SUNDAY'S SCORES
Little Rock 8, @Western Illinois 3
Southeast Missouri 8, @Lindenwood 2
UT Martin 22, @Morehead State 20 (11)
@Tennessee Tech 16, Eastern Illinois 14
@Southern Indiana 13, SIUE 9
LITTLE ROCK 8, WESTERN ILLINOIS 3
MACOMB, Ill. - Recap coming soon.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 8, LINDENWOOD 2
ST. CHARLES, Mo. - Southeast Missouri Baseball (25-23, 13-8 OVC) completed the series sweep of Lindenwood (14-33, 7-14 OVC) on Sunday afternoon.
The series finale on Sunday afternoon, that officially got underway at 12:40 p.m., was all Redhawks as a big, six-run, fourth inning propelled SEMO to an 8-2 victory.
RHP #5 Brian Strange had a solid outing on the mound going 4.2 innings of scoreless baseball. He allowed just five hits and struck out a pair of Lions.
RHP Collin Wilma (1-4) picked up his first win of the season in relief of Strange as the senior pitched 3.2 innings, allowing just two runs on four hits. He struck out a Lion in the outing.
Right fielder Josh Cameron got the scoring going with his 10th home run of the season in the top of the second inning. Cameron blasted a solo shot to right center to give SEMO a 1-0 lead.
A one-out double by Cameron in the fourth inning, and an infield single by Bryce Cannon got the momentum going in the inning.
Designated hitter Gavin Baldwin roped a single into left field to bring Cameron around from second to make it 2-0 Redhawks.
An RBI single by Nolan Ackerman, one hitter later, scored Cannon from second base to make the score 3-0.
Short stop Ben Palmer continued the scoring after Brooks Kettering loaded the bases with a single. Palmer roped a single into left center that brough home Baldwin and Ackerman to make it 5-0 SEMO and just one out in the inning.
Stauss recorded his 41st and 42nd RBIs of the season on his two out double to right-center field to score Palmer and Kettering. The hit put SEMO up 7-0 going into the home fourth.
In the sixth inning, Stuass would record his third RBI of the game (43rd on the season) with an RBI ground out to second base that scored Kettering and recorded the eighth and final run of the contest.
LU would score two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning, but LHP Logan Katen closed the door against his former team to lock up the series sweep.
UT MARTIN 22, MOREHEAD STATE 20 (11)
MOREHEAD, Ky. - The fireworks were aplenty in the University of Tennessee at Martin baseball team’s 22-20 win over Morehead State as a pair of Skyhawk program records fell in the 11-inning series finale today.
UT Martin equaled its record for most hits in a single game with 28 base knocks, which was previously set back on March 27, 2003 against Berea College. A dozen of those hits came in an offensive barrage during the fifth inning alone, setting the program record for most hits in a frame in school history (previous record was 11 at Lindenwood last season). A total of 11 runs came across for the Skyhawks in the fifth, tying the school record for the most runs in an inning (also scoring 11 runs in one frame at Arkansas State on Feb. 27, 2021 and against Chicago State on Feb. 28, 1997).
All in all, UT Martin (19-29, 11-10 Ohio Valley Conference) had multi-hit games from nine players and at least three hits from each of the first six batters in its lineup. Jalen Fithian led the team by going 5-for-7 with a home run and four runs scored. Andrew Fernandez (home run, three RBI’s, three runs scored) and Will Smith (three runs scored, two RBI’s) both smacked four hits apiece while the trio of Zac Rice (four RBI’s, three runs scored), Mac Danford (three RBI’s, three runs scored) and Blaze Bell (three RBI’s, two runs scored) each homered as part of three-hit days. Cameron Brady, Alec Beaman and Garner Anderson also went for multi-hit performances today as the Skyhawk offense hit an even .500 (28-for-56).
Five UT Martin hurlers saw time on the mound today as Jeb Bartle (three strikeouts in three innings), Choyce Diffey (one strikeout over 1.1 frames) and Tucker Reed (five strikeouts in 4.2 innings) combined to whiff nine batters over the first nine frames. Brock Arender (2-2) picked up the win while Zach Wager locked down his first save of the 2024 campaign.
