WEDNESDAY'S SCORES
@UT Martin 7, Murray State 6
@Eastern Illinois 5, Saint Xavier (Ill.) 0
@SIUE 16, Blackburn College 4
@Southern Indiana 15, Oakland City 6
@Little Rock 10, ULM 4
UT MARTIN 7, MURRAY STATE 6
MARTIN, Tenn. - For the first time in the University of Tennessee at Martin’s NCAA Division I Era, the Skyhawks swept a season baseball series from Murray State as UT Martin defeated the Racers by a 7-6 margin this afternoon.
The Skyhawks, who had previously beaten Murray State on the road back on Feb. 21, took the lead for good in the fourth inning and received clutch performances from the backend of the bullpen to improve to 12-26 overall.
Jordan Armstrong (2-4) put together one of his best starts in a UT Martin uniform, equaling a season-high with six innings while allowing only one earned run with five strikeouts. Tucker Reed (one inning) and Baylor Jones (0.2 frames) did not concede an earned run in relief before Zach Wager picked up his first career save, firing all eight of his pitches for strikes in a perfect ninth inning.
Offensively, Will Smith had three hits, an RBI and a run scored while Andrew Fernandez collected a pair of doubles with two RBI’s and a run scored. Caleb Hobson produced two hits, a walk, two stolen bases and two runs scored while Slade Taylor and Jack Culumovic each homered for the Skyhawks.
The Racers (20-18) took the first lead of the contest as they scored twice (one earned) in the top of the first.
Armstrong was locked in from there, shutting out Murray State for the remainder of his appearance. The McDonough, Ga. native induced an inning-ending double play with a pair of runners aboard in the second before retiring the side in order on just 10 pitches in the third.
UT Martin got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third as Taylor smoked the first pitch he saw for a home run out to deep left center. Hobson followed with a one-out single and two pitches later, Fernandez went against the shift for an RBI double to left field, evening the score at 2-2.
Armstrong struck out a pair of batters in the fourth and received some help behind him as Smith gunned down a Racer baserunner trying to go from first to third on a single.
In the bottom of the fourth, Culumovic pushed the Skyhawks ahead for good as the left-handed slugger from Simpsonville, SC smacked his team-best seventh home run of the spring. The solo shot out to right center put UT Martin on top by a 3-2 margin.
Armstrong stranded a pair of runners in the fifth and once again went 3-up, 3-down in the sixth, needing only 11 pitches to accomplish that feat.
Meanwhile, the Skyhawk offense padded their lead in the bottom of the fifth with three more runs. Zac Rice was issued a leadoff walk and stole second, advancing to third on a throwing error. Hobson followed with a similar situation as he drew a walk, stole second and moved up to third on an errant throw from Murray State’s pitcher which allowed Rice to score. Fernandez then lined a double to right center to plate Hobson before Smith came up with an RBI single, bringing in Fernandez and making the score 6-2.
One unearned run crossed the plate for the Racers in the top of the seventh but UT Martin quickly got it back courtesy of a pair of sacrifice hits in the bottom half. Smith singled to lead off the seventh and after a Hunter McLean walk, Culumovic laid down a sacrifice bunt to move both runners up 90 feet. Mac Danford then lifted a sacrifice fly to center to extend the Skyhawk advantage out to 7-3.
Three Murray State runs crossed the plate in the top of the eighth before Baylor Jones did a masterful job of keeping UT Martin on top. Entering the game with one away and the tying run in scoring position, the right-hander out of Spring Hill, Tenn. induced a groundball before striking out Dustin Mercer – who entered the game hitting .591 with 12 RBI’s over his last four games – for the final out of the inning.
Wager did not flinch one bit during his first save opportunity of his career. The freshman from Columbus, Ind. continually pounded the strike zone to close out the win and lower his season ERA to a microscopic 1.84 on the season.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 5, SAINT XAVIER 0
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois baseball (21-13, 3-6 OVC) won their fourth game in a row with a 5-0 win over NAIA Saint Xavier (Ill.) (19-22, 11-9 CCIA) at Coaches Stadium. It marked the second straight shutout for the Panthers and the sixth overall.
