By Ryne Rickman, UT Martin Sports Information Director
MARTIN, Tenn. – Mac Danford lined a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth inning – his seventh hit of today’s doubleheader – to lift the University of Tennessee at Martin baseball squad to a 9-8 victory over SIUE as the two Ohio Valley Conference rivals split a twinbill at Skyhawk Field.
A junior out of Grand Ridge, Fla., Danford finished Game 2 with a career-best four hits after tallying three base knocks in the series opener earlier in the day – a 10-7 UT Martin setback. His clutch performance resulted in the Skyhawks’ first walkoff victory since May 14, 2021 against Tennessee Tech (also a 9-8 triumph).
As a team, UT Martin (8-20, 3-2 OVC) hit .370 with 27 hits today. Danford went 7-for-10 while Will Smith collected a .667 (6-of-9) batting average. Caleb Hobson hit .500 and reached base safely seven times while Andrew Fernandez went 4-for-10 with a home run.
On the mound, Campbell Cleveland (1-2) was credited with the victory in Game 2 after tossing a shutout top of the ninth inning. Zach Wager (four frames), Colin Millar (two innings) and Tucker Reed (one frame) each did not allow an earned run in relief outings today. Game 2 starter Jordan Armstrong whiffed six batters over six innings, his third game with at least six punchouts in 2023.
The series is on the line tomorrow as the Skyhawks and Cougars collide for a 1 p.m. showdown on ESPN+.
Game 1
A trio of UT Martin hitters had three-hit contests (Fernandez, Smith, Danford) but a seven-run top of the fifth inning proved to be the difference as the Cougars edged out the Skyhawks.
After UT Martin starting pitcher Seth Petry (2-3) sat SIUE down in order to start the game, the Skyhawks scratched out three runs in the bottom of the first. Fernandez crushed a solo home run down the right field line for his team-best third longball of the season. Smith and Bell each followed with singles before Jonah Wichman was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Hunter McLean drew a walk and Nate Self followed with a sacrifice fly to give UT Martin a 3-0 advantage.
The Cougars (16-9, 2-3 OVC) tied the game with three runs in the top of the second but Petry was able to strand a pair of runners with a big strikeout to end the third. The score remained 3-all after Petry put up another zero on the scoreboard in the fourth.
The Skyhawks loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom half of that frame but an infield fly and inning-ending double play gave SIUE the momentum as the Cougars scored seven runs (five earned) in the top of the fifth.
Wager shut down SIUE for the next three innings, including an efficient nine-pitch inning in the seventh. After UT Martin left a pair of runners on base in the sixth, the Cougars once again worked out of a bases-loaded jam to come out unscathed in the seventh.
Wager found his way out of potential trouble in his final inning of work as he stranded the bases loaded in the eighth. His efforts set the stage for a big bottom half of the inning that got the Skyhawks back within striking distance.
Each of the first five UT Martin batters in the eighth reached safely as Danford (double), Hobson (walk), Fernandez (single), Smith (RBI walk) and Blaze Bell (two-run single) ignited the Skyhawk comeback. Smith would later score on a wild pitch as UT Martin headed into the ninth trailing 10-7.
Reed managed a pair of strikeouts in a perfect top of the ninth and although Hobson drew a one-out walk in the bottom half, the Skyhawks could not bring the potential tying run to the plate.
Game 2
Danford helped UT Martin put up a three-spot in the bottom of the ninth as the Skyhawks erased a 7-1 deficit en route to a gritty victory.
SIUE scored one run in the top of the first but Armstrong notched a pair of strikeouts in a scoreless second. UT Martin tied the game in the bottom half as a leadoff double by Bell turned into an RBI groundout off the bat of McLean.
The Cougars scored five runs (one unearned) in the top of the third and added a run in the fourth to make the score 7-1.
Armstrong bounced back to shut out SIUE over his final two innings of work, which proved to be huge at the end of the game. The McDonough, Ga. native allowed a bunt single to start the fifth but did not allow a ball out of the infield after that – inducing a double play, two more groundouts, an infield popup and a strikeout before leaving the game after six innings.
Meanwhile, the Skyhawks were in the early stages of their comeback. Hobson drew a two-out walk – one of four times the junior centerfielder reached base safely in Game 2 – and proceeded to swipe second for his OVC-best 17th steal of the spring. Two pitches later, he trotted home after a Fernandez RBI single that made the score 7-2 through five innings.
