FRIDAY'S SCORES
Lindenwood 8, @Western Illinois 1
@Tennessee Tech 6, UT Martin 5 (10)
SIUE 9, @Little Rock 7
@Southern Indiana 13, Eastern Illinois 6
LINDENWOOD 8, WESTERN ILLINOIS 1
MACOMB, Ill. - The Lindenwood baseball team (21-21, 8-7 OVC) picked up a series opening 8-1 win over Western Illinois (12-25, 5-11 OVC) on Friday afternoon.
It was a pitchers duel until the sixth when the Lions broke through for three runs. A pair of walks put the first two runners on and Lindenwood played small ball with a bunt from Kam Edwards. Evan Funkhouser eventually came around to score on a passed ball, giving the Lions a 1-0 lead. After an error by the Leathernecks plated another run, Filip Sarota singled home, Tyler Thompson, extending the lead to 3-0.
Once again, a pair of walks in the seventh put the first two Lindenwood runners on. Thompson brought one home with a sac fly, and another scored on a wild pitch, putting the Black and Gold up 5-0.
Sarota homered to right center to lead off the eighth, giving Lindenwood a 6-0 lead. The Leathernecks got on the board with one in the bottom half. The Lions plated two more in the eighth to go up 8-1. Josh Newell was terrific on the mound, tossing seven scoreless innings and giving up just three hits on the way to his OVC leading eighth win.
TENNESSEE TECH 6, UT MARTIN 5 (10)
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - It was a night that won't be forgotten any time soon at Quillen Field and Bush Stadium at the Averitt Express Baseball Complex on Friday, as the Tennessee Tech baseball team turned in an incredible walk-off win in 10 innings to open its Ohio Valley Conference series with UT Martin.
After the contest was moved up to a 3:00 p.m. CT start to try and avoid inclement weather, rain and poor conditions settled in early and forced the tilt to move back to a 6:00 p.m. start. A long day at the ball park only got longer as the two in-state rivals produced an instant classic on the night, with the Golden Eagles (27-16, 10-6) delivering an improbable comeback.
UT Martin (15-25, 6-9) set the tone out of the gate while the rain slowly began to stop, scoring three times in the first three innings for a 3-0 lead. Tech finally broke through on the scoreboard in the fourth, with designated hitter Riley Black providing the first run of the night.
With the bases loaded and one out, the slugger beat out a chopper to first base for an RBI infield single. On the very next pitch, center fielder Nicho Jordan was plunked on the foot by an overactive breaking ball, driving in Tech's second tally of the night.
In the seventh, the Skyhawks led off the frame with a home run to left field, pushing back out by two runs. The Cookeville crew once again had a response, opening the bottom half of the inning with back-to-back walks courtesy of right fielder Jackson Green and catcher Mack Whitcomb.
Black again delivered for the purple and gold following a pitching change, fighting back from an 0-2 count to blast the next pitch nearly out of the ball park. Unfortunately for the home squad, the ball bounded off the top of the wall in center field and back into the field, leaving the senior to settle for an extremely long, RBI single.
The Skyhawks avoided further damage in the inning, stranding three of Tech's 13 batters left on base for the ball game. Moving to the bottom of the eighth, the Golden Eagles came up clutch again, this time to finally square the affair.
The purple and gold took advantage of the first of three late errors by the UT Martin defense, as third baseman Jackson Rooker reached base on a poor throw and advanced to second. The Skyhawks recorded a pair of quick outs before Whitcomb produced another spectacular at-bat.
Working a 2-1 count, the sophomore peppered a single through the left side, scoring the speedy Rooker from second to square the tilt at 4-4. Neither side could get much going in the ninth, with a lead-off single for the Skyhawks eliminated quickly by a perfect throw from Whitcomb to nab a would-be base stealer.
Moving on to the 10th, the Skyhawks were quick to act with a base hit on the first pitch before getting plunked on the next. Tech head coach Matt Bragga went to the bullpen, calling on freshman Logan Moller to limit the damage.
The rookie picked up a quick out before surrendering a knock through the right side that brought home the go-ahead run for the Skyhawks. He rebounded well, however, earning a strikeout and a pop-up to end the inning.
Moving on to the bottom half of the frame, chaos ensued after the visitors from Martin gathered two quick outs and looked well on their way to a series-opening victory. Speedster Jackson Green reached base safely on a fielding error at shortstop, keeping the inning alive for Whitcomb.
