TUESDAY'S SCORES
@Western Illinois 12, Bradley 7
@Saint Louis 8,
SIUE 2
Northern Illinois 5,
@Eastern Illinois 4 (10)
Morehead State 12, @Eastern Kentucky 6
@Southern Indiana 13, Ball State 3
@UT Martin 8, Southern Illinois 2
@Little Rock 7, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 1
@Vanderbilt 15,
Tennessee Tech 5
WESTERN ILLINOIS 12, BRADLEY 7
MACOMB, Ill. - The Western Illinois baseball team used a big surge to pull away from Bradley, earning a 12-7 victory on Tuesday afternoon.
The Leathernecks jumped out early and never fully let go, improving to 5-19 on the season behind a strong offensive performance that saw 13 hits and 12 runs.
Western Illinois wasted no time getting on the board in the first inning. After a pair of baserunners reached, Cordell Coburn delivered a two-RBI double to give the Leathernecks a 2-0 lead. The momentum carried into the second inning when Joe Connolly launched a two-run home run to extend the lead to 4-0.
Bradley chipped away in the middle innings, tying the game at 4-4 in the sixth before briefly taking a 5-4 lead. However, the Leathernecks responded in a big way in the bottom of the seventh.
Josh McClintock and Connolly opened the inning with back-to-back hits before Liam Bushey tied the game with a sacrifice fly. Moments later, Coburn came through again, ripping a three-RBI double to put Western Illinois back in front, 8-5.
The Leathernecks continued to add insurance in the eighth. After two runners reached, Bushey delivered with a three-run home run to right field to push the lead to 12-6.
At the plate, several Leathernecks turned in standout performances. McClintock led the way with three hits and three runs scored, while Connolly finished with three hits, including his home run, three runs scored, and two RBIs. Bushey drove in a team-high five runs, highlighted by his late home run, and Coburn matched that total with five RBIs of his own on two extra-base hits.
On the mound, Jason Buhl earned the win after recording a key out in relief, while Harrison Dubois closed things out despite a late Bradley push.
SAINT LOUIS 8, SIUE 2
ST. LOUIS - Saint Louis scored eight unanswered runs Tuesday and downed SIUE baseball 8-2 at the Billiken Sports Center.
The Cougars fell to 11-14. Saint Lous improved to 12-12. The Cougars and Billikens have now split two games this season. The teams will play again in Edwardsville in April.
Ethan Willoughby gave the Cougars a lead in the first inning with a two-out single. Willoughby led off the fourth with a double and later scored on a wild pitch to push the lead to 2-0.
The Billikens tied the game with two runs in the fifth before the five-run sixth inning, highlighted by a Chase Beattie grand slam.
Trent Koehler (0-1) allowed three runs in an inning of relief to take the loss.
Gabriel Nutter pitched 3.2 innings of relief, after SIUE starter Noah Thompson left the game due to injury in the second. Nutter allowed a run and stuck out three. Andrew Ressler tossed 1.1 scoreless innings.
Saint Louis added a run in the eighth inning for the final margin.
Willoughby finished with two hits and the run scored. The Billikens outhit the Cougars 12-6.
NORTHERN ILLINOIS 5, EASTERN ILLINOIS 4 (10)
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois drops a heartbreaking loss to Northern Illinois in extra innings. The Panthers' home opener loss drops their record to 13-9, while NIU improves to 14-7.
EIU battled back and forth with the Huskies, trading runs until NIU delivered the final knockout punch. Cole Smith stunned the EIU crowd with a double to score Charlie Parcell, the winning run in the top of the 10th inning.
The Panthers threatened a walk-off comeback with runners at first and second; however, Gavin Micklinghoff forced three straight Panthers outs to hold on for the save.
Prior to extra innings, EIU jumped out of the gate early, scoring the first run of the game. Brett Stanley extended his hitting streak to 19 games with a leadoff single, advancing to second after a Chris Worcester walk. NIU's starter, Mason Orton, faced trouble loading the bases in the 1st inning. The Panthers took advantage of Orton's miscues, with Stanley scoring on a wild pitch.
Northern Illinois responded with three unanswered runs coming from another Smith RBI in the 3rd inning and a two-run deep shot to right field by Gavin Baldwin in the 6th inning.
