COOKEVILLE, Tenn. --- There were plenty of hits to go around Saturday afternoon in game two of Tennessee Tech's Ohio Valley Conference series against Murray State, but it was TTU's Ben Burgess who would have the biggest hits, including a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth to give Tech the 12-11 win.
Trailing 11-10 with one out in the eighth, Burgess stepped into the batter's box and cranked his third home run of the season on the first pitch to knot up the score at 11.
Still tied at 11 in the bottom of the ninth with one out, TTU pinch-hitter Tevis Sherfield singled to center and advanced to second after Austin Wulf walked. A fielding error loaded the bases for Burgess who then drove in the game-winning run with a single to left field.
Cullen Park (2-3) earned the win as he threw four innings, while giving up three runs, two of which were earned. Will Handlin (3-1) took the loss as he gave up the winning run after throwing 0.2 of an inning.
From the start of the game, the batters on both teams tallied hit after hit as both starters were eventually chased from the game by the fourth inning.
MSU starter Cameron Finch threw just 1.1 innings as the Golden Eagles posted a seven-run second inning, in which gave up five earned runs on four hits and three walks.
TTU starter Matthew Shepherd gave up five runs in 3.1 innings while striking out two. Murray State opened the game with a two-run first inning, and managed to add two more in the third and one in the fourth to pull within two of TTU at 7-5.
Tech responded with a three-run fifth inning, only to see MSU answer right back with a three-run inning of its own in the sixth inning to pull back within two at 10-8.
Murray State was able to muster another three run-inning in the top of the eight to regain the lead at 11-10, but the late-inning heroics of Burgess rallied Tech past MSU for the 12-11 win.
Five Golden Eagles recorded at least two hits in the game including Michael Morris and James Abraham who each tallied three. Wulf and Burgess each drove in a team-high three RBI.
Six Murray State batters posted a multi-hit game as well, including Travis Isaak and Jacob Rhodes who each notched three. Rhodes, along with Dylan Wheeler, each drove in a team-high three runs.
The Golden Eagles will look to complete the sweep Sunday at 1 p.m.