THURSDAY'S SCORES
Little Rock 3, @Lindenwood 1
@UT Martin 5 Eastern Illinois 4 (11)
@Morehead State 11, Southern Indiana 10
@Southeast Missouri 15, SIUE 4
@Tennessee Tech 6, Western Illinois 3
LITTLE ROCK 3, LINDENWOOD 1
ST. CHARLES, Mo. - Little Rock takes game one over Lindenwood to improve to 3-1 in OVC play. The Lions fall to 1-3 in conference.
It was another close game for the Trojans as one run was the deciding factor.
Little Rock took the early lead with a run from Alex Seguine in the first inning. The score would stay stagnant for two innings until Lindenwood took a lead of their own with a 2-run inning.
The Lions maintained their 1-run lead until the top of the sixth saw a 2-run inning for the Trojans. Skler Trevino would get the game winning run.
Hoss Brewer had another good outting as he went 7.0 innings pitched with 5 strikeouts and only 1 earned run against him. Brewer earned his third win of the year improving to 3-2. Jacob Weatherley earned his 4th save of the year as he entered in the eighth inning and threw 4 strikeouts
Tyler Williams knocked 2 hits moving him to just 1 hit away from tying the all-time Trojan hits record Ben Harmon earned 2 RBI on the day
UT MARTIN 5, EASTERN ILLINOIS 4 (11)
MARTIN, Tenn. - .- In what was a thrilling Thursday night at Skyhawk Field, the University of Tennessee at Martin baseball team received a walk-off double from senior Alec Beaman to take Game 1 over Eastern Illinois, 5-4, in 11 innings.
The Skyhawk pitching staff was on point throughout the night, dialing up 16 strikeouts. That marked the most for UT Martin since the Skyhawks whiffed 16 South Dakota State on Feb. 15, 2019 in a neutral-site game in Russellville, Ark.
Tristan Walton pitched a gem with a career-high 10 strikeouts over seven scoreless innings. Tucker Reed (2-0) entered in the eighth and earned a hard-fought victory, throwing a season-high four innings with six strikeouts.
Offensively, Beaman was the hero in his second start of the season. He roped a double off the top of the wall in left center in the bottom of the 11th, plating Hunter McLean (two RBI’s) for the game-winning run. Andrew Fernandez (two runs scored) and Cameron Brady led the team with two hits apiece while Cole Smith (run scored), Zac Rice (run scored) and Garner Anderson (RBI) helped guide the Skyhawks, who improve to 10-16 with a 2-2 Ohio Valley Conference record.
Through three innings, Walton was on cruise control for most of the evening. The senior lefty did not allow a ball out of the infield during a perfect first inning and pitched around a leadoff double in the second with two strikeouts. He came back with another shutdown frame in the third before the run support came in the bottom half.
Rice (single), Fernandez (walk) and Smith (intentional walk) loaded the bases with two away before Anderson and McLean drew back-to-back RBI walks to put UT Martin on top, 2-0.
Walton turned in another 1-2-3 frame in the top of the fourth, needing just nine pitches to retire the side in order. That opened the door for another Skyhawk run as Fernandez led off the frame with a triple before Danford lifted a deep fly ball to center for a sacrifice fly.
Walton stranded a pair of runners in scoring position in the sixth, tossing another zero on the scoreboard. Two more Panthers (5-17, 0-4 OVC) reached base in the seventh but Walton dug deep for back-to-back strikeouts to end any potential threat.
Eastern Illinois tied the game with three runs in the top of the eighth but UT Martin did not sulk – going right back on top in the bottom of the eighth. Smith lined a double into the gap in left center before McLean came through with a go-ahead RBI single to make the score 4-3.
Reed recorded three strikeouts in the bottom of the ninth but a Skyhawk error with two outs extended the game into extra innings. That did not faze the right-hander from Athens, Ala. as Reed proceeded to strike out two more batters in a perfect 10th and add another punchout in a scoreless 11th.
McLean was hit by a pitch to lead off the bottom of the 11th. Two batters later, Beaman stepped up to the plate and drilled a 3-2 pitch off the wall, giving McLean just enough time to slide ahead of the catcher’s tag and give UT Martin its second straight win in extra innings.
MOREHEAD STATE 11, SOUTHERN INDIANA 10
MOREHEAD, Ky. - The Morehead State baseball team earned a win in walk-off fashion, sealing the victory on senior Roman Kuntz's solo home run off of senior Cory Anderson to beat the Screaming Eagles 11-10 Thursday.
Junior Trevor Callahan (2-0) picked up the victory out of the bullpen for Morehead State (15-11, 2-2 OVC). The right-hander went 0.1 shutout innings without giving up a hit.
The Eagles were trailing 2-0 in the first inning when they first put runs on the board. Morehead State managed to push across two runs in the inning.
The Screaming Eagles then scored three runs to retake their advantage heading into the second inning, when the Eagles responded by getting back on the scoreboard themselves. The Morehead State offense exploded for four runs, highlighted by a one-run groundout off the bat of senior Colton Becker, which brought the Eagles lead to 6-5.
Morehead State's lead had evaporated by the time the eighth inning came around and turned into an 8-6 Southern Indiana advantage, when the Eagles re-gained control at 10-8. The Eagles bats heated up in the inning, scoring four runs, including a two-run home run off the bat of senior Ryley Preece.
Southern Indiana then rallied to tie the ballgame at 10-10 before Morehead State walked it off in the bottom of the ninth on Kuntz's leadoff home run off of Anderson.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 15, SIUE 4
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri Baseball (13-13, 4-0 OVC) won the series opener with SIUE (8-18, 2-2 OVC) on Thursday night to the tune of a 15-4 victory at Capaha Field.
