FRIDAY'S SCORES
SIUE 16, @Western Illinois 3
Lindenwood 8, @Morehead State 6
Eastern Illinois 9, @Little Rock 4
Southeast Missouri 4, @Tennessee Tech 1 (10)
UT Martin 15, @Southern Indiana 10
SIUE 16, WESTERN ILLINOIS 3
MACOMB, Ill. - SIUE scored three runs in the first inning and never trailed, winning the opener of a three-game Ohio Valley Conference series at Western Illinois 16-3.
The 16 runs were a season high for SIUE which improved to 7-6 in OVC play and 15-23 overall. Western Illinois fell to 3-10 in the OVC and 7-26 overall.
The Cougars broke out on top with a three-run first inning. SIUE had runners on first and third after back-to-back hits by Lucas Spence and Gage Franck to start the game. Franck advanced to second on a passed ball. Ryan Niedzwiedz reached on an error which allowed to Spence to score and sent Franck to third base. Ethan Willoughby and Chase Bloomer hit back-to-back sacrifice flies for the 3-0 lead.
Franck led off the third with a single, stole second base and went to third on a passed ball. Willoughby walked ahead of an RBI-double from Bloomer. John Stallcup followed with a sacrifice fly to push the lead to 5-0.
The Leathernecks grabbed a run back in the bottom of the third. Tyler DeLong walked a batter and gave up a double before allowing a run on a passed ball.
It was the only run allowed by Delong who improved to 3-3 with the win. He struck out a season-high eight hitters.
SIUE piled on five runs in the fourth. The Cougars loaded the bases before Niedzwiedz doubled to the wall in left center to drive in three. Willoughby drove home a run with a hit and Daniel Gier added a sacrifice fly.
Spence and Niedwiedz picked up RBI-hits, Bloomer walked with the bases loaded and another run scored on an error.
Both teams scored a pair of runs in the ninth inning.
Zues Ponder tossed a pair of scoreless innings in relief. He struck out four.
SIUE outhit Western Illinois 15-8.
Gage Franck and Ethan Willoughby each had three hits. Willoughby added three RBIs. Niedzwiedz and Bloomer each had two hits and four RBIs. Lucas Spence was 2-5 and extended his hitting streak to 23 games-the longest for the Cougars since 2001.
LINDENWOOD 8, MOREHEAD STATE 6
MOREHEAD, Ky. - The Lindenwood baseball team (13-24, 6-7 OVC) pulled off a big comeback, scoring six runs in the ninth inning to beat Morehead State (21-17, 6-7 OVC) 8-6 on Friday night in Morehead, Ky.
The Golden Eagles jumped out to a 4-0 lead after two innings. The Lions answered back in the top of the third as Kam Edwards homered for the second time in as many games to make the score 4-1. Morehead State answered with two more in the bottom half of the inning to push the score to 6-1 after three.
Aaron Jungers kept Lindenwood in the ballgame, throwing 4.1 scoreless innings. This allowed Lindenwood to hang around as Bryson Arnette drove in Colin Shea in the seventh making the score 6-2. The black and gold kept chipping away, hitting three home runs in the ninth inning, first Ambrose Russo, a pinch hit two-run homer that drove in Shea.
Lindenwood kept the line moving as Dawson Hokuf went back-to-back with Russo to make it a 6-5 ballgame. After Arnette drew a walk, FILIP Sarota blasted one to right center, giving Lindenwood a 7-6 lead. Lindenwood wasn't done scoring when Edwards drove in Logan Stevens with a single, giving the Lions cushion at 8-6.
Bennett Stice came on to pitch the bottom of the ninth and went 1-2-3 to earn his first save of the year to stun the Golden Eagles and pick up the 8-6 victory. Jungers picked up the win out of the pen,
EASTERN ILLINOIS 9, LITTLE ROCK 4
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - The Eastern Illinois baseball team (13-21, 7-6 OVC) picked up a big road win on Friday night as they took down Little Rock (20-17, 8-5 OVC) 9-4 to open the weekend. The Panthers used an early offensive outburst and some stingy pitching from Casey Perrenoud and Jonathon Hanscom to subdue the Trojans.
Eastern took an early lead with a Michael O'Conor RBI single in the first that plated Lucas Loos, who had initially reached base with a two-out double. It was Loos' conference-leading 16th double of the season.
In the next at-bat, Cole Gober moved O'Conor over to third with a well-executed hit and run before a Little Rock throwing error allowed O'Conor to score the game's second run.
The Trojans immediately responded in the bottom of the first with a two-run homerun, but Eastern Illinois punched right back with a Tyler Castro RBI single in the second to regain the lead.
After a Lucas Loos walk loaded the bases with two outs, Michael O'conor did some more damage with another single that drove in two runs, making the score 5-2 Panthers.
After a scoreless third, Lucas Loos extended the lead in the fourth with a two-run missile over the left center wall that made the score 7-2 and forced Little Rock ace Hoss Brewer to exit the game early.
EIU added a couple more insurance runs with a fourth inning RBI single from Danny Infante and another RBI base hit from Tyler Castro in the fifth.
That would be the last of Eastern's scoring, but the 9-2 lead proved to be plenty of run support for the EIU defense.
