THURSDAY'S SCORES
@Morehead State 12, Little Rock 8
Eastern Illinois 10, @Southeast Missouri 2
SIUE 4, @Lindenwood 0
@Illinois 7,
UT Martin 3
MOREHEAD STATE 12, LITTLE ROCK 8
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Roman Kuntz was the man of the hour on Thursday, putting together a 3-5 day with three home runs on the way to a 12-8 win over Little Rock in the series opener.
Luke Helton (7-2) started on the mound and picked up the win for Morehead State (33-19, 15-7 OVC). The right-hander went five innings, giving up four runs, two earned, on six hits, allowing three walks and striking out two. Matt Bettio also made an impact on the mound for the Eagles, throwing two scoreless innings while allowing no hits, with no walks and one strikeout.
Chase Vinson added to Kuntz's awesome power-hitting performance by going 1-for-4 with a home run and three RBI. Ryley Preece also chipped in for the Eagles, going 1-for-3 with a triple, two walks and an RBI.
The Eagles scored in six different innings on the way to the win. After holding the lead two different times earlier in the ballgame, Morehead State broke a 4-4 tie and took the lead for good at 7-4 in the fifth inning The big hit for the Eagles in the inning was a two-run home run off the bat of Kuntz, while Ryley Preece tripled in a run before scoring on a wild pitch.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 10, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 2
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Eastern Illinois baseball (31-18, 11-11 OVC) continued their five game win streak with a 10-2 victory over Southeast Missouri (26-27, 14-8 OVC). Panthers collected 15 hits in their game one win over the Redhawks.
Lincoln Riley had his best game of the season for EIU with four hits and five RBI including a double and a home run. Logan Eickhoff also went a perfect 4-4 at the plate with a double and a run batted in.
Starting pitcher Ky Matthews-Hampton (W, 7-2) picked up his Ohio Valley Conference leading seventh win of the season. Hampton went seven innings on the mound allowing just two runs on five hits with four strikeouts.
Eickhoff had the first hit of the ball game for either team in the second with a single. The Redhawks did strike first in the bottom of the second with an RBI single over the third base bag by Brett Graber to take a 1-0 lead.
Ryan Ignoffo had his lone hit of the ball game in the third with an RBI double to score Riley after he doubled with two outs. SEMO would score their final run in the bottom of the inning to lead 2-1.
The Panthers took control of the game in the fourth after scoring five runs including a string of four straight hits. Cole Gober had a triple to start the one out rally and was followed by a bunt RBI single by Eickhoff.
Grant Lashure also had a single in the inning which was followed by DiLuca's first double. After a sac fly by Ja'Lil Akbar, Riley hit his fourth home run of the season to put EIU out in front 6-2.
Hampton was on fire after allowing two runs in the first three innings. Between the fourth and seventh inning he did not allow a single hit and allowed just two base runners. EIU scored two runs in the sixth after an RBI by Riley and Kolten Poorman.
The scoring final ended after two more runs by EIU in the seventh with the fourth and fifth RBIs driven in by Riley. Jonathon Hanscom would come in for relief of Hampton and throw two scoreless innings.
SIUE 4, LINDENWOOD 0
ST. CHARLES, Mo. - SIUE pitchers Jake Bockenstedt and Hayden Cooper combined to throw SIUE baseball's first no-hitter in the Division I era as the pair blanked Lindenwood 4-0 Thursday at the Lou Brock Sports Complex.
Bockenstedt tied his career high with eight innings pitched, striking out eight. Cooper struck out the side in the ninth.
It is SIUE's first no-hitter since Kyle Jones no-hit Northern Kentucky in 2006. It is the first nine-inning no-hitter since Adam Tallman in 2005 and it is SIUE's first-ever combined nine-inning no hitter.
With the win, the Cougars clinched a spot in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament for the second straight season. SIUE improved to 26-25 overall and 9-13 in the OVC. Lindenwood fell to 11-42 overall and 6-16 in the OVC.
Lindenwood starter Preston Salazar kept the Cougar hitter off balance for most of his start. SIUE didn't get on the board until the seventh inning when Brady Bunten connected on his 35th career home run to straight away left field. Bunten is now tied with Brock Weimer for the most career home runs in an SIUE uniform.
SIUE tacked on three runs in the eighth, capped off by a two-out, two-run single from Bunten.
ILLINOIS 7, UT MARTIN 3
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The University of Tennessee at Martin baseball team competed throughout this evening at Illinois but the Skyhawks fell by a 7-3 margin in the first of three games at Illinois Field.
UT Martin (21-32) struck first and held a lead until the bottom of the fourth. The Skyhawks also held a brief advantage after the top of the sixth but the Fighting Illini (24-24) accounted for the final five runs of the contest.
Caleb Hobson led off the game with a homer while Blaze Bell also drove in a run for UT Martin. Will Smith scored twice as seven of the nine Skyhawks in the starting lineup recorded at least one hit.
On the mound, Seth Petry drew the start and shut out the Illinois offense through three innings. Tristan Walton (4-6) followed with three innings while Jordan Armstrong hurled the final two frames for UT Martin. That trio combined to allow four earned runs while whiffing five batters.
Hobson launched the third pitch of the game beyond the wall in left field, trotting around the bases for his sixth home run of the 2023 campaign.
Petry did a masterful job in the bottom of the first, stranding the bases loaded with a called strikeout to keep the Skyhawks on top. The senior righty from Murfreesboro, Tenn. also posted a scoreless inning in the bottom of the second, leaving a pair of runners on the basepaths. He concluded his evening with another zero on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third, pitching around a harmless two-out single.
UT Martin took a 2-0 advantage in the top of the fourth. Smith doubled to left center to lead off the inning before advancing to third on a groundout. Bell then lifted a sacrifice fly to center, allowing Smith to score.
The Fighting Illini evened the score in the bottom of the fourth as one of the two runs were unearned. Walton bounced back to shut down Illinois in the fifth, receiving a key 6-4-3 double play to keep the ballgame knotted at 2-all.
The Skyhawks took another lead in their next at-bat, keyed by a Smith walk to lead off the top of the sixth. He moved up to second base on a groundout and advanced to third on a flyout before scampering home on a wild pitch to push UT Martin ahead by a 3-2 margin.
Illinois scored twice (including one unearned run) in the bottom of the sixth. The Skyhawks put a man in scoring position in each of the next two innings but could not manufacture a run. Meanwhile, the Fighting Illini crossed the plate once in the seventh and two times in the eighth and UT Martin could not mount a ninth-inning rally.