The Skyhawks struck early and often, scoring twice in the top of the first courtesy of a Fernandez RBI single and a Danford sacrifice fly. Bartle struck out the first two batters he faced before tossing a zero on the scoreboard in the bottom of the first.
Morehead State (28-20, 12-9 OVC) claimed their first lead in the ballgame with six runs in the bottom of the second. UT Martin closed to within one run after a two-run Smith double and Fernandez scoring on a double play in the top of the third, making the score 6-5 in favor of the Eagles.
After Morehead State scored twice in the third, a Beaman double set up a Rice sacrifice fly in the top of the fourth. Diffey entered in the bottom half and worked a perfect inning, getting two groundouts and a strikeout to set the stage for the Skyhawks’ historic top of the fifth.
UT Martin sent 15 batters to the plate in the fifth, which began with four consecutive hits. Rice delivered a big blow with a three-run jack before Fithian went back-to-back with a homer of his own in the next at-bat. Overall, all nine Skyhawk batters hit safely in the inning while the trio of Smith, Danford and Bell each had two hits in the top of the fifth alone.
After UT Martin raced out to a 17-8 advantage, the Eagles scored seven runs in the bottom of the fifth to get back in the ballgame.
Reed entered the contest in the middle of the fifth and soon retired 10 of 11 batters at one point, silencing the Morehead State bats. After stranding a pair of runners in the fifth with a strikeout and fielder’s choice groundout, the senior righty from Athens, Ala. induced three groundouts in a perfect sixth. He struck out the first two batters of the seventh in another scoreless frame in the seventh. The Eagles got one run with two away in the eighth but the Skyhawks still held a 17-16 lead going into the top of the ninth.
Fernandez added some crucial insurance runs by way of a two-run blast down the right-field line to extend UT Martin’s lead to three runs with three outs to go. However, Morehead State rallied to force extra innings.
Arender took over in the 10th and was very effective, extending the game with a shutout inning after Rice fired an outfield assist nabbing a baserunner trying to advance to third base for the final out of the frame.
In the top of the 11th, Smith fought off a single to left field before Danford (opposite field) and Bell (straightaway center) went back-to-back for the Skyhawks’ fourth and fifth round-trippers of the day.
After the potential tying run was brought to the plate in the bottom of the 11th, Wager was summoned from the bullpen. The sophomore lefty was nails en route to his fifth career save, getting a foulout and a clutch 4-6-3 double play to clinch UT Martin’s first win at Morehead State since the 2016 season.
TENNESSEE TECH 16, EASTERN ILLINOIS 14
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - The fireworks were out in full force at Quillen Field and Bush Stadium at the Averitt Express Baseball Complex Sunday afternoon, as the Tennessee Tech baseball team won a barn-burner over Ohio Valley Conference rival Eastern Illinois, 16-14.
The victory provided the Golden Eagles (28-20, 12-9) with the series victory over the Panthers (15-28, 9-12) after winning Saturday night, 6-5, via a walk-off wild pitch. With two weekends left in the regular season, the purple and gold rank in a tie for third in the league with Morehead State (28-20, 12-9) and just one game back of Little Rock (26-20, 13-8) and Southeast Missouri (25-23, 13-8) for first place.
Tech took care of business with a constant attack at the plate, starting with a pair of runs in the first. Shortstop Tanner Shiver drew a five-pitch walk to open the ball game and second baseman Troy Baunsgard immediately drove him in with an RBI double down the left-field line.
Baunsgard moved over to third on a deep fly ball to center field by catcher Hayden Gilliland and first baseman Preston Ford brought him home. Ford sent a sacrifice fly ball out to left field to make it a 2-0 lead.
Eastern Illinois responded with five runs off five hits in the second, flipping the table for a three-run lead of its own. In the third, the Cookeville crew cut that deficit to two behind an RBI groundout from Ford.
After EIU scored single runs in the fourth and fifth to make it a 7-3 ball game, the Golden Eagles roared back with three of their own in the fifth. Left fielder Jackson Green sparked the rally, smashing a lead-off home run to right-center field.
