Western Kentucky 13, Austin Peay 1
Clarksville, Tenn. --- The Western Kentucky University baseball team scored 11 runs in the third and fourth innings, and four Hilltopper pitchers combined on a four-hitter as the Hilltoppers pounded Austin Peay 13-1 Wednesday night at Raymond C. Hand Park. The win improved Western to 19-18 on the year, while Austin Peay fell to 20-11.
Western has now scored double-digit runs in three of its last four games, and has plated a total of 46 runs in those four contests.
Starter Ryan Landrum (2-0) picked up the win as allowed just one run on four hits, while striking out four in 5.0 innings of work. James Mantzanis and Greg Durr each pitched a scoreless inning of relief, while Brett Korth held the Govs hitless over the final 2.0 innings.
Matt Gunning, who has now homered in four straight games, drove in a game-high four runs, and joined Matt Johnston, Tim Grogan and Antone Towns with two hits in the contest.
Western struck first against Governor starter Shawn Kelley. Back-to-back one-out walks in the first inning to Johnston and Grogan got things started, but Kelley struck out Gunning for the second out of the inning. Cary Page followed with an RBI single to right, plating Johnston and giving Western an early 1-0 lead.
The Governors came back in the bottom of the inning with Matthew Ledbetter leading off the inning with a single. After stealing second and moving to third on a bunt single by Alfredo Burkeen, Ledbetter scored on a balk by Landrum to tie the game at 1-1.
The Hilltoppers struck again in the third as Matt Ransdell led off the inning with a double off APSU reliever Rowdy Hardy, and after a Johnston sacrifice bunt, Grogan walked to put runners at the corners.
Gunning followed with his 11th home run of the season over the wall in right to give WKU a 4-1 lead.
Western blew the game open thanks to a eight-run fourth inning.
After loading the bases thanks to a Philip Thayer double, Jordan Newton walk and Ransdell hit-by-pitch, Johnston brought home two with double to right. Grogan then blasted a three-run homer to right, pushing the Topper lead to 9-1. After back-to-back strikeouts, WKU again loaded the bases for Newton, who was hit by a pitch to force home Towns. Dennis Winn, who entered the game as a pinch runner for Ransdell earlier in the frame, followed with a high popup on the infield that was lost in the lights by the ASPU infielder, plating two more to cap off the eight-run frame and give Western a 12-1 lead.
Governor reliever Michael Dunn kept the Toppers off the board for the next two innings, but WKU plated its 13th run of the contest in the seventh when Gunning plated Winn with a fielder's choice groundout.
Austin Peay tried to break into the scoring column again in the bottom of the ninth, putting runners at second and third with two outs, but Korth got Nic Frederick to line out to Towns in right, ending the game.
The Hilltoppers open a three-game weekend home series with South Alabama on Friday (April 16) at Nick Denes Field. First pitch of the series opener is set for 6 p.m. (CDT).
Mississippi 9, Arkansas State 8
Oxford, Miss. The Arkansas State baseball team could not hold onto a two-run ninth inning lead against he seventh ranked team in the country as it fell to Ole Miss, 9-8 on Wednesday night at Swayze Field. The loss snaps the Indians three-game winning streak against the Rebels dating back to last season. The Indians fall to 17-17 on the season while the Rebels improved to 28-6.
The Tribe struck first in the top of the second inning as junior Isaac Dillon led off the inning with a perfectly place bunt down the first base line for a single. Dillon advanced to second on an error by Ole Miss first baseman Stephen Head on a pickoff attempt. Junior Geoff Desmond followed with a line drive RBI single to center field to put ASU up, 1-0.
The Rebels responded against Indian starter Kyle Brown in the bottom of the second inning as Brown had some control problems early on. Chris Coghlan drew a four-pitch walk to start things off and advanced to third on a double down the third base line for Charlie Babineaux.
