SUNDAY'S SCORES
SIUE 11, @Eastern Illinois 5
@Morehead State 16, Western Illinois 5
@Lindenwood 5, Tennessee Tech 3
Little Rock 10, @UT Martin 8
@Southeast Missouri 12, Southern Indiana 2
SIUE 11, EASTERN ILLINOIS 5
CHARLESTON, Ill. - SIUE hitters banged out 15 hits and Duncan McLaughlin tossed eight innings as the Cougars downed Eastern Illinois 11-5 Sunday at Coaches Stadium.
Both SIUE and Easter Illinois are now 6-6 in Ohio Valley Conference play. The Cougars are 13-23 overall. EIU is 11-20.
Chase Bloomer got the Cougars out in front in the first with a three-run home run following singles by Ryan Niedzwiedz and Ethan Willoughby.
Mike O'Connor answered for the Panthers with a three-run shot of his own in the bottom of the first inning.
Those were the only runs allowed by McLaughlin (1-1). Making just his second start of the year, McLaughlin turned in the longest outing for a Cougar pitcher this season. He allowed three runs on seven hits. He allowed just four hits after the first inning and struck out four total.
Bloomer drove home another run with an RBI-hit in the third inning to make it 4-3. Drew Mize delivered a two-run double later in the inning to push the lead to 6-3.
SIUE put up another three-run inning in the fourth. The Cougars loaded the bases with a two-out hit from Bloomer and walks to Willoughby and John Stallcup. Willoughby scored on a balk and Daniel Gierer lined a double to the right field corner to score two runs and make it 9-3.
Lucas Spence led off the fifth inning with his fourth home run of the season to make it 10-3. The home run extended Spence's hitting streak to 21 games.
Willoughby drove in a run with his third hit of the day, to make it 11-3 in the seventh inning.
The Panthers pulled two runs back in the bottom of the ninth against SIUE reliever Garrett Helsel.
Bloomer paced the Cougars at the plate. He was 3-5 with a career-high four RBIs.
Willoughby was 3-4 with two runs scored and an RBI.
Mize was 3-5 with two RBIs and a run scored. Gierer finished 2-4 with two RBIs.
Cole Gober led the Panthers with a 3-for-4 day at the plate. Grant Lashure was 2-4.
MOREHEAD STATE 16, WESTERN ILLINOIS 5
MOREHEAD, Ky. - - Nick Gooden and Colton Becker each collected two extra base hits to help power the Morehead State Eagles past the Western Illinois Leathernecks 16-5 on Sunday, securing a series victory.
Freshman Callum McGill (1-0) started on the mound and picked up the win for Morehead State (19-16, 6-6). The right-hander went five innings, giving up four runs on eight hits, allowing three walks and striking out five.
Becker's two extra base hits were the highlight of a 2-for-5 day, and included a double, a home run and three RBI. Gooden made his contribution with a double, a home run, two walks and two RBI, part of a 3-for-3 performance at the plate. Freshman Hayden Robbins also contributed for the Eagles, putting together one hit in three trips to the plate while adding a home run, a walk and four RBI.
The Eagles got on the board immediately, starting their scoring with two runs in the bottom of the first inning. Morehead State's offense started clicking and put up five runs, including a two-run home run off the bat of Becker.
The Leathernecks failed to push any runs across before the Eagles offense got back to their scoring ways the next inning. Morehead State scored three runs in the frame, buoyed by a two-RBI double from senior Gabriel Sepulveda, which brought the Eagles lead to 8-0.
Western Illinois narrowed Morehead State's lead to 8-1 before the Eagles stretched the advantage to 9-1 in the third inning.
Morehead State held the Leathernecks scoreless before their offense got back in action the next inning. Sepulveda crossed home plate with the lone run of the inning for the Eagles, bringing the score to 10-1 in favor of Morehead State.
Western Illinois got within 10-4 until the Eagles scored again in the sixth inning to stretch its lead to 16-4. Morehead State hit two home runs in the inning on the way to pushing six runs across. Western Illinois put one run on the scoreboard before the game was over, but the Eagles still coasted to the 16-5 win.
LINDENWOOD 5, TENNESSEE TECH 3
ST. CHARLES, Mo. - The Lindenwood baseball team (12-23, 5-7 OVC) salvaged game three of the series with Tennessee Tech (22-14, 8-4 OVC) by a score of 5-3 on Sunday afternoon from Lou Brock Sports Complex in St. Charles, Mo.
For the first time in the series, Lindenwood got on the board first, taking a 1-0 lead with some small ball. Tyson Ludwig drove in Filip Sarorta with a successful squeeze play. The Lions kept the line moving as Evan Fukhouser found the gap, bringing in Chase Honeycutt to give the black and gold a 2-0 lead after two innings.
Lindenwood kept the line moving with a two-RBI double from Dawson Hokuf in the third, growing the Lions lead to 4-0. Tennessee Tech answered back with three runs in the top of the fifth, cutting the deficit to 4-3. The Lions responded with a run in the bottom of the frame as an RBI groundout from Sarota drove in Mitch Cummins, moving the score to 5-3.
After inheriting runners on second and third with no one out in the sixth, Preston Salazar came in and held Tech off the board to keep the Lions in front by two. Salazar would continue to be dominant, finishing the last four innings, while giving up just one hit as the Lions picked up the 5-3 win on Sunday. Josh Newell picked up the victory on the mound, throwing five innings of two run ball, while striking out three.
LITTLE ROCK 10, UT MARTIN 8
MARTIN, Tenn. - Recap coming soon.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 12, SOUTHERN INDIANA 2
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri Baseball (18-18, 8-4 OVC) picked up a series-clinching win on Sunday afternoon over Southern Indiana (15-21, 5-7 OVC) by a final score of 12-2 in seven innings.
The Redhawks pounded out 13 hits to score the 12 runs, downing USI with the run-rule victory, led by left fielder Ty Stauss. Stauss crushed a three-run home run in the third inning to open the game up. Stauss finished 2-for-4 at the plate with four RBIs.
Five Redhawks finished with multi-hit days as Caleb Corbin, Brooks Kettering, Shea McGahan, and Stauss all had two or more hits. Corbin recorded his team-leading fourth triple of the season, finishing 3-for-4 at the plate.
RHP Brian Strange (4-2) picked up his fourth win of the season on Sunday. Strange, who allowed just one first inning run, allowed just the run on two hits in 5.0 innings of work. He punched out five Screaming Eagles in the outing.
USI got on the board first in the first inning with an RBI single by Tucker Ebest, but they could only muster one more run after leading 1-0 after the opening frame.
A two-run, second inning by SEMO gave the Redhawks the lead. Cameron's ninth home run of the season put SEMO on the board, and an RBI double by Shea McGahan that scored Corbin from second base gave the Redhawks a 2-1 lead after the second inning.
Stauss' bomb in the third inning was responsible for all three runs in the inning. His blast came with Michael Mugan and Ben Palmer on base, Stauss launched the ball to right field off RHP Carson Seeman to put SEMO up 5-1.
Back-to-back innings with a three-run home run, Mugan hit the third blast of the game to score Kettering and Keoni Coloma off of LHP Will Kiesel to make it 8-1 Redhawks.
Four more runs in the seventh inning allowed the Redhawks to utilize the Ohio Valley Conference 'Get Away' run-rule and won the game, 12-2.