By Brandon Burke, UT Martin Sports Information Intern
In a sharp contrast to last weekend’s road series at Murray State (three meetings where defense was the priority), the University of Tennessee at Martin’s Ohio Valley Conference set against the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles began in the total opposite direction over the course of Friday’s Game 1 with a hefty plate of swings and scores from both sides. Unfortunately for the Skyhawks, it was their in-state visitor that ended the evening on top, claiming the win after seeing 33 combined hits by the score of 19-6.
UTM wasn’t without their share of heavy hitters in the fifth league series of 2022, gaining significant contributions from the likes of centerfielder Will Smith, shortstop Casey Harford, and first-baseman Ethan Whitley. That trio accounted for over 60% of the Skyhawks’ 13 connections at-bat, while the latter two produced a pair of long-balls in the bottom of the 7th to boost the team’s home run count on the season to 24.
Securing their highest number of hits in a single OVC bout behind that four-run spurt in the 7th and another two scores preceding it in the 3rd, UT Martin’s efficient offensive day was highlighted by the aforementioned HR x2 from Harford and Whitley and an earlier two-run one-swing wallop by Jack Culumovic which got UTM on the board with a right side single in his second trip to the batter’s box.
Culumovic and catcher Cameron Brady were also snared home by those two dingers from the Skyhawk senior duo, concluding Game 1 with seven players managing one hit or more. Sophomore rightfielder Wil LaFollette also added two more hits to the orange and blue’s haul, where they can now claim 79 extra-base swings on the year.
Harford and Whitley have synced for eight homers since February after duplicating one another in the 7th, helping the former build upon his team-leading 34 hits, 22 RBI, and 58 total bases. Harford’s .513 slugging percentage is another figure that stands to lead all Skyhawks, piling on his ninth double of the season before his HR that ties LaFollette for the most on the roster.
Seth Petry, J. Henry Hobson, Trey Ricko, Warren Lee, and Addison Parker all saw time on the mound for UTM in the series opener, landing seven strikeouts among them.
In an offensive showcase the likes of which hadn’t been seen for quite some time – and in some facets, never prior reached – the University of Tennessee at Martin baseball team nearly set the scoreboard ablaze in Saturday afternoon’s wild outing against Tennessee Tech, smashing the Golden Eagles for 24 runs (the Skyhawks’ most ever against an NCAA Division I opponent), eight doubles, five homers, and two separate innings of scoring eight or more times. By the time the dust settled on a helter skelter contest that featured a combined 41 runs and 20 extra-base hits, the orange and blue stood on top of the purple and gold by the frenetic final of 24-17.
Resembling more of a gridiron matchup than one on the diamond, the Skyhawks’ offensive avalanche – involving all but two innings of scoring at least once – effectively tied the weekend series at one game apiece for the team’s second Ohio Valley Conference W of the year. Grasping 47 total bases (the most for UTM in a single game in 18 years), the home side produced a litany of remarkable performances, although no one shined quite as bright as senior shortstop Casey Harford, who turned in a stat-line for the ages in the seven-run triumph.
As if a 4/5, two-run, two-RBI day in the series opener wasn’t enough of a statement, Harford blasted three more homers in Game 2 alone, becoming the first UT Martin player in the history of the university to land four extra-base hits in one bout by adding a double to his ridiculous afternoon. Enjoying the same company as Gary Barfield in 1991 and Chad Wyatt in 1995 – although the only one of that group to go yard three times against a conference opponent – Harford’s astonishing achievement wasn’t the only noteworthy bullet point that the Skyhawks inked on Saturday.
The aforementioned eight doubles stand as the most for the program since an April 2006 contest vs. Saint Louis, while the 24 hits altogether hasn’t been duplicated since a bout with Murray State six years back.
Approaching today’s tussle, the all-time UT Martin record for runs in a single inning stood at eight, accomplished on numerous occasions. The Skyhawks cemented another flurry of that kind in the 2nd inning, before one-upping even that lofty figure with a new school-best nine runs in the bottom of the 4th. Over that three-inning stretch, UTM cascaded 19 hits to put themselves in front by a 20-9 margin, a hole too large for the Golden Eagles to escape from.
Listed among Harford’s ethereal day at the plate was the first collegiate home run by freshman Blaze Bell next to a team-high six RBI, yet another long-ball by Jack Culumovic (to give the team five in all) beside three RBI and two runs, a 4/5 effort on two doubles and three runs batted in from Wil LaFollette, and a three-hit, four-run showing from second-baseman Alec Beaman. Eight UTM batters ended Game 2 with two hits or more in an otherworldly offensive day.
UTM’s eight-run 2nd frame started and ended with a LaFollette RBI, while a Beaman base hit, sacrifice fly, Bell homer, and Harford homer were sandwiched in between. Another sacrifice fly and Harford repeat HR put the Skyhawks ahead 11-7 after three busy innings that would, unbeknownst to Tennessee Tech, get even busier in a hurry.
A pair of RBI doubles from centerfielder Will Smith and catcher Chance Merithew, Culumovic’s three-run bomb, two singles from Beaman and Bell, and two TTU-assisted runs on a wild pitch and bases-loaded walk ballooned the advantage to 11 with only 24 outs recorded following the Skyhawks’ record-breaking 4th stanza. The navy and orange would still dish out four more scores to give themselves an even larger cushion that kept their in-state foe at bay.