Miles Franklin followed with a bloop single that scored two runs and gave Ole Miss the lead. After inducing a ground out, Brown walked the next batter and allowed a run scoring single to second baseman Cooper Osteen to put Ole Miss up, 3-1.
Brown gave way to the Indian bullpen after just 1.1 innings of work as Karnie Vertz came on in relief. Vertz recorded the final two outs of the inning without allowing another run to score. Brown was charged with three runs on three hits in his first start of the season.
The Tribe broke through against Rebel starter Matt Maloney again in the top of the fifth inning as it strung together three straight hits to tie the game. Desmond led off the inning with a bloop single to left field. Catcher Chris Prothro lifted a long fly ball to left field that fell in for a double as the left fielder slipped on the slick grass.
Junior Monte Douglas ripped the first pitch that he saw back up through the middle that plated both Desmond and Prothro to tie the game at three apiece. The switch-hitting Douglas picked up his first hit from the right side this season.
The Rebels responded in the bottom of the fifth as they started off the inning with back-to-back singles off of Vertz. Brian Pettway picked up a sacrifice fly to left field to give Ole Miss the lead. The Rebels tacked on another run as Babineaux picked up an RBI on a ground ball to short to plate Head and give Ole Miss a 5-3 lead.
Maloney pitches six innings of work in just his second start of the season. He allowed just three runs on seven hits while striking out five ASU batters. Maloney gave way to fellow southpaw Taylor Fowler in the top of the seventh.
The Indians jumped on Fowler from the start in the seventh on a couple of strange plate appearances. Douglas led off the inning by striking out but he reached base on a passed ball by Ole Miss catcher Justin Brashear. Josh Allison followed and attempted to move over the runner but ended up reaching base on a bunt single. Burkhead followed as he dropped down a sacrifice bunt but reached on a throwing error by the third baseman that loaded the bases.
Freshman Hudson Smart followed with an RBI ground out to score Douglas. Shortstop Mike Sirianni came through with a run scoring single that brought home Allison to tie the game at five apiece. Fowler walked third baseman Chris Rich on four pitches, which prompted the Ole Miss coaching staff to end his night after just recording one out.
Brian Pettway, the starting designated hitter, came in on relief and was not helped at all by his defense. Dillon greeted Pettway with a sacrifice fly to score Burkhead and the throw in was cutoff and thrown past third base for the second error of the inning. On the error, Sirianni came home from second and Rich moved all the way over to third. Desmond followed with what would have been the third out but shortstop Matt Tolbert booted the ball for the third Rebel error of the inning and fourth overall.
Rich was able to score on the play to give the Indians an 8-5 lead. Fowler was the unlucky recipient of some porous defense as he was charged with five runs, all unearned in just a third of an inning of work.
Vertz gave way to the bullpen in the bottom of the seventh after giving the Indians a much-needed boost. Vertz finished the night after throwing 4.2 innings of relief as he held the Rebels to two runs on four hits.
The Tribe bullpen came through in a big way in the seventh as Stephen Tharp and Matt Hicks combined to hold Ole Miss scoreless in the inning. Tharp was able to induce the Indians second double play of the game to erase a leadoff single.
The Rebels were able to get to the bullpen in the eighth inning as Seth Smith came through with a leadoff home run in his first at-bat of the night. Hamilton was able to retire the next three batters in order to close out the eighth inning with an 8-6 ASU lead.
Junior Blake Ring came on to face the heart of the Ole Miss batting order. Head, a preseason All-America selection, ripped a led off triple to the center field wall. Pettway followed with an RBI double down the left field line to narrow the ASU lead to 8-7. Pettway moved to third on a passed ball to Prothro and Ring walked Coghlan on four pitches to put two aboard and no one out.
Ring induced a fielders choice to third baseman Rich who was able to trap Pettway in a rundown for the first out of the inning. Franklin dropped a bloop single into right field that allowed Coghlan to score from second base to tie the game at eight apiece. After loading the bases with an intentional walk, Barry Gunther drove in the game-winning run with a single through the hole at second base.
