SUNDAY'S SCORES
Southeast Missouri 19, @Western Illinois 9
Morehead State 8, @Eastern Illinois 5
@UT Martin 15, Lindenwood 7
@Little Rock 9, Southern Indiana 4
@SIUE 6, Tennessee Tech 2
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 19, WESTERN ILLINOIS 9
MACOMB, Ill. - Southeast Missouri Baseball (20-8, 5-1) secured a decisive 19-9 victory over Western Illinois (7-20, 2-4) on Sunday, powered by three home runs and 19 RBIs.
WIU took an early lead in the first inning, with Joe Connolly and Liam Bushey setting the stage for a two-run inning. Connolly scored on a groundout, and Bushey crossed the plate on a sacrifice fly, putting the Leathernecks ahead 2-0.
In the second inning, the Leathernecks extended their lead with a solo home run by Tyler Large, bringing the score to 3-0 through two innings.
Southeast responded in the third inning. Tank Sims singled and advanced to third, setting up Caleb Klein to steal second. Joe Hall then delivered a pivotal moment with a grand slam to left field, bringing in four runs and tying the game at 4-4.
The fourth inning saw the Redhawks take the lead. Brooks Kettering hit a two-run homer, followed by Cal Sullivan's two-run shot, giving Southeast an 8-4 advantage. Western Illinois answered with three runs, narrowing the gap to 8-7 by the inning's end.
The Leathernecks tied the game in the fifth inning with an RBI single from Liam Bushey. The score was locked at 8-8.
Southeast regained control in the sixth inning. Klein's two-RBI single and Hall's RBI single contributed to a three-run inning, pushing the lead to 11-8.
Western Illinois added a run in the seventh, but Southeast responded with four more in the eighth. Ryan Lopetegui was hit by a pitch, bringing in a run, and Andrew Ramirez's two-RBI single further extended the lead to 15-9.
In the ninth, the Redhawks sealed the game with another four-run inning, highlighted by singles from Demitri Shakotko and Ramirez, who drove in additional runs, finalizing the score at 19-9.
MOREHEAD STATE 8, EASTERN ILLINOIS 5
CHARLESTON, Ill. - The Morehead State baseball team rallied late and got solid pitching to claim an 8-5 win in a back-and-forth affair over Eastern Illinois in the series finale Sunday at Frost Field at Coaches Stadium in Charleston, Illinois.
Morehead State (12-16, 1-5 OVC) came to bat in the top of the eighth with the score tied at 5-5. Alex Kean reached on a lead-off walk and was replaced by pinch-runner Jaden Hart. Running on the first pitch, Hart stole second and advanced to third on the errant throw by the EIU catcher. Griffin Olson drew a walk and stole second.
With the EIU infield drawn in, Eagle left fielder Kyle Krupp hit a smash up the middle that the Panther shortstop was able to knock down but took an error on the play that allowed Hart to score and Olson to advance to third. Davis Germann was hit by a pitch that loaded the bases. Designated hitter Aubrey Kearns plated Olson with a sacrifice fly to left to give MSU a 7-5 lead.
Morehead State added an insurance run in the ninth when second baseman Nick Griffith hit a looping liner down the right field line for a double and scored on Brayton Coomer's sharp single past the EIU third baseman.
Eagle reliever Devin Costa (1-1) got the win pitching 3.1 innings of no-hit, shutout baseball. He did not allow a base runner while recording two strikeouts.
After giving up a solo home run in the bottom of the first inning, the Eagles got on the scoreboard in the top of the first inning. Right fielder Ian McCubbin led off with single to left and Griffith belted a one-out home run over the fence in right field to give the Eagles a 2-1 lead.
MSU added two more runs in the third. Olson led off with a single up the middle. Krupp followed with a smash that the EIU second baseman knocked down but was unable to make a play. Kearns then delivered an RBI single with a liner into the gap in left center putting runners at the corners. McCubbin then fisted a soft liner into right for the second run of the inning to stretch the Eagle lead to 4-1.
Eastern Illinois (16-10, 2-1 OVC) got a run back in the bottom of the third to make the score 4-2. The Panthers threatened a big inning with a leadoff single and a walk followed by a sacrifice bunt to put runners on second and third. Another walk loaded the bases with just one out. A sacrifice fly to left scored a run and another fly ball to center ended the threat.
The Panthers regained the lead in the fourth inning, scoring three unearned runs. After a ground out and a fly out, an infield error on a ground ball set the table. A single put runners on the corners. Morehead State starter Connor Davis induced a fly ball to center, but a balk was called scoring a run. Two more singles pushed two more runs across and EIU led 5-4.
Morehead State evened the score at 5-5 in the fifth. Kearns smacked a one-out single to right and advanced on a passed ball. McCubbin singled on a flare to right to advance Kearns to third. Sheridan walked to load the bases. Griffith bounced to first to score Kearns.
Davis was solid in a no-decision in his seventh start of the season. He threw 5.2 innings, scattering eight hits and allowed five runs, two earned. He walked four batters and recorded a strikeout.
Panther reliever Nate Marshall (1-2) took the loss. He threw three innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on one hit. He walked three Eagle batters and recorded two strikeouts.
