SATURDAY'S SCORES
Southeast Missouri 11, @Morehead State 9 (11)
@Southern Indiana 26-12, Eastern Illinois 6-22
UT Martin 16, @Tennessee Tech 2
@Little Rock 10, SIUE 5
@Omaha 4,
Lindenwood 3
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 11, MOREHEAD STATE 9 (11)
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Southeast Missouri (21-18, 11-3 OVC) took game two of the weekend series with Morehead (23-14, 8-3 OVC) by a final score of 11-9 in 11 innings on Saturday afternoon.
The Redhawks scored two runs in the top of the 11th inning with an RBI single to right center by catcher Nolan Ackerman to take a 10-9 lead.
Pinch-hitter Caleb Rodgers fouled out to right field but was deep enough to drive in the 11th run of the ball game for SEMO as the Redhawks took an 11-9 lead into the bottom of the 11th inning.
The Redhawks pounded out 14 hits en route to their 11th Ohio Valley Conference victory as Jevon Mason paced the way.
Mason finished the day going 5-for-7 with a pair of runs scored.
A MSU homeruns in the first and third inning put MSU on top early in the contest, 4-0. Two, two-run homeruns off Redhawks starter Esteban Hernandez forced SEMO to come from behind once again.
The Redhawks would respond in the fifth with a five-run inning to pull in front.
An RBI single by Chance Resetich in the fifth inning put the Redhawks on the board, driving in Spencer Parker to cut the MSU lead to 4-1.
Lincoln Andrews and Peyton Leeper recorded RBI groundouts to draw SEMO to within one run. Jevon Mason and Chance Resetich came into score and the Redhawks were down just one.
An RBI single by center fielder Brett Graber and a wild pitch that brought in Graber pushed SEMO to a 5-4 lead.
In the bottom half, MSU would tie it with a single down the left field line. After five complete, the score was tied 5-5.
A Lincoln Andrews double to right field in the SEMO 6th inning would bring in Jevon Mason for his second run of the day, to give SEMO a 6-5 advantage heading to the final inning.
Two more runs by the Redhawks in the ninth inning would push SEMO's lead to 8-5. An RBI single by Danny Sperling and an RBI groundout by Nolan Ackerman gave SEMO the three-run advantage.
MSU used a pair of home runs in the home ninth, to tie it at eight as the game would head to extra innings.
Both teams would score a run in the 10th inning to tie it at nine, before the Redhawks scored two in the 11th to take game two of the series.
RHP Collin Wilma (3-1) was credited with the win in Saturday's contest.
SOUTHERN INDIANA 26-12, EASTERN ILLINOIS 6-22
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Eastern Illinois baseball (22-14, 4-7 OVC) split a Ohio Valley Conference double header on Saturday at OVC newcomer Southern Indiana (12-26, 4-10 OVC). Both offenses were on full display with a combined 66 runs in two games.
Southern Indiana scored 26 runs in game one to take the first game of the series, but the Panthers struck back in game two scoring 22 runs to split the double header. EIU and USI were supposed to play a game on Friday, but was moved due to weather.
Eastern Illinois fell in the first of two games on Saturday 6-26 against the Screaming Eagles of Southern Indiana. Starting pitcher Tyler Conklin (L, 3-5) suffered the loss for EIU after throwing in three innings and allowing seven runs and five walks.
Ben Gallaher was a mid-game substitution during game one, but delivered for EIU with two hits including a double and three RBI. Chris Worcester also had two doubles and a RBI while Nichols Rucker went 3-5 with a solo home run.
Despite lots of runs scored in the game, the first run of the game was not scored til the third inning by the Panthers. Kolten Poorman had a sac fly to score the first run and Rucker had his solo home run to give EIU the early 2-0 lead.
USI would strike back with seven runs of their own in the bottom of the third including a grand slam by Evan Kahre. Southern Indiana had five hits in the third and also drew two walks off of Conklin.
Worcester would bring home another run for EIU in the top of the fourth before USI scored 11 runs in the bottom of the inning. Eastern Illinois used three different pitchers in the inning before finally getting out of the jam.
The Screaming Eagles only had five hits during the fourth, but were walked eight times in the inning including three straight by relief pitcher Chaney Trout. USI would hold an 18-3 advantage heading into the fifth.
