Friday, May 14
Martin, Tenn.
5 p.m.
UT Martin
16-26, 8-14
9
vs
8
Tennessee Tech
18-23, 11-14
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2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Tennessee Tech
0
1
0
0
0
3
0
4
0
8
7
0
UT Martin
2
0
0
0
1
5
0
0
1
9
11
1
LAFOLLETTE’S WALKOFF TATER PROPELS UT MARTIN BASEBALL TO A THRILLING 9-8 VICTORY OVER TENNESSEE TECH ON SENIOR NIGHT
5/14/2021 9:57:00 PM | Baseball
MARTIN, Tenn. – On an emotional night at Skyhawk Field, Wil LaFollette made sure the University of Tennessee at Martin fans went home happy as he crushed a walk-off solo home run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning for a 9-8 triumph over Tennessee Tech.
LaFollette's shot snuck just inside the right field foul pole, sending the Skyhawk dugout into a frenzy as his teammates mobbed the freshman out of Chelsea, Ala. at the plate. It marked the 12th round-tripper of the season for LaFollette, pushing him into seventh on UT Martin's single-season list.
Blake Daniels went 3-for-4 with a walk and two runs scored out of the leadoff spot while Casey Harford also reached base safely four times (two hits, two walks, three RBI's, two runs scored). LaFollette's homer was his second hit and second RBI of the evening as the lefty slugger helped the Skyhawks improve to 16-26 (8-14 in Ohio Valley Conference play).
On the hill, Sam Folks delivered a quality start (6.1 innings, five hits, three earned runs, six strikeouts) but did not factor into the decision. David Hussey moved to 3-1 on the season after tossing two perfect frames while Eric Steensma also produced a shutout appearance with 0.2 clean innings.
Gallery: (5-14-2021) Baseball vs. Tennessee Tech (Senior Night)
Eight UT Martin seniors were honored during a pregame ceremony as Winston Cannon, Daniels, Billy Edwards, Folks, Andy Horne, Hussey, Matthew Shunk and Nick Wohlbold were recognized for their career contributions.
Folks made short work of the Golden Eagles (18-23, 11-14 OVC) in the top of the first, allowing the Skyhawks to take their first lead of the game in the bottom half. Daniels and Harford each singled before Christian Hall drew a nine-pitch walk to load the bases. Daniels came into score on a double play and Harford crossed the plate after LaFollette legged out an infield single to make the score 2-0.
Tennessee Tech scored once in the top of the second but Folks silenced the Golden Eagles over the next three frames, two of which were ended by Tennessee Tech being caught stealing. In the fourth, Folks sat a pair of batters down on strikeouts to keep UT Martin on top by a 2-1 margin.
A leadoff single by Noah Thigpen in the fifth inning led to another run. After he advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Edwards, Thigpen moved to third on a Daniels double and came in to score on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Hall.
The Golden Eagles scored three runs – one unearned – in the top of the sixth to take a brief 4-3 advantage but the Skyhawks put up a crooked number with five runs in the bottom half.
Davis shot a double into the gap in left center with one way and raced home on a Jack Culumovic RBI single up the middle. Edwards then came up with a go-ahead RBI single to left center to nudge UT Martin ahead 5-4. Daniels followed with a double before Harford jumped on the first pitch from Tennessee Tech reliever Brock Myers for a long homer to left center. The three-run jack resulted in a five-spot on the scoreboard and an 8-4 Skyhawk lead.
Folks came back out for the seventh and notched a strikeout for the first out of the inning. Steensma was summoned and needed only 11 pitches to get back-to-back outs.
The Golden Eagles tied the game with four runs (two earned) in the top of the eighth. Hussey got out of trouble by inducing a pair of sacrifice flies after entering with a pair of runners in scoring position and no outs.
Hussey worked through a perfect ninth to set up LaFollette's memorable drive that gave UT Martin its fifth consecutive victory in the all-time series against Tennessee Tech.
These two teams meet again tomorrow for a doubleheader, which is slated to start at 1 p.m.
LaFollette's shot snuck just inside the right field foul pole, sending the Skyhawk dugout into a frenzy as his teammates mobbed the freshman out of Chelsea, Ala. at the plate. It marked the 12th round-tripper of the season for LaFollette, pushing him into seventh on UT Martin's single-season list.
