UTM BASEBALL SPLITS DOUBLEHEADER AT MURRAY STATE

Friday, May 10

Murray, Ky.

2:00 p.m.

UT Martin

20-28, 8-17

Murray State (DH)

21-25, 14-11

UT Martin

Murray St.

UTM BASEBALL SPLITS DOUBLEHEADER AT MURRAY STATE

5/10/2019 10:22:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Game 1 PDF Game 2 PDF

MURRAY, Ky. – The University of Tennessee at Martin baseball squad split today's doubleheader at Ohio Valley Conference rival Murray State. The Skyhawks dropped Game 1 by a score of 5-2 before claiming a 2-1 victory in Game 2.

UT Martin (21-28, 9-17 OVC) was led on the day by Tyson Cox and Billy Edwards as the duo tallied three hits apiece between the two games. Jordan Stoner (two hits), Sean Dixson (two hits) and Casey Harford all drove in one run each on the day. Blake Daniels notched a two-hit day while Blake Davis picked up one knock.

The Skyhawk arms put together a solid day as the trio of Austen Bullington, Sam Folks and Nick Wohlbold all combined for 17 innings of six-run baseball. The three hurlers fanned 13 batters across 17 innings and held opposing batters to a paltry .138 batting average between the two games.

Game 1

The first contest of the day saw Stoner and Harford drive in one run apiece. Edwards paced the club in knocks with a pair in the game while Stoner, Dixson, Davis and Daniels all tallied one hit each.

Bullington (3-8) drew the starting nod in Game 1 and tossed all eight innings for the Skyhawks. He conceded five earned runs on six hits and a walk but fanned four batters along the way.

Murray State jumped out to an early lead as the Racers plated a pair of runs in the first inning to take a 2-0 advantage.

Bullington made quick work of Murray State in the second inning as he needed just four pitches to breeze through the frame. He induced a first pitch groundout to the leadoff batter, a first-pitch line out to the next batter and then found a friendly ground ball to get out of the inning.

UT Martin matched the two runs in the third inning as Edwards got the frame started with a single to right field. Cox then reached on a fielding error by the pitcher before a Dixson fly out would move Edwards to third to put runners at the corners. A Stoner single drove in Edwards as an error by the Racer right fielder allowed Cox to move to third base. Stoner would advance to second on a wild pitch to put a pair of runners in scoring position. Harford then flied out to right field that allowed Cox to come home and knotted the score up 2-2.

Bullington retired the side in order in the home half of the third as he rung up the first batter followed by a fly out and ground out, respectively.

Murray State pushed one more run across in the fourth to pull ahead for the final time to make the score 3-2.

Over the fifth, sixth and seventh innings, Bullington retired the side in order in all three frames. In the fifth, he required six pitches as he opened with a fly out to right, followed that up with a pop out to the short stop and ended the frame with a line out to right field. The sixth inning saw Bullington induce a groundout to second, ring up a batter on strikes and force a line out to right, respectively. He began the seventh with a groundout to short followed by a foul out to third base and concluded the inning with a fly out to right field.

Game 2

Cox paced the Skyhawks in the hit column as he collected a trio of knocks in the contest. Dixson was credited with the squad's lone RBI while he along with Stoner, Daniels and Edwards all tallied a hit.

Folks (4-6) got the start in the back end of the doubleheader and tossed seven great innings. He allowed just one earned run on two hits and a pair of walks while he recorded six strikeouts in the process. He carried a no-hitter into the sixth as he kept the Racers out of the hit column for five full frames. Wohlbold picked up his 12^th save of the season as he logged two perfect innings and fanned three along the way.

Folks made a statement with the first batter he faced as he forced a swinging strikeout. He retired the side in order over the first three innings of action. The aforementioned strikeout opened the first as he then forced a groundout to second base followed by a pop out to short. In the second, he induced a pair of fly outs to center and a groundout back to himself, respectively. The third inning saw Folks get a friendly ground ball to second to open the inning. He then struck out the next batter before forcing a line out to second base.

Folks allowed his first baserunner when the first runner he faced in the fourth drew a five-pitch free base. Folks then forced a lineout to the shortstop, a groundout to third base and a strikeout looking, respectively, to end the inning. In the fifth, Folks worked around a leadoff walk before sandwiching a strikeout in between a pair of fly outs.

Murray State drew first blood in the sixth as the Racers were able to find a run to take a 1-0 advantage.

Folks' last inning of work came in the seventh and he made the most of his time as he fanned the first batter of the frame before finding a friendly groundball to third and a fly out to right.

UT Martin pushed two runs across the plate in the eighth as Daniels led off the frame with an infield single back to the shortstop. Edwards then poked a ball out to right field just before Cox tallied an infield hit of his own. Daniels would be the first out recorded though as he was tagged out on the base paths. A Dixson knock to second base would be enough for Edwards to scoot home and put runners at the corners. Stoner then drew a six-pitch free base to juice the bases. Later in the inning, Cox would come home on a passed ball to give the Skyhawks a 2-1 lead.

Wohlbold entered in the eighth and bookended the frame with a pair of strikeouts as he found a foul out in between. The ninth saw him find a friendly ground ball to short before he fanned the next batter. He secured the victory as he induced a fly ball out to right field.

The Skyhawks wrap up the series with Murray State on Sunday, May 12. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.