By Ryne Rickman, UT Martin Sports Information Director
MARTIN, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee at Martin baseball team set season-highs in home runs (five), extra-base hits (nine) and total bases (34) during its series opener against Southern Indiana, defeating its Ohio Valley Conference counterpart by a 14-3 margin.
The Skyhawks improved to 10-25 (5-5 OVC) after generating 15 hits – including a pair of grand slams. UT Martin lit up the scoreboard to the tune of eight runs in the bottom of the sixth to break the game open.
All nine Skyhawk starters tallied at least one hit while six of those earned multi-hit performances. Andrew Fernandez (two hits, two runs scored, four RBI’s), Slade Taylor (two hits, three runs scored), Caleb Hobson (two RBI’s, two runs scored), Jack Culumovic (four RBI’s) and Mac Danford (two hits) all went deep for the Skyhawks while Hunter McLean (two runs scored), Blaze Bell and Zac Rice each had two hits apiece.
Seth Petry was dealing from the start, racking up a career-best eight strikeouts over 5.2 innings of work. The senior righty from Murfreesboro, Tenn. tied teammate Jordan Armstrong for the most single-game strikeouts by any UT Martin pitcher in 2023, improving his season record to 3-3.
The Skyhawk bullpen duo of J. Henry Hobson (1.1 innings) and Baylor Jones (two frames) joined forces for 3.1 perfect innings – retiring all 10 Screaming Eagle batters they faced.
Petry’s outing fittingly began with a strikeout as he coasted through a scoreless opening frame. Southern Indiana (9-24, 2-8 OVC) scored once in the top of the second but its lone lead of the game wouldn’t last long.
Fernandez provided UT Martin’s first big blast of the day, crushing a grand slam on an 0-2 count in the bottom of the second to put the Skyhawks on top by a 4-1 margin. His fifth longball of the spring drove in Bell (single), Taylor (single) and Hobson (walk).
Petry dialed up two more strikeouts in a shutdown top of the third. The Screaming Eagles managed two runs in the fourth but Petry stranded a pair of runners with back-to-back strikeouts to keep UT Martin on top, 4-3.
Taylor – Petry’s battery mate – got one run back in the bottom of the fourth after the junior from Thomasville, Ga. jumped on the first pitch he saw in the inning for this first round-tripper of the season, a line-drive shot that reached its final destination beyond the left field wall.
Two additional strikeouts were tacked on to Petry’s stat line in the fifth as he retired the side in order. He left the game with runners on first and second in the sixth and two outs as J. Henry Hobson picked him up with an inning-ending flyout to keep the Skyhawk advantage at 5-3.
After the first two UT Martin hitters were retired on three total pitches, the Skyhawks sent 11 total batters to the plate in its aforementioned offensive explosion in the sixth. Taylor ignited the surge with a walk and came in to score on a double from Rice. Caleb Hobson followed with a two-run missile for his second homer of the 2023 campaign. Fernandez and Smith both singled and after a McLean walk, Culumovic homered for the fourth time in his last seven games for UT Martin’s second grand slam of the contest. Two pitches later, Danford sailed one past the wall in left center for his third jack in the last two games.
The Skyhawk bullpen shut down Southern Indiana the rest of the way. J. Henry Hobson breezed through the seventh, facing the minimum on only eight pitches. Jones then took over, mowing down the Screaming Eagles in the eighth before notching a pair of punchouts in the top of the ninth to seal the win.
UT Martin added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth as McLean singled and advanced to third base on a pair of wild pitches. He then crossed the plate on an error to conclude the game’s scoring.
These two teams return to the diamond tomorrow at 3 p.m. as Skyhawk left-hander Tristan Walton (1-4, 6.54 ERA) will square off against Southern Indiana lefty Will Kiesel (1-2, 7.78 ERA).
Caleb Hobson and Jack Culumovic each homered and drove in three runs while Tristan Walton delivered a quality start as the University of Tennessee at Martin baseball squad rolled to a 7-3 triumph against Ohio Valley Conference foe Southern Indiana this afternoon at Skyhawk Field.
The win clinched a series victory over the Screaming Eagles as UT Martin (11-25, 6-5 OVC) has now taken three of its first four OVC series for the first time in school history.
Hobson reached base safely three times today, also roping an RBI triple and drawing an RBI walk while homering for the second straight game. Culumovic continued his torrid stretch at the dish as the redshirt senior from Simpsonville, SC blasted his fifth homer in the past eight games – a three-run bomb that gave the Skyhawks a lead they would not relinquish the rest of the way.
Slade Taylor (two hits) and Zac Rice (triple, two walks) also guided UT Martin offensively.
The Skyhawk pitching staff put together one of their best outings of the season as three hurlers combined to concede only two earned runs on six hits and two walks while fanning eight. Walton equaled a career-high with six strong innings, allowing just two runs on five hits with four strikeouts. Tucker Reed followed with two innings and no earned runs allowed before Zach Wager finished things off with a pair of strikeouts in a scoreless ninth.
