FRIDAY'S SCORES
Tennessee Tech 4, @Lindenwood 0
@UT Martin 4, Little Rock 0
@Southeast Missouri 1, Southern Indiana 0
@Morehead State 10, Western Illinois 6
TENNESSEE TECH 4, LINDENWOOD 0
ST. CHARLES, Mo. - For the third consecutive week, the Tennessee Tech baseball team received a stellar showing on the mound to help set the tone for the weekend, as Landon Smiddy twirled a complete-game shutout for the Golden Eagles in a 4-0, Ohio Valley Conference win over Lindenwood at the Lou Brock Sports Complex Friday evening.
After finishing 8.1 innings with a career-high 11 strikeouts two weeks ago against Western Illinois, Smiddy came out with an even better showing in St. Charles, Mo., producing his first complete game with nine frames of scoreless work. It led to the senior's third win in a Tech (21-13, 7-3) uniform.
The right-hander punched out 10 Lion (11-22, 4-6) batters on the night, scattering five walks and just three hits. Smiddy used 130 pitches to get through the contest, turning in the first complete-game, nine-inning shut piece since Alex Hursey tossed nine consecutive goose eggs up for the Golden Eagles in a 10-0 win at Belmont back on May 6, 2018.
The Tech offense helped provide an immediate lead for the standout performance of Smiddy's, starting with lead-off man Austin Turner. The left fielder ripped an 0-2 single up the middle before ripping off his 15th stolen base of the season to reach second.
Catcher Hayden Gilliland made it count, blasting an RBI double to left-center field for the first marker of the ball game. Second baseman Troy Baunsgard doubled the Tech lead in the second, sending a sacrifice fly ball to left field to plate designated hitter Mack Whitcomb, who singled through the left side to open the frame.
In the fourth, the purple and gold put together a little, two-out rally, loading the bases with a fielder's choice, a base hit by Baunsgard, and an error by the Lindenwood defense. First baseman Preston Ford delivered the critical hit, lacing a two-run knock to left field to make it a 4-0 Tech advantage.
It was all Smiddy the rest of the way, as the ETSU transfer worked himself out of a couple of jams to silence the Lions. Lindenwood put runners on second and third with nobody out in the bottom of the fourth, looking to finally break through, but Tech's Friday guy responded by striking out back-to-back batters and forcing an inning-ending ground out.
He worked a 1-2-3 inning in the fifth before turning down another Lion threat in the sixth. After issuing a pair of one-out walks and gathering a second out, Smiddy plunked a Lindenwood batter to load the bases in a harrowing moment.
The veteran gathered himself and used three pitches to end the inning with his fifth punch-out of the night. He fanned the next two home batters as well to open the seventh and set down the second Lion of the eighth via the K after surrendering a lead-off hit.
A double-play ball took the Cookeville crew to the ninth and Smiddy took them the whole way. The Lions refused to go down without a fight, reaching on a walk to kick off the bottom of the frame. Smiddy delivered strikeouts No. 9 and No. 10 before Lindenwood gathered its third hit of the game to put two on. The senior's next offering did the trick, holding up in right field for a fly out to Theo Bryant IV.
Smiddy held Lindenwood hitless from the two-out mark in the first until the lead-off batter of the eighth. Four different Golden Eagles recorded two hits in the ball game while Bryant and center fielder Jackson Green each drew a pair of walks.
UT MARTIN 4, LITTLE ROCK 0
MARTIN, Tenn. - Led by a dominant effort from starting pitcher Tristan Walton, the University of Tennessee at Martin baseball team produced a complete performance in its 4-0 triumph over Ohio Valley Conference leader Little Rock in Game 1 of the weekend series.
Today's win was the first time the Skyhawks (13-21, 5-5 OVC) blanked an opponent since a 3-0 victory at Central Arkansas on March 11, 2022 and also served as the program's first OVC shutout since a 1-0 triumph over Austin Peay in the backend of a home doubleheader on April 17, 2021.
Tristan Walton (3-4) was tremendous, going a season-high 7.2 shutout innings while allowing just two hits (both singles). His outs were evenly distributed as the senior southpaw gathered seven punchouts, seven groundball outs and eight flyouts in one of the most impressive starts by any Skyhawk hurler in recent memory. Tucker Reed finished the shutout, getting the final four outs in perfect fashion for his second save on the year.
Offensively, Will Smith belted a two-run home run while drawing a walk and scoring twice. Zac Rice scored twice while Andrew Fernandez drove in a pair of runs for the Skyhawks.
