SUNDAY'S SCORES
@Missouri State 9,
SIUE 2
@Mercer 6,
Tennessee Tech 3
@Western Kentucky 7,
UT Martin 2
Morehead State 6, @Southern Illinois 4
@Memphis 7,
Lindenwood 4
Little Rock 10, @UT Arlington 6
@Jacksonville State 5,
Southeast Missouri 4 (10)
Murray State 17-7,
@Southern Indiana 6-8 (Marion, IL)
MISSOURI STATE 9, SIUE 2
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Kyle Ratliff hit his second home run of the series, but SIUE baseball dropped a 9-2 decision to Missouri State in the finale of a three-game series at Hammons Field Sunday afternoon.
The Bears (7-11) won two of three to win the series. The Cougars fell to 6-12 with the loss.
Missouri State scored a run in the first inning and never trailed in the game, building a 7-0 lead before the Cougars got on the board.
SIUE scored both of its runs in the seventh inning. Ratliff's fourth home run of the season came with two outs. Gage Franck then walked and scored on a double down the left field line by Lane Crowden.
Ratliff was 1-3 with the homer. Crowden also was 1-3. Mack Mitchell, Ryan Niedzwiedz and Brenden Fry each had single hits for the Cougars.
Missouri State scored twice more in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Garrett Helsel (0-2) started and allowed six runs in three innings. He struck out four.
MERCER 6, TENNESSEE TECH 3
MACON, Ga. - The Tennessee Tech baseball team's second comeback attempt in as many days fell just short Sunday afternoon, as the Golden Eagles dropped a 6-3 decision against Mercer at OrthoGeorgia Park in Macon, Ga.
After rallying from a five-run deficit on Saturday to square the weekend series with the Bears (14-7), the purple and gold (15-6) tried to double down on the effort on Sunday. Mercer opened the scoring in the bottom of the second, using small ball to take a 1-0 lead with a walk, a sacrifice bunt, a ground out to move the runner to third, and a two-out base knock.
Tech's bats struggled to string together traditional offense on the day, managing just three hits for the ball game. The bats made the best of the difficult situation, coaxing out a whopping 13 walks and two hit-by-pitches during the contest to still find a way to apply pressure.
This was evident in the third inning, as the Golden Eagles tied the contest at 1-1 without the benefit of a hit. Center fielder Nicho Jordan opened the frame by reaching on a fielding error and moved to second thanks to a sac bunt by right fielder Jackson Green.
Two batters later, Mercer opted to intentionally walk catcher Mack Whitcomb, but the decision essentially backfired when the next pitch plunked designated hitter Ryan Lee to load the bases. Control was a continued issue for the Bears when third baseman Preston Steele took to the plate, as the senior was hit by the second pitch he saw to drive in the tying run.
In the bottom half, the home team went back on top after a lead-off double, a fly ball to the outfield to advance the runner, and a ground out to second base plated the team's second run. The Bears got back after it in the fourth, advancing its lead to 4-1 with an RBI double and run-scoring single.
Both sides traded zeroes on the scoreboard in the fifth and sixth before the Golden Eagles made their move. Whitcomb drew another free pass to open the top of the seventh to set things up. Two batters later, Steele unloaded on an 0-1 offering and smashed a two-run blast to left field, trimming the deficit to just a single run.
The Bears got both runs back in the eighth, scoring the first run on back-to-back, one-out doubles. A hit-by-pitch and walk loaded the bases before a sac fly to left field plated the second run. Tech escaped further damage with a timely strikeout before Mercer closed things down with a 1-2-3 ninth.
WESTERN KENTUCKY 7, UT MARTIN 2
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - The University of Tennessee at Martin baseball team fell 7-2 in the series finale of the final non-conference weekend against Western Kentucky at Nick Denes Field.
Jalen Fithian and Blaze Bell (run scored) led the Skyhawks (6-12) with two hits each while Jonah Katsaboulas (double), JT Popick (double, one RBI), Jordan Hudson (triple, one RBI), Cameron Greene (one hit) and Tommy Koch (one walk, run scored) also contributed to the UT Martin offense.
Quincy Thornton (0-2) started the game going four innings with a strikeout. Quin Long (two innings pitched, one strikeout), Kaleb Baskin (one inning pitched, no hits allowed, no runs, no walks, one strikeout) and Austin Gast (one inning pitched, no hits allowed, no runs, no walks) made appearances out of the bullpen.
