SKYHAWK BASEBALL CLINCHES OVC SERIES WIN WITH 7-3 VICTORY OVER SOUTHERN INDIANA

Saturday, April 15

Martin, Tenn.

3 p.m.

UT Martin

11-25, 6-5

Southern Indiana

9-25, 2-9

Southern Indiana

UT Martin

SKYHAWK BASEBALL CLINCHES OVC SERIES WIN WITH 7-3 VICTORY OVER SOUTHERN INDIANA

4/15/2023 6:58:00 PM | Baseball

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MARTIN, Tenn. – Caleb Hobson and Jack Culumovic each homered and drove in three runs while Tristan Walton delivered a quality start as the University of Tennessee at Martin baseball squad rolled to a 7-3 triumph against Ohio Valley Conference foe Southern Indiana this afternoon at Skyhawk Field.

The win clinched a series victory over the Screaming Eagles as UT Martin (11-25, 6-5 OVC) has now taken three of its first four OVC series for the first time in school history.

Hobson reached base safely three times today, also roping an RBI triple and drawing an RBI walk while homering for the second straight game. Culumovic continued his torrid stretch at the dish as the redshirt senior from Simpsonville, SC blasted his fifth homer in the past eight games – a three-run bomb that gave the Skyhawks a lead they would not relinquish the rest of the way.

Slade Taylor (two hits) and Zac Rice (triple, two walks) also guided UT Martin offensively.

The Skyhawk pitching staff put together one of their best outings of the season as three hurlers combined to concede only two earned runs on six hits and two walks while fanning eight. Walton equaled a career-high with six strong innings, allowing just two runs on five hits with four strikeouts. Tucker Reed followed with two innings and no earned runs allowed before Zach Wager finished things off with a pair of strikeouts in a scoreless ninth.

Walton retired the side in order in the top of the first, needing only nine pitches to do so. The Screaming Eagles (9-25, 2-9 OVC) scored once in the top of the second to take an early 1-0 lead but Walton was back in shutdown mode in the third, chalking up a strikeout and two groundouts on just seven pitches.

UT Martin got cooking offensively in the bottom half of the frame, pushing across four runs. Hobson started the rally by crushing a one-out jack to straightaway center for the Skyhawks' first hit of the contest. Will Smith followed with a two-out walk before Hunter McLean reached on a fielder's choice. Culumovic then belted a no-doubter beyond the wall in right field for a three-run shot – his team-leading sixth homer of the 2023 campaign.

Walton worked around a one-out double to throw up another zero in the top of the fourth. Taylor led off the bottom half with a single and advanced to second on a Rice walk. Two batters later, Andrew Fernandez went the other way for an RBI single to plate Taylor, making the score 5-1 in the process.

UT Martin was able to hold Southern Indiana off the scoreboard once again in the fifth thanks to the hose that is Rice's right arm. The rightfielder from Fort Mitchell, Ala. fired a strike for at home plate for an inning-ending double play on a would-be sacrifice fly to keep the Skyhawk lead at four runs.

The Screaming Eagles got one run back in the top of the sixth but Walton generated two more strikeouts – including a punchout to strand a pair of runners and end his day after 81 pitches.

Back-to-back two-out triples from Rice and Hobson resulted in UT Martin's next run as the Skyhawks went ahead 6-2 through six innings of play.

Reed made his team-high 14^th relief appearance in the seventh and got back-to-back strikeouts after an unearned run crossed the plate. The righty from Athens, Ala. recorded a scoreless eighth to keep the score at 6-3 in UT Martin's favor.

The final run of the game came in the bottom of the eighth. Mac Danford led off the inning with a single up the middle and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Blaze Bell. Taylor (single) and Rice (walked) both reached base safely before Hobson was issued a bases-loaded walk to extend the Skyhawk advantage out to 7-3.

Wager did not allow a ball out of the infield in the top of the ninth, striking out a pair of Southern Indiana hitters to clinch the win.

UT Martin will go for a sweep tomorrow at 1 p.m. behind right-handed starting pitcher Eric Steensma (2-2, 5.82 ERA).