TUESDAY'S SCORES
Morehead State 13, @Louisville 8
@Arkansas-Pine Bluff 10,
Little Rock 8
@Southeast Missouri 13, Evansville 4
Bradley 8,
@SIUE 7
Western Illinois 3, @Saint Louis 2
@Southern Indiana 12, Illinois State 5
MOREHEAD STATE 13, LOUISVILLE 8
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Morehead State second baseman Jaden Correa blasted two home runs, went four for four at the plate with five runs batted and powered the Eagles to a 13-5 over the Louisville Cardinals Tuesday in Jim Patterson Stadium in Louisville.
After spotting the Cardinals two runs in the bottom of the second inning, Morehead State got on the scoreboard in the fourth. Eagle shortstop Nick Griffith drew a two-out walk and Correa drove a 2-0 pitch over the fence in left field to knot the game up at 2-2.
Morehead State (5-7) erupted in the fifth. Left fielder Kyle Krupp led off with a single and stole second base. Aubrey Kearns walked with one out. Left fielder Davis Germann's double in the left center gap scored Krupp. Alex Kean singled to center to score Kearns.
JJ Dutton smacked the Eagles' third straight hit to score Germann. After a fly out for the second out of the inning, Correa struck again, blasting a long drive on a 3-2 pitch over the fence in left to plate three runs and give MSU an 8-2 lead.
After the Cards scratched out a run in the sixth, the Eagle offense opened up again in the seventh. JJ Dutton led off with a walk. Correa reached on a bunt single up the third base line and Dutton took third on a throwing error by the Louisville pitcher on the play. Austyn Peak rapped a sharp single through the left side to score Dutton. Krupp walked to load the bases. Caden Sheridan lifted a sacrifice fly to center to plate Correa. After a walk by Kearns, Davis Germann was hit by a pitch to score Peak. First baseman Alex Kean walked to score Krupp for the fourth run of the inning to expand the MSU lead to 12-3.
Louisville (7-5) scratched out a couple of runs in the bottom of the seventh, to cut the lead to 12-5. Morehead State put another run on the board in the ninth, when Kearns drove Krupp home with an RBI double to left center.
MSU's Carter Owens (2-0) was sharp out of the bullpen and picked up the win for MSU. The redshirt junior threw 3.1 innings, allowing one run on just two hits. He walked three Louisville batters and recorded a strikeout.
Louisville starter Colton Hartman (0-1) took the loss for the Cardinals. He threw four innings, allowing three runs on four hits. He walked three batters and recorded five strikeouts.
ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF 10, LITTLE ROCK 8
PINE BLUFF, Ark. - Little Rock jumped out to an eight-run lead halfway through Tuesday's midweek contest against in-state rival Arkansas-Pine Bluff, but that wasn't enough to keep the hosts from rallying to hand the Trojans a stunning 10-8 loss at the Torii Hunter Baseball Complex.
The two teams combined for eight errors – four for each club – and 14 walks. But unfortunately for Little Rock (6-6), its own errors came late while the game hung in the balance, and the Golden Lions took advantage.
Cade Martin collected three hits and drove in three runs for the Trojans, Easton Roe hit his second home run of the season, and the Trojans turned early walks and errors by the hosts into a sizeable lead. The Trojans led 2-0 after the third, 7-0 after four frames, and added another in the fifth.
Gage Haley started on the mound and turned in a commendable effort, allowing just four hits, two runs, and two walks while striking out three over 4.1 innings. Unfortunately, it was not enough for Haley to earn the win.
A total of eight arms from the bullpen allowed nine hits, eight runs, and six walks over the last 3.2 innings. The defensive miscues added fuel to the fire as UAPB scored in each of the next four innings, and – with the game tied at 8-8 – the Golden Lions scored the final two runs on a throwing error and wild pitch.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 13, EVANSVILLE 4
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri (7-7) secured a decisive 13-4 victory over Evansville (3-8) on Tuesday at Capaha Field. The Redhawks' offense was bolstered by two home runs and a five-run fifth inning, capitalizing on Evansville's four fielding errors.
SEMO opened the game with early momentum as Caleb Klein hit a home run to left center, giving the team an initial lead. Cal Sullivan reached on an error and later scored on Carson Schrack's RBI single, ending the first inning with a 2-0 advantage.
In the second inning, the Redhawks extended its lead with a three-run homer by Sullivan, bringing in Klein and Demitri Shakotko, who reached on an error. The score moved to 5-0 by the end of the second inning.
The Redhawks added another run in the fourth inning when Andrew Ramirez doubled and later scored on Joe Hall's RBI single, increasing the lead to 6-0.
The fifth inning saw Southeast Missouri's offense surge, scoring five runs. Shakotko's RBI single, a balk that allowed Moises Rosario to score, and Ramirez's RBI single contributed to the scoring. Additional runs came from a bases-loaded walk to Ryan Lopetegui, pushing the score to 11-0.