Blake Daniels went 3-for-4 with a walk and two runs scored out of the leadoff spot while Casey Harford also reached base safely four times (two hits, two walks, three RBI's, two runs scored). LaFollette's homer was his second hit and second RBI of the evening as the lefty slugger helped the Skyhawks improve to 16-26 (8-14 in Ohio Valley Conference play).
On the hill, Sam Folks delivered a quality start (6.1 innings, five hits, three earned runs, six strikeouts) but did not factor into the decision. David Hussey moved to 3-1 on the season after tossing two perfect frames while Eric Steensma also produced a shutout appearance with 0.2 clean innings.
Eight UT Martin seniors were honored during a pregame ceremony as Winston Cannon, Daniels, Billy Edwards, Folks, Andy Horne, Hussey, Matthew Shunk and Nick Wohlbold were recognized for their career contributions.
Folks made short work of the Golden Eagles (18-23, 11-14 OVC) in the top of the first, allowing the Skyhawks to take their first lead of the game in the bottom half. Daniels and Harford each singled before Christian Hall drew a nine-pitch walk to load the bases. Daniels came into score on a double play and Harford crossed the plate after LaFollette legged out an infield single to make the score 2-0.
Tennessee Tech scored once in the top of the second but Folks silenced the Golden Eagles over the next three frames, two of which were ended by Tennessee Tech being caught stealing. In the fourth, Folks sat a pair of batters down on strikeouts to keep UT Martin on top by a 2-1 margin.
A leadoff single by Noah Thigpen in the fifth inning led to another run. After he advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Edwards, Thigpen moved to third on a Daniels double and came in to score on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Hall.
The Golden Eagles scored three runs – one unearned – in the top of the sixth to take a brief 4-3 advantage but the Skyhawks put up a crooked number with five runs in the bottom half.
Davis shot a double into the gap in left center with one way and raced home on a Jack Culumovic RBI single up the middle. Edwards then came up with a go-ahead RBI single to left center to nudge UT Martin ahead 5-4. Daniels followed with a double before Harford jumped on the first pitch from Tennessee Tech reliever Brock Myers for a long homer to left center. The three-run jack resulted in a five-spot on the scoreboard and an 8-4 Skyhawk lead.
Folks came back out for the seventh and notched a strikeout for the first out of the inning. Steensma was summoned and needed only 11 pitches to get back-to-back outs.
The Golden Eagles tied the game with four runs (two earned) in the top of the eighth. Hussey got out of trouble by inducing a pair of sacrifice flies after entering with a pair of runners in scoring position and no outs.
Hussey worked through a perfect ninth to set up LaFollette's memorable drive that gave UT Martin its fifth consecutive victory in the all-time series against Tennessee Tech.
These two teams meet again tomorrow for a doubleheader, which is slated to start at 1 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Hussey, David (3-1)
L: BERRY, Jackson (4-3)
Batting:
2B: GILLESPIE, Golston 1 ; HINCHMAN, Jason 1
HR: ROBERTS, Brett 1 ; HINCHMAN, Jason 1
RBI: ROBERTS, Brett 2 ; GILLESPIE, Golston 1 ; HINCHMAN, Jason 2 ; JOHNS, Gavin 1 ; GILLILAND, Hayden 1
SH: LACY, Gabe 1
SF: JOHNS, Gavin 1 ; GILLILAND, Hayden 1
Base Running:
RUNS: JOHNSON, Ed 1 ; ROBERTS, Brett 2 ; GILLESPIE, Golston 2 ; HINCHMAN, Jason 2 ; JOHNS, Gavin 1
SB: JOHNS, Gavin 1
CS: ROBERTS, Brett 1 ; LITTLEJOHN, Cody 1
Batting:
2B: Daniels, Blake 2 ; Davis, Blake 1
HR: Harford, Casey 1 ; LaFollette, Wil 1
RBI: Harford, Casey 3 ; Hall, Christian 1 ; LaFollette, Wil 2 ; Culumovic, Jack 1 ; Edwards, Billy 1
SH: Thigpen, Noah 1 ; Edwards, Billy 1
SF: Hall, Christian 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Daniels, Blake 2 ; Harford, Casey 2 ; LaFollette, Wil 1 ; Davis, Blake 1 ; Culumovic, Jack 1 ; Thigpen, Noah 1 ; Edwards, Billy 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
2
H
3
RBI
0
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
3
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
RHP
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UTIL
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IF
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OF
/ BaseballIF
/ Baseball
C
/ Baseball
RHP
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RHP
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RHP
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OF
/ Baseball
RHP
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