Friday, February 18
Martin, Tenn.
3 p.m.
UT Martin
0-1
6
vs
15
Miami (OH)
1-0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Miami (Ohio)
0
2
0
5
0
0
2
1
5
15
15
2
UT Martin
0
0
1
0
2
0
3
0
0
6
6
3
CULUMOVIC’S BIG DAY NOT ENOUGH FOR UTM BASEBALL IN NINE-RUN SETBACK AGAINST MIAMI (OHIO)
2/18/2022 8:50:00 PM | Baseball
MARTIN, Tenn. – Redshirt junior Jack Culumovic put forth one of his most impressive individual performances in the navy & orange on Friday evening in the University of Tennessee at Martin's 2022 baseball season-opener, although the remainder of the UTM offense mostly wasn't up to par against a powerful Miami (Ohio) batting order, succumbing to a 15-6 defeat at Skyhawk Field.
Officially denoting the first time that the program began a season on their home turf since 2010, the Skyhawks never found themselves in possession of the lead against a Redhawk roster that featured six different multi-hit showings and a six-inning, 10-strikeout performance from Miami starting pitcher Jonathan Brand.
Consequently, the highly-anticipated UT Martin debut of acclaimed junior college slinger Rhett Fetner ended in seven runs allowed over a period of four innings, putting the hometown squad into a hole too large to dig out of as four other pitchers saw time at the mound.
It only took six at-bats for Miami to find their way around the diamond and back to home plate, scoring on a pair of RBI-singles in the 2nd inning from Willie Escala and Brian Zapp, two of the Redhawks' 15 hits on the day to compare to UTM's six.
Junior outfielder and lead-off hitter Reid Halfacre provided the Skyhawks with their first RBI of the semester on a right-field base hit to bring Culumovic home in the 3rd, briefly toying at taking the lead before Miami wrestled the advantage back in their own favor.
Gallery: (2-18-2022) BASE vs Miami (Ohio)
A disastrous 4th inning defensively for UT Martin paved the way for a five-hit gap against Fetner, beefing up the lead to 7-1 on a two-RBI single, a two-RBI triple, and a rare balk produced by Nate Stone just for good measure.
Culumovic would do his best to bring the Skyhawks back within striking distance, launching his first home run since May of last spring to the right wall, wrangling designated hitter Houston Wright with him in the bottom of the 5th.
UTM's rally wouldn't stop there in the first ever meeting between the two sides, bouncing back from another allowed 2-RBI single with a three-run burst in the bottom of the 7th stanza. Two sacrifice flies by Will Smith and Blaze Bell – along with a Casey Harford left-field laser sandwiched in between – suddenly whittled the lead down to a trio at 9-6.
However, a 4-0 game-ending run from the visitors continued the evening's evolving theme of Miami one-upmanship, swinging in six hits in their final 11 at-bats to run away with a convincing first-night W on the road.
Ultimately, the UT Martin defense surrendered more than one run in four separate innings, including 10 put together in the 4th and 9th chapters to account for the nine-run difference. Fetner was saddled with the loss in the final tally, giving up nearly half of the Redhawks' scores in 19 at-bats.
Meanwhile, Brand's convincing work on 83 pitches frustrated the UTM offense on a regular basis, holding every Skyhawk except Culumovic with one hit or less. The aforementioned leftfielder ended Friday's bout with a 2/3 effort at the plate with a double and walk to go beside his HR and pair of RBI.
While the first half of the contest saw the Skyhawks unable to generate any offense, the second half of the meeting turned into a separate story of unfinished progress. Altogether, UT Martin stranded at least one batter in their last five innings of work – including three in the 5th and two in the 7th and 9th - adding up for 10 across the entire day.
Aiming for a chance at redemption in tomorrow afternoon's second game against Miami, the Skyhawks will hope to rebound with sophomore Lawson Russell gaining the nod at the pitching position. The Redhawks expect to counter with Kenten Egbert in the mound, whose 1.51 ERA in over 35 innings of action last spring should provide for another interesting day at the office at the midway point of the weekend series.
First pitch from Saturday's Game 2 will occur at approximately 2:00 p.m. from Skyhawk Field.
Officially denoting the first time that the program began a season on their home turf since 2010, the Skyhawks never found themselves in possession of the lead against a Redhawk roster that featured six different multi-hit showings and a six-inning, 10-strikeout performance from Miami starting pitcher Jonathan Brand.