Harford’s third rocket (and fourth of the series) in the bottom of the 5th preceded Smith’s second run-scoring double of the day and Bell’s sixth RBI in the next frame. LaFollette added in his team-best 11th double of the year in the 7th to bring home first-baseman Ethan Whitley, concluding the game’s whirlwind style with a seven-score difference in favor of the Skyhawks.
Behind starting pitcher Jacob Smith, Matt Dickey and sophomore Tucker Reed occupied the mound for UTM in the Saturday sun. The latter grabbed his first 2022 win beside a solid 4.2 innings of work, striking out four batters out of 20 faced and helping preserve the W to bring the Skyhawks to a 9-25 record as a whole.
Now that the series victory in Game 3 tomorrow is within UT Martin’s crosshairs, head coach Ryan Jenkins’ unit will aim for the Sunday win at 1:00 to close what’s already been a newsworthy weekend. Should the Skyhawks wrestle the series finale away from the Golden Eagles, it would be the third consecutive time that UTM has taken two out of three from their Volunteer State adversary.
Picking up right where they left off 24 hours after one of the most incredible offensive displays in school history, the University of Tennessee at Marin baseball team made it two in a row over Tennessee Tech in Sunday afternoon’s series finale, again receiving a multitude of outstanding performances at the plate to outlast the Golden Eagles at home 10-9.
Successfully bouncing back from a high-scoring loss on Friday to overpower TTU by a combined score of 34-28 over the past two days, the Skyhawks’ scintillating sequence of wins over their in-state foe have given the program three consecutive series wins against a visiting side that entered the weekend with quite the intimidating resume.
Now that the debris has cleared from UTM’s offensive earthquake over the weekend, head coach Ryan Jenkins’ club can admire a three-day period where the roster racked up 48 hits – 21 of them in the extra-base variety – on a .746 team slugging percentage and four separate innings recording four or more runs. A grand total of eight home runs (including four off the bat of shortstop Casey Harford) and 10 more doubles since Friday night have sent the Skyhawks’ confidence soaring to new heights on the season following their third Ohio Valley Conference W of the semester.
Submitting their bid to the school record books for the second straight day, UT Martin’s trifecta of triples on Sunday alone stands as only the third time since the program transitioned to the NCAA Division I level that the orange and blue poured in three of that kind in a single game, joining a 2004 performance versus Army and a 2009 explosion against Memphis for university-high honors.
Speaking specifically of the Game 3 clincher, the trio of Harford, Jack Culumovic, and Nate Self would account for seven of the team’s 11 hits on Sunday next to a couple of scores batted in. Add a three-run moonshot past rightfield from Wil LaFollette – the sophomore’s fifth homer of the year – in the bottom of the 5th and a clutch defensive stand in the final frame, and UTM mixed all the ingredients for the series W, reaching a whopping 38 RBI over the past 72 hours.
After snagging two runs in the 3rd stanza, UT Martin snowballed what eventually turned into a six-score 5th inning once Harford boomed his seventh RBI of the weekend (and 27th of the season) on a triple to send Alec Beaman home. Wrapping up an utterly tremendous three-day stretch that featured 27 total bases from Harford alone, the senior infielder sent the Golden Eagles packing with 11 total hits throughout the series, seven of which went for extra bases with four home runs, two doubles, and the aforementioned triple.
By the time that lofty 5th frame had finished, the Skyhawks had extended their lead to 8-6 behind Culumovic’s 20th RBI of the spring, LaFollette’s three-run bomb, and yet another triple from catcher Chance Merithew to score Nate Self. Two more insurance runs in the 6th and 7th innings paid off nicely for UTM in the grand scheme of things, who fended off a late TTU rally to claim the one-run victory.
Relieving starter Lawson Russell and senior Blake Davis – who took his second personal win of the season on the mound – right-hander Baylor Jones grabbed his second save of 2022 by going the final 3.1 innings and only giving up a pair of scores.
With all three bases occupied and the Skyhawks clinging to a one-run advantage, Jones denied the Golden Eagles a chance at the tie by forcing Tennessee Tech into leaving all their ducks on the pond. Altogether, the visitors stranded 11 runners in defeat to bring UTM their second pulse-pounding win in as many days.
Harford, LaFollette, Culumovic, and lead-off man Will Smith combined for an unreal 29 hits over the duration of the three-game set, helping the Skyhawks amass 40 runs against their conference rival and keep their mountain of momentum intact.
Interestingly, UT Martin now finds themselves two games back of the league’s current eight-seed Morehead State, who serves as the orange and blue’s next OVC opponent one week from now. However, the Skyhawks must first turn their attention to Middle Tennessee on Tuesday evening, traveling to Murfreesboro for a 6:00 start.
The Blue Raiders will enter the midweek affair with a 21-17 record out of Conference-USA, recently defeating Louisiana Tech in Ruston by a 6-3 margin in a 12-inning marathon that gave MTSU the series win outright. Tuesday’s in-state trip to Middle Tennessee marks the beginning of a five-game road trek for UTM.
Graphic courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information