UT Martin
15-24, 5-13
Austin Peay
21-17, 13-8
BASEBALL SKYHAWKS BATTLE BUT FALL 22-11 TO AUSTIN PEAY IN SERIES RUBBER MATCH
4/21/2019 6:19:00 PM | Baseball
UT Martin (15-24, 5-13 OVC) was led at the dish by the scorching bat of Casey Harford as the shortstop from Cordova, Tenn. tallied a four-hit day which included a grand slam and a two-run homer while he also plated six runs. Creighton Eldridge drove in a pair of runs on a two-run shot while Blake Davis launched a solo long ball. The duo of Sean Dixson and Blake Daniels connected for two hits and an RBI apiece to round out the scoring side of the stat sheet. Ethan Whitley and Tyson Cox each tallied a two-hit performance while Jordan Stoner and Billy Edwards rounded out the hit column with one knock apiece.
Right-hander Winston Cannon (4-7) drew the starting nod and logged two complete innings but conceded seven earned runs on seven hits and four walks. However, Cannon did sit down a pair of Governors via strikeout before his day was up. The troop of David Hussey, Nick Wohlbold, Marcus Eusebio, Austin Buzick and Jonah Brody pitched the remaining seven frames but scattered 15 earned runs between them and recorded a total of eight punchouts in that span.
Austin Peay jumped out to an early 1-0 lead after the top of the first but UT Martin answered with a four-run barrage in the home half of the first inning. Dixson got the inning going with a single up the middle before Daniels connected for his own knock up the middle. Stoner was then plunked by a pitch to load the bases. Then stepped Harford to the plate as he unloaded a moonshot that pinged off the left center light pole for a grand slam that put the Skyhawks up 4-1.
The Governors wasted little time to play catchup as they put up a six spot in the top of the second to take a 7-1 lead, one that they would not relinquish.
UT Martin put up a pair of runs in the second as Cox led off the frame with a two-bagger to left center before a Dixson triple brought Cox in. Daniels then roped a double to left center that easily allowed Dixson to cross home plate and allowed the Skyhawks to inch back by a 7-6 margin.
Austin Peay tacked on another pair of runs in both the third and fourth innings to push its lead out to 11-6.
The UT Martin fourth saw a pair of Skyhawks cross the plate as Stoner drew a one-out free base just before Harford sent a blast to left center to inch back by a score of 11-8.
The Governors tallied a trio of runs in the fifth as they made the score 14-8.
Two more UT Martin runs would be brought in during the sixth as Harford beat out a two-out infield single before Eldridge issued a long ball to right field to push back by a 14-10 margin.
Over the final three innings of action, Austin Peay put up eight more runs to push the Governor lead out to 22-10.
The Skyhawks did not go down quietly as Davis led off the ninth with a solo shot to left field to give the final score of 22-1.
UT Martin hosts Missouri Valley Conference rival Evansville on Wednesday, April 24 with first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: KOUBA, Ryan (2-0)
L: Cannon, Winston (4-7)
Batting:
2B: AVROS, Gino 1 ; KUEBER, Garrett 1 ; CAMPBELL, Aaron 1 ; JOSLIN, Matt 1
HR: PHILLIPS, Parker 2 ; JOSLIN, Matt 1 ; FLAHERTY, Andrew 1
RBI: TIPLER, Malcolm 2 ; PHILLIPS, Parker 6 ; MARTINEZ, David 1 ; JOSLIN, Matt 7 ; FLAHERTY, Andrew 6
Base Running:
RUNS: AVROS, Gino 2 ; TIPLER, Malcolm 2 ; PHILLIPS, Parker 3 ; MARTINEZ, David 2 ; KUEBER, Garrett 2 ; CAMPBELL, Aaron 5 ; JOSLIN, Matt 4 ; FLAHERTY, Andrew 2
SB: SPAIN, Garrett 1
HBP: PHILLIPS, Parker 1 ; MARTINEZ, David 1 ; KUEBER, Garrett 1 ; FLAHERTY, Andrew 1
Batting:
2B: Daniels, Blake 1 ; Stoner, Jordan 1 ; Cox, Tyson 1
3B: Dixson, Sean 1
HR: Harford, Casey 2 ; Eldridge, Creighton 1 ; Davis, Blake 1
RBI: Dixson, Sean 1 ; Daniels, Blake 1 ; Harford, Casey 6 ; Eldridge, Creighton 2 ; Davis, Blake 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Dixson, Sean 2 ; Daniels, Blake 1 ; Stoner, Jordan 2 ; Harford, Casey 3 ; Eldridge, Creighton 1 ; Davis, Blake 1 ; Cox, Tyson 1
HBP: Stoner, Jordan 1 ; Davis, Blake 1
PO: Cox, Tyson 1
