SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Morehead State 4, SIUE 3
Eastern Illinois 9, @Lindenwood 3
@Southeast Missouri 9, UT Martin 5
@Southern Indiana 10, Western Illinois 3
MOREHEAD STATE 4, SIUE 3
MOREHEAD, Ky. - The Morehead State baseball team rallied to score two in the ninth inning and walked it off with senior Roman Kuntz at the plate to pick up the 4-3 win over the SIUE Cougars Saturday.
Junior Will Grimmett (3-3) got the win out of the bullpen for Morehead State (33-22, 17-10 OVC). The right-hander went one shutout inning without giving up a hit. Junior Riley Bradshaw started the ballgame and went 4.1 shutout innings while allowing four hits, walking two and striking out three.
Morehead State's victory secured a sweep, the first of the season for MSU. It has now been two seasons since Morehead State lost a series at home.
The Eagles put runs on the scoreboard first, starting the scoring in the fourth inning. Nick Gooden's run-scoring single highlighted a two-run inning for Morehead State.
SIUE then rallied to take a 3-2 lead before Morehead State scored two runs in the bottom half of the ninth to grab the win, walking it off when freshman Hayden Robbins came across to score.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 9, LINDENWOOD 3
ST. CHARLES, Mo. - The Eastern Illinois baseball team (20-32, 13-14 OVC) closed out the regular season with a convincing 9-3 win over Lindenwood (16-38, 9-18 OVC) on Saturday afternoon. The victory completed the Panthers' second series sweep of the season and extended their current win-streak to five games entering postseason play.
Lindenwood opened up the scoring with a James Jett RBI single in the first inning to give the Lions their first lead of the series. Later in the inning, Jett reached home on an error to make the score 2-0.
Lindenwood carried their advantage into the fourth inning before it was quickly erased by the Panthers.
After loading the bases, Cole Gober and Michael O'Conor scored on back-to-back wild pitches to tie the game before a Cade Zalewski sacrifice fly scored Trenton Pallas to put the Panthers in front.
Eastern extended their lead by another run in the fifth with a Cole Gober RBI double, and in the sixth a Cade Zalewski solo homer made the score 5-2.
EIU tacked on two more runs in the seventh with another Gober RBI double followed by a bases loaded catcher's interference that brought home Tyler Castro.
After six consecutive scoreless innings, Lindenwood found their way back into the scoring column with a Jack Meyer RBI single in the eighth, but EIU responded in the top of the ninth with Trenton Pallas two RBI single that extended the lead to 9-3.
Zane Robbins was inserted into the game in the bottom of the ninth, and after allowing a lead-off single, set down the next three Lions in order to finish off the win for Eastern.
Eli Cartwright (1-1) picked up his first win as a Panther after allowing no runs on three hits with four strikeouts through three complete innings in relief.
The EIU offense was spearheaded by Cole Gober (3-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI) and Quade Peters (3-3, 2B, 2 R) who recorded three hits apiece.
Trenton Pallas also stayed hot offensively with a 2-3 performance that included an RBI.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 9, UT MARTIN 5
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri Baseball (31-24, 18-9 OVC) picked up its third Ohio Valley Conference sweep of the season with a 9-5 Saturday afternoon victory over UT Martin (20-34, 12-15 OVC) in the 2024 regular season finale.
The Redhawks locked up the number two overall seed in the 2024 Ohio Valley Conference Baseball Championship presented by SERVPRO from Mtn. Dew Park in Marion, Ill. SEMO will play on Thursday, May 23, at 3 p.m. with the opponent TBD.
Prior to the contest, 13 seniors were honored for their final home game in a SEMO uniform as Nolan Ackerman, Josh Cameron, Esteban Hernandez, Logan Katen, Payton Lawrence, Peyton Leeper, Kyle Miller, Fischer Rausch, Ian Riley, Chance Resetich, Collin Wilma, Tommy Windt, and team manager Connor Rooney were all recognized prior to first pitch.
SEMO pounded out 13 hits led by Josh Cameron, Bryce Cannon, and Ty Stauss who all finished with three hits each. The outfield duo of Stauss and Cameron drove in a combined four of SEMO's nine runs on the afternoon.
The Redhawks fell behind early in the ball game as UTM's Zac Rice drove a solo home run to left field off RHP Brian Strange in the top of the third inning.
