CANNON BECOMES UT MARTIN STRIKEOUT LEADER BUT BASEBALL FALLS IN DOUBLEHEADER AT MURRAY STATE

Friday, May 7

Murray, Ky.

2 p.m.

UT Martin

15-24, 0

Murray State

24-20, 0

UT Martin

Murray State

Photo by: Dave Winder/MSU Media Relations

CANNON BECOMES UT MARTIN STRIKEOUT LEADER BUT BASEBALL FALLS IN DOUBLEHEADER AT MURRAY STATE

5/7/2021 10:17:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 PDF Boxscore (Game 1)PDF Boxscore (Game 2)

MURRAY, Ky. – Senior right-handed pitcher Winston Cannon shattered his third University of Tennessee at Martin record in as many weeks in the opening game of the doubleheader at Murray State today but the Skyhawks fell 8-5 in 11 innings before dropping an 11-0 decision in the nightcap.

With a strikeout to end the fourth inning of Game 1, Cannon passed Jody Fuller (1995-98) as UT Martin's all-time strikeout king. The Cookeville, Tenn. native – who earlier this season became the program's leader in games started and innings pitched – now has 269 career strikeouts after fanning five Racers over six frames today.

David Hussey (2-1) pitched admirably this afternoon out of the bullpen in Game 1, logging a season-high 4.2 innings with a career-best eight strikeouts. However, Murray State (25-20, 14-9 Ohio Valley Conference) posted a walk-off win in extra innings.

Offensively, Blake Davis hit .571 (4-for-7) with a homer today for the Skyhawks (15-25, 7-13 OVC) while Wil LaFollette also added three hits and went deep in Game 1. That duo combined for four of UT Martin's five RBI's on the day.

These two teams will wrap up their series tomorrow as first pitch time is set for 2 p.m. at Johnny Reagan Field.

Game 1
The Skyhawks led through six innings before Murray State mounted a comeback and eventually broke through in the bottom of the 11^th for the win.

UT Martin scored two runs on four hits in the top of the first. Casey Harford found the gap in left center for a one-out double and came in to score four pitches later when Christian Hall delivered an RBI single. Ethan Whitley followed with a single up the middle to move Hall into scoring position. Davis then sent a two-out line drive single into left center to plate Hall and make the score 2-0.

After the Racers got one run back on an inside-the-park home run in the first inning, the Skyhawks threatened to extend their lead by loading the bases in the top of the second. However, Murray State got out of the jam and added one run in the bottom of the frame to knot things up at 2-all.

Cannon stranded a runner at third in the third inning and soon was locked in, sitting down nine Racers in a row. That included a pair of strikeouts in the fourth – including the record-setting punchout – and another three-up, three-down frame in the fifth.

Meanwhile, UT Martin flexed its muscles in the top of the fifth to go back on top. Whitley was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and soon thereafter, LaFollette roped a home run out to right field for his 11^th blast of the 2021 campaign – moving him into the top-10 for the most in Skyhawk single-season history. Three pitches later, Davis made it back-to-back homers as he went opposite field for a round tripper that cleared the right field wall, making the score 5-2 in the process.

Murray State scratched out a pair of two-out runs in the sixth but Cannon exited the game with a 5-4 advantage. The Racers tied the game on a bases loaded walk in the seventh but Hussey recovered to keep the score at 5-all after stranding the bases loaded.

Hussey retired 10 straight Racers at one point – striking out two batters apiece in both the ninth and 10^th innings. After Murray State placed a baserunner on third base with one away in the 11^th, he got a big strikeout for the second out and worked an 0-2 count to the next batter, only a strike away from sending the game into 12 innings. Unfortunately, the Racers claimed their second walk-off win in a row, handing UT Martin an 8-5 setback.

Game 2
The nightcap was closely contested through five innings before the Racers tallied eight runs in their final three at-bats.

Sam Folks (2-6) stranded a runner in scoring position during a scoreless first inning before Murray State scored three runs in the second. The senior southpaw settled in for the next three frames, keeping the Racers off the scoreboard until the sixth. He worked around a one-out double in the third before dialing up three strikeouts in the fourth inning. The fifth inning featured a 1-2-3 inning as he did not allow a ball out of the infield.

Blake Daniels led off the top of the fourth inning with a single up the middle and Harford followed with a four-pitch walk to bring the tying run to the dish. However, the Skyhawks could not manufacture a run.

After Murray State scored two runs in the sixth, Harford crushed a leadoff double to open the top of the seventh. Hall then singled two pitches later as a UT Martin rally loomed. Once again, the Racer pitching staff escaped the jam without allowing a run.

Murray State scored an unearned run in the seventh and once again, the Skyhawks put the first two batters aboard with hits in the top of the eighth. Davis singled up the middle and Noah Thigpen followed with a single before a double play thwarted UT Martin's potentially big inning. The Racers then scored five runs in the bottom of the eighth to essentially put the game away.