HARFORD & CULUMOVIC SHINE AS SKYHAWKS SEIZE GAME 1 OVER ALABAMA STATE

Friday, February 25

Montgomery, Ala.

6 p.m.

UT Martin

2-2

Alabama State

1-5

UT Martin

Alabama State

HARFORD & CULUMOVIC SHINE AS SKYHAWKS SEIZE GAME 1 OVER ALABAMA STATE

2/25/2022 11:07:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score PDF BOX SCORE

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Dealing most of the damage in the early stages of Friday evening's three-game prelude with the Hornets of Alabama State, the University of Tennessee at Martin baseball squad utilized another rock-solid hitting effort alongside a workmanlike performance on the mound to take down the Hornets in Game 1, 5-3.

Snatching the lead in the top of the 2^nd and never relinquishing it on their way to a clutch road victory, UTM never allowed the Hornets to reach closer than a two-run gap while leading by as many as four, improving to 2-2 on the young season as a result.

Redshirt-junior outfielder Jack Culumovic and senior shortstop Casey Harford electrified the Skyhawk lineup whenever the bat was in their hands, adding up to reach four hits and three RBI that initially sparked the UT Martin hot start. Throw in another pair of base-hits and a driven-in run by starting catcher Cameron Brady, and the Skyhawks featured more than enough batting progression to get the job done in Friday's opener.

Alabama native Rhett Fetner was another instrumental piece in UTM's success over the Hornets, tossing out nine batters in nearly six innings of work as the series' starter. Redshirt-freshman Baylor Jones and Blake Davis relieved Fetner after a productive night, where the latter shed six consecutive batters to effectively close out the contest.

Already on third-base thanks to a couple of singles and a sacrifice bunt in the 2^nd inning, Harford got the Skyhawks on the board first once a wild pitch from ASU starter Jeremy Rivera sailed past catcher Hunter May. Culumovic then followed suit to hoist the lead to a deuce after Brady sliced a base hit to leftfield.

Duplicating the two-run output from the previous frame, UTM doubled the lead to 4-0 in the 3^rd in Culumovic's second appearance at the plate, blasting the ball to the right side to bring Will Smith and Wil LaFollette around the diamond.

Answering the Hornets' first score of the night with one of their own in the top of the 5^th period, the Skyhawks jolted the lead back where it was at 5-1. Harford was again the culprit offensively, driving in LaFollette once more on a leftfield double shot.

Two more Alabama State runs over the second half of the game weren't quite enough to complete the comeback as UTM transitioned from Fetner to Jones on the mound, letting Davis put the finishing touches on the W in the 8^th and 9^th as he did in Sunday's home triumph over Miami (Ohio).

Fetner finished his time in the spotlight with his first individual win of the season in a second try, while Davis – a long-time catcher in the navy and orange – was credited with his first collegiate save for his efforts in keeping the Hornets away.

Asserting themselves as the two most proficient swingers in the infant stages of 2022, Culumovic and Harford have added up for 13 hits next to 11 RBI in only four outings thus far. Culumovic in particular has been sensational batting fifth in the lineup, securing a .583 average in 12 at-bats over the past week.

In what was initially arranged to be one game each day over the full length of the weekend, the Skyhawks and Alabama State have since agreed to engage in a doubleheader on Saturday to compensate for a precipitation forecast on Sunday. Game-time tomorrow in Montgomery has now been pushed up to 2:00 p.m. to allocate for the extra innings on the docket.

Sophomore Lawson Russell and junior Matt Dickey are expected to begin both bouts at the pitching spot, sporting a combined seven innings thrown so far on the year.