The 1-0 advantage would not last long for the visitor's as a four-run response in the SEMO half would get the Redhawks going.
Short stop Ben Palmer singled through the left side to score catcher Shea McGahan after he drew a leadoff walk, advancing to second on a wild pitch. Palmer would drive in the RBI to tie the game.
A sacrifice fly by Caleb Corbin would score Palmer from third after a one-out double by Stauss. The Redhawks led 2-1 after Corbin's 27th RBI of the season.
Josh Cameron would blast his 13th home run of the season the next batter, scoring Stauss, to the opposite field to give SEMO a 4-1 advantage.
Stauss would extend the lead in the following inning as a two-out RBI single to right field would bring in second baseman Brooks Kettering to make it 5-1.
The Skyhawks did not go quietly. A leadoff walk to catcher Cam Brady, a single by Rice, and a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases in the top of the fifth inning as Strange's day ended. He finished the outing with 4.0 innings pitched.
Andrew Fernandez doubled off LHP Alex Hayes, a three-RBI double, but was tagged out trying to extend the hit into a triple.
A solo home run by Mac Danford capped off the four-run fifth inning for the Skyhawks as the game was tied, 5-5.
The Redhawks would respond once again in the home half with a two-run inning as back-to-back walks to Cannon and designated hitter Cole Warehime put two on with one out.
After a wild pitch, right fielder Keoni Coloma drove in both baserunners to make it 7-5 Redhawks.
The SEMO bullpen and defense closed it down from that point on as Hayes (3-2), Logan Katen, and Kyle Miller combined allowed no runs and no hits from the sixth inning on to pick up win number 31 on the season.
An RBI base hit by Bryce Cannon in the sixth inning, and the same from Stauss in the seventh inning made it 9-5 as the Redhawks finished conference play with an 18-9 mark and locked up the 2-seed in the conference tournament.
SOUTHERN INDIANA 10, WESTERN ILLINOIS 3
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - University of Southern Indiana Baseball completed a series sweep of Western Illinois University with a 10-3 win on Senior Day Saturday afternoon at the USI Baseball Field. The Screaming Eagles are 25-30 overall and 14-13 in the OVC, while Leathernecks finish their year 13-37, 8-19 OVC.
With the series sweep of WIU, USI is the fourth seed in the upcoming OVC Baseball Championship, presented by SERVPRO, and scheduled for May 22-25 at Mountain Dew Park in Marion, Illinois. The Eagles earned a first-round bye and will play the winner of the first-round game between the to be determined fifth and eighth seeds at 4 p.m. Wednesday.
The first two rounds of OVC Baseball Championship are single elimination on Wednesday, followed by the double elimination portion on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
The series sweep is the third of the year and the seventh series win of the spring for the Eagles.
In the series finale, USI overcame an early 1-0 deficit by scoring six unanswered runs between the second and fifth innings to lead 10-1. USI junior leftfielder Thomas Emerich (Ava, Missouri) scored the Eagles' first run of the game on a ground out by senior designated hitter Jack Ellis (Jeffersonville, Indian), while junior centerfielder Terrick Thompson-Allen (Sioux City, Iowa) scored to put USI in the lead in the second, 2-1, on a RBI-single by junior second baseman Lane Crowden (Jackson, Missouri).
USI increased the advantage to 3-1 in the third when Emerich drove in junior second Caleb Niehaus (Newburgh, Indiana) with a sacrifice fly. The Eagles exploded for five more runs in the bottom of the fourth to extend the margin five, 6-1, taking advantage of three walks, a hit batter, and a WIU error.
The margin was increased to nine, 10-1, when USI scored twice in the fifth on RBI-singles by junior third baseman Ricardo Van Grieken (Venezuela) and senior first baseman Tucker Ebest (Austin, Texas) and two more runs in the fifth. WIU closed the gap with a pair of runs in the eighth before USI sent WIU down in order in the ninth for the 10-3 win.
Van Grieken finished the game with a team-high two RBIs and was joined by Crowden with two hits each.
On the mound, junior left-hander Will Kiesel (Wadesville, Indiana) posted his first win of the season in his first start of the campaign. Kiesel (1-3), who was the first of five USI hurlers on a staff day, allowed one run on three hits, while striking out three in three innings of work.