COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Led by an outstanding pitching
performance from senior Michael Alcorn, the Tennessee Tech baseball
team completed a three-game sweep of Ohio Valley Conference
opponent Jacksonville State with a 6-4 win Sunday.
Alcorn, a fifth-year senior, got the start on senior day, and
racked up 12 strikeouts with only one walk in the complete-game
win. “That pitching performance was truly heroic,” head
coach Matt Braggasaid. “For him to go out like that the last
time he will ever pitch on that mound, that’s just
phenomenal.”
Alcorn allowed four runs on seven hits in the performance, his
first complete game of the season.
“It felt really good to have that kind of game,” Alcorn
said. “Especially on senior day, and with our team needing to
win.”
The Golden Eagles (25-20-1, 10-11-1) took a pair of games from the
Gamecocks (28-20, 10-10) on Saturday, winning 5-1 and 5-3.
Alex Henry, Chad Oberacker, Ben Burgess, Evan Webb, and Chad Hayes
allhad an RBI for Tech, which got all six of its runs in the fifth
inning.
In that fifth inning, a pair of walks and a passed ball put runners
onsecond and third with no outs for Hayes, who knocked in a run on
aground out to the second baseman. Another walk put runners on the
corners with Henry up to bat, and he cashed in with an RBI single
toleft that scored Heath Cheverton. With two runners on and still
just one out, A.J. Kirby-Jones came to the plate, and drew an
intentional walk, to load the bases for Burgess. An RBI single from
Burgess scored a run and kept the bases loaded, and after Casanova
Donaldson fouled out, Webb drew a walk, scoring another run for
Tech. Another passed ball with the bases loaded scored Tech’s
sixth and final run of the inning.
“In baseball, the big inning is such an important part of the
game,”Bragga said. “Our guys have worked hard all
season long, and today we were fortunate to be on the right side of
the big inning.”
The Gamecocks would cut the deficit to 6-4 with a two-run homer in
the top of the eighth, but wouldn’t get any closer.
Ben Tootle, the OVC’s pre-season Pitcher of the Year, got the
loss forthe Gamecocks after pitching 4.1 innings and allowing just
one hit.
“It was really big for us to get him out of the game when we
did,”Bragga said. “He was tough to hit, but our guys
were patient and drew some key walks which helped get to
him.”
Burgess finished the day going 2-for-4 from the plate, and
Henry,Oberacker, Donaldson, Kirby-Jones and Cheverton each finished
with one hit.
The win put the Golden Eagles in good position to advance to the
OVC baseball tournament May 20-24 in Paducah, Ky. Tech is battling
with Eastern Kentucky and Austin Peay for the final two spots in
the six team tournament. The Golden Eagles conference schedule is
finished, as every other OVC team has three conference games left
on the schedule.
“If we don’t end up making it, then I guess it just
wasn’t meant to be,” Bragga said. “We did our job
this weekend, and we finished the regular season with a bang and we
left it all on the field.”
The Golden Eagles will travel to Southern Mississippi for a
three-game series May 14-16 to wrap up the regular season.