UT MARTIN BASEBALL DROPS DECISION TO SIUE IN 8-5 SETBACK

Friday, April 12

Edwardsville, Ill.

6:00 PM

UT Martin

13-20, 4-9

SIUE

10-21, 6-10

UT Martin

SIUE

UT MARTIN BASEBALL DROPS DECISION TO SIUE IN 8-5 SETBACK

4/12/2019 10:02:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score PDF Boxscore

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – The University of Tennessee at Martin baseball team suffered an 8-5 setback to Ohio Valley Conference opponent SIUE this evening.

UT Martin (13-20, 4-9 OVC) was led at the dish by the pairing of Sean Dixson and Blake Davis as both tallied a knock and two RBIs in the contest. Dixson's hit was of the home run variety while Davis' was a two-bagger. Casey Harford notched the third team hit of the day as he roped a double against the Cougars. Blake Daniels, Jordan Stoner, Creighton Eldridge and Ethan Whitley each worked the count for a free base apiece in the matchup while stoner also found his way on via hit by pitch.

Right-handed pitcher Austen Bullington (1-6) drew the starting nod and was unfortunately tagged with the loss. He tossed 2.1 innings in the start as he conceded seven hits but only gave up two earned runs and issued one walk while recording a strikeout in that span. David Hussey logged five complete innings of relief but was jumped for five earned runs along the way. In his time toeing the rubber, Hussey fanned four while giving up just four knocks and issuing two free bases. Jonah Brody came on for 0.2 innings of work and did not allow a hit in his time on the mound.

Over the first three frames, SIUE would tally three runs to take a 3-0 lead over UT Martin.

Hussey entered the contest in the third inning and made quick work of the two remaining outs he was faced with by fanning the first batter and inducing a groundball out for the final out of the frame. He worked around a one-out single in the fourth to ring up the next batter and keep the Cougars scoreless in the inning.

The Skyhawks cracked into the scoring column in the fifth inning as Eldridge worked a free base to lead things off. Whitley then earned a walk of his own to put a pair of runners on with no outs. A Thigpen flyout to right field was good enough to move Eldridge over to third and put runners at the corners. Later, both men moved up on a wild pitch as Eldridge scooted home and Whitley edged over to second. Dixson then issued a two-run dinger to right center to knot things up at 3-3.

SIUE wouldn't wait long to reclaim the lead as the Cougars tallied three runs of their own in the bottom of the fifth to go up by a 6-3 margin.

UT Martin inched back with a pair of runs in the sixth. Stoner got the frame going with a free base followed by a Harford two-bagger down the left field line that put both runners in scoring position. Davis then stepped into the batter's box and roped his own double down the left field line to plate both Stoner and Harford and close the gap to 6-5.

The Cougars put up two runs in the home half of the sixth inning to push their lead out to 8-5, the eventual final score.

Hussey retired the side in order in the seventh via a pair of groundouts and a strikeout of the swinging variety. He forced the first batter of the eighth to flyout before Brody entered the contest. Brody would hit the first batter he faced but kept a cool head to find a friendly groundout followed by a flyout to center.

UT Martin wraps up the series with SIUE tomorrow with a doubleheader beginning at noon.