WEDNESDAY'S SCORES
@Bellarmine 3,
Southern Indiana 2
Eastern Illinois 13, @Arkansas-Pine Bluff 3
Oral Roberts 11,
@Little Rock 1
Southeast Missouri 10, @Evansville 1
UT Martin 7, @Southern Illinois 6 (10)
@Illinois State 6,
SIUE 5
BELLARMINE 3, SOUTHERN INDIANA 2
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - University of Southern Indiana Baseball lost a battle of the bullpens to Bellarmine University, 3-2, Wednesday at Knights Field in Louisville, Kentucky. USI, which was 1-4 on the road swing, is 13-8 this season, while Bellarmine goes to 6-13.
On a "Staff Day" mid-week game, USI and Bellarmine combined to send 13 hurlers to the mound that made runs a premium in the game. The Screaming Eagles were only able to scratch out two runs on seven hits, while the Knights scored three times on five hits.
After spotting Bellarmine a 1-0 lead in the first, USI got its runs in the second when senior leftfielder Hunter Miller doubled in a run and one batter later scored on an error to give the Screaming Eagles their only lead of the day, 2-1. Bellarmine knotted the game in the third inning, 2-2, and took the lead for good in the fourth, 3-2.
USI junior right-hander Brady Watts took the loss in relief. Watts (0-1) allowed one run on one hit and struck out one.
The Screaming Eagles started with senior left-hander Jake Porter, who went 2.1 innings, allowing two runs on three hits and two walks, and got the no-decision. Sophomore right-hander Sage Stout completed the third for USI without allowing a run, while junior right-hander Levin East and junior right-hander Eben Hansen combined to throw two innings each and hold the Knights scoreless between the fifth and eighth.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 13, ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF 3
PINE BLUFF, Ark. - Eastern Illinois scores double-digit runs for the seventh time this season to run-rule Arkansas-Pine Bluff 13-3 in eight innings. EIU moves to 10-8 on the season, while the Golden Lions drop to 8-14.
EIU used a well-balanced affair to face no trouble in the series finale against UAPB. The Panthers scored 13 runs on 11 hits, while holding the Golden Lions to only three runs.
Blaine Nunnally, Dominic Cristinzio, and Jack Helms combined for six scoreless innings, with three striking outs coming from the starter, Nunnally.
EIU was on track for their second straight shutout until Ty Anderson surrendered two unearned runs in the seventh inning. UAPB took advantage of two Panthers throwing mistakes to score two runs on sacrifice flyouts to center field.
Offensively, Joey Hagen was a catalyst, going 2-3 with three RBIs and a triple. Panthers felt Tyler Castro's presence as the leadoff hitter, finishing with three hits and an RBI double in the second inning.
EIU plated early runs in the first two innings to break open the game. Panthers score their first three runs after Hagen scored Castro on a sacrifice fly. Shortly after, Stanley and Love scored on a throwing error and a wild pitch by Jordan Medellin.
Panthers broke open the game in the second inning, tagging on four runs. Colin Horneman scored on a Castro RBI double. Castro would then score later in the inning on a throwing error. Hagen cleared the bases with a multi-RBI triple down the right field line.
With a 7-0 lead, EIU scored six more runs in the final two innings to ensure the run rule, closing the game in the eighth. Love doubled to right center and scored Peters, followed by Chris Worcester scoring on a wild pitch.
After UAPB found life, scoring two runs in the seventh inning, Panthers rebounded for the 13th run from Eli Hill's sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Love. a
ORAL ROBERTS 11, LITTLE ROCK 1
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Little Rock fell behind early in Wednesday's contest against Oral Roberts and was unable to claw its way back, resulting in an 11–1 loss at Gary Hogan Field.
The teams split the rare two-game midweek series, with each side winning by the same score.
As is common with midweek contests, the Trojans (11-10) utilized several players on the mound and at the plate, and there were some bright spots despite the run-rule result.
Nic Bronzini started for the Trojans and took the loss. Little Rock used a total of eight pitchers on Wednesday, including Brody Bunting, Russ Martin, Trent Jordan, Hunter Royal, and Brett Gastman.
Little Rock's streak of three consecutive games with 12 or more hits was snapped by the Golden Eagles (11-10), who held the Trojans to a season-low five hits. Nolan Freund doubled, Ty Rhoades hit a sacrifice fly to drive in the Trojans' lone run, and Anderson added a single to go along with Smith's two-hit day. David Stanley also contributed a pinch-hit single in the eighth inning.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 10, EVANSVILLE 1
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Southeast Missouri (15-7) secured a decisive 9–1 victory over Evansville (5-14) on Wednesday night at Braun Stadium marking the 10th-straight victory.
The Redhawks' lineup collected 17 hits, and its pitching staff recorded 14 strikeouts, allowing just one run on six hits.
