UT MARTIN BASEBALL TAKES OVC SERIES AGAINST MOREHEAD STATE WITH SUNDAY TWINBILL SPLIT

Sunday, March 31

Martin, Tenn.

11:00 AM

UT Martin

10-16, 3-8

Morehead State

18-9, 5-3

Morehead State

UT Martin

UT MARTIN BASEBALL TAKES OVC SERIES AGAINST MOREHEAD STATE WITH SUNDAY TWINBILL SPLIT

3/31/2019 7:17:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Game 1 PDF Boxscore Game 2 PDF Boxscore Photo Gallery

MARTIN, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee at Martin baseball squad split today's doubleheader against Morehead State as it dropped a 6-2 decision in Game 1 but claimed a 2-0 victory in Game 2 to take the series 2-1. This marks the second Ohio Valley Conference series that the Skyhawks have won on the season as they took two out of three from Southeast Missouri earlier during the season.

Today's 2-0 shutout over Morehead State marks the fifth of the season for UT Martin. That marks the most shutouts in the Division-I era for the Skyhawks – surpassing the 1996 team (four in 46 games).

UT Martin (11-16, 4-8 OVC) was led on the day by Casey Harford as he tallied a pair of hits and drove in two runs. Sean Dixson notched a two-hit day as well while racking up an RBI while Blake Davis' two-hit performance and one RBI rounded out the scoring options for the Skyhawks. Blake Daniels roped a couple of doubles in the doubleheader while Billy Edwards, Creighton Eldridge and Jordan Stoner all rapped out one base knock on the day. Harford and Eldridge each swiped a base in the twinbill which puts the pair at a combined perfect 8-for-8 on the season in the category.

On the day, UT Martin pitching combined for 16 innings of work and sat down 17 Eagles in the process while allowing just four extra-base hits. Winston Cannon (3-5) picked up a win in Game 2 as he tossed 4.1 innings of scoreless baseball and fanned seven along the way. Closer Nick Wohlbold racked up his sixth save of the season which ranks tied for third place in school history for most in a season and ranks seventh in program history for most in a career.

Game 1

The first contest of the day saw Davis tally a base knock as well as an RBI while Harford also drove a run in. Also recording hits in the matchup were Dixson and Daniels as both crossed the plate and reach via a walk as well.

Sam Folks (3-2) drew the starting nod and logged five complete innings. The Franklin, Tenn. native allowed just two earned runs and fanned a trio of Morehead State batters in his time on the bump. Marcus Eusebio came on for a pair of innings but was tagged for three earned runs. He did manage to retire three Eagles on strikes before his day was over. Zach Denney tossed a pair of scoreless frames as he allowed just one base runner in that span and also struck out two batsmen along the way.

Morehead State jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the first inning before adding on another run in the third to claim a 2-0 advantage.

Folks worked out of a bases loaded situation in the second as he recorded his outs via a whiff, lineout and groundout to get out of the frame unscathed. He then worked around a leadoff single in the fourth to induce a double play before finding another friendly groundball out to get through the inning. In his last frame of work, Folks saw the fifth inning open with a bunt back to himself before finding a groundout back to himself on the very next batter. He then got a ground ball to dribble out to shortstop before issuing a walk and finally ending the inning via a flyout to get out of trouble.

Eusebio entered in the sixth and opened the frame with a strikeout. He then conceded an infield single before a flyout to center. Eusebio would plunk a batter to put a pair of Eagles on but kept a cool head and fanned the next batter to keep things status quo.

Morehead State put up another run in the seventh to make the score 3-0.

Daniels led off the home half of the seventh with a two-bagger to right center before a Stoner groundout would move him over to third base. Harford then struck for a sacrifice fly to center to plate Daniels and put UT Martin on the scoreboard 3-1.

The Eagles added on a trio of runs in the eighth to push their lead out to 6-1. However, Zach Denney would come on with no outs in the frame to record three consecutive outs via flyout and two groundouts to the left side of the infield.

Denney worked around a leadoff single in the ninth to induce a flyout to left field before fanning the next two batters on swinging strikeouts.

The Skyhawks would not go down quietly as Dixson and Daniels were each issued four-pitch walks. Stoner would reach first on a fielder's choice to put runners at the corners before Davis poked a ball through the right side to bring in Dixson and make the score 6-2.

Game 2

The second game of the day saw Harford tally a pair of hits to go along with one RBI while Dixson notched a knock and also drove in a run. Daniels, Stoner, Davis and Eldridge all produced one hit apiece in the matchup.

Cannon tossed 4.1 innings of shutout baseball and earned the win in the seven-inning affair. The righty conceded five hits and issued three free bases but downed seven Morehead State batters via the punchout. David Hussey came on in relief for 1.2 innings of work as he allowed just one base hit and recorded one strikeout along the way. Wohlbold would need 14 pitches to produce his sixth save of the year as he fanned one Eagle in that span.

Cannon came out with guns blazing as he recorded the first four outs of the ballgame via strikeout.

UT Martin cracked into the scoring column in the bottom of the first as Daniels got things started with a double down the left field line before a Stoner single up the middle put runners at the corners. Harford then pushed a ball through the right side of the infield to plate Daniels and give the Skyhawks an early 1-0 advantage.

Cannon kept chugging along in the third inning as he worked around a leadoff single to fan the next batter and then force a flyout and groundout, respectively. He worked out of a pickle in the fourth as he bookended the frame with strikeouts of the swinging variety.

The Skyhawks put up their second run of the contest in the fourth inning as Eldridge led off by laying down a bunt to reach first. He then swiped second base and advanced to third on a throwing error by the Morehead State catcher. Edwards would battle for a nine-pitch at bat to put men at the corners for a Dixson double to right center that allowed Eldridge to easily score and put UT Martin up 2-0.

Hussey came on in the fifth and worked around a leadoff hit batsman to force a popout and sit down an Eagle on strikes. In the sixth, he gave up a first-pitch single up the middle but would work a 6-4-3 double play to wipe the slate clean before forcing a friendly flyball to end the inning.

Wohlbold entered the contest in the seventh looking to earn the save and did just that. The Columbia, Mo. native forced the first batter of the frame to groundout to second base before fanning the second batsman of the inning. He then cemented the 2-0 victory when he induced a groundball out to short.

"It was great for us to come out today and pitch the way we did following a rough series last weekend," head coach Ryan Jenkins said. "It was good to see out pitching staff bounce back this weekend by commanding the baseball and making some big pitches. We have been progressing each week with our hitting and we swung the bats pretty well overall this weekend. The guys are starting to make adjustments and they are starting to show up. Nick has been outstanding. He has been extremely reliable for us this season and we know what we are going to get when we put him in the game. Picking up two saves on the weekend and coming back after one day's rest is outstanding to see for Nick."

UT Martin heads to regional foe Evansville for a midweek battle on Wednesday, April 3. First pitch against the Purple Aces is slated for 6 p.m.