By Brandon Burke, UT Martin Sports Information
Game 1
Only 72 hours after booming a season-high four home runs in a win over Alabama in Tuscaloosa, the University of Tennessee at Martin baseball team produced three more in the same state on Friday evening – only this time in Florence – emphatically defeating the North Alabama Lions 12-3 for UTM’s second-straight road victory.
In the first of a three-game non-conference series, junior centerfielder Reid Halfacre planted the dagger with a grand slam in the top of the 6th inning, sandwiched in between a three-RBI homer from sophomore Hunter McLean and another solo rocket by Will Smith to put the game even further out of reach. In total, the Skyhawks accumulated five extra-base hits in the blowout, while starting pitcher Rhett Fetner kept the Lions trailing far behind with an impressive seven-inning stint on the mound.
Only giving up a sole earned run on four hits and 27 batters faced, Fetner’ third start resulted in the JUCO transfer’s second individual win, striking out five batters while only walking a trio. Matt Dickey and Warren Lee tossed the final two periods while the Skyhawks shifted to cruise control in the wire-to-wire Game 1 W.
Filling in at the shortstop position for the first time in 2022, sophomore Alec Beaman was sensational on the offensive end, wrapping up the day with three hits in four at-bats, three runs, and a walk. Smith and Wil LaFollette added four more hits to the team’s total of 11, where the latter picked up two more RBI.
Beaman’s first run turned out to be the first score of the game for either team in the top of the 3rd, sprinting home on a base-hit by LaFollette. Once UNA responded with a run of their own later that same frame, McLean’s three-run laser in the 4th began an 8-0 Skyhawk run that blew open the 1-1 tie.
The navy and orange avalanche had only just begun by the time Halfacre trotted to the plate in the 6th, bringing McLean, Beaman, and designated hitter Houston Wright around the diamond for the Skyhawks’ first grand slam of the semester. In the very next at-bat, Smith mirrored Halfacre’s long-ball with his first HR of the year, ballooning the already-large lead to 9-1.
Following the fifth RBI of the day from UT Martin’s lead-off hitter via sacrifice fly ball in the top of the 7th, the Skyhawks were granted their final two runs of the contest off of North Alabama mishaps. A walk with the bases loaded and another wild pitch that scored Beaman accounted for the final chapters of the nine-run takedown.
After lobbing three homers throughout the first six games of the schedule, head coach Ryan Jenkins’ unit has now gone yard 10 times collectively from nine different players. Producing 55 hits as a team along with ever-improving pitching, the Skyhawks have found a large incline of momentum awaiting tomorrow afternoon’s halfway point in the series with the Lions.
Jacob Bradshaw was saddled with the loss as UNA’s starting hurler on Friday, letting six runs get by in 26 batters. Altogether, seven different UTM performers registered at least one hit in the shellacking, paving the way for a 19-9 discrepancy on the scoreboard over the past two games.
Game 2
Four combined hits, three total RBI, and a two-run homer in the top of the 8th from the combination of Ethan Whitley and Alec Beaman weren’t enough for the University of Tennessee at Martin baseball team’s comeback attempts versus North Alabama on the road Saturday afternoon, unable to withstand a 6-0 UNA burst midway through the contest that ultimately led to a 7-3 decision to even up the three-game series at one win apiece.
Less than 24 hours after a solid performance in the opener – a featurette of 12 runs on 11 hits for a nine-run victory – the Skyhawks found a bit more difficulty bringing players around the base pads in part two, taking the loss despite a 9-7 edge in the hitting department. Designated hitter Jack Culumovic and first-time starting catcher Chance Merithew added two more doubles to try and help UTM’s cause to no avail.
Sophomore lefty Lawson Russell gained the starting job for the third straight weekend Game 2, throwing the first three frames before a host of relief from Noah Walters, Tucker Reed, Eli Martin, and Warren Lee. The second-year hurler from Decatur, Ala. Only surrendered a single hit to the Lions on two earned runs and three K’s.