Eastern Illinois rallied in the 7th inning, highlighted by Joey Hagen, who collected his 7th RBI of the season with an infield single to score Stanley. The Panthers regained control with two more runs before the end of the inning.
With bases loaded once again, Eli Hill earned his easiest RBI of his career with a walk to drive in Worcester. Shortly after, Hagen scored a wild pitch from John Lyman to give the Panthers a 4-3 lead.
Once again, NIU responded with a run in the 8th, forcing extra innings under the lights.
In the 10th inning, NIU left the Panther faithful speechless with a go-ahead run off James Geshel. With a runner on first, Cole Smith smashed an RBI double to right field, scoring Parcell to give the Huskies an eventual 5-4 win.
On the mound for EIU, Dalton Boruff threw 3.1 innings, allowing four hits and only one earned run. Boruff also collected two strikeouts.
James Geshel tossed 2.0 innings of relief, recording five strikeouts and one earned run. His loss moves him to 1-2 on the season.
For NIU, Mason Orton went four innings, collecting four strikeouts while allowing one earned run and two hits.
Nick Bassi earned his first win of the season, tossing 1.2 innings of relief with two strikeouts.
Gavin Micklinghoff recorded his first save of the season, throwing the final three outs for NIU.
MOREHEAD STATE 12, EASTERN KENTUCKY 6
RICHMOND, Ky. - The Morehead State baseball team scored four runs in two different innings and got a solid pitching performance and defeated Eastern Kentucky 12-6 Tuesday night at Earle Combs Stadium in Richmond, Kentucky.
Morehead State (11-14) got four runs in the top of the seventh inning to break a tie game and led 10-6. Aubrey Kearns led off with a liner into left field. Ian McCubbin followed with a single through the left side. Caden Sheridan reached on a bunt single; the throw to first was low and got away from the first baseman allowing Kearns to score and McCubbin to advance to third.
After two outs were recorded, Jaden Correa reached on a strikeout and wild pitch that allowed McCubbin score and Sheridan to move to second base. Griffin Olson walked to load the bases and Kyle Krupp delivered a two-out, two run single to give the Eagles a 10-6 lead.
Morehead State added two more in the eighth without recording a hit. The Eagles drew four walks and two MSU batters were hit by pitches, and MSU extended its lead to 12-6.
Morehead State first took the lead in the top of the fifth inning. Olson led off with a double to right field. Krupp walked and a double steal put runners at second and third. Kearns delivered a single through the left side to even the score 4-4. McCubbin followed with a two-run home run over the fence in right center to give MSU a 6-4 lead.
Eastern Kentucky (7-18) added a run on a solo home run by right fielder Khaleel Pratt to trim the MSU lead to 6-5. EKU evened up the game in the sixth. An infield error with one out and then a balk put EKU's Ricco Longo on second base. He scored on an RBI single up the middle to even the score 6-6.
After Eastern Kentucky scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning, the Eagles bounced back with two runs in the top of the second. Alex Kean led off with a double into the right field corner and advanced to third on a grounder back to the pitcher. Correa hit a hot smash past the EKU third baseman for an RBI double. He advanced to third on another ground ball and scored on an error by the Colonel first baseman.
Eastern Kentucky picked up an unearned run on two Morehead State fielding errors with two outs in the bottom of the second inning to extend its lead to 4-2.
Morehead State's Sam Smith (1-0) picked up the win. He pitched the sixth inning, giving up a run on a hit and struck out one Colonel batter.
Eastern Kentucky's Hayden Collins (0-2) took the loss, giving up the four runs in the seventh on four hits. He walked one Eagle batter and recorded one strikeout.
SOUTHERN INDIANA 13, BALL STATE 3
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - University of Southern Indiana Baseball ended its four-game homestand with a big 13-3 victory over Ball State University Tuesday evening at the USI Baseball Field. USI, which defeated Ball State for the first time in the series, is 16-9 this season, while BSU falls to 12-11 this spring.
Both teams battled back and forth for the lead through the first three frames. Ball State took the early 1-0 lead in the top of the first, while USI pushed three runners across to grab the lead in the bottom half of the frame, 3-1. USI senior first baseman Patrick McLellan and senior designated hitter Micajah Wall had RBI-singles, while graduate rightfielder Noah Foster had a RBI-double to cap off the scoring.
