PADUCAH, Ky. -- A grand slam by freshman Ben Burgess highlighted
a six-run fifth inning, and Lee Henry struck out seven batters
through the first six frames to lift Tennessee Tech to a 9-5
victory over Southeast Missouri Wednesday afternoon in the first
round of the 2009 Ohio Valley Conference Baseball Tournament at
Brooks Stadium.
Tech (27-22-1) will now face No. 2 seed Murray State at 2:30
p.m.
Tech's win avenged a three-game sweep by SEMO earlier in the year
in Cookeville in the first OVC series of the year.
Henry (8-2), an All-OVC second-team selection, allowed only one hit
over the first four innings and finished the game with six strong
innings, allowing three earned runs without walking a batter.
Sophomore closer A.J. Kirby-Jones came in to pitch the final three
innings and pick up his third save of the season. Kirby-Jones
allowed two runs and struck out two.
"We couldn't ask for more out of Lee Henry," said Golden Eagle
coach Matt Bragga. "He really had his stuff today, and we got
exactly what we needed from him."
Tech threatened in both the first and second innings, getting two
runners aboard in each frame, but couldn't break through against
SEMO starter James Leigh. Finally, in the fifth, the Golden Eagles
exploded for six runs on just three hits, taking advantage of a
crucial Redhawk error.
Heath Cheverton walked and Alex Henry beat out a bunt, putting two
runners aboard with nobody out. Chad Oberaker laid down a sacrifice
bunt that Leigh fielded but his throw sailed over first base,
allowing Cheverton to race home with the first run.
With runners at second and third and nobody out, the Redhawks
elected to intentionally walk Kirby-Jones, the co-leader in the OVC
with 17 home runs this season. Instead, Burgess launched his third
home run of the season for the team's fourth grand slam of 2009,
making it 5-0.
"I don't blame SEMO one bit for walking A.J., but Ben is also a
great hitter and fortunately for us, today he made them pay," said
Bragga.
Todd Strahlendorf relieved Leigh, and Tech added another run on an
RBI groundout by Chad Hayes to build the lead to 6-0.
Southeast Missouri (26-24) answered back in the bottom of the
sixth, cutting the six-run advantage in half with two home runs.
With one out and Justin Wheeler on first, Tyrell Cummings blasted
an 0-2 pitch over the left field wall to make it 6-2. With one out,
Matt Wagner hit a solo home run to right field to make it 6-3.
Tech got all three runs back in the seventh one two hits and two
Redhawk errors. With one out, Evan Webb singled and Tate McMillan
walked. A walk to Cory Wright loaded the bases. Hayes hit a
grounder to third, and Webb slid home as the throw pulled the
catcher off the plate for an error.
When SEMO tried to turn a double play on a grounder by Heath
Cheverton, the relay throw to first was wild, allowing both Wright
and McMillan to score and make it 9-3.
The Redhawks made it interesting with two runs in the ninth off
Kirby-Jones, but the sophomore got out of the jam stranding two
SEMO runners. Nick Harris led off with a solo home run to make it
9-4. With one out, Trenton Moses walked and Tony Spencer singled to
put two runners aboard. After a fly out, Cummings singled to drive
home the fifth run.
Leigh (7-3) took the loss, allowing seven hits and six runs (four
runs) over 4.1 innings.
Wright had three of Tech's 11 hits, going 3-for-4 at the plate,
while Henry and Kirby-Jones collected two hits each. Harris had
three of SEMO's 11 hits, also going 3-for-4 for the Redhawks.
Wheeler and Cumming had two hits each.