Breaking out for a 3/4 batting effort yesterday as a major component of the Skyhawks’ order, Beaman again showed out at the shortstop spot with two more connections and the game’s first RBI, occurring in the top of the 2nd with a base-hit that drove in second-baseman Hunter McLean.
Never trailing at any point against North Alabama in the first outing of the weekend, UT Martin then found themselves in that unfamiliar position later that same inning, giving up the first two of what ended up being six straight scores that put the game in jeopardy.
Breathing new life into the order with his second home run of the young season in the 8th, Whitley’s shot past the wall swiftly trimmed a four-run hole in half at 6-3 by also scoring pinch-runner Tanner Park with just a single out recorded. UTM has notched 11 long-balls in nine outings thus far on the year.
Unfortunately for the visitors, two of the next three batters went down swinging to retire the order, ending the Skyhawks’ hopes for a late rally with another North Alabama run added shortly thereafter to put a button on the four-run result.
Game 3
Another efficient batting effort by the University of Tennessee at Martin baseball team on Sunday afternoon couldn’t quite grant the Skyhawks the series victory over the North Alabama Lions in a rewind of the previous afternoon’s outcome, taking an 8-5 setback on the road despite connecting on 11 hits, all of them singles.
The bottom of the 3rd proved to be the most detrimental to UTM in their attempt at taking two out of the three meetings against UNA, allowing six unanswered scores once the Skyhawks found a run beforehand. Patiently chipping away at the deficit until it was down to a single score with two turns left, the Lions put the game to bed with a two-RBI base hit in the 8th that dropped the navy and orange to a 4-6 overall record.
First baseman Ethan Whitley, catcher Chance Merithew, and shortstop Alec Beaman – the latter of which has accumulated seven total hits over the past three outings – each put themselves in favorable spots on the field with six hits between them on Sunday. In fact, eight separate UTM batters found at least one hit in the tight loss, leaving 12 runners stranded when all was done.
For the third straight day, the Skyhawks were the ones to find home plate first, this time coming off the fast legs of centerfielder Benny DeTrude, beating the throw from shortstop to catcher on a ground ball to give UT Martin the early 1-0 lead. Unfortunately, UNA’s impending 3rd-inning flare put a dent in the visitors’ time ahead.
Not one to go out quietly, the next four runs of the afternoon were provided by the Skyhawks that steadily put them back in it. The first half of that rally came off North Alabama mishaps with the bases juiced, allowing UTM to score on a walk and a passed ball in the 4th and 6th periods.
Making some more noise offensively on a two-RBI single in the top of the 7th, DeTrude’s guidance of Beaman and Wil LaFollette suddenly put the pressure back on the Lions, who came dangerously close to surrendering what was at one time a five-run cushion.
That comeback try ultimately fell just shy of completion though, as the Skyhawks weren’t able to spice up any more runs over the final two frames. UNA’s two-run smack in the bottom of the 8th sealed the final decision, concluding UT Martin’s seven-game stint across the state of Alabama with a 3-4 mark against those opponents.
Going for his first start of the 2022 season at the pitching spot, junior right-hander Seth Petry ended up taking the loss after three innings of work, relieved by Matt Dickey, Baylor Jones, Trey Ricko, and Blake Davis for a total of six strikeouts in 40 batters faced.
Bumping up their season-hit total to 75 after 20 in the past 48 hours, the Skyhawks will look to regroup back at home for their next appearance two days from now. The Illinois State Redbirds will visit Martin for a 5:00 p.m. start time to serve as the fifth different school to lock horns with UTM in the infant stages of the semester.
ISU has opened 2022 with a 5-4 record, beginning the year with a bang by knocking off then-#2 Arkansas in Fayetteville on the first day of the season. The Redbirds will face the Skyhawks off the heels of a 7-1 triumph over Arkansas State on Saturday, salvaging a three-game set with the Red Wolves after dropping the first two meetings.
Graphic courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information