It was evident early that Walton was dialed in as he recorded a pair of strikeouts in the top of the first. He would just need 11 pitches to add two more punchouts to his ledger in the second.
After retiring his eighth consecutive batter to open the top of the fourth, the Trojans (17-16, 6-4 OVC) managed their first hit of the game with a bloop single to center. Walton responded with another strikeout and a flyout to end any potential scoring threat.
The UT Martin offense gave Walton the run support he needed in the home half of the fourth. After Rice reached on an error to lead off the frame, Smith went the other way for his fourth jack of the season, giving the Skyhawks a lead they wouldn't relinquish.
Walton went back to work, sitting down the next eight batters in a row after UT Martin got on the scoreboard. That included a nine-pitch frame in the sixth before the streak ended with a harmless two-out walk in the seventh. The Clay, Ala. native then managed the final out of the inning on the next pitch.
Meanwhile, the Skyhawks tacked two more runs on the scoreboard thanks to a pair of RBI's from Fernandez. After a two-out walk to Smith in the fifth, Fernandez lined an RBI double down the first base line to make the score 3-0. In the bottom of the seventh, a one-out double from Rice turned into a run when Fernandez grounded out to the right side for an RBI that boosted UT Martin's lead to 4-0.
After Little Rock placed two runners on the basepaths with two away in the eighth, Reed entered from the bullpen and won a seven-pitch battle by inducing a flyout to conclude the inning. The Athens, Ala. native would cap off the victory by sitting the Trojans down in order in the ninth, giving the Skyhawks their first win over Little Rock since 2009.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 1, SOUTHERN INDIANA 0
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri Baseball (17-17, 7-3 OVC) picked up a series-opening win over Southern Indiana (14-20, 4-6 OVC) by a final score of 1-0 on Friday night at Capaha Field.
First baseman Bryce Cannon blasted his eighth home run of the season in the third inning for the game's only run off RHP Grant Parson (3-1) for one of SEMO's five hits.
The top of the batting order registered three-of-the-five hits. Brooks Kettering, Ben Palmer, and Michael Mugan all finished 1-for-4 at the plate.
A pitching duel, LHP Haden Dow (3-1) tossed 5.0 scoreless innings in Friday's contest, picking up his third win of the season. Dow allowed only three hits and struck out three Screaming Eagles in the outing.
RHP Kyle Miller picked up his second save of the season, making his second appearance of the week out of the SEMO bullpen. Miller, the all-time saves leader in Southeast Missouri history, pitched the ninth inning without allowing a base runner. He recorded a single strikeout over the three hitters he faced.
In the game, three runners were tagged out at the plate, two from SEMO and one from USI, in a defensive battle as the solo shot in the third was the difference.
MOREHEAD STATE 10, WESTERN ILLINOIS 6
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Senior Logan Castleman put together an outstanding outing at the plate Friday, hitting three homers to help power the Morehead State Eagles past the Western Illinois Leathernecks 10-6.
The game was suspended due to weather Friday night, and finished prior to game two on Saturday
Luke Helton (6-2) got the win for Morehead State (18-15, 5-5). The right-hander went seven innings, giving up three runs, all of them earned, on six hits, allowing one walk and striking out nine. Junior Will Grimmett also pitched well, going one shutout inning without allowing a hit, walking none and striking out one.
Castleman went 3-for-4 at the plate, supplementing his three home runs with five RBIs. Freshman Hayden Robbins added to Castleman's awesome power-hitting performance by going 1-for-3 with a home run and three RBI along with one walk. Senior Roman Kuntz also helped out for the Eagles, going 3-for-5 with two doubles.
The Eagles put runs on the scoreboard first, starting the scoring in the second inning. Morehead State scored twice in the inning, including one on a solo shot from Castleman.
The Leathernecks failed to push any runs across before the Eagles offense got back to their scoring ways the next inning. The Morehead State offense exploded for four runs, highlighted by a three-run home run off the bat of Robbins, which brought the Eagles lead to 6-0.
Morehead State kept Western Illinois scoreless before expanding their lead to 8-0 the following inning. The Eagles added two to their tally on Castleman's two-run homer to left.
Morehead State held the Leathernecks scoreless before building on their lead in the sixth inning. The Eagles scored twice on Castleman's two-run homer, bringing the score to 10-0 in favor of Morehead State. Western Illinois put six runs on the scoreboard before the game was over, but the Eagles still coasted to the 10-6 win.