Western Kentucky (19-1) started the scoring in the first but went without a run in the second after Koch threw out a would-be base stealer and Thornton forced a popout and a lineout.
The Hilltoppers led by six going into the fifth where Long entered the game and worked a clean frame from a punchout, fielder's choice and popout to left field. In the top of the sixth, the Skyhawks brought in a run off a Hudson triple to right center field but Western Kentucky responded with a run of its own in the home half.
Baskin took to the bump in the bottom of the seventh to sit down three straight Hilltoppers from a lineout, strikeout and groundout. Gast took over for Baskin in the bottom of the eighth and put down Western Kentucky in order by way of a popout, lineout and flyout.
Popick would smack a two-out RBI double to right center field but UT Martin was unable to pull closer in the ninth.
MOREHEAD STATE 6, SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 4
CARBONDALE, Ill. - A pair of late home runs by designated hitter Hunter Thomas lifted Morehead State to a 6-4 win over Southern Illinois Sunday afternoon at Itchy Jones Stadium in Carbondale, Ill.
With the score tied at 4-4, Thomas hit a one-out solo home run down the left field line. In the top of the ninth, the senior from Russell Springs, Ky., led off the inning with a drive over the left field fence, his ninth home run of the season put the Eagles ahead 6-4.
Thomas led the Morehead State (8-10) offense, going 4-5 with three runs scored. Junior Josh Furtado (2-0) threw two hitless innings out of the bullpen to pick up the win. Senior Will Grimmett pitched the last two innings to notch his fourth save.
Eagle starter Bradley Poynter threw five innings, allowing four runs on eight hits. He walked five batters and notched two strikeouts.
Southern Illinois (12-6) pitcher Meade Johnson got the loss. He threw 6.1 innings, allowing five runs on seven hits. He walked five Eagle batters and struck out seven. On the weekend, SIU pitching struck out 36 batters.
Morehead State got out of the gate quickly: leadoff hitter center fielder Hayden Robbins walked and stole second. After a Thomas infield hit and a Germann walk, first baseman Alex Kean forced Robbins home on a fielder's choice. Right fielder JJ Dutton's single through the left side scored Thomas. In the fourth, MSU got two more runs with a two-out rally. Shortstop Andy Cisneros walked and was driven home by Robbins' double to center. Third baseman Griffin Olson scored Robbins with a double down the left field line to push the Eagles ahead 4-0.
The Salukis evened the score in the fifth inning, scoring three runs on four hits, highlighted by catcher John Lemm's leadoff home run to right.
MEMPHIS 7, LINDENWOOD 4
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The Lindenwood baseball team (9-12) dropped the final game of the series to Memphis (11-8) by a score of 7-4 on Sunday afternoon in Memphis, Tenn.
Memphis took the lead in the second with a three-run homer, going up 3-0. The Lions scratched one across in the third with a big two-out hit from Jake Radosevich that brought home Kam Edwards. One inning later, Bryson Arnette homered to right, cutting the deficit to 3-2. The Tigers would score four in the bottom half of the inning to go up 7-2 after four.
Lindenwood added a run in the sixth as an Edwards single brought home Charlie Isom-McCall, making the score 7-3. Arnette hit his second home run of the day to lead off the eighth, getting the Lions within three at 7-4. That would be as close as the Lins would get however, dropping the rubber game of the series by that score.
Despite the loss, the bullpen was terrific with four innings of scoreless ball on Sunday.
LITTLE ROCK 10, UT ARLINGTON 6
ARLINGTON, Texas - Little Rock jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning and cruised to a 10-6 victory over UT Arlington (6-10) Sunday afternoon at Clay Gould Ball Park.
Ty Rhoades, Cooper Chaplain and Zach Henry each drove in two runs apiece. Jack Cline picked up his second win of the week as he went 6.1 innings with 5 hits, 5 walks and 6 strikeouts.
The Trojans (8-12) took a 2-0 lead in the first when Rhoades reached on an error and two runs scored. Chaplain scored another run on a fielder's choice and the final run scored an error.
Sammy Harris homered in the second inning to expand the lead to 5-0.
The Trojans made it 7-0 in the fifth when Rhoades grounded out and Ryan Geck hit a sacrifice fly.