After giving up the two-run homer in the first, starting pitcher Casey Perrenoud (2-2) allowed no earned runs over the next five innings while scattering two hits and recording three punch outs on the way to his second consecutive win.
After taking over in the seventh inning, Jonathon Hanscom gave up just one run on three hits with two strikeouts to pick up his fourth save of the season.
Lucas Loos kept things going at the plate with a 3-4, two RBI outing while Michael O'Conor led the Panthers with three RBI. Tyler Castro also had a multi-RBI showing, as he went 2-4 and drove in two runs.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 4, TENNESSEE TECH 1 (10)
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Southeast Missouri Baseball (20-18, 9-4 OVC) moved into sole possession of first place In the Ohio Valley Conference with an extra innings, 4-1, victory over Tennessee Tech (23-15, 8-5 OVC) on Friday night at Bush Stadium.
Right fielder Josh Cameron hit a go-ahead three-run home run in the 10th inning off TTU's Eli Huddleston (2-3) to give SEMO a 4-1 lead.
RHP Kyle Miller (3-1) picked up his third win of the season as he struck out the side in the home 10th to secure the victory.
The Redhawks offensively registered 11 hits but could only muster the four runs and got three of them with one swing of the bat. Ty Stauss was responsible for the first run of the game with his RBI single in the first inning. Stauss finished 3-for-5 at the plate as he was one-of-three Redhawks with a multi-hit game.
LHP Haden Dow made the start on Friday night and kept the Golden Eagles in check through 7.0 innings pitched. The St. John, New Brunswick-native allowed no runs on four hits and struck out four Golden Eagles in the outing.
The Redhawks scored the first run of the game in the top of the first inning after a leadoff single by Brooks Kettering would come around to score with two outs in the inning. Left fielder Ty Stauss singled to left field to bring in Kettering.
That was the game's only run until the bottom of the ninth inning as the Golden Eagles tied the game with a solo home run by Nicho Jordan off RHP Kyle Miller to tie it at one and send the game to extra innings.
Right fielder Josh Cameron gave the Readhwks the lead in the 10th inning with his ninth home run of the season. His blast came with two on and one out in the visitor's 10th inning to give SEMO a 4-1 lead heading into the home 10th.
UT MARTIN 15, SOUTHERN INDIANA 10
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - The bats came alive for the University of Tennessee at Martin baseball team this evening as the Skyhawks showed resiliency down the stretch in their 15-10 Ohio Valley Conference triumph over Southern Indiana.
Blaze Bell went 3-for-4 with a career-best six RBI’s, smashing a three-run home run and a two-out, bases-loaded double in the top of the ninth to provide UT Martin (14-23, 6-7 OVC) plenty of insurance runs. Andrew Fernandez enjoyed a four-hit night with three runs scored and an RBI while Will Smith tallied a triple with the bases loaded in the sixth. Cameron Brady recorded a multi-hit game (two hits) and scored twice while Jalen Fithian blasted a two-run homer for the Skyhawks, who had 13 hits and drew eight walks.
Starting pitcher Tristan Walton (4-4) won his second straight decision after five innings of work with five strikeouts. Baylor Jones (two innings pitched) and Zach Wager (0.2 innings) combined for five strikeouts out of the bullpen while Tucker Reed needed just eight pitches to toss a perfect bottom of the ninth.
UT Martin struck early as Bell cranked a 3-1 offering over the wall in left center to give the Skyhawks an early 3-0 lead in the first.
The offense continued to pour on when Fithian drove his second homer of the season in the second, extending UT Martin’s lead out to 5-0.
At one point, Walton struck out three Screaming Eagles (15-23, 5-8 OVC) in a four-batter span in the first two scoreless innings. Southern Indiana got on the scoreboard with two runs in the bottom of the third although an outfield assist from Will Smith cut down another potential run at the plate to end the frame.
The Screaming Eagles scored twice in the fourth before Walton got the final two outs of the frame with the bases loaded. The senior lefty then induced an inning-ending 6-3 groundball double play to keep Southern Indiana scoreless in the fifth, his final inning of work.
Needing some momentum in the top of the sixth, the Skyhawks put up five runs. Will Smith cleared the bases with a three-run triple and was followed by RBI singles from Fernandez and Cole Smith to make it a 10-4 ballgame.
Jones entered in relief for the sixth and threw a scoreless inning while fanning two batters. A pair of errors led to a UT Martin run in the top of the seventh before Jones began the bottom half with another strikeout. However, the Screaming Eagles scratched across a run with two outs to make the score 11-5.
Southern Indiana recorded five runs in the bottom of the eighth before Wager stepped up with a clutch performance. Entering mid-inning with the tying run aboard the basepaths, the sophomore lefty accounted for an inning-ending strikeout to erase any potential threat and preserve the Skyhawk advantage at 11-10.
Bell came up with his second big hit of the evening in the top of the ninth. After Brady (single), Will Smith (intentional walk) and Fernandez (walk) loaded up the bases with two outs, Bell jumped all over a 1-0 fastball for a line drive into the gap in left center, plating three in the process. Bell later scored to extend UT Martin’s lead out to 15-10.
Five runs were more than enough for Reed, who got three groundball outs in the ninth to snag Game 1 on the road for the Orange and Blue.