Gallaher would have the final three RBI for the Panthers after scoring two in the fifth and one in the seventh, but it was not enough hold off USI from taking game one.
Eastern Illinois scored six runs on 13 hits with one error while USI scored 26 runs on 19 hits with one error.
Eastern Illinois dominated game two by a final score of 22-12 to tie up the series at one game apiece. Nine different Panthers had an RBI in the game including five from first baseman Nicholas Rucker. Rucker went 4-6 in the game with a homerun and a double.
Starting pitcher Ky Matthews-Hampton (W, 5-0) threw in five innings allowing 10 hits and seven runs (four earned) with five strikeouts. He becomes the fourth pitcher in the OVC to have five wins this season.
EIU jumped out to a huge 7-0 lead to start the game in the top of the first. USI's starting pitcher Will Kiesel only faced four batter allowing three walks and a hit by pitch. Rucker got the first hit of game two with a two RBI single.
Dominic DiLello, Robby Taul and Logan Eickhoff would all have an RBI for the Panthers to conclude a seven run first inning that saw the Panthers only have three hits.
Both teams would score a run in the second to push the score to 8-1. Hampton had four strikeouts in the first three innings of play. Ryan Ignoffo had his first of three hits in the game with a solo home run followed by Rucker with a two-run home run to extend the lead to 13-1.
In the fourth, Grant Lashure added a two RBI single into left field while Kolten Poorman and Cole Gober would tack on another two runs to increase the lead to 17-1. USI scored four runs in the bottom half of the inning off of Hampton.
Eastern Illinois led 18-7 heading into the seventh inning when the Panthers added another four runs to their total. EIU scored four runs on five hits in the inning including an RBI by Rucker, Lucas DiLuca, Gober and Taul.
The Screaming Eagles would score five more runs in the final three innings, but EIU held strong and evened the series.
UT MARTIN 16, TENNESSEE TECH 2
MARTIN, Tenn. - For the second straight weekend, University of Tennessee at Martin left-handed pitcher Tristan Walton overpowered the opposition while the Skyhawks tied a season-high with five home runs in a 16-2 Ohio Valley Conference triumph over Tennessee Tech.
Walton was dealing while the UT Martin offense tallied season-highs in hits (17) plus total bases (36) to win 16-2 and force a winner-take-all rubber game tomorrow.
Tennessee Tech crossed the plate once in the bottom of the first but Bell's first round-tripper of the 2023 season in the top of the second evened the score at 1-all.
Walton struck out a pair of Golden Eagles in the bottom of the second and the Skyhawk offense rewarded him with three runs in the third. Rice doubled down the left field line and soon came in to score on a Fernandez RBI groundout. With two away, Smith (walk), Hunter McLean (walk) and Culumovic (hit by pitch) loaded the basepaths for Danford, who singled in a run. McLean then scored on a wild pitch to extend UT Martin's advantage out to 4-1.
That turned out to be plenty of run support for Walton, who closed out his day by retiring 14 of the final 17 hitters he faced. That stretch started with by stranding a pair of runners in a scoreless third before shutting out Tennessee Tech in the fourth. The Golden Eagles hit a two-out solo home run in the fifth but could not touch the lefty otherwise. He retired the side in order in the sixth and accumulated two more strikeouts in the seventh, including the last batter he squared off against.
Meanwhile, the relentless Skyhawk offense refused to let up. McLean doubled to lead off the fifth and trotted home three pitches later after Culumovic launched his team-high eighth homer of the season.
UT Martin then scored 10 combined runs from the seventh inning on. Danford connected for a three-run homer in the top of the seventh, scoring Smith (single) and McLean (hit by pitch). Rice led off the eighth with a solo homer before Culumovic came through with a two-run single, plating Hobson (single) and Fernandez (reached on an error). Four runs crossed the plate in the top of the ninth as Bell and Rice both singled to set up a Hobson two-run double. Two pitches later, Fernandez ripped a two-run homer to provide the final scoring margin of 16-2.