They went up 10-0 in the eighth when Angel Cano walked with the bases loaded Rhoades capped the scoring with a two-RBI single.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 5, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 4 (10)
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Southeast Missouri Baseball (11-9) dropped a heartbreaking game three to Jacksonville State (13-7) by a final score of 5-4 on Sunday afternoon in 10 innings.
The Redhawks led the entire duration of the contest until a two out, bottom of the ninth home run from JSU tied it at 4-4. The Gamecocks would record an RBI single in the bottom of the 10th inning to steal the series.
Left fielder Ty Stauss led the way for the Redhawks finishing 3-5 at the plate with a pair of doubles and an RBI. First baseman Bryce Cannon recorded a pair of doubles as well as the duo finished with multi-hit days.
LHP Haden Dow (No Decision) had a phenomenal start on Sunday afternoon. Dow pitched 7.1 innings, allowing just two runs on seven hits. He struck out seven Gamecocks over 27 batters faced.
The Redhawks jumped out to a 3-0 lead with a three-run third inning. After a leadoff single by Shea McGahan, a walk to Andrew Ramirez and a bunt single from Brooks Kettering loaded the bases with no outs.
During Caleb Corbin's at-bat, catcher's interference was called on JSU's catcher to deliver the game's first run. A two-RBI single from Michael Mugan made it 3-0 SEMO after the third inning.
A solo home run from JSU in the home half of the third made it 3-1 SEMO heading to the fourth inning.
The Redhawks would get that run back in the fifth inning after SEMO had Back-to-back HBPs to Mugan and Cannon. A wild pitch moved both runners up 90-feet before two-straight strikeouts brought Stauss to the plate.
Stauss roped a ball in between the first and second baseman and beat the throw to drive in Mugan for an RBI single to make it 4-1 SEMO.
But the Gamecocks would add another solo home run in the seventh, a two-run home run in the ninth, and an RBI single in the 10th to take the game 5-4.
MURRAY STATE 17-7, SOUTHERN INDIANA 6-8
MARION, Ill. - University of Southern Indiana Baseball walked it off the nightcap in the 11th to earn a double-header split with Murray State University Sunday afternoon at Mtn Dew Park in Marion, Illinois. The Screaming Eagles lost the opener, 17-6, but bounced back to win the nightcap 8-7 in 11 innings.
USI is 8-11 overall after the doubleheader, while Murray State goes 12-4 this year. The doubleheader was originally scheduled at the USI Baseball Field, but was moved due to rain.
The Screaming Eagles rallied to within a run in the bottom of the fifth, but lost momentum and lost the opening game, 17-6. USI allowed a combined 10 runs in the sixth and seventh after shrinking a five-run deficit with four in the fifth to close to within 7-6.
USI was led by junior first baseman Kannon Coakley, who was two-for-three, including a three-run double in the four-run fifth. USI sophomore second baseman Parker Martin and sophomore rightfielder Cameron Boyd also had a pair of hits each in the loss.
On the mound, junior right-hander Blake Kimball started and took the loss for USI. Kimball (2-3) allowed seven runs on seven hits and three walks, while striking out three in four innings of work.
USI rallied from two runs down in the 11th inning to walk off an 8-7 victory and earn the split. Sophomore third baseman Anthony Umbach capped off the 11th-inning rally with a walk-off single, scoring sophomore rightfielder Cameron Boyd with the game-winner.
After Murray State scored twice in the top of the 11th to take a 7-5 lead, USI junior designated hitter Cole Kitchens led off with a double and closed the deficit to 7-6 by scoring on an RBI single by junior leftfielder Hunter Miller. Miller would score the tying run one batter later when junior shortstop Clayton Slack converted a two-strike suicide squeeze and set the stage for Umbach.
The Eagles spotted the Racers a 3-0 lead in the opening frame, but rallied with three of their own in the second inning and took the lead 4-3 in the bottom of the fifth. The Racers would knot the game up with a tally in the top of the sixth, 4-4.
USI took the lead to 5-4 with a tally in the bottom of the eighth before Murray State scored the tying run to send the game into extra innings tied, 5-5.
Eagles' sophomore right-hander Jay Kennedy picked up the win in relief. Kennedy got the final out of the 11th in relief of freshman right-hander Sage Stout, who went 2.2 in relief and allowed three runs.