Following Armstrong’s scoreless sixth, UT Martin chipped away with two runs in the bottom half. McLean walked and Self followed with a single that set up Danford for a two-out RBI single. Hobson then followed with a RBI single up the middle to trim SIUE’s lead to 7-4.
The Cougars managed one unearned run in the seventh but that was the final time they would cross the plate. Self drove in Smith with an RBI single in the bottom half to get that run back and make the score 8-5.
Millar stranded the bases loaded and put up a zero on the scoreboard in the top of the eighth. Danford crushed the third pitch he saw for a leadoff triple down the right field line to start the eighth and soon scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Hobson.
Cleveland entered the game in the top of the ninth and ensured the Skyhawks had a chance in the bottom half. Wichman was issued a walk to lead off the inning before McLean was hit by a pitch. Pinch hitter Jack Culumovic then doubled down the left field line to plate Wichman and pull UT Martin within one run at 8-7. A wild pitch allowed McLean to coast home and tie the game before Danford scalded a 2-2 offering through the right side of a drawn-in infield to score Zac Rice, who entered the contest as a pinch runner for Culumovic.
Senior Jack Culumovic blasted a first-inning grand slam and the University of Tennessee at Martin baseball squad never looked back, defeating Ohio Valley Conference rival SIUE by a 10-6 margin at Skyhawk Field.
Making his first start since March 18, Culumovic’s majestic grand slam gave him a career-high four RBI’s as the Simpsonville, SC native clubbed his second round-tripper of the year. Mac Danford and Cameron Brady also went deep for UT Martin (9-20), who improved to 4-2 in OVC play for just the second time in school history (first time since 2006).
Hunter McLean (2-for-3, two runs scored) joined Brady (2-for-3, two runs scored, two RBI’s) and Danford (2-for-3, two RBI’s, one run scored) with multi-hit outings. Will Smith also scored a pair of runs for the Skyhawks.
Eric Steensma (2-1) went six innings today for UT Martin, striking out five batters while scattering six hits with just one walk. J. Henry Hobson picked up his second save of the 2023 campaign after going the final three innings, firing 32 of his 46 pitches for strikes.
After Steensma breezed through a scoreless top of the first, the Skyhawks put up a four-spot in the bottom half. Andrew Fernandez, Smith and McLean all drew walks to load the bases for Culumovic, who deposited the eighth pitch of his at-bat beyond the wall in right center.
Steensma struck out the first two batters he faced in the second, retiring the side in order. UT Martin added another run in the bottom half when Danford – who won Game 2 of the series with a walk-off hit in the ninth inning – accounted for a solo homer to make the score 5-0.
The Cougars (16-10, 2-4 OVC) got on the scoreboard in the third inning but the Skyhawks responded with three more runs in the bottom of the frame. Jonah Wichman was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and advanced 90 feet on a McLean single. In his next plate appearance after the grand slam, Culumovic executed a perfect sacrifice bunt to move two runners into scoring position. That allowed Nate Self (groundout), Brady (double) and Danford (single) to each pick up RBI’s and push UT Martin’s lead out to 8-1.
Steensma blanked SIUE for each of the next two innings, pitching around a leadoff double that was lost in the sun in the fourth with a pair of strikeouts. He then induced a double play and needed just a dozen pitches to get through a scoreless fifth.
Brady – Steensma’s battery mate – extended the Skyhawk advantage out to 9-1 with a solo homer in the bottom of the fifth for his first longball of the season.
The Cougars scored three times in the sixth but UT Martin got one run back in the bottom half. Smith singled and stole his fourth bag of the season before coming around to score on a Wichman single.
Hobson entered the game in the seventh and promptly retired the first eight batters he faced. The sophomore righty from Fort Myers, Fla. did not allow a ball out of the infield in the seventh and needed just 10 pitches to induce three more groundouts in the eighth. He then struck out a pair of batters in the ninth to seal the Skyhawk victory.
UT Martin goes on the road for all four games next week, traveling to in-state foe Austin Peay on Tuesday, April 4 before heading to Little Rock for an OVC series from Thursday, April 6 through Saturday, April 8.
Graphic courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information