COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech baseball team took
advantage of a six-run seventh inning to cruise to a 12-6 victory
over Ohio Valley Conference foe UT Martin Sunday, taking the series
two games to one.
UT Martin (14-24, 3-10) jumped out to a 4-2 with the help of a
three-run fourth, but Tech (21-17, 7-9) got one run back in the
bottom of the fourth with a pair of singles from Cheverton and
Hayes, and a sac bunt from from Alex Henry to make the score 4-3.
Each team added a run in the fifth inning, and Tech made it 5-5 in
the bottom of the sixth, before breaking out in the deciding
seventh inning.
The big inning started when Casanova Donaldson reached on an error
to lead off the inning. Tate McMillan then singled to put runners
on first and second, and after Evan Webb grounded out, the Skyhawks
intentionally walked Heath Cheverton to get to Chad Hayes with the
bases loaded, a move they would come to regret almost immediately.
A ground-rule double by Hayes scored McMillan and Cheverton to
break the tie.
“I don’t think they were expecting Chad to hit a
two-run double, but he really pulled through for us, and you can
expect to see a lot of that out of him in the future,” head
coach Matt Bragga said.
Another error in the inning helped Alex Henry reach first, which
scored Cheverton from third. Singles from Chad Oberacker and Ben
Burgess scored two more runs, and in his second at-bat of the
inning Donaldson hit an RBI sac fly that brought in the sixth run
of the inning for the Golden Eagles.
Hayes finished the day going 3-for4 from the plate, with two RBIs
and three runs scored. Oberacker also had a three-hit day, going
3-for-6 with two RBIs. Donaldson finished 2-for-4 from the plate
with three RBIs, and hit his second home run of the season, and
A.J. Kirby-Jones went 2-for-3 with an RBI, and double, a single,
and two walks, including an intentional pass to load the bases in
the fourth.
“If they want to put me on base, that’s great,”
Kirby-Jones said. “That helps the team, it gave us a bases
loaded situation with our four-hole hitter coming up and we have a
lot of confidence in Ben Burgess.”
Kirby-Jones also got the win on the mound for Tech, as he pitched
the final 4.2 innings, allowing only an unearned run on three hits,
while fanning five Skyhawk batters.
“It’s fun being a guy that does everything,” said
Kirby-Jones, who started the game as a designated hitter, and also
plays first base. “Especially when it helps the team win,
that’s what our goal is.”
The win sealed a two-to-one series victory for Tech, which is now
7-9 in the OVC after starting 1-7. The Golden Eagles have two
conference series remaining, as they travel to Murray State for a
three game series next weekend, before wrapping up OVC play at home
against Jacksonville state May 9 and 10. Every other OVC school has
three conference weekends remaining.
The Golden Eagles entered the day in sixth place in the league, and
are working to hold on to a top six spot in order to advance to the
conference tournament May 20-24 in Paducah, Ky.
“Obviously everybody would like to be in first place, but we
like where we’re at,” Bragga said. “Our guys are
practicing extremely hard, and getting better everyday, so
we’re confident that we’ll be where we want to be at
the end of the day.”
Tech continues its action with a non-conference home game against
Alabama A&M at 6 p.m. on Monday, before traveling to Western
Carolina for a single game on April 29. The Golden Eagles will then
take on the Thoroughbreds of Murray State on May 2 and 3. Admission
to Tech home baseball games is free.