Walton retired the side in order in the top of the first, needing only nine pitches to do so. The Screaming Eagles (9-25, 2-9 OVC) scored once in the top of the second to take an early 1-0 lead but Walton was back in shutdown mode in the third, chalking up a strikeout and two groundouts on just seven pitches.
UT Martin got cooking offensively in the bottom half of the frame, pushing across four runs. Hobson started the rally by crushing a one-out jack to straightaway center for the Skyhawks’ first hit of the contest. Will Smith followed with a two-out walk before Hunter McLean reached on a fielder’s choice. Culumovic then belted a no-doubter beyond the wall in right field for a three-run shot – his team-leading sixth homer of the 2023 campaign.
Walton worked around a one-out double to throw up another zero in the top of the fourth. Taylor led off the bottom half with a single and advanced to second on a Rice walk. Two batters later, Andrew Fernandez went the other way for an RBI single to plate Taylor, making the score 5-1 in the process.
UT Martin was able to hold Southern Indiana off the scoreboard once again in the fifth thanks to the hose that is Rice’s right arm. The rightfielder from Fort Mitchell, Ala. fired a strike for at home plate for an inning-ending double play on a would-be sacrifice fly to keep the Skyhawk lead at four runs.
The Screaming Eagles got one run back in the top of the sixth but Walton generated two more strikeouts – including a punchout to strand a pair of runners and end his day after 81 pitches.
Back-to-back two-out triples from Rice and Hobson resulted in UT Martin’s next run as the Skyhawks went ahead 6-2 through six innings of play.
Reed made his team-high 14th relief appearance in the seventh and got back-to-back strikeouts after an unearned run crossed the plate. The righty from Athens, Ala. recorded a scoreless eighth to keep the score at 6-3 in UT Martin’s favor.
The final run of the game came in the bottom of the eighth. Mac Danford led off the inning with a single up the middle and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Blaze Bell. Taylor (single) and Rice (walked) both reached base safely before Hobson was issued a bases-loaded walk to extend the Skyhawk advantage out to 7-3.
Wager did not allow a ball out of the infield in the top of the ninth, striking out a pair of Southern Indiana hitters to clinch the win.
Today’s Ohio Valley Conference baseball series finale between the University of Tennessee at Martin and Southern Indiana was knotted at 5-all through seven innings but the Screaming Eagles avoided a sweep with a 7-5 win at Skyhawk Field.
Zac Rice went 3-for-3 with an RBI, a run scored, a double and stolen base today for UT Martin (11-26, 6-6 OVC), who won the first two games of the series earlier in the weekend. Will Smith doubled twice to go along with a walk and two RBI’s as the Skyhawks registered 11 hits.
The UT Martin pitching staff did not issue a walk today. Eric Steensma made the start and received a no-decision after going five innings. J. Henry Hobson followed with a pair of shutout frames before Campbell Cleveland (1-3) and Baylor Jones tossed the final two innings.
Steensma used up only eight pitches to breeze through a perfect top of the first. Southern Indiana (10-25, 3-9 OVC) scored one run in the top of the second but Steensma soon recovered to retire the side in order in the third inning.
Rice legged out an infield single to lead off the bottom of the third and soon stole second base for his 10th swipe of the spring. Smith then came through with a clutch two-out double down the third base line that plated Rice and evened the score at 1-all.
The Screaming Eagles scored twice (one unearned run) in the top of the fourth and managed two more runs in the top of the fifth, taking a 5-1 lead.
The Skyhawks pushed across four unanswered runs to tie the game, beginning with a run in the bottom of the fifth. Slade Taylor singled up the middle and advanced to third on a Rice double. Following a Caleb Hobson walk to load the bases, Smith showed incredible plate discipline to earn a walk, plating Taylor and trimming UT Martin’s deficit to three runs.
- Henry Hobson wrapped up the top of the sixth with a pair of strikeouts, keeping Southern Indiana off the scoreboard.
In the bottom half, Culumovic led off the inning with a walk before Mac Danford was hit by a pitch. Blaze Bell then laid down a sacrifice bunt and Culumovic scored on the play thanks to a Screaming Eagle throwing error. Rice lifted a sacrifice fly to score Danford before Caleb Hobson lined a two-out RBI single to center to tie the score at 5-all.
- Henry Hobson once again silenced the Southern Indiana bats in the top of the seventh – his final inning of work. The Screaming Eagles then scored once in the eighth and once in the ninth to go back on top by a 7-5 margin.
The Skyhawks were able to put two baserunners aboard in each of the seventh, eighth and ninth innings but could not manufacture a run.
UT Martin rounds out a five-game homestand on Wednesday, April 19 when it faces Murray State. First pitch time has been pushed up to 2 p.m. at Skyhawk Field.
Graphic courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information