By Brandon Burke, UT Martin Sports Information Intern
MURRAY, Ky. – Landing four hits as a whole next to four more walks and a two-run spurt in the top of the 8th inning, the University of Tennessee at Martin baseball team’s short trip to Murray State on Thursday evening ended favoring the Racers in a 5-3 final from Game 1. The Skyhawks will aim for a dose of revenge tomorrow in another 5:00 first pitch, their only blemish in the opener being a 4th inning turnaround that saw Murray claim a four-run advantage.
That sequence would be the only such glimpse of activity for the Racer offense on Thursday, held scoreless elsewhere by the pitching duo of Seth Petry and freshman J. Henry Hobson. In three frames of relief on 26 pitches, the latter denied Murray State a single hit in nine batters faced, opening the door for a UTM rally that fell just shy of completion.
Rightfielder Wil LaFollette granted the Skyhawks an early 1-0 lead in his second at-bat of the day, projecting a sacrifice fly ball to the opposite side of the field that gave Jack Culumovic the seam to sprint home from second base. UTM’s next run in the top of the 8th also came from the base-running of Culumovic on a fielder’s choice scenario that trimmed the lead down to three.
Finishing off their most productive inning of the contest, the Skyhawks made it 5-3 on another FC situation with Blaze Bell at the plate, into the lineup as the designated hitter after making an immediate impact late in Game 3 against Austin Peay four days back. Bell’s swing plus a Murray infield error allowed shortstop Casey Harford to find home and whittle the lead to a pair.
The Racers were able to escape the inning with two bodies left stranded and would hang on from that point, moving the Skyhawks to 1-9 in Ohio Valley Conference meetings. Nate Self and Alec Beaman rounded out UTM’s hit tally from the number eight and nine spots in the lineup, the former on his second double of the year to give the team 48 overall this spring.
Hoping to even the series at 1-1 on Friday in their second try, UT Martin returns to Johnny Reagan Field today in another crucial conference tussle.
Graphic courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information