TUESDAY'S SCORES
@#23 Kentucky 5, Morehead State 2
Belmont 8, @Murray State 6
@Saint Louis 10, Southeast Missouri 6
@#23 Western Kentucky 14, Austin Peay 7
Tennessee Tech at #30 Vanderbilt (postponed until Wednesday)
@UT Martin, Lipscomb (postponed until Wednesday)
@Eastern Kentucky, Ohio University (postponed)
#23 KENTUCKY 5, MOREHEAD STATE 2
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Morehead State placed runners in scoring position in four of the first five innings, but were unable to find a hit in any of those RBI opportunities and fell to #23 Kentucky 2-5 in Lexington Tuesday afternoon.
Kentucky jumped out to a 3-0 lead on Eagle starter Josh Schneider in the bottom of the first. Chris Bisson singled through the box to lead off the inning and stole second. Andy Burns followed with a single through the left side of the infield moving Bisson to third. Burns then also swiped second and Lance Ray grounded out to Travis Redmon at second to drive in Bisson. Burns then scored on a Gunner Glad single. Glad advanced to third on a Marcus Nidiffer doubled and scored on a Schneider wild pitch.
The Wildcats (7-0) got another run in the third when Burns homered to left center off reliever Hunter Hewitt. The run was the first run allowed in the season for Hewitt.
Burns tagged another Hewitt pitch in the bottom of the fifth; lifting a home run to the exact same spot in left center.
MSU finally produced with runners in scoring position in the sixth, when sophomore Andrew Deeds fisted a Sam Kidd pitch that found grass in shallow left center to score Michael Bottoms from second. Bottoms and Taylor Davis ripped singles threw the box to set up Deeds. MSU continued to threaten in the inning. Eric Bainer grounded out to move Davis and Deed to third and second with two outs. Lucas Bainer appeared to have been hit by a pitch that would have loaded the bases, but home plate umpire Jay Asher ruled the play a foul ball off Bainer's hand. Bainer would go on to strikeout to end the inning.
Drew Lee tripled to straightaway center in the top of the eighth to set up MSU's second run. Bottoms then drove in the shortstop with a sacrifice fly to left center.
Trey Smith had his best pitching appearance of the season, pitching 2.2 scoreless innings and allowing just one hit.
Smith did get some help from his friends during his good outing. Deeds made a spectacular play in the bottom of the sixth; diving to the bag side of third, snagging a one-hopper off the bat of Tony Black, and making the throw in time to first.
Not wanting to be outdone, Lee came up with a wonderful play of his own. A grounder up the middle by Ray appeared to have the senior beat, but Lee dove and whipped his glove around to make the snag and calmly threw out Ray.
The Eagles were ultimately undone by their inability to drive in runners in scoring position as MSU went just 1-11 in RBI situations.
Bottoms had his best day of the season, going 3-3 with 2 singles, a double, and an RBI sacrifice fly. Lee, Davis, and J.D. Ashbrook also had multi-hit days. Lee moves his current hitting-streak to a seven games, while Davis's now stands at five games.
The loss moves MSU's record to 4-6, with well-played losses to #8 Louisville, #23 Kentucky, and #30 Liberty.
BELMONT 8, MURRAY STATE 6
MURRAY, Ky. - The Murray State baseball team could not capitalize on their opportunities Tuesday afternoon as the Breds stranded 14 base runners in falling 8-6 to Belmont Tuesday afternoon at Reagan Field.
MSU made the game interesting in the ninth inning as Colton Moore hit a one-out single to right field. Bryan Propst followed with a walk and Kyle Tiernan drew a two-out pinch hit walk to load the bases. Zach Noonan drew a bases-loaded walk to pull the team within two, but Elliot Frey went down swinging to end the game.
The Breds (4-3) got on the board in the second as Propst walked and Brandon Elliott was hit by a pitch to put two runners on with two outs. Frey drove in Propst with a base hit up the middle that just got under the glove of a diving shortstop.
BU (7-0) wasted little time in responded as a Breds error helped to push across four runs in the third. After a pair of hits put two runners on, Dylan Craig slapped an RBI base hit over the head of the third baseman. Nate Woods followed by reaching on a fielding error, allowing the second run to score. Judah Akers scored another run with a sacrifice fly to right field, before the final run scored on a Vinny Casha double just inside the bag at third.
The MSU bats awoke in the third as Daniel Hill doubled to right field to spark a three-run inning. Jason Laws followed with an infield single to put runners on the corners with no outs. After the next two hitters were retired, Cory Hodskins was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Elliot collected his first career hit as he delivered a two-run single to right field. Noonan tied the game with an RBI-single to center.
The Bruins regained the lead in the fourth as a pair of hits put runners on the corners. Craig slapped an RBI single through the left side and Woods followed with an RBI double down the left field line.
