UT MARTIN BASEBALL FALLS IN RUBBER GAME OF EASTERN KENTUCKY SERIES, 3-2

Sunday, March 21

Richmond, Ky.

10 a.m.

UT Martin

7-9, 3-3

Eastern Kentucky

8-10, 3-3

UT Martin

Eastern Kentucky

UT MARTIN BASEBALL FALLS IN RUBBER GAME OF EASTERN KENTUCKY SERIES, 3-2

3/21/2021 2:28:00 PM | Baseball

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RICHMOND, Ky. – The University of Tennessee at Martin baseball team could not cash in on its opportunities on the basepaths today, leaving 12 men on base in a 3-2 setback at Eastern Kentucky.

The Skyhawks took an early lead and came back to tie the score after the top of the seventh but the host Colonels pushed across a run in the bottom half of the inning. UT Martin put two men on base in the top of the ninth but its rally fell just short.

For the third time in the series, the Skyhawks received solid pitching out of its starter. Freshman righty Eric Steensma went a career-high five innings, conceding just two runs on five hits while fanning five batters against zero walks. David Hussey also added 1.2 innings of scoreless relief while Jefferey O'Doherty (0-1) received the loss, allowing one run in 1.1 frames.

Sean Dixson went 2-for-4 with a walk out of the leadoff spot today while Blake Davis added his second multi-hit game of the season. Blake Daniels cranked his third home run of the season while Casey Harford (RBI) and Will Smith (run scored) also contributed offensively to UT Martin (7-9, 3-3 Ohio Valley Conference).

The Skyhawks loaded the bases in each of the first two innings but could not get on the scoreboard. Dixson and Christian Hill each singled while Houston Wright was hit by a pitch in the first inning but the Colonels escaped the jam. Wil LaFollette (walk), Daniels (reached on a fielder's choice) and Dixson (walk) were aboard the basepaths with one away in the second but Eastern Kentucky kept the game scoreless.

Steensma stranded two runners of his own in the bottom of the first and dispatched the Colonels on just nine pitches in a perfect second frame. He received help from Wright in the first as the leftfielder out of Gaffney, SC threw out a Colonel runner trying to score to end the inning.

After Steensma threw up another zero on the scoreboard in the third, UT Martin snapped the scoreless tie in the top of the fourth. Daniels went to the opposite field for a homer just inside the left field foul pole to push the Skyhawks ahead by a 1-0 margin.

Eastern Kentucky scored twice in the bottom of the fourth to take a 2-1 lead but Steensma settled down in his final inning – retiring the side on only nine pitches in the bottom of the fifth.

O'Doherty worked a scoreless frame in the sixth, allowing UT Martin to tie the game in the top of the seventh. Smith led things off with a double and came home on a Harford single to center. Harford would move 180 feet to third base with one out but the Skyhawks could not break the tie.

The Colonels went ahead 3-2 in the bottom of the seventh but UT Martin had its chances over its last two at-bats. Davis hit a one-out double in the eighth but did not score while the Skyhawks accounted for a pair of baserunners in the ninth. Dixson reached on a leadoff single and moved up to second base on a sacrifice bunt off the bat of Smith. Hall then drew a six-pitch walk but Eastern Kentucky managed to eke out the win.

UT Martin returns home for its next three games, hosting OVC foe Morehead State on March 26-27. A doubleheader is set for 1 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. on Friday and will be followed by the series finale at 1 p.m. on Saturday.