After Ball State tied the game, 3-3, in the top of the second, USI took the lead for good in the bottom of the third with its second three-run frame, 6-3. USI would go on to score three more in the fourth and closed out the game early with a four-run seventh for the 13-3 victory.
McLellan led the way for USI at the plate, going three-for-four with three runs scored and a RBI, while Wall was two-for-three with three RBIs. The Screaming Eagles, as a team, had 10 hits and took advantage of eight walks allowed by Ball State.
On the bump, junior right-hander Levin East posted his team-best third victory of the season in relief. East (3-2) threw three scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out five.
USI senior left-hander Jake Porter started and got the no-decision after allowing three runs on three hits and three walks, while striking out two. Junior right-hander Eben Hansen followed East to the mound and closed out the game by throwing two scoreless innings, allowing a hit and striking out one.
UT MARTIN 8, SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 2
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Recap coming soon.
LITTLE ROCK 7, ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF 1
PINE BLUFF, Ark. - A strong pitching performance on a scheduled bullpen day, combined with a late offensive surge, carried Little Rock to a 7-1 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Tuesday at Gary Hogan Field.
Making his first Division I start, Brayden Walls earned the victory after tossing 4.2 innings of shutout baseball. He struck out four and allowed just four hits. Trent Jordan and Malcolm Brown combined for the next 2.1 innings, holding the Golden Lions scoreless, before Gage Haley worked the final two frames to secure his fourth save.
Kade Smith, Easton Roe, and Jerdy Lopez each recorded two hits for the Trojans (15-10), who extended their winning streak to four games. Little Rock returns to Ohio Valley Conference play this weekend with a three-game series against Southern Indiana.
The Trojans took time to find their rhythm offensively against UAPB (9-17), breaking through in the third inning of a scoreless game. Lopez led off with a double down the left-field line and later scored on Roe's single to center. Ryan Geck added to the lead with a fielder's choice that brought home Smith to make it 2-0.
Neither team scored again until the eighth inning, when the Golden Lions pushed across a run to cut the deficit to one. Little Rock responded emphatically in the bottom half.
Cooper Chaplain, who reached on a pinch-hit double, scored on a wild pitch to make it 3-1. Lopez then delivered the decisive blow, clearing the bases with a triple off the left-field wall to score Jack Bilski and Blake Simpson. Smith followed with an RBI single to plate Lopez, and later came around to score when Nolan Freund reached on an error.
Haley allowed two runners to reach in the ninth but sealed the win by catching the final batter looking at a called third strike.
VANDERBILT 15, TENNESSEE TECH 5
NASHVILLE - Tennessee Tech jumped out early and showed offensive flashes Tuesday night, but a series of big innings from Vanderbilt proved too much as the Golden Eagles fell, 15-5 in eight innings, at Hawkins Field.
Tech (9-16) struck first in the opening frame, as Manny Garza launched a solo home run to left field to give the Golden Eagles an early 1-0 advantage. Garza finished with a standout performance at the plate, going 3-for-4 with two RBI to lead the Tech offense.
The Golden Eagles continued to battle offensively, plating runs in the third, fourth, and fifth innings. Owen Lee delivered a sacrifice fly in the third, while Tech added two more in the fourth behind RBI production from Garza and a run-scoring sequence sparked by Tyler Bennett and Landon Smelser. Smelser also contributed an RBI of his own with a sacrifice fly in the fifth.
Despite the steady offensive effort that produced eight hits and five runs, Vanderbilt responded with momentum-shifting innings. The Commodores scored three runs in the second and fourth innings before breaking the game open with a five-run fifth, followed by additional runs in the sixth and eighth to pull away.
Jorsixt Jimenez added a multi-hit effort for Tech, finishing 2-for-4 with a double, while Smelser and Bennett each recorded hits as part of the Golden Eagles' eight-hit night.
On the mound, Tech utilized multiple arms in a bullpen-heavy effort, with Carson Davis and Justin Fallon providing scoreless relief appearances. However, Vanderbilt's lineup tallied 18 hits and capitalized on key opportunities throughout the contest.
The Golden Eagles showed resilience throughout, stranding 13 runners and continuing to generate scoring chances against a deep SEC pitching staff.