HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- The Tennessee Tech baseball team dropped
its regular season finale Saturday, falling in the final game of a
three-game series at Southern Miss. 7-2. However, the Golden Eagles
clinched a spot in the Ohio Valley Conference tournament when UT
Martin beat Jacksonville State in league play.
USM got off to a quick start, with a run in the second and third
innings, before rallying for four more in the fifth to go up 6-0.
Tech got a pair of runs back in the top of the eighth, when an
error in the outfield allowed Alex Henry and Heath Cheverton to
score, but wouldn’t come any close.
Cheverton finished the game 2-for-3 from the plate, and Chad
Oberacker, A.J. Kirby-Jones, and Evan Webb each went 1-for-4.
Freshman Chad Hayes pitched the final three innings for the Golden
Eagles, allowing just one run.
Tech finished the regular season 26-22-1 and 10-11-1 in the OVC,
and earned the fifth seed in the OVC tournament, which will take
place in Paducah, Ky. May 20-24. The Golden Eagles will face the
No. 4 seed Southeast Missouri in the first game of the tournament
on May 20 at 2:30 p.m. The Redhawks swept a three-game series from
Tech in Cookeville during the regular season.
Heading into the day, Tech needed either Jacksonville State or
Eastern Kentucky to lose in order to receive a berth in the
tournament. Both team lost Saturday, which helped Tech earn the No.
5 seed. Eastern Illinois is the regular season champion, and is the
No. 1 seed, while Murray State earned the second seed, and both
teams will have first-round bye’s in Paducah. Morehead State
earned the No. 3 seed, and will face No. 6 Jacksonville State.