LITTLE ROCK 10, SIUE 5
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Senior outfielder Tyler Williams led off the bottom of the seventh inning with a single back up the middle to etch his name into the Little Rock record book. The hit put Williams at 305 total bases in his Trojan career, passing Miguel Miranda (304, 1998-2001), who was previously the only Little Rock player to eclipse the 300 total base mark. The run he would later score would go on to be instrumental in Little Rock's 10-5 win, being the game winner. The victory improves the Trojans record to 22-14 on the year and 9-5 in Ohio Valley Conference play as Little Rock will now play for the sweep of SIUE in Sunday's matchup.
The Cougars took the early advantage immediately when Brennan Orf homered as the first batter of the game. SIUE would proceed to get runners to first and third with one out, but a strikeout and groundout ended the inning without any further damage being done.
Sophomore Alex Seguine started the second consecutive game off with a double down the right field line in the bottom of the first, but he would be stranded at third as the Trojans were kept off the scoreboard in the first inning.
A bounce back inning in the second from starter Noah Burkey got the Trojans back in the dugout with some momentum that the offense soon took advantage of. Skyler Trevino began the inning with a single before back to back outs put Little Rock on the brink of another scoreless inning. However, a single by Noah Brewer and walk by Jake Wright loaded the bases with two outs before another base on balls drawn by Seguine tied the game up at one. Williams then stepped up to the plate and sent a double down the left field line, bringing in two more runs and tying the career total bases record.
Burkey then got a shutdown inning and Little Rock continued to add on in the bottom of the third. Trevino walked and Luke Pectol doubled to right-center, putting two in scoring position with just one out. A sac fly from Christian Bernabe and another single by Brewer brought home two more runs and put Little Rock up 5-1.
The long ball continued to plague the Trojans as a three run shot in the fifth to go along with another solo homer by Orf tied up the game after six innings at five apiece.
Little Rock would take the lead for good in the bottom of the seventh inning, a leadoff single by Williams paired with a stolen base and advance on ground ball got him to third with less than two outs. After a hit by pitch and walk, a shallow sac fly scored Williams thanks to his speed and advanced all runners up. SIUE then hit the next two Trojan batters, pushing another run across, and putting Little Rock up 7-5.
The Trojans added three more runs for good measure in the bottom of the eighth with Bernabe and Baumbach picking up RBIs and Williams scoring on a throwing error by the Cougars backstop.
Jacob Weatherley closed out the ninth with a scoreless inning, working around a leadoff double and ending with Andrew Pickering making a nice running grab while heading toward the right field line to secure the series win for the Trojans.
For the second day in a row Little Rock was outhit by the Cougars, but played a clean game with zero errors and took advantage of scoring situations throughout the game.
Williams served as the catalyst for the Trojan offense, going 2-for-5 with a double, driving in two runs and scoring twice. The Lilburn, Georgia native also stole three bases on the evening.
Trevino showed great patience at the dish as he walked three times and went 1-for-2 in the game, scoring twice.
Brewer continued to swing a hot bat, collecting two hits in a 2-for-3 game while driving in two runs and scoring once.
Austin Stubber and Weatherley combined to throw three shutout innings to finish out he game, allowing three hits and striking out two on just 31 total pitches. Stubber also earned the win this afternoon.
Burkey battled through six innings on the mound and gave the Trojans the chance to win in his start and the long ball was the only way SIUE was able to get on the scoreboard in the contest.
OMAHA 4, LINDENWOOD 3
OMAHA, Neb. - Sophomore Marcus Heusohn racked up three hits, but the Lindenwood baseball team (9-30) fell to the Omaha Mavericks (14-17) 4-3 Saturday.
Sophomore Eli Brown started the ballgame on the bump and went 5.2 innings, surrendering two runs, one earned, on three hits, walking three and striking out four.
In addition to his three hits, Heusohn had a double, a walk and two RBI to lead the Lions. Junior Anthony Stellato put together a noteworthy day at the plate as well, going 2-for-4.
The Lions got the scoring started early, putting one run on the board in the top of the first inning. Lindenwood got an RBI single from Heusohn, scoring senior Sam Kissane from third base.
The Lions then held the Mavericks scoreless before expanding their lead in the fifth inning. Lindenwood pushed across a run on Heusohn's one-out RBI double, which brought the Lions lead to 2-0.
Lindenwood's lead had disappeared by the time the eighth inning arrived and turned into a 3-2 Omaha advantage, when the Lions evened up the game at three. Omaha then scored one time over the remaining one inning to break the tie and grab the 4-3 win.