MSU got one run back in the sixth as Noonan and Frey walked to start the inning. Wes Cunningham plated Noonan with a base hit through the right side.
BU added some insurance in the ninth as they got an RBI single over a drawn-in infield from Casha and an RBI double to right field off the bat of Tim Egerton.
Garrett Fanchier (1-0) earned the victory as he allowed five runs on six hits, five walks and three hit batters over five innings. Dan Huff (0-1) took the loss after allowing six runs, three earned, on 11 hits over six innings. Matt Hamann (1) picked up the save after allowing tne run on two hits and four strikeouts over two innings.
SAINT LOUIS 10, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 6
ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Southeast (4-3) put up 18 hits against Saint Louis (4-3) this afternoon, but could not come up with the win, as they fell 10-6 at The Billiken Sports Center this afternoon. Junior Brad LaBruyere (0-1) earned his first loss of the season against SLU.
Southeast had no trouble hitting the ball today, but they could not get the runs to come in, as the Redhawks left a season-high 13 runners stranded on the bases. Southeast left runners on base in every inning but the sixth.
The Redhawks jumped out to an early 2-0 lead heading into the bottom of the second inning. Senior Jim Klocke hit an RBI single in the first and junior Tim Rupp doubled to right center in the second to give Southeast the first two runs of the game.
Saint Louis battled back with four unanswered runs over the next three innings. During that span, Andrew Guerra picked up two RBI from a sacrifice fly and a solo home run. Mike Levine scored on a wild pitch from Junior Jon Dicus in the third inning and J.D. Dunn tripled to bring in the fourth run for the Billikens.
Southeast quickly retook the lead in the fifth inning after scoring three runs. Sophomore Kody Campbell, Rupp, and sophomore Kenton Parmley each had one RBI in the inning to put the Redhawks back on top.
The offense kept firing for the Billikens though, as they scored the next three runs to take the final lead, which they held on to for the remainder of the game. Danny Brock homered twice, once in the fifth and once in the eighth off of LaBruyere and Senior John Salazar.
The Redhawks had their chances to even the score, but left a total of four runners on the bases in the last three innings. Rupp brought in the final run for Southeast, but it wasn't enough, as the Redhawks ended up losing by four.
Rupp led the Redhawks offensively after replacing the injured Taylor Heon at second base. He finished the game with four hits, including a double and three RBI.
Junior Casey Jones made his first start of the season today at third. He also had a successful day hitting with three hits, two runs, and a double.
#23 WESTERN KENTUCKY 14, AUSTIN PEAY 7
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - Austin Peay State University's baseball team jumped out to an early lead but could not hold on in a 14-7 loss to No. 23 Western Kentucky, Tuesday afternoon, at Nick Denes Field.
Austin Peay (5-3) scored the game's first five runs. A wild pitch and a bases loaded walk accounted for the Govs two first-inning runs. Left fielder Adam Browett doubled the Govs score with a two-RBI single in the second and designated hitter Matt Kole added an RBI single to push the lead to 5-0 after one and a half innings.
Western Kentucky (6-1) broke through in its half of the second scoring runs on back-to-back sacrifice flies. The Govs returned their lead to five runs, 7-2, on right fielder Jared DeLong's two-run double in the third. Western Kentucky responded with a solo home run by shortstop Logan Robbins and a two-run blast by second baseman Matt Payton to cut the lead to 7-5 after three frames.
The Hilltoppers relief corps took over from there, holding the Govs scoreless over the next six innings, allowing just three hits - APSU had 10 in the first three innings - and striking out six. Andrew Keltner (1-0) started the relief effort with three scoreless innings to pick up the victory. He was followed by Tyler Gilliland who tossed two scoreless innings and Aaron Mayfield who closed the effort with a scoreless ninth.
The Govs relief crew had no such success against the Hilltoppers as six different pitchers took the mound over the final seven innings. They were able to maintain the APSU lead until Western Kentucky's four-run sixth inning and saw the game get out of hand courtesy a four-run seventh inning. Austin Peay's defense committed all of its season-high tying three errors in the two decisive frames, leading to four unearned runs.
Matt Marsh (1-2) - the Govs third pitcher - was tagged for the loss after allowing three runs (two earned) on a hit and a walk in one-plus inning as he faced three batters in the sixth inning but did not record an out. Starter David Vicini tossed two-plus innings and allowed four runs on four hits.
Austin Peay saw four batters finish with two hits, including DeLong who finished 2-for-4 with two RBI. Browett went 1-for-4 with two RBI.
Third baseman Casey Dykes led Western Kentucky with a 3-for-4 outing. Robbins, Payton, left fielder Jared Andreoli and first baseman Jake Wells each had two RBI.