The Redhawks picked up where they left off in Sunday's win with the same score line as the offense pounded out 15 hits and scored 15 runs led by freshman second baseman, Brooks Kettering.
Kettering led the Redhawks with a 2-for-3 day at the plate with four RBIs and his first over-the-fence home run in a SEMO uniform in the fourth inning.
Five different Redhawks had multi-RBI games as the offense has now plated 71 runs in the last four games.
RHP Brian Strange (2-2) picked up his second win of the season as he started out the first 5.0 innings with a one-hitter as only SIUE's Ryan Niedzwiedz recorded a hit off the Westfield, Mass.-native.
Leading 15-0, the Cougars plated three runs after loading the bases and Strange's night was done. His final stat line was 6.0 innings pitched, allowing three runs on three hits. He struck out one batter in the outing.
An RBI sacrifice fly by center fielder Michael Mugan got the Redhawks on the board for the first time in the third inning. The Redhawks would then explode for a four-run fourth inning, thanks in part to Kettering's home run.
First baseman Bryce Cannon got the big inning going with an RBI double to left center off SIUE starting pitcher, Tyler DeLong (1-2). Another double down the left field line, this one by catcher Shea McGahan would bring in Cannon and the Redhawks led 3-0.
McGahan on second base, Kettering smashed his first home run over the right-field fence to put SEMO up 5-0 after the fourth inning.
Josh Cameron, who came into the night with five RBIs in his last four games, drove in one-of-his-two RBIs in the game with an RBI double in the fifth. Gavin Baldwin would score Cameron from second for his first of two RBIs and the Redhawks led 7-0 after the fifth.
A huge, eight run sixth inning, would blow the game wide open as the Redhawks recorded an RBI single, sacrifice fly, an RBI single, an RBI Double, an RBI single, and Ben Palmer's eight home run to make the game 15-0.
The Cougars would score four runs in the seventh inning, but LHP Logan Katen would pick up the three-inning save. Katen, who came into relieve Strange with the bases loaded in the seventh, allowed just one unearned run and struck out four batters in the outing.
For Katen, the save is the first of the season and his four strikeouts ties his season high.
TENNESSEE TECH 6, WESTERN ILLINOIS 3
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - If class was in session at Quillen Field and Bush Stadium at the Averitt Express Baseball Complex Thursday evening, Landon Smiddy provided one heckuva lecture for the Tennessee Tech baseball team, as the Golden Eagle hurler used a gutsy showing on the mound to lead his squad to a 6-3 win over Western Illinois.
Taking the hill for the first at home in Ohio Valley Conference play, Smiddy put on a dazzling display that just seemed to get stronger as the evening went on. The ETSU transfer completed a career-best 8.1 innings, allowing just two earned runs and three total while scattering nine hits.
Even more eye-popping was the senior's 11 strikeouts without issuing a single free pass. Earning his second win of the season, Smiddy tossed a ridiculous 134 pitches to set the tone for the weekend for the Golden Eagles (14-12, 2-2).
The Leathernecks (6-16, 2-2) actually got to the Tech ace early in the affair scoring the first run of the ball game with a pair of hits in the first inning. The Golden Eagle bats answered in the bottom half, as catcher Hayden Gilliland used ambush tactics to pulverize the first pitch he saw with two outs and deposit it over the wall in right field for a solo home run, his fifth of the year.
In the second, Western Illinois plated its second run behind an error by the Tech defense, but the lead would be short-lived yet again. This time, however, the Cookeville crew made sure to make it disappear completely and never come back.
Shortstop Tanner Shiver kicked off the bottom of the second with a base knock to left-center field. First baseman Preston Ford followed with a double that bounced off the top edge of the wall in right-center field, missing a long ball by about two inches.
With a pair of runners aboard, right fielder Theo Bryant IV brought the train all the way home, hammering the second pitch he saw to left field for a three-run bomb. The veteran's third dinger of the year gave Tech the lead for good.
Western Illinois managed one more run in the ball game, picking up a marker behind three hits in the top of the fourth. Shiver and second baseman Troy Baunsgard turned a nifty double play to end any further threat and Smiddy took over from that point on.
Heading into the fifth inning, Smiddy had just one punch-out next to his name on the stat sheet. That would quickly change over the next 4.1 innings, starting with a pair in the fifth. Two more were added to the tally in the sixth before the savvy veteran tacked on another duo in the seventh.
After surrendering a lead-off base hit in the eighth, Smiddy looked like a man possessed, fanning the side to take the Golden Eagles to their final turn with the sticks. He was rewarded with two huge insurance runs, thanks to a two-run blast off the bat of Ford. The senior's fourth jack of the year left the ballpark in left-center field.
Smiddy took his podium one final time to start the ninth, corralling one last K for his career-high collection before surrendering a double and leaving the game to a standing ovation from the crowd. Sophomore Brody Lanham made the trip from the bullpen to the mound, looking to secure the final two outs of a pure gem from his teammate.
A light flair found a snippet of green in right field on his second offering of the game, putting runners on the corner with one out. Lanham dialed in, needing just three pitches to set down the next Leatherneck batter with a strikeout.
A seven-pitch walk loaded the bases for the visitors before Lanham's final pitch of the game resulted in a line drive out directly to Austin Turner in left field. Lanham earned his second save of the season for his efforts.
Ford and Gilliland led the Golden Eagles with two hits and two runs each while Bryant paced the Cookeville crew in the RBI column with three.