Ring (1-2) picked up the loss as he allowed three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning. He allowed four hits and walked two batters in just a third of an inning.
Pettway (1-2) picked up the win in relief as he threw 2.2 innings of scoreless baseball. He allowed just two hits as he shut down the Indian offense for the first time in the game.
Dillon and Desmond each picked up three hits in the loss as they continued to break out of their slumps. The win is the fourth time this season that Ole Miss has won a game in the final at-bat.
The Indians will resume conference play this weekend as they hit the road again and travel to Murfreesboro to take on the Blue Raiders of Middle Tennessee in a three-game series. Game one is set for Friday night at 7 p.m.
Middle Tennessee 6, Lipscomb 4
Murfreesboro, Tenn. - Middle Tennessee scored three times in the seventh and Steve Kline got his third save in four relief opportunities in a 6-4 victory over Lipscomb Wednesday night at Reese Smith Field.
The Blue Raiders fell behind 3-0 after two innings, allowing three unearned runs to the visiting Bisons with two costly errors. But Middle Tennessee fought back with a run in the third and two more in the fourth before the decisive seventh to post their fifth victory in six outings.
Kline, who has been delegated to the bullpen after struggling in six starts, worked 1.2 scoreless innings for his third save of the year and third in 11 days. Kline has picked up a save in three of his four outings and allowed just one run in 9.2 innings of relief work, striking out 13.
Middle Tennessee (21-12) chipped away at the lead after falling behind 3-0 early because of wildness by starter Jeff Kasser and shoddy defense.
Lipscomb (10-22) scored a run in the first after a leadoff double off the base of the centerfield wall by Brent Hastings. An infield single by Patrick O'Rourke followed, but the throw to first was wild and got away, allowing Hastings to score.
In the second Ryan Boyer reached on an error and Nick Cleckler was hit by the pitch. Kyle Jackson singled to left, scoring Boyer. Kasser then walked two batters, forcing in the third run of the contest for the Bisons.
Middle Tennessee finally got on the board in the third when Marcus Taylor drew a leadoff walk, Eric McNamee singled and Nate Jaggers plated Taylor with a groundout.
In the fourth the Blue Raiders got three straight hits to start the frame, singles from Brett Carroll and Shane Kemp, before a two-run double down the rightfield line by Derek Phillips tied the contest at three.
Kasser settled down after the first two innings, retiring 10 of his last 12 batters. The sophomore allowed three unearned runs on four hits in five innings in his second collegiate start.
The Blue Raiders used five hits to take the lead in the seventh.
Taylor led off with a triple after LU leftfielder Hastings fell down on the play. Chase Eakes ripped the first pitch from Bisons reliever Kyler Wetherington into leftfield, scoring Taylor for Middle Tennessee's first lead of the contest.
McNamee then singled, collecting his third hit of the game, his seventh three-hit game of the year and 19th multi-hit contest this season. Jaggers sacrificed both runners over with a bunt before Jeff Beachum chopped a single by a drawn-in infield, plating both runs for a 6-3 edge.
Middle Tennessee's Eric Blevins (3-1), making his first appearance in 12 days, worked 2.1 innings to get the victory, giving up one run on two hits. Blevins hit two batters in the eighth before Kline came on, getting out of the eighth with one run scoring before working a scoreless ninth.
Wetherington (0-4) took the loss for Lipscomb, allowing three runs on three hits in two-plus innings of work.
McNamee led Middle Tennessee's 10-hit attack with three hits, with Carroll chipping in two. Beachum and Phillips both had two RBIs.
The Blue Raiders host Arkansas State this weekend in a three-game series starting Friday at 7 p.m. Seven Middle Tennessee seniors will be honored prior to Friday night's game, departing performers in men's and women's golf and men's and women's tennis.