By Brandon Burke, UT Martin Sports Information Intern
MOREHEAD, Ky. – In an otherwise stellar offensive performance by the University of Tennessee at Martin baseball team – carrying over the theme from last weekend’s scoring extravaganza to get them past a high-octane Tennessee Tech club – the Skyhawks fell victim to a late Morehead State rally during Thursday afternoon’s OVC series opener and the first of 36 games on the year involving the orange and blue to extend into extra innings. In the end, the Eagles squeezed out a 10-9 win in the 10th despite 14 hits off of UTM’s bats and a solid six frames of work from starting pitcher Seth Petry.
Four days after setting numerous program records against TTU (which included 40 runs on 48 hits over a 72-hour window), the Skyhawks weren’t without similar firepower in the long road trip to Morehead, which was pushed up one day thanks to a threat of inclement weather later this weekend.
Included among the Skyhawks’ powerful day at the plate was a combined 6/10 effort from centerfielder Will Smith and shortstop Casey Harford, the latter of whom became the fifth player in school history to reach the 200-hit threshold on an RBI-single in the top of the 8th. This occurred after the senior blasted his ninth home run of the campaign just one inning prior, the second of the day from UT Martin after Jack Culumovic sent one past the rightfield barrier in the 5th to secure a pair.
First-baseman Ethan Whitley and catcher Chance Merithew made up for four more hits between them as eight different Skyhawks registered at least one for the day. Unfortunately, a game-ending 6-0 flurry from the Eagles quickly turned the tide towards a Morehead victory in the 10-inning roller coaster.
Staying at the No. 2 spot in the lineup, freshman DH Blaze Bell put UTM ahead in the top of the 5th, wrangling in Merithew and Alec Beaman to set the stage for Culumovic’s two-run missile moments later. Morehead slowly inched their way back to a 4-4 tie with three innings left in regulation, giving the Skyhawks room to acquire the game’s next five runs immediately thereafter.
As Smith already stood on 1st, Harford’s 23rd career homer in the top of the 7th swiftly put the visitors back in the driver’s seat. A two-RBI laser from Smith in his next at-bat and Harford’s aforementioned 200th hit gave UTM a 9-4 cushion that they would ultimately be unable to hold onto thanks to some late-game heroics by the Eagles’ bats.
Only giving up a sole score approaching the bottom of the 6th, Petry was relieved by Baylor Jones (who struck out two with the bases juiced in the 8th) and Tucker Reed on the mound. That group managed to retire eight batters on the afternoon next to just three walks, led by Petry eclipsing the 100-pitch count in the series starter.
The University of Tennessee at Martin baseball team wrapped up a three-game Ohio Valley Conference series on Friday afternoon in the Bluegrass State with a doubleheader against the Morehead State Eagles, less than 24 hours after a frenetic 10-inning ending the day prior. Concluding in only two days due to a high chance of unsafe weather conditions over the rest of the weekend, MSU finished both of Friday’s bouts on top by respective scores of 14-0 and 4-1.
Game 1 – Morehead State def. UT Martin 14-0
Lawson Russell and J. Henry Hobson split time on the mound for the Skyhawks in the first half of today’s DH, reaching five K’s between the two upon a pitch count of 104 for the former. Offensively, the orange and blue recorded three hits in the contest on a pair of single-base swings by Blaze Bell and Ethan Whitley, as well as the first of two UTM doubles on the day by rightfielder Wil LaFollette in the top of the 8th, the sophomore’s 17th extra-base smash of the season.
Bell and lead-off centerfielder Will Smith accounted for four of the team’s five walks in the midway point of the three-game set, although the Skyhawks would strand 10 runners in all to take the Game 2 setback.
Game 2 – Morehead State def. UT Martin 4-1
The Eagles’ high-powered offense was mostly held in check by the UT Martin pitching duo of Matt Dickey and Blake Davis, the former letting only three runs slide in six full innings of work. The Skyhawks were the ones to strike first in the opening frame of the series closer on an RBI-ground out from Casey Harford, pulling home Smith after the sophomore doubled in his first trip to the plate of Game 3.
A full nine innings from MSU starter John Bakke limited the bats from the visitors in Friday’s finale, representing the low-scoring nature of the contest by both parties. The three-run decision moves UTM’s overall record to 10-28 with six OVC series in the books, now bringing their focus to a quick non-conference detour this Tuesday.
With an added two days of rest thanks to the sudden finish of the Morehead State series, the Skyhawks will battle the Memphis Tigers from a neutral ballpark in Millington, Tenn. on May 3rd. First pitch from USA Stadium in four days is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.
Graphic courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information