By Brandon Burke, UT Martin Sports Information
Game 1
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.
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.
Game 2
A momentous 3rd and 4th inning for the University of Tennessee at Martin baseball squad suddenly drifted into a lengthy absence of hits at the halfway point of Saturday afternoon’s Game 2 with Miami (Ohio) at Skyhawk Field, held without a successful swing over the final four innings to take a 10-5 setback at the hands of the Redhawks.
In the second straight day of plentiful sunshine and temperatures in the low-40’s, the two-man pitching core of Kenten Egbert and Nick Demonica provided the difference-maker – especially the latter throughout his excellent relief duties – able to scoop up the victory despite leaving a whopping 12 runners on the base pads.
Reaching seven hits collectively from seven different batters at the halfway point of the three-game season-opening series, UT Martin eventually drowned in the Redhawks’ infield after piling up a 5-1 advantage, forced to watch as they surrendered their third inning this weekend of five runs scored by the opponent.
Sophomore southpaw Lawson Russell earned the starting job for the Skyhawks in Game 2 to denote only his third collegiate appearance, striking out five players in 69 throws while giving up three runs. The second-year lefty was then relieved by Seth Petry and Baylor Jones over the last five periods, where the Redhawks embarked on a game-ending 9-0 sprint to down UTM into an 0-2 record.
Striking first in the 2nd stanza as they did the previous afternoon, an RBI-double from Stephen Krause enabled Miami to find home early. UT Martin quickly evened things up in the bottom of the 3rd on Casey Harford’s second hit of the weekend to score centerfielder Reid Halfacre, planting the seeds for a much more emphatic 4th frame from the navy and orange.
Starting in the nine-hole after pinch-hitting 24 hours prior, sophomore Hunter McLean gifted the Skyhawks a jolt of energy with an RBI-single to bring home Houston Wright. Preseason All-OVC member Will Smith continued the hot exchange from there, belting a double to left center that scored McLean and catcher Blake Davis.
Little did UTM know, the offense was about to come to a screeching halt following Demonica’s interjection at the mound. A right-field swing from first-baseman Wil LaFollette in the 5th signaled the last hit of the entire game for the Skyhawks, whose mostly solid defense caved long enough for Miami to pounce as the sun began to settle.
Kickstarted by a three-run bomb from Dalton Back that brought the road squad within one, a sneakily-placed bunt by Brian Zapp tied the contest up at five each shortly after Petry entered the circle. The onslaught was already underway for the Redhawks, who powered in four more runs in that fateful 7th inning off of a wild pitch and another three-run homer, this one from designated hitter Cole Andrews.
Yesterday’s lead-off man and today’s pinch-runner Cristian Tejada added insult to injury in the top of the 9th with Miami’s second conversion of a wild pitch into a home-plate slide, marking the final score at a deficit of five and the second day in a row where the Skyhawks surrendered double-digit hits. Altogether, the Redhawks have posted 25 runs since Friday to take the overall series W ahead of tomorrow’s finale.
Russell, Petry, and Jones added up for 13 K’s in the non-conference loss, although the batting consistency halted at an inopportune moment for UTM in what evolved into a game of missed chances at the plate.
Demonica was awarded the win for his efforts to aid Miami’s comeback, not allowing a single hit over 14 batters faced. Five separate Redhawk players landed a pair of hits in the road triumph, walking nine times and picking up eight RBI.
Game 3
Scoring from virtually every direction throughout Sunday afternoon’s third-game finale against the Redhawks of Miami (Ohio), the University of Tennessee at Martin baseball squad avoided a sweep in an emphatic way in front on a raucous audience in the sunshine, grabbing the lead in the 3rd frame and never letting up on their way to a 13-8 dissection and the first W of the year.
JUCO transfer Matt Dickey, true freshman Noah Walters, Trey Ricko, and long-time catcher Blake Davis split time in the mound for the Skyhawks, canning 12 batters while walking only five on the way to the win. It was the UTM offense that shined brightest at the close of the weekend, however, leading to six hits put together from shortstop Casey Harford, rightfielder Jack Culumovic, and first-time starter Cameron Brady from the catching spot.
Brady and Nate Self – another 2022 first-timer in the lineup at third-base – synced up for seven of the team’s 11 RBI on Sunday, helping secure two runs or more in four separate innings, most notably a five-run haul in the bottom of the 6th that kept Miami at bay.
For the third consecutive day, the Redhawks were the first ones to find home plate in the top of the 2nd, bouncing a two-run homer off of Dickey courtesy of Willie Escala. Just as quickly as the visitors struck first, UTM was right in position to deliver an answer later that same inning. It came off the bat of Harford, who lobbed his 15th career HR and the team’s second of the weekend in solo form. A passed ball and a two-RBI crunch from Self in the 3rd stanza cushioned the Skyhawks with their first lead of the day at 5-2, where it would only grow larger from there.
Not one to go away quietly, Miami pushed back in the 4th period on a double from Tyler Wardwell down the rightfield curve, cutting the deficit back to one. Brady mirrored that same exact play on the opposite side of the field in the bottom of the 5th to deny the Redhawks of ever regaining the advantage, sending Self and Culumovic around the diamond to home base.
Once more trimming the lead down to a single run thanks to another long-ball from lead-off man J.J. Woolwine in the top of the 6th, Miami looked as if another rally was in full force. One more Skyhawk haymaker was enough to dispel any of those rumors, as head coach Ryan Jenkins’ group landed the next six runs to put the game out of reach.
Having surrendered five runs in a single frame on three separate occasions earlier in the series, UTM dealt the Redhawks a dose of their own medicine with a 6th-inning avalanche, kicked off with an RBI base-hit by Culumovic. Two more RBI from Brady – plus a series of wild pitches and passed balls that each gave up one additional run – gave UT Martin the avenue to put on cruise control for the rest of the day with a 12-6 lead.
Said lead expanded +1 thanks to yet another Culumovic RBI, allowing the Skyhawks to salvage the weekend series after consecutive losses by nine and five runs respectively. Walters was granted the win behind three solid innings of relief throwing, tossing three out of 10 players faced while only giving up a pair of hits.
Consequently, Colin Czajowski was saddled with the loss in the circle for Miami after only lasting 2.1 innings before exiting. The Redhawk starter, Tyler Ronevich, and Brady McLean let a grand total of 10 UTM runs slide by, taking the Game 3 loss in an uncharacteristic defensive showing.
Enjoying the program’s first season-opening home series since 2010, coach Jenkins and co. will be getting very familiar with the road over the next two and a half weeks, trudging across the state of Alabama for the next eight dates on the schedule starting this Tuesday. A one-and-done visit to Alabama A&M in Huntsville stands as the next go-around for the navy and orange, who will then take on their second-straight SWAC member Alabama State next weekend in a three-game set.
Graphic courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information