Evansville put two runs on the board in the sixth with a two-run homer by Ximi Baftiri, but the score remained 11-2.
In the seventh, the Redhawks capitalized on a fielding error, with Mikey Rocha delivering a two-RBI single to widen the gap to 13-4 after the Purple Aces also scored two runs earlier in the inning.
BRADLEY 8, SIUE 7
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - SIUE baseball's comeback attempt came up short Tuesday as visiting Bradley picked up an 8-7 win over the Cougars at Roy E. Lee Field.
SIUE dropped 5-8. Bradley improved to 4-7.
The Braves chased SIUE starter Noah Thompson (0-1) with four runs in the third inning. Jack Holubowski drove in three with a bases loaded double. Thompson he worked 2.1 innings allowing the four runs on two hits. He walked two and struck out one.
The Cougar scored twice in the third on a bases loaded walk to Mack Mitchell and a sacrifice fly from Ryan Niedzwiedz.
It was 5-1 Bradley when Jose Fischera drove in his first run as a Cougar with a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning.
Bradley extended the lead to 8-3 with three runs in the sixth against Cougar reliever Brennen Grams. Grams pitched two-thirds of an inning before Porter Conn closed out the game with three scoreless innings. He struck out three.
SIUE scored twice in the eighth on a wild pitch and a an RBI hit from Brendan Fry.
Bradley starter Joe Cirelli (1-0) pitched 7.1 innings allowing five runs on five hits.
Terrick Thompson-Allen blasted a two-out, two-run home run into right to pull the Cougars within a run. Thompson-Allen and Fry each finished with three hits. Niedzwiedz had two hits.
WESTERN ILLINOIS 3, SAINT LOUIS 2
ST. LOUIS - The Western Illinois Leathernecks baseball outlasted the Saint Louis Billikens baseball in a 10-inning battle Tuesday afternoon, earning a 3-2 road victory in St. Louis.
Saint Louis struck first with a solo home run in the bottom of the first, but the Leathernecks answered in the second. Wandel Campana reached on a single and moved to third following a throwing error before coming home on Gage Hoover's sacrifice fly to even the score at 1-1. The Billikens regained momentum with a solo homer in the sixth to tie the game at 2-2 after Cordell Coburn delivered an RBI double earlier in the inning to plate Hoover.
Locked in a pitcher's duel late, Western Illinois' bullpen proved dominant. After allowing the sixth-inning run, the Leathernecks shut down Saint Louis the rest of the way. Eric Rawlings (1-0) was outstanding in relief, tossing three hitless innings with four strikeouts to earn the win and force extra innings.
In the 10th, Liam Bushey provided the difference-maker, launching a solo home run to right center- his 10th of the season- to put WIU in front 3-2. Rawlings returned to the mound in the bottom half and retired the side to secure the victory.
Western Illinois finished with eight hits, led by Joe Connolly's three-hit performance at the top of the lineup. Campana added two hits, while Coburn and Bushey each drove in a run. The Leathernecks did not commit an error defensively and struck out 13 Saint Louis batters as a pitching staff.
With the win, WIU improves to 4-7 on the season, showcasing resilience in a tightly contested extra-inning road matchup.
SOUTHERN INDIANA 12, ILLINOIS STATE 5
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - University of Southern Indiana Baseball rallied from a first inning deficit to defeat Illinois State, 12-5, Tuesday afternoon at the USI Baseball Field. USI is 9-4 this season, while ISU goes to 7-5.
The lead swung in a big way during the first inning with ISU taking a 4-0 lead in the top of the first and USI rallying to move in front, 5-4, in the bottom half of the inning. Senior first baseman Patrick McLellan and junior third baseman Parker Martin highlighted the five-run frame with a RBI-double each.
USI held the one-run lead until the third when ISU knotted the game at 5-5 with a single tally. The Screaming Eagles regained the advantage, 6-5, in the fourth when junior designated hitter Noah Foster scored on a groundout by graduate rightfielder Jesse Velders. Foster moved into scoring position after doubling and advancing to third on a groundout.
USI graduate centerfielder Khi Holiday extended the Screaming Eagles' lead to 7-5 by manufacturing a run in the fifth. Holiday singled, advanced to second on a balk, stole third, and scored on a throwing error by the catcher.
The Screaming Eagles put the game away in the bottom of the seventh, pushing five more tallies across the plate for the eventual 12-5 final. McLellan started the rally with a RBI-single, while Martin and Foster drove in the final four runs with two-run hits.
For the game, Martin and Foster had three RBIs each, while McLellan had a pair. Senior shortstop Clayton Slack posted his eighth multi-hit game of the year and his fourth three-hit contest with two singles and a double, while Foster also posted his sixth multi-hit contest and a season-high three hits.
On the mound, senior left-hander Jake Porter picked up the win in relief. Porter (1-0) allowed one hit and blanked the Redbirds over two frames to become the pitcher of record.