By Ryne Rickman, UT Martin Sports Information Director
MURRAY, Ky. – Sophomore right-hander J. Henry Hobson spun six innings of one-run baseball while the University of Tennessee at Martin banged out 13 hits in a superb 5-2 road victory at Murray State.
This afternoon marked the first collegiate victory for Hobson, who was making his season debut and third career start. The Fort Myers, Fla. native allowed a run in the first inning but soon settled in, ending his day by scattering six hits with three strikeouts on 74 pitches.
After 88 career games as a position player, Will Smith made his pitching debut for the Skyhawks (3-2) and needed only 11 pitches to cruise through a scoreless seventh. The Racers scored once in the eighth but Colin Millar stranded a pair of runners to keep UT Martin on top. Campbell Cleveland took over in the ninth and quickly shut the door on Murray State, earning his second save of the early 2023 campaign.
Zac Rice continued his blazing start to the season with three hits (including two doubles), two RBI’s, two stolen bases and a run scored out of the leadoff spot. Jack Culumovic reached base safely four times (two singles, two walks) and drove in a run while the trio of Blaze Bell, Alec Beaman and Caleb Hobson also produced multi-hit performances.
The Skyhawks wasted little time getting on the scoreboard. Rice lined the first pitch of the game for a single to center and soon stole second while advancing to third base on a throwing error by the Racer catcher. Two batters later, Culumovic singled through the right side to put UT Martin on top 1-0.
Murray State scored on a sacrifice fly in the bottom half of the first but the Skyhawks pushed across a pair of runs in the top of the second and never trailed from that point forward. Beaman and Hobson led off the frame with back-to-back singles before Rice ripped a double down the left field line, plating a pair of UT Martin runs.
From parts of the first inning through a portion of the fourth, Hobson retired 10 of 11 Racer hitters. He pitched around back-to-back two-out singles in the fourth to induce an inning-ending groundout and keep the Skyhawk lead at 3-1.
In the top of the fifth, Mac Danford doubled off the base of the wall out in left center to ignite a UT Martin rally. Beaman then fought off a 1-1 pitch for an RBI single to right field to increase the Skyhawk advantage out to 4-1.
After the slick UT Martin defense turned an inning-ending double play in the fifth, UT Martin took advantage of Murray State miscues to pad its lead even more. Andrew Fernandez reached on a two-base error to lead off the inning and moved up 90 feet on a flyball to right field off the bat of Bell. Fernandez then trotted home on a wild pitch to nudge the Skyhawk lead to 5-1.
In Hobson’s final inning of work, he stranded a pair of runners in scoring position by recording his seventh groundball out of the day.
Following Smith’s shutout seventh, Millar appeared for the second time this season in the eighth inning. The frame was extended by an error but that didn’t faze the lefty out of Fairhope, Ala., who fought back to record back-to-back outs with the tying run at the dish.
Cleveland was called upon to pitch the ninth as the 6-3, 210-pound righty was up for the challenge – earning his second save in as many chances in a UT Martin uniform.
The Skyhawks close out a season-opening six-game road swing tomorrow when they head to No. 20 Alabama in search of their third straight victory over the Crimson Tide. First pitch from Tuscaloosa, Ala. is set for 3 p.m. on SEC Network+.
Graphic courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information