SKYHAWKS PROVE NO LEAD IS SAFE AS THEY ECLIPSE AN EARLY LEAD TO CLAIM THE 7-5 VICTORY

Saturday, February 22

Mobile, Ala.

3 p.m.

UT Martin

4-3

Siena

0-5

UT Martin

Siena

SKYHAWKS PROVE NO LEAD IS SAFE AS THEY ECLIPSE AN EARLY LEAD TO CLAIM THE 7-5 VICTORY

2/22/2020 6:43:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score PDF

MOBILE, Ala. - The University of Tennessee at Martin's baseball team eclipsed an early lead against Siena University to finish off the South Alabama Invitational 2-1.

UT Martin felt yet another sting from an early deficit as they finished up the second inning. Though the Skyhawks had struck first on senior Sean Dixson's third home run of the year in the first, they still were behind 4-1 to Siena. Freshman Eric Steensma was thrown into it all early as he has already made a start to this point, but it was clear that his leash was short. The right-hander battled for 1.1 innings before sophomore Seth Petry took over for the next two innings. Steensma finished the day giving up three runs in his 1.1 innings of work.

From the beginning of the season, the Skyhawks proved it wasn't difficult for them to come back after being in the hole. In two of UT Martins three wins, they came from behind. So as the tallies added up for the Saints, the momentum grew on the opposite end.

The retaliation bid began in the third as the Skyhawks closed in Siena. Freshman Christian Hall started it off by sending a blob single to right-center allowing Junior Blake Daniels to cut the lead in half (4-2). Hall's single in the third made it his third straight game with an RBI. UT Martin extended the start of the scoring parade by capitalizing on an error to make the score 4-3 in the third.

In Petry's relief effort, he held the Saints to just one run in his two innings of work. That run came in the fourth to extend Siena's lead to 5-3. Regardless, as a starter that had to come in for a tough situation, his outing proved to be a successful effort. He would be replaced in the bottom of the fourth by the submarine pitching sensation freshman Ryan Insco. Insco played an essential role in helping stage the comeback as he went four innings, only allowing one hit and striking out three batters.

While the Skyhawk pitchers found their stride, the offensive unit started to settle in against the Saints. This became evident as UT Martin stole the lead away in the fifth inning. A single from Dixson followed by a sophomore Noah Thigpen single allowed two runs to cross the plate. Shaken by the recent offensive explosion, Siena gave away the lead on a wild pitch to make it 6-5.

UT Martin extended their lead just a little more in the seventh inning as errors continued to plague the Saints. Freshman Wil LaFollette scored on a fielding error make the lead 7-5 heading into the eighth.

The eighth seemed more of a tough task for the Skyhawks as Insco got into the first trouble of his young career. With a runner on second and an out on the board, he was replaced by senior Jefferey O'Doherty, who carried out the remainder of the inning.

With a 7-5 advantage, all the previous was back on their junior closer Nick Wohlbold. Wohlbold had saved the game the previous night as he struck out the side against the hosting South Alabama Jaguars. His outing against Siena was a little shakier by the preseason All-Americans standards. He allowed one base runner to reach second base before he struck out the side for a second straight night to preserve the 7-5 victory.

Game Notes- Ryan Insco pitched four innings of scoreless baseball today, extending his streak to nine. He has paired seven strikeouts with his nine scoreless innings... Sean Dixson and sophomore Jack Culumovic led all hitters with three hits. Dixson matched two RBIs with his three hits on the day... This is UT Martins third come from behind victory on the season... Nick Wohlbold has pitched 4.1 innings while striking out nine batters on his way to two saves thus far in the season.