The Tech backstop came through again, chopping a base hit to no-man's land in the infield before the Skyhawk pitcher threw the ball away trying to make a desperate throw to first. Green scored the tying run on the play while Whitcomb took an all-important extra base.
With the game suddenly on the line for UT Martin, the Golden Eagles pushed through for the incredible comeback. Black took his turn at the plate and immediately rewarded the fans with the game-winning hit, slashing a single through the left side.
Whitcomb took off from second and sprinted around third base, desperately trying to beat the ensuing throw from left field. While the throw made it to the Skyhawk catcher in what looked to be time to apply the tag and keep the play alive.
Spoiling UT Martin's night, Whitcomb used an impressive swim move while sliding into home plate, narrowly avoiding the outstretched efforts of the Skyhawk backstop and safely denting the dish for the game-winning run. After a lengthy review of the play, the result was confirmed, and the Golden Eagle bench went into a frenzy, chasing Black and Whitcomb for a second time in celebration.
SIUE 9, LITTLE ROCK 7
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Five two-out runs in the ninth lifted SIUE baseball to a comeback win Friday in the opener of a three-game Ohio Valley Conference series at Little Rock.
With the win, the Cougars regained sole possession of first place in the OVC at 11-5. SIUE is 18-21 overall. Little Rock fell to 7-8 in the league and 18-23 overall.
Trailing 7-4 with two outs and the bases empty, Gage Franck pitch hit and drew a walk. Daniel Gierer reached on an infield hit and Mack Mitchell doubled to drive in Franck. Chase Bloomer walked to load the bases. Following a pitching change, Ryan Niedzwiedz put SIUE on top with a three-run hit to center. Johsua Heyder drove home Niedzwiedz to push the lead to two.
Little Rock scored twice in the eighth inning to take a 7-4 lead.
Until the ninth, SIUE had scored four times on four solo home runs. Mitchell and Bloomer both went deep in the third inning. Mitchell hit his second in the sixth inning and Niedzwiedz left the yard in the eighth inning.
Mitchell and Niedzwiedz each had three hits for the Cougars, who outhit Little Rock 10-9. Bloomer was 2-4.
Joseph Martin (1-0) scored the win despite allowing a pair of runs in the eighth. Tyler Davis nailed down his fifth save with a scoreless ninth, including two strikeouts.
Liam McKillop tossed three scoreless innings in relief, allowing just a single hit and striking out two. Tim Teixeira threw the first four innings. He allowed five runs and struck out four.
Blake Van Cleve (2-3) surrendered all five runs in the ninth. He pitched 2 2/3 innings in total.
SOUTHERN INDIANA 13, EASTERN ILLINOIS 6
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - University of Southern Indiana Baseball pounded out 17 hits in winning the series opener with Eastern Illinois University, 13-6, Friday afternoon at the USI Baseball Field. USI, which has won three-straight games, is 20-22 overall and 9-7 in the OVC, while EIU is 21-18, 9-6 OVC.
The Screaming Eagles spotted the Panthers leads of 3-0 and 4-1 before using a three-run fourth inning to tie the game, 4-4. Junior shortstop Clayton Slack drove in the first two runs of the frame with a single to right center, while sophomore second baseman Parker Martin drove in the tying run with a double to left center.
USI would take its first lead of the game, 6-4, in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI-groundout by junior designated hitter Charlie Marisca and an RBI single up the middle by junior leftfielder Hunter Miller. The Eagles would carry the two-run advantage into the sixth when they increased the margin to 7-4 when Martin scored on an RBI ground out by senior centerfielder Khi Holiday.
After the Panthers closed the gap to 7-5 in the top of the seventh, the Eagles pushed the lead back to 8-5 when Miller struck again with an RBI double to right center in the bottom half of the frame. USI sealed the victory with another five runs in the bottom of the eighth for the 13-6 victory.
Martin, Miller, and sophomore Cameron Boyd led the Eagles in the victory with three hits each. Boyd, Miller, Marisca, and Slack also tied for the team lead with two RBIs apiece.
On the bump, USI junior right-hander Blake Kimball got back on track with his team-best fifth win of the year. Kimball, who won for the first time in three decisions, allowed four runs on nine hits and three walks. The junior right-hander also struck out a season-high six batters.