CHARLESTON, Ill. – The Tennessee Tech baseball team
continued Ohio Valley Conference play Sunday, dropping a double
header at defending champion Eastern Illinois, 25-5 and 2-0.
The teams played two seven inning games Sunday after a double
header was rained out on Saturday.
The Golden Eagles (11-10) couldn’t get out of their own way
in the first game, committing seven errors, while walking 10
batters and allowing nine unearned runs.
Eastern Illinois (17-5) led 4-0 after the first inning, and rallied
for 12 runs in the second, putting Tech away for good. The Golden
Eagles would get a pair of runs in the fourth inning off a Brandon
Crossman two-run homer which scored Chad Oberacker, but the
Panthers had an answer, scoring two runs of their own in the bottom
half of the frame.
Freshman Ben Burgess went 3-for-3 from the plate in the first game,
with an RBI, and Crossman went 2-for-3 with three RBI along with
his home run. Kirby-Jones went 2-for-4 and scored a run in the
contest.
Ryan Dennick pitched 2.2 innings in relief, and all seven runs he
allowed were unearned.
The second game was a different story. With Jared Dobbs getting the
start, and working 2.2 innings, and Lee Henry pitching 3.1 innings
without allowing a hit, the Tech defense allowed just two runs on
four hits without committing an error. However, this time Tech
pitchers had no run support, as Mike Recchia pitched a complete
game two-hit shutout for the Panthers.
Dobbs didn’t allow a walk while striking out three batters in
his effort, before Henry allowed only one base-runner, giving up a
walk in the 3.1 innings he pitched.
Kirby-Jones and Oberacker each had a hit in the second game, but
the Tech bats couldn’t find an answer for Recchia.
Burgess and Kirby-Jones each went 3-for-65 from the plate for the
day, while Trice Powers had one hit in two at-bats. Crossman went
2-for-6 in the two games, with a team-high three RBIs.
The Golden Eagles return home for a single game on Tuesday, March
31 against Alabama A&M of the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
Tech leads the all-time series against the Bulldogs 1-0. The game
starts at 6 p.m. in Bush Stadium. Admission of free.