By Ryne Rickman, UT Martin Sports Information Director
CHARLES, Mo. – The University of Tennessee at Martin baseball team came away with a split during the first two games of its series at Lindenwood, claiming a 7-5 victory in Game 2 following a 13-12 setback in 12 innings during this afternoon’s resumption of Friday’s game.
Blaze Bell (.700 batting average) and Will Smith (team-best five runs scored) each pounded out seven hits during the first two games of the series for the Skyhawks, who are now 10-10 in Ohio Valley Conference play and 16-31 overall. Mac Danford collected six hits and a team-high five RBI’s – including a go-ahead three-run homer in Game 2 of the series – while Andrew Fernandez clubbed a pair of homers in Game 1.
Junior centerfielder Caleb Hobson stole three bases in the first two games of the series, moving his season total to an OVC-best 31 swipes. That shatters the school’s NCAA Division I record for most stolen bases in a single season, passing former MLB Draft pick Trey Karlen (30 in 2010).
On the pitching side, junior lefty Tristan Walton (4-5) his fourth quality start of the season in Game 2, tying a career-high with seven innings pitched. J. Henry Hobson tied for the team lead with his third save with a scoreless frame out of the bullpen.
After the resumption of Game 1, Campbell Cleveland (1-4) escaped a jam in the bottom of the 10th but was charged with the loss.
The series will be on the line tomorrow as these two teams clash at Lou Brock Sports Complex at 1 p.m.
Game 1
Smith, Danford and Bell each had four hits apiece but the Lions (10-37, 6-11 OVC) completed a comeback on Saturday after the game resumed.
UT Martin got off to a fast start, posting three runs in the top of the first. Caleb Hobson singled on the first pitch of the game and stole second before Fernandez launched a two-run homer. Smith then singled and stole second before Danford lined an RBI single to make the score 3-0.
Seth Petry drew the starting assignment on the hill for the Skyhawks, retiring the side on only 10 pitches in the bottom of the first. He followed that with a scoreless second inning, stranding a pair of Lindenwood baserunners.
UT Martin batted around in the top of the third, plating five runners to go on top by an 8-0 margin. Fernandez drew a leadoff walk and advanced to third on a Smith single. After Hunter McLean brought Fernandez in with an RBI groundout, Jack Culumovic walked and Danford followed with an RBI double. Bell followed with an RBI single and Slade Taylor drove in a run via a sacrifice bunt before Bell scampered home on a passed ball.
The Lions got on the scoreboard with two runs in the third before adding three runs (two unearned) in the fourth.
The Skyhawks soon stretched their lead out to 11-5 over their next two trips to the plate. Danford and Bell led off the top of the fifth with back-to-back singles and were each moved up 90 feet on another Taylor sacrifice bunt. Bell swiped home on a double steal with Zac Rice before Caleb Hobson accounted for an RBI single.
Fernandez lifted a 2-1 offering for his second round tripper of the game to lead off the top of the sixth. He joined Danford (April 12 vs. Austin Peay) as the only UT Martin sluggers to boast multi-homer performances in 2023.
Petry stranded two more runners in a scoreless fifth before Lindenwood scored twice in the sixth.
Baylor Jones appeared out of the bullpen in the bottom of the seventh, going three-up, three-down to keep the Skyhawk lead at 11-7. The Lions scored three runs in the eighth but Smith ensured that UT Martin would momentarily keep the lead as he threw out the potential tying runner at the plate for the final out of the eighth.
A walk, single and two sacrifice bunts by Lindenwood tied the score at 11-11 before Zach Wager stranded a runner in scoring position in the bottom of the ninth.
Bell led off the top of the 10th with a triple to deep center but the Skyhawks could not manufacture a run. The game was suspended after the first batter of the bottom half of the inning Friday evening and Cleveland was called upon to take over. Facing a pair of runners on the basepaths and no outs, he notched back-to-back strikeouts and a groundout to extend the game.
UT Martin went ahead in the top of the 11th as Smith (single) and McLean (RBI double) tilted the score back in favor of the Skyhawks at 12-11. However, the Lions evened the score in the bottom of the frame before taking their first lead of the game with a walk-off hit one inning later.
Game 2
Walton was strong once again and was rewarded with a victory after the UT Martin offense put up a five-spot in the top of the seventh.
Walton stranded the bases loaded in the bottom of the first, allowing the Skyhawks to take the first lead of the game an inning later. Culumovic singled up the middle with one out and advanced to third on back-to-back singles off the bats of Danford and Bell. He then came into score on a wild pitch to give UT Martin a 1-0 advantage.
Lindenwood got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the second but Walton settled in from there. The Clay, Ala. native buzzed through the Lion lineup in the third, conceding just a harmless two-out single. He then retired the side in order in the fourth and worked around a leadoff single to tally another shutout frame in the fifth.