Shiver followed with a double and, two batters later, Gilliland delivered a mammoth, two-run blast to right field to cut the deficit to 7-6. The senior's 12th round tripper of the year also marked the 29th of his career, tying him for 13th in program history with Trevor Putzig (2015-18).
Trading blows back and forth, the Panther took their turn by scoring twice more in the sixth, moving back out by three at 9-6. Tech took control for good in the bottom half of the frame, plating four runs behind a small-ball approach.
Designated hitter Mack Whitcomb led off the frame with a well-earned walk and third baseman Eddie Garza got plunked to put a pair of runners on. A walk to Green loaded the bags and forced a pitching change for EIU.
The new hurler was unable to get the job done, as Shiver drew a bases-loaded walk to drive in a run and trim the deficit to two. An RBI ground out by Baunsgard made it a one-run game and Gilliland squared things up at 9-9 with a sac fly to right-center field. Ford put Tech on top for good with a base knock the other way through the right side, driving in the team's 10th run of the game.
Following the seventh-inning stretch, the Golden Eagles stretched the advantage to three, starting with an RBI fielder's choice to shortstop. Another run came around to score thanks to a throwing error on the play.
The Panthers pulled back a run in the eighth, but Tech looked to put things away for good in the bottom half. On the first pitch he saw, Whitcomb clobbered a three-run jack off the batter's eye in center field, his sixth long ball of the season. Just like that, it was 16-10.
The Panthers made it interesting in the ninth, using an RBI double and three-run dinger to score four times and make it a 16-14 ball game. Jaxson Pease sealed things with a strikeout for the win.
Gilliland, Ford, and Whitcomb all led the effort with three RBI each while Baunsgard, Gilliland, Nicho Jordan, and Whitcomb all delivered two hits each. Whitcomb and Shiver each accounted for three runs scored. Brody Lanham earned his first win of the season, tossing 2.1 innings of relief with just one earned run allowed with three strikeouts.
SOUTHERN INDIANA 13, SIUE 9
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - University of Southern Indiana Baseball overpowered Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, 13-9, and completed a three-game sweep Sunday afternoon at the USI Baseball Field. The Screaming Eagles are 22-26 overall and 11-10 OVC, while Cougars go to 18-28-1, 10-11 OVC.
USI moves above the .500 mark in the OVC for the first time since the first week of April and are tied for fifth in the league standings. The Eagles also remain within two games of conference-leading Morehead State University and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, which are 13-8 in the league, with six conference games remaining.
SIUE scored four runs in its first two at-bats before the USI bats came to life in the bottom of the second. The Eagles cut the deficit to 4-3 when junior leftfielder Adam Euler (Evansville, Indiana) smashed a three-run blast to right field.
After the Cougars bounced back with a run in the top of the third to lead, 5-3, USI exploded for five runs in the bottom of the third to take its first lead of the game, 8-5. USI senior first baseman Tucker Ebest (Austin, Texas) put the Eagles into the lead, 6-5, with a three-run blast to center field.
Junior centerfielder Terrick Thompson-Allen (Sioux City, Iowa) sent USI's seven run across the plate with a RBI-single to center, while sophomore shortstop Caleb Niehaus (Newburgh, Indiana) finished the scoring with a sacrifice fly for the 8-5 lead.
SIUE rallied to tie the game in the top of the fourth, 8-8, with three runs on three hits, including a two-run home run of its own. The Cougars would slide back into the lead, 9-8, with a tally in the top of the fifth.
The Eagles rallied back into the lead in the bottom of the fifth with a four-run frame. Senior rightfielder Ren Tachioka (Japan), who extended his hitting streak to 11 games, banged a bases-loaded off the center field wall to make the score 11-9. Tachioka finished the scoring in the fifth by stealing third and rounded the bag to score on the wild pitch to put the Eagles up 12-9.
USI finished the scoring in the sixth when Niehaus scored on an error for the 13-9 win.
On the mound, junior right-hander Peyton Brown (Clemmons, North Carolina) picked up the win in relief. Brown (1-1) threw three innings, allowed one run on two hits, while striking out three.