that scored Ben Harmon and a first and third play that brought Trevino home.
Grambling would get four more runs in the top of the sixth with a flurry of hits to bring the game within five at 13-8, but again the Trojans responded with two of their own as Andrew Pickering scored on a wild pitch and Harmon was brough home with a sac fly.
Scott McDonough entered the game for Little Rock in the top of the eighth and struck out three over the final two innings while not giving up a run to win the game for Little Rock and complete the series sweep.
The Trojan offense showed patience today at the dish, walking a total of eleven times while also being plunked four times. Baserunners were also very active, stealing seven bags on the afternoon.
Trevino led the way for Little Rock with his 2-for-3 performance that included a double and grand slam. The Whitehouse, Texas native brought home six runs and scored three times while also stealing a pair of bases.
Pickering got the start in right field today and finished going 2-for-4 with a run scored and a stolen base.
Baumbach went 1-for-3 in the game with a homerun, he scored three times and brought home two runs while also stealing a bag.
Davis was credited with the win for his efforts in his start. The sophomore right-hander pitched four no hit innings and didn't allow a run while striking out four batters.
SOUTHERN INDIANA 12, OAKLAND 11 (11)
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - University of Southern Indiana Baseball junior designated hitter Jack Ellis (Jeffersonville, Indiana) capped off a comeback win with a walk-off single in the 11th to give the Screaming Eagles a 12-11 win over Oakland University Sunday afternoon at the USI Baseball Field. USI, which snapped a six-game losing streak, watched its record go to 6-9, while Oakland goes to 5-9.
Ellis capped off the USI four-run 11th inning with an RBI-single off the right field wall, scoring freshman infielder Caleb Niehaus (Newburgh, Indiana) with the winning run.
After Oakland had taken an 11-8 lead in the top of the 11th, USI rallied for a second time in three innings to get the win. Senior rightfielder Ren Tachioka (Japan) started the rally with one out on a double to left field and was joined on base by senior second baseman Lucas McNew (Floyds Knobs, Indiana) after being hit by a pitch.
USI pulled to within one, 11-10, when junior first baseman Tucker Ebest (Austin, Texas) singled in Tachioka and McNew after both moved into scoring position on a passed ball. Ebest would score the tying run two batters later on a RBI-single by junior leftfielder Drew Taylor (Jeffersonville, Indiana) and set the stage for Ellis' game-winning hit.
USI junior right-hander Caleb Meeks (Evansville, Indiana) picked up the win in relief. Meeks (2-1) pitched the 11th, allowing the three runs, one earned, on two hits and one walk, while striking out one.
The marathon game started with USI taking a 5-1 first and a 6-2 lead after the first three frames. Oakland rallied to cut the margin to one with three in the fourth before tying the game with a single tally in the seventh and taking the lead with two in the eighth.
USI rallied to send the game into extra frames with two runs in the ninth. Ellis and junior pinch runner Steven Molinet (Elberfeld, Indiana) scored the runs in the ninth when Oakland allowed Tachioka to reach with a pair of errors with two outs.
UT MARTIN 5, CENTRAL ARKANSAS 3
CONWAY, Ark. - Seth Petry spun six innings of three-hit baseball, not allowing an earned run to lift the University of Tennessee at Martin to a 5-3 victory in the final game of the Central Arkansas weekend set.
The senior right-hander from Murfreesboro, Tenn. delivered his second start with zero earned runs allowed in 2023, lowering his season ERA to 3.57 in the process. Petry equaled a career-high with six strikeouts this afternoon en route to his first victory of the spring.
J. Henry Hobson (21 of 27 pitches for strikes) was responsible for the seventh and eighth innings while Campbell Cleveland took over in the ninth and locked down his third save of the season.
Offensively, Hunter McLean continued to swing a hot bat with three hits today. Caleb Hobson went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI’s while Blaze Bell added two hits, a run scored and an RBI out of the cleanup spot. Will Smith also reached base safely three times (single, two walks) for the Skyhawks, who improve to 5-12 on the season.
UT Martin staked Petry to a 1-0 lead in the top of the second. Bell lined the first pitch he saw for a double down the left field line and advanced 90 feet on a McLean single before coming home on a sacrifice fly by Nate Self.
Petry did not allow a base hit until the seventh batter in the Bear lineup laid down a bunt single that brought in an unearned run.
The Skyhawks quickly reclaimed the lead in the top of the third with a pair of runs. Zac Rice roped a one-out double to left center and moved to third base on an Andrew Fernandez single. Rice scored on a wild pitch before an RBI groundout from Bell made the score 3-1 in favor of UT Martin.
Petry pitched out of a jam in the third as Central Arkansas loaded the bases with one away. He then buckled down for a three-pitch strikeout and an inning-ending groundout to keep the Skyhawks on top.
Petry zoned in from there, at one point retiring nine straight Bears. That included a pair of strikeouts in a scoreless fourth inning and another 3-up, 3-down frame in the fifth.
UT Martin extended its lead with two more runs in the sixth. Jack Culumovic reached on a catcher’s interference as the leadoff batter and advanced to second on a McLean single. After a perfect sacrifice bunt from Self put those two in scoring position, Caleb Hobson came through with a 2-run single through the left side to push the Skyhawk advantage out to 5-1.
Two more strikeouts were added to Petry’s line in the sixth, his final inning of work. J. Henry Hobson was summoned out of the bullpen and faced the minimum of three batters in the seventh, needing just five pitches in the process. J. Henry Hobson tacked on two more strikeouts in the eighth but Central Arkansas was able to scratch out one run to trim UT Martin’s lead to 5-2.
The Bears scored a harmless run with two outs in the ninth but Cleveland won an eight-pitch duel with the final batter of the game, securing the ninth strikeout by the Skyhawk pitching staff.