Chris Worcester and Dylan Drumke both had a double with an RBI in the seventh inning to help extend the Panthers' lead. Ben Gallaher also had a groundout RBI in the win.
Jackson Nichols (W, 2-0) was dominate on the mound after tossing 7.0 scoreless innings and allowing four hits with three strikeouts. Mitch Alba also had three Ks in the final frame. Logan McCleery (L, 1-3) suffered the loss for the Cougars.
The Panthers pitching was strong again after holding their second straight opponent to no runs. Nichols allowed just one hit through three innings and faced only nine batters through three. EIU also turned another double play, their 31st of the season.
Saint Xavier only had one runner reach third base throughout the entire game. With runners on the corners in the seventh inning, Nichols got two flyouts to preserve the shutout.
Eastern Illinois got on the board early in the first after Lincoln Riley led off being hit by pitch, his 15th of the season. After a pass ball, Riley scored on an error by the second baseman from a Logan Eickhoff grounder to give EIU the 1-0 advantage.
Starting pitcher McCleery for the Cougars would retire 11 straight Panthers going into the fifth inning before Heath Mann took over on the mound.
EIU started to pour on the runs in the seventh inning after Eickhoff led off the inning reaching base on an error. After two stolen bases and a walk by Ryan Ignoffo, Gallaher drove in Eickhoff to put the score at 2-0.
Dominic DiLello would be walked after the RBI by Gallaher and pulled off the double steal to score Ignoffo. Worcester and Drumke then delivered back-to-back RBI doubles to extend the Panther lead to 5-0.
Jack Potteiger pitched the eighth inning and allowed just one hit before retiring two to get out of the inning. Alba would then post three strikeouts in the ninth to secure the victory for the Panthers.
EIU scored five runs on five hits with no errors in the ballgame. Saint Xavier would score no runs on five hits with two errors.
SIUE 16, BLACKBURN COLLEGE 4
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - SIUE baseball racked up season highs in runs (16) and hits (19) in a 16-4 rout of Blackburn in seven innings Wednesday at Simmons Baseball Complex.
SIUE improved to 22-14 overall. Blackburn fell to 7-23.
The Cougars used a 10-run fifth inning to snap a 3-3 tie. Spencer Stearns led off the inning with his first career hit, a pinch-hit home run to left to put SIUE up for the first time, 4-3. Six other Cougars drove in runs with hits in the inning.
After Blackburn got a run back in the top of the sixth, the Cougars finished the night with three runs in the bottom of the inning.
Nick Terrell finished the night 4-5 with an RBI. Ole Arntson and Ethan Willoughby each drove home three runs. Willoughby was 2-3. Arntson was 1-3. Braedyn Brewer and Matthew Klein each finished with three hits and two RBIs. Chase Bloomer and Ethan Toone each were 2-4. Bloomer drove in two runs while Toone drove home a run. Steans was 1-2 with the home run and two runs scored. Nic Burg was 1-1 with an RBI, three walks and two runs.
Gunner Millsap (2-1) worked a scoreless inning in relief to earn the win. The SIUE bullpen didn't surrender a run in five innings. Taylor Bruninga, Alex Sherer, Spencer Smith and Spencer Stearns all threw scoreless innings.
Garrett Helsel started and allowed three runs over two innings. He struck out two.
Adam Holm and Aidan Hamerlinck each had two hits for the Beavers, who finished with seven hits total.
SOUTHERN INDIANA 15, OAKLAND CITY 6
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - University of Southern Indiana Baseball banged out 18 hits in flying through Oakland City University, 15-6, Wednesday evening at the USI Baseball Field. USI watched its record go to 11-25 overall, while OCU goes to 24-18 this spring.
USI led from the opening frame, posting a tally in the first, before exploding for 12 runs between the third and sixth innings to lead 13-0. The Eagles took command with six in the third and sealed the victory with five in fourth and one more in the fifth.
Oakland City, however, was not ready for game to end early, cutting the margin to seven runs with six unanswered tallies between the sixth and eighth frames. The Mighty Oaks posted one in the sixth, three in the seventh, and two in the eighth to close to within 13-7.
