OFFENSE COMES ALIVE AS BASEBALL SKYHAWKS DEFEAT UNION 8-3

Wednesday, March 27

Martin, Tenn.

6:00 PM

UT Martin

Union

OFFENSE COMES ALIVE AS BASEBALL SKYHAWKS DEFEAT UNION 8-3

3/27/2019 10:06:00 PM | Baseball

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MARTIN, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee at Martin baseball team downed regional rival Union by an 8-3 margin this evening.

UT Martin (9-15) was led at the dish by Sean Dixson (three hits and two RBIs) while Creighton Eldridge also tallied a trio of base knocks (including a triple) and drove in one run. Blake Daniels notched a two-hit day and plated a run while Casey Harford and Billy Edwards (first career home run) each had a knock and an RBI apiece. Blake Davis roped a couple of hits to round out the offensive side of things.

Eldridge's three-bagger moved him into third all-time in program history in career triples. His eight triples in a Skyhawk uniform is tied with Churchill Moore (1986-87).

Seth Petry (1-0) drew the starting nod and logged 3.1 innings on the mound. He allowed just one earned run while sitting down a pair of Bulldogs via the punchout. He conceded just one hit and issued one base on balls. Zach Denney followed Petry and clocked in for 1.2 innings of relief while he also fanned two batters. Jeff O'Doherty tallied 0.1 inning of work while David Hussey tossed 1.2 innings of perfect baseball while also recording a couple of strikeouts. Marcus Eusebio came on in relief for an inning of work and forced two batters to whiff as he did not allow a run to cross the plate. Finishing things off was Nick Wohlbold who worked around a pair of hits and a walk to retire the side via strikes.

Petry was dealing early as he needed just five pitches to get out of the first inning. He forced a pair of popouts to first base followed by a groundout to shortstop.

The Skyhawks struck early as they put up a trio of runs in the first inning. Dixson got things started with a single to left field followed by a Daniels double to left center to put both runners in scoring position. Harford reached via a fielder's choice while Dixson was caught trying to cross the plate. A Davis infield hit to the catcher followed by an errant throw by the backstop would be enough to bring Daniels and Harford in. Then Eldridge stepped to the plate and roped a triple to right field to plate Davis and give his squad a 3-0 advantage.

Petry kept up the efficient pace in the second as he worked around a two-out walk with a strikeout mixed in.

UT Martin tallied a pair of run in the second inning as Edwards worked the count to draw a free base just before a Dixson long ball would put the Skyhawks up by a 5-0 margin.

Petry was chugging right along in the third as he sat down the side in order via a lineout, strikeout and groundout, respectively.

Union would rally for a pair of runs in the fourth inning to inch back 5-2.

Denney made quick work of the Bulldogs in the fifth as he forced a flyout sandwiched in between a pair of strikeouts.

UT Martin added on a run in the sixth as Edwards ripped a homer down the right field line to give his team a 6-2 lead.

Hussey kept a cool head as he worked around a one-out error to follow up the inning with a pair of Union whiffs.Eusebio came on in the eighth and would find himself in a pickle but managed to work out of trouble with a flyout and a pair of strikeouts.

The Skyhawks put up two more runs in the eighth with Dixson singling through the left side to get the frame started. A Daniels two-bagger down the right field line would be good enough to plate Dixson. Stoner then moved Daniels up to third base on a flyout before he came home on a Harford groundout to make the score 8-2.

The Bulldogs rallied for a run in the ninth to give the final score of 8-3 but not before Wohlbold recorded three strikeouts in the frame.

"Seth Petry did another great job today," head coach Ryan Jenkins said. "He pitched well and gave us what we needed to get started en route to getting this win. We scuffled a little bit in the fourth but Hussey was able to come in and take care of things. Offensively, we swung the bats really well all day. It was good to see Sean Dixson and Billy Edwards get something going by hitting their first home runs of the season."

UT Martin continues its homestand as the Skyhawks welcome Ohio Valley Conference foe Morehead State to town this weekend. First pitch on Friday, March 29 is scheduled for 6 p.m.