UT MARTIN 15, LINDENWOOD 7
MARTIN, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Martin baseball team completed its weekend sweep of Lindenwood with a 15-7 triumph that helped extend the Skyhawks’ winning streak to four games.
UT Martin (14-13, 3-3 OVC) smashed 17 hits on the afternoon and outscored the Lions 32-10 over the three-game set. Six Skyhawks enjoyed multi-hit outings including TJ Grines (first career multi-homer game, double, three RBIs), TJ Dunsford (double, two RBIs), Garner Anderson (two RBIs), Cameron Greene (home run, three runs scored), Andrew Lawrence (three hits, double, two RBIs) and Amari Conley (RBI). Also grabbing base knocks were Colten Payton (double, three RBIs), Andrew Davis (run scored) and JT Popick (double run scored).
Maxwell Schumacher (2-2) made the third quality start in a row for the UT Martin pitching staff with six innings pitched, two strikeouts and just one run allowed. Mason Little (0.1 innings), Gehrig Wright (0.1 innings) and JP Nunn (2.1 innings, no earned runs) pitched out of the bullpen.
Lindenwood (11-16, 0-6 OVC) struck first for the second consecutive game, but the Skyhawks yet again had the counterattack prepared. Grines went yard on the second pitch he saw and it was tied after one.
With two outs, UT Martin got to work in the home half of the second. Grines scored off an error and then Payton served up a bases clearing double to put the Skyhawks up 5-1. Schumacher escaped a bases loaded jam in the third to keep his team up four which led to more run support from his offense. Lawrence continued his big week on a two-run single to center field and Grines blasted his second homer of the game to pull UT Martin’s advantage to 9-1.
It was a scoreless fourth and fifth for the righty Schumacher that generated additional offense for the Skyhawks. Conley singled through the right side for Lawrence to score and Dunsford hammered a double to left field for two more runners to score. Anderson smacked a single to left field to plate two runs and it made the score 14-1 in favor of UT Martin.
Schumacher tossed a perfect sixth while his offense added another run in the bottom part of the inning when Greene led off with a homer over the center field wall. Lindenwood cut into their deficit, but Nunn shut the door over the next two innings for the Skyhawks to cap off the sweep.
LITTLE ROCK 9, SOUTHERN INDIANA 4
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Riding the momentum from Saturday's win, Little Rock scored in six different innings Sunday to secure a 9-4 victory over Southern Indiana at Gary Hogan Field and clinch the series.
The Trojans (17-11, 5-1 OVC) capitalized on three defensive miscues by the Screaming Eagles and continued their strong stretch, winning eight of their last 10 games. The start marks Little Rock's best opening to conference play since joining the Ohio Valley Conference. Up next, the Trojans travel for a midweek matchup at No. 18 Ole Miss on Tuesday.
Kade Smith drove in three runs to lead the offense, while Easton Roe added two RBIs. Starter Zach Busick worked 3 1/3 innings before turning things over to Gage Haley (2-0), who earned the win with nearly three innings of one-run relief. Tag Andrews closed it out with three scoreless frames to record his third save.
Little Rock struck first in the opening inning on Roe's RBI single. Smith added another run in the third with a base hit to make it 2-0. Southern Indiana trimmed the lead to 2-1 in the fourth, but the Trojans responded with two runs in the bottom half as Angel Cano and Nico Baumbach scored on defensive errors.
Roe extended the lead to 5-1 with a groundout in the fifth that brought home Smith. Little Rock added three more runs in the sixth, highlighted by hits from Michael O'Brien and Smith that plated Trey Hill and Jerdy Lopez.
Southern Indiana pulled within 8-4 with two runs in the seventh, but Cooper Chaplain answered with an RBI single in the bottom of the inning to cap the scoring.
SIUE 6, TENNESSEE TECH 2
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - SIUE baseball finished off its second consecutive Ohio Valley Conference series sweep with a 6-2 win over Tennessee Tech Sunday at Roy E. Lee Field.
The Cougars are now 6-0 in OVC play and 14-14 overall. TTU dropped to 0-6 in the OVC and 9-19 overall.
SIUE outscored Tennessee Tech 20-4 over the three-game series.
The Cougars scored a first inning run again, following a double-steal attempt. Ryan Niedzwiedz scored when Terrick Thompson was caught in a rundown between first and third.
Tennessee Tech tied the game on a second-inning home run by Nash Cowell.
The Cougars scored twice in the bottom of the second on an RBI triple by Cooper Eggert and a groundout by Brenden Fry. Mack Mitchell homered in the third to make it 4-1 and Sean Kang drove home a run with a sacrifice squeeze in the fourth inning.
Jorsixt Jimenez homered for the Golden Eagles in the sixth inning to cut the lead back to 5-2.
Jase Phillips (2-2) worked a season-high six innings, allowing two runs on five hits. He struck out three.
Kang singled to drive in a run in the eighth for the 6-2 final.
Joseph Martin pitched a scoreless eighth inning, allowing a hit and striking out one. Easton Harris threw a perfect ninth inning, striking out one.
Niedzwiedz, Eggert and Fry all had three hits for SIUE, which outhit TTU 9-6 in the game.