BASEBALL SKYHAWKS DROP 8-5 HEARTBREAKER TO MURRAY STATE

Sunday, May 12

Murray, Ky.

1 p.m.

UT Martin

21-29, 9-18

Murray State

22-26, 15-12

UT Martin

Murray St.

BASEBALL SKYHAWKS DROP 8-5 HEARTBREAKER TO MURRAY STATE

5/12/2019 4:22:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score PDF Boxscore

MURRAY, Ky. – The University of Tennessee at Martin baseball team dropped a heartbreaking 8-5 decision this afternoon at Ohio Valley Conference rival Murray State.

UT Martin (21-29, 9-18 OVC) was led offensively by Creighton Eldridge as he cranked a two-run homer. Casey Harford and Ethan Whitley each tallied a two-hit and one-RBI day while Blake Davis also drove in a run on a sacrifice fly. Also collecting knocks on the day were Jordan Stoner (two) and Sean Dixson (one).

Winston Cannon drew the starting nod in the matinee rubber match. He tossed a six-inning quality start as he allowed three runs on four hits and a walk. Cannon fanned a trio of Racers during his time on the bump and kept Murray State off the board through the first five innings of play. David Hussey logged one inning of perfect baseball as he sat down one batter via the punchout. Nick Wohlbold (0-2) took the tough loss as he came on looking for another save to add to his repertoire. He allowed five earned runs in one inning on four hits and a pair of walks.

Cannon got off to a hot start as he fanned the first two batters of the ballgame that he faced. He then allowed a double but induced a foul out to get out of the inning unscathed. He worked through a quick second inning as he retired the side in order via pop out to second base, fly out to right field and groundout to second, respectively. Cannon faced some slight resistance in the third when he conceded a one-out infield single before forcing a line out to center followed by catching the baserunner on a pickoff. In the fourth inning, he once again retired the side in order as he found a friendly fly ball to left field, struck out the next batter and induced a groundball to short to cruise through the inning.

The Skyhawks got on the scoreboard first as they put up a run in the fifth inning. Whitley used some opposite-field power to send a long ball over the wall in right center to give UT Martin a 1-0 lead.

Cannon chugged right along in the bottom of the fifth as he sat the Racers down in order. He used a ground out to third base, a pair of fly outs to center to breeze through the frame.

In the sixth, the Skyhawks pushed two more runs across the plate as Dixson got things going with a leadoff two-bagger to center field. Stoner then poked a single through the left side which put runners at the corners. A Harford double to left plated Dixson and put two runners in scoring position. A Davis fly out to left would allow Stoner to dash home to give UT Martin a 3-0 advantage.

Murray State rallied for a three-spot in the bottom of the sixth inning to knot things up at 3-3.

Hussey entered the contest in the home half of the seventh. He cruised through the inning as he needed just six pitches to get out of the frame while fanning a Racer along the way.

UT Martin found a couple of runs in the top of the eighth inning. With two outs recorded, Davis was plunked on a 2-2 count. Eldridge then stepped into the batter's box and homered to center field to put the Skyhawks up 5-3.

Murray State pulled ahead for the first time in the contest in the bottom of the eighth when the Racers tallied five runs to take an 8-5 lead.

The UT Martin rally would come up just short as Blake Daniels would be hit by a pitch to lead off the ninth. With two outs, Stoner singled to right field to put a pair of runners on but to no avail.

The Skyhawks travel to Millington, Tenn. to take on the Memphis Tigers in a neutral-site showdown on Tuesday, May 14. First pitch from USA Stadium is scheduled for 6 p.m.