USI responded with two more runs in the eighth to close out the scoring in the 15-6 victory.
At the plate, senior second baseman/rightfielder Lucas McNew (Floyds Knobs, Indiana) led the offensive explosion by going four-for-five with three runs scored and two RBIs. Junior first baseman Jack Ellis (Jeffersonville, Indiana) was one-for-one with a home run, a three-run blast in the fourth, and four RBIs overall, while junior designated hitter Tucker Ebest (Austin, Texas) was two-for-four with two runs scored and a two-run home run in the third.
USI junior right-hander Trent Robinson (Louisville, Kentucky) led seven Eagle hurlers and picked up his first win of the season. Robinson (1-1), who struck out a season-high five batters, blanked the Mighty Oaks through the first four frames on one hit and three walks.
LITTLE ROCK 10, ULM 4
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - The Trojans scored three runs in the second and four in the third to collect all the runs needed to defeat ULM in Wednesday's midweek game with the final being 10-4 in favor of the Trojans. The win improves Little Rock's record to 20-14 on the season with a big Ohio Valley Conference series against SIUE on the horizon.
ULM jumped out to an early lead in the top of the second with a bases loaded walk to bring in a run. The Warhawks had the bases loaded with no one out earlier in the inning but a nifty 3-2 double play from Christian Bernabe to Graydon Martin got two quick outs for Little Rock and helped to limit the damage in the inning.
The Trojans answered back quickly when Skyler Trevino led off the bottom of the frame with a homer to straight center field, tying things up at one. Little Rock would strike twice more in the inning, a single from Martin brought Noah Brewer home and another single off the bat of Tyler Williams would score Martin a couple of batters later.
Austin Stubber entered the game in the top of the third and worked around a one out single to get the shutdown inning the Trojans needed and brought them back up to the plate.
A single from Nico Baumbach began the inning and Ty Rhoades hit a backside homerun with one out to stretch the Trojan lead out to four runs. Brewer and Bernabe would each collect hits to put two more runners on before a single from Alex Seguine scored both of the baserunners and completed the four run inning.
Scoring ceased until the bottom of the seventh when Seguine singled to center field yet again, this time bringing home Rhoades and adding an insurance run to the Little Rock total.
The Warhawks showed some fight in the eighth inning, striking for three runs on three hits including an RBI double and single, cutting the Trojans lead to just four runs.
Little Rock was able to answer in the bottom of the frame as Rhoades sent a double to the right-center field gap that scored Baumbach from first and Bernabe would later single through the right side, scoring Rhoades who had reached third on a wild pitch.
After an eventful eighth inning, the Warhawks went down quietly in the ninth as senior Erik McKnight sat the ULM batters down in order with a strikeout and two ground ball outs to secure the win for Little Rock.
All nine Little Rock starting hitters collected at least one knock in Wednesday's contest and four had impressive three hit performances as the Trojans slugged 18 total hits in the game, this was also the fifth time this season that Little Rock had ended the game with double digits in the run column.
Rhoades led the way for the offense this evening, going 3-for-4 at the dish with three RBI as well as three runs scored. The Jonesboro native doubled and homered in the contest and this was the second time this season he has had a three hit game.
Noah Brewer went 3-for-4 today and slugged two doubles, one being inches from becoming his first homerun as a Trojan as it ricocheted off of the top of the right field wall, he also came around to score twice.
Trevino became the first Trojan to eclipse the double digit mark in homeruns this season when his second inning blast gave him his tenth.
Seguine had a good day, going 2-for-3 at the plate and reached in four of his five plate appearances, walking twice. The Long Beach, California native also tied Rhoades for the most RBI this evening with three.
It was a group effort on the bump for Little Rock as six different Trojans toed the rubber over the course of the game. Camden Sargent got the start and went two innings, striking out two and allowing just one unearned run.
Stubber earned the win for three innings of relief where he allowed just one hit and no runs, striking out two.
McKnight pitched the final one and a third innings and got two strikeouts of his own, facing four batters and retiring them all to end the game.