Consequently, the highly-anticipated UT Martin debut of acclaimed junior college slinger Rhett Fetner ended in seven runs allowed over a period of four innings, putting the hometown squad into a hole too large to dig out of as four other pitchers saw time at the mound.
It only took six at-bats for Miami to find their way around the diamond and back to home plate, scoring on a pair of RBI-singles in the 2nd inning from Willie Escala and Brian Zapp, two of the Redhawks' 15 hits on the day to compare to UTM's six.
Junior outfielder and lead-off hitter Reid Halfacre provided the Skyhawks with their first RBI of the semester on a right-field base hit to bring Culumovic home in the 3rd, briefly toying at taking the lead before Miami wrestled the advantage back in their own favor.
A disastrous 4th inning defensively for UT Martin paved the way for a five-hit gap against Fetner, beefing up the lead to 7-1 on a two-RBI single, a two-RBI triple, and a rare balk produced by Nate Stone just for good measure.
Culumovic would do his best to bring the Skyhawks back within striking distance, launching his first home run since May of last spring to the right wall, wrangling designated hitter Houston Wright with him in the bottom of the 5th.
UTM's rally wouldn't stop there in the first ever meeting between the two sides, bouncing back from another allowed 2-RBI single with a three-run burst in the bottom of the 7th stanza. Two sacrifice flies by Will Smith and Blaze Bell – along with a Casey Harford left-field laser sandwiched in between – suddenly whittled the lead down to a trio at 9-6.
However, a 4-0 game-ending run from the visitors continued the evening's evolving theme of Miami one-upmanship, swinging in six hits in their final 11 at-bats to run away with a convincing first-night W on the road.
Ultimately, the UT Martin defense surrendered more than one run in four separate innings, including 10 put together in the 4th and 9th chapters to account for the nine-run difference. Fetner was saddled with the loss in the final tally, giving up nearly half of the Redhawks' scores in 19 at-bats.
Meanwhile, Brand's convincing work on 83 pitches frustrated the UTM offense on a regular basis, holding every Skyhawk except Culumovic with one hit or less. The aforementioned leftfielder ended Friday's bout with a 2/3 effort at the plate with a double and walk to go beside his HR and pair of RBI.
While the first half of the contest saw the Skyhawks unable to generate any offense, the second half of the meeting turned into a separate story of unfinished progress. Altogether, UT Martin stranded at least one batter in their last five innings of work – including three in the 5th and two in the 7th and 9th - adding up for 10 across the entire day.
Aiming for a chance at redemption in tomorrow afternoon's second game against Miami, the Skyhawks will hope to rebound with sophomore Lawson Russell gaining the nod at the pitching position. The Redhawks expect to counter with Kenten Egbert in the mound, whose 1.51 ERA in over 35 innings of action last spring should provide for another interesting day at the office at the midway point of the weekend series.
First pitch from Saturday's Game 2 will occur at approximately 2:00 p.m. from Skyhawk Field.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Jonathan Brand (1-0)
L: Fetner, Rhett (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Brian Zapp 1
3B: Nate Stone 1
HR: Cole Andrews 1
RBI: Nate Stone 2 ; JJ Woolwine 1 ; Cole Andrews 2 ; Zach McDonald 1 ; William Escala 1 ; Dalton Back 2 ; Brian Zapp 1 ; Nick Neibauer 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Christian Tejada 2 ; Nate Stone 1 ; JJ Woolwine 1 ; Cole Andrews 2 ; Zach McDonald 3 ; William Escala 1 ; Dalton Back 1 ; Brian Zapp 1 ; Nick Neibauer 3
SB: Tyler Wardwell 1 ; Zach McDonald 1 ; William Escala 1 ; Dalton Back 2
CS: Nate Stone 1 ; Tyler Wardwell 1
HBP: Zach McDonald 1
Batting:
2B: LaFollette, Wil 1 ; Culumovic, Jack 1
HR: Culumovic, Jack 1
RBI: Halfacre, Reid 1 ; Smith, Will 1 ; Harford, Casey 1 ; Bell, Blaze 1 ; Culumovic, Jack 2
SF: Smith, Will 1 ; Bell, Blaze 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Halfacre, Reid 1 ; Harford, Casey 1 ; Wright, Houston 1 ; Culumovic, Jack 3
HBP: Wright, Houston 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
3
H
2
RBI
2
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
IF
/ Baseball
UTIL
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
IF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
IF
/ Baseball
OF
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