WOHLBOLD NOTCHES HISTORIC SAVE AS UTM BASEBALL KNOCKS OFF EASTERN ILLINOIS 4-1

Sunday, April 28

Charleston, Ill.

1:00 p.m.

UT Martin

18-25, 7-14

Eastern Illinois

21-23, 11-13

UT MARTIN

Eastern Illinois

WOHLBOLD NOTCHES HISTORIC SAVE AS UTM BASEBALL KNOCKS OFF EASTERN ILLINOIS 4-1

4/28/2019 4:18:00 PM | Baseball

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CHARLESTON, Ill. – The University of Tennessee at Martin baseball squad claimed the series from Eastern Illinois in today's 4-1 win over the Ohio Valley Conference foe. Both sides of the ball pulled through in the series finale while Nick Wohlbold notched his historic ninth save of the season which ranks most in a single season in UT Martin history, surpassing Patrick Bernard's eight in 2015. He is tied for Bernard for most saves in a career with nine.

UT Martin (18-25, 7-14) was led by Billy Edwards. Although he did not connect for a hit, he drove in a pair of RBIs to lead the Skyhawks on the day. The duo of Blake Daniels and Casey Harford each tallied a hit and an RBI in the contest. Sean Dixson paced all UT Martin batters in hits as he pounded out a trio of knocks. Jordan Stoner connected for a pair of base hits while Blake Davis rapped out one knock in the Sunday matinee. Creighton Eldridge showed great patience as he worked out three free bases on the day.

Righty Winston Cannon drew the starting nod and tossed seven strong innings. The Cookeville, Tenn. native allowed only four hits, two walks and one earned run as he sat down seven Panthers on strikes. Wohlbold etched his name in the record book as he logged a two-inning save. He conceded just one hit and held Eastern Illinois scoreless as he fanned a couple of batters along the way.

Cannon worked around a one-out two bagger in the first inning to force a pop out and then sit down the final batter of the frame on strikes. In the second, evaded trouble as he once again conceded a one-out double and then issued a four-pitch free base. He kept his composure though to induce a fly out and fan the next batter to escape the frame. The third inning saw Cannon cruise through the frame as he retired the side in order via a pair of fly outs and a pop out, respectively.

UT Martin cracked into the scoring column in the fourth inning when Davis led off the frame with a first-pitch single to left center before advancing to second on a passed ball. Eldridge then worked the count for a six-pitch free base. Whitley would reach on an attempted sacrifice bunt but all runners would be safe in the process. An Edwards groundout would be good enough to bring in Davis and give the Skyhawks a 1-0 advantage.

Eastern Illinois answered in the bottom of the fourth with a run of its own to knot things up at 1-1 however Cannon would record a strikeout in the process.

In the fifth inning, Cannon forced a first-pitch fly out to the opening batter before allowing a single up the middle. He then used a nifty pickoff move to catch the offending runner in a pickle and wipe the base paths clean before inducing a foul out to first base to conclude the inning. Cannon kept chugging along in the sixth as he once again sat down the side in order on a pair of swinging strikeouts with a foul out sandwiched in between.

Dixson opened the seventh inning with a leadoff triple to right field before Daniels plated him on a groundout to give UT Martin a 2-1 lead.

Cannon worked his magic again in the seventh as he put away the Panthers in order via pop out and a couple of strikeouts for his final inning of work.

The Skyhawks put up another run in the eighth as Davis and Eldridge each worked five-pitch free bases, respectively. Hayden Cooper then pinch hit and moved both runners over on a groundout. Edwards then plated Davis via sacrifice fly to push the UT Martin lead out to 3-1.

Wohlbold entered the contest in the eighth for the two-inning save situation. He worked around a leadoff single to right before retiring the next two batters on swinging strikeouts. He forced the next batter of the frame to fly out to left center to get out of the inning.

UT Martin put up one more run in the ninth as Dixson got the inning going with a first-pitch leadoff single to left. A Daniels groundout back to the pitcher would allow Dixson to move up to second before he later shifted over to third on a wild pitch. Harford then ripped a knock up the middle to bring in Dixson and give the Skyhawks a 4-1 advantage, the eventual final score.

In the ninth, Wohlbold shut the door as he retired the Eastern Illinois batters in order on a couple of groundouts with a pop out in between for his record-setting save.

UT Martin heads to Nashville to take on Lipscomb for a midweek matchup on Tuesday, April 30. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.