After two quick outs to begin the bottom of the sixth, a pair of errors on the same play led to two runs for Lindenwood, taking a 3-1 lead in the process.
That lead was very short-lived as the Skyhawks erupted for five runs in their next at-bat. Rice led things off with a double while Hobson followed with a single and stolen base to put the tying runs in scoring position. Those two scored on back-to-back RBI fielder’s choices from Fernandez and Smith as those two also reached base on both plays. Danford then came through with the big blow, pulverizing an opposite-field three-run jack to right field to nudge UT Martin ahead 6-3.
Walton came back out for the seventh and was responsible for another scoreless frame, thanks in large part to yet another outfield assist at the plate from Smith.
The Lions scored two runs in the eighth but the Skyhawks added a pivotal insurance run in the top of the ninth. McLean had an RBI single to plate Smith, who singled and stole second base with one away.
For the fifth time in seven tries this season, the University of Tennessee at Martin baseball team won an Ohio Valley Conference series as the Skyhawks put together a commanding 18-1 victory at Lindenwood this afternoon.
With the win, UT Martin moves to 11-10 in the OVC standings and 17-31 overall. The 17-run margin of victory is tied for the most for the Skyhawks against a NCAA Division I opponent (winning 17-0 against Morehead State on March 14, 1998) and is the largest overall run differential since a 32-9 win over Berea College on March 27, 2003. UT Martin’s 11 hits in an eight-run seventh inning are also the most in school history, passing the nine against Tennessee Tech on April 23 of last season.
The Skyhawks received notable contributions from each of their 10 players that saw the field today as all nine hitters reached base at least twice while starting pitcher Eric Steensma hurled a complete game, 73-pitch masterpiece in the seven-inning contest.
One day after he set the program’s NCAA Division I record for most stolen bases in a single season, Caleb Hobson etched his name in UT Martin history again today. The Pontotoc, Miss. native went 6-for-6 out of the leadoff spot, tying Scott McLean (April 25, 2007 against Lipscomb) for the most hits in a single game. Hobson also added two runs scored, two RBI’s and his 32nd stolen base of the 2023 campaign.
Andrew Fernandez produced his second 5-hit performance of the season, homering and scoring four runs while driving in four RBI’s. Mac Danford hit a go-ahead homer for the second straight day as part of a four-RBI effort while Blaze Bell (three RBI’s, three runs scored) reached base safely four times with a pair of hits and two walks.
Will Smith, Hunter McLean, Jack Culumovic and Zac Rice also had two-hit days while Cameron Brady had a hit and a walk in his return from injury, making his first start behind the dish since April 8 for the Skyhawks.
Steensma cruised the Lion lineup today, allowing just three hits and one walk. His seven innings were a career-high for the redshirt junior right-hander out of Western Springs, Ill.
UT Martin scored early and often, scoring in six of the seven innings. That started in the top of the first as six Skyhawks reached base. Danford provided the big hit with a three-run shot that landed outside the left field wall, giving UT Martin a lead it would not relinquish the rest of the way.
The Skyhawks got back on the scoreboard in the top of the third after a two-out walk to Bell turned into a run when Culumovic drove an RBI double down the right field line.
Two more runs crossed the plate in the top of the fourth. After Hobson singled and stole second with one away, Fernandez and Smith came through with back-to-back RBI doubles.
McLean and Bell scored on an RBI single by Hobson in the top of the fifth before Danford (double) and Bell (fielder’s choice) collected RBI’s for UT Martin in the top of the sixth.
The Skyhawks’ big top of the seventh invoked the mercy rule that concludes a game if a team leads by 10 or more runs after seven innings on getaway day. Brady’s leadoff single began a string of five consecutive hits to start the inning. Rice singled up the middle before a Hobson RBI single set up Fernandez’s three-run homer – his third longball of the series. Smith and McLean each singled to set up a two-run double by Bell. Culumovic added an RBI double before RBI singles out of Rice and Hobson – the latter of which equaled program history.
While the offense took care of business, Steensma was straight up dealing. Following a leadoff triple to the first Lindenwood batter of the game, the Lions only mustered two singles (including a bunt hit) and did not put a runner past second base for the remainder of the contest.
Steensma coasted through the second inning on just eight pitches, working around a leadoff bunt single. Soon staked to a big lead, he then faced one over the minimum from that point forward. That included a six-pitch third inning and a scoreless fourth. He needed only eight pitches to get through a perfect fifth frame and erased a leadoff walk in the sixth with a 4-6-3 double play.
Steensma then needed only 10 pitches to go three-up, three-down in the seventh. He became the second UT Martin hurler to toss a complete game this season, joining Seth Petry (also in a seven-inning game at Samford on March 18).
The Skyhawks round out their home schedule this week with four dates. UT Martin hosts Alabama A&M at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, May 9 before concluding OVC play with a three-game weekend set against Southeast Missouri on May 12-14.
Graphic courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information