SEMO secured a decisive 9–1 victory over Evansville, with key performances throughout the game. In the second inning, Ryan Lopetegui reached on an error and advanced to third, setting the stage for Joe Terranova's RBI double that brought Lopetegui home unearned. The Redhawks added another unearned run after Demitri Shakotko's sacrifice bunt and Tank Sims' groundout double play, bringing the score to 2–1.
The third inning saw Southeast Missouri extend its lead. Caleb Klein and Joe Hall both singled, and Lopetegui's RBI single brought Klein home. Lopetegui and Hall executed a double steal, with Hall scoring. Dakot Joggerst's RBI single drove in Lopetegui, making it 5–1.
In the fourth inning, the Redhawks continued to capitalize, as Klein doubled and scored on Shakotko's double. Lopetegui followed with a double of his own, adding another run. This brought the score to 7–1.
Lopetegui's RBI single in the sixth inning scored Shakotko, further extending the team's lead to 8–1.
In the ninth inning, Southeast Missouri capped its scoring with Lopetegui's RBI single bringing Brooks Kettering home, securing a 9–1 victory.
UT MARTIN 7, SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 6 (10)
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The University of Tennessee at Martin baseball team established a new single-game school record for stolen bases when it swiped eight bags in its 7-6 win in 10 innings over Southern Illinois. The previous school record of seven stolen bases in one game stood for 40 years (set in 1986).
Every Skyhawk in the lineup reached base safely with TJ Grines (two doubles, stolen base), Cameron Greene (run scored, stolen base) and Andrew Lawrence (game-winning RBI, two stolen bases) tallying two hits for UT Martin (10-10). TJ Dunsford (double), Colten Payton (walk), Andrew Davis (walk, stolen base) and Bo Strickland (two stolen bases) tacked on RBIs while Garner Anderson (walk, stolen base) and JT Popick (walk) also added on pressure to the Southern Illinois (8-11) defense.
Drake Bayles started the contest by going two innings with two strikeouts. The Skyhawk bullpen was made up of Cason Sharp (team-best four innings, four strikeouts), Silas Jones (two innings), Mason Little (2-0, one inning, no runs allowed, no hits allowed), Gehrig Wright (0.1 innings) and Gabe Bryant (save, 0.2 innings, no hits, no runs), respectively.
UT Martin got on top early off a Payton groundout to second base that allowed Grines to score from third. Dunsford was the next batter up and he brought home Davis on his eighth double of the year. After a Saluki run in the home half, the Skyhawks answered with a three-run top of the second that was fueled by history on the base paths. Greene scored via an error and then Lawrence was plated by a Strickland single to left field. As Davis was attempting to steal second base, Strickland snuck home that brought the score to 5-1 on the fourth stolen base of the inning (tied a program record for most stolen bases in an inning, four).
Bayles escaped a bases loaded jam in the bottom of the second to conclude his outing and keep UT Martin in front. Sharp spun four straight scoreless innings for the Skyhawks to lead 5-2 after the sixth. Grines led off the top of the seventh on a double and scored from a Davis sacrifice fly for a four-run advantage. Southern Illinois was able to tie the game in the eighth and had a chance to walk it off in the bottom of the ninth. Little made sure that wouldn’t happen by inducing an inning-ending 1-6-3 double play.
The Skyhawks loaded the bases in the top of the tenth and with one out in the frame, Lawrence came through in his UT Martin debut by bringing in Amari Conley on a groundout to second base. Wright took the first out of the ninth then Bryant earned his first save of the season on a flyout and lineout to give the Skyhawks a 7-6 victory.
ILLINOIS STATE 6, SIUE 5
NORMAL, Ill. - SIUE baseball dopped a back-and-forth contest Wednesday, falling at Illinois State 6-5 at Duffy Bass Field.
SIUE fell to 8-13 with the loss. Illinois State is 14-7. The Redbirds swept the season series from the Cougars after winning earlier this season in Edwardsville.
The Redbirds took a 3-0 lead in the first inning against SIUE starter Noah Thompson. After a walk and single, Luke Stugla homered for the 3-0 lead.
SIUE took the lead with four runs in the second inning. Brendan Fry got the Cougars on the board with a sacrifice fly to drive in Ethan Willoughby who had doubled to start the inning. Terrick Thompson-Allen doubled then scored on a single by Jose Fichera. Daniel Gierer doubled home Fichera and then scored himself on a double by Chase Bloomer.
Illinois State went back on top with two runs in the fourth inning, but the Cougars tied it in the bottom of the inning when Mack Mitchell scored on a double steal attempt which caught Thompson-Allen at second.
Brayden Bakes homered off SIUE reliever Andrew Ressler (0-1) in the sixth to put Illinois State on top for good.
The Redbirds outhit the Cougars 10-9 in the game. Thompson-Allen led SIUE at the plate going 3-4 with the run scored.