By Rob Schabert, Assistant A.D. for Sports Information & Broadcasting
MARTIN, Tenn. – The first time Chase Chambers left the yard Monday gave Tennessee Tech a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning.
The next time he drove it out of the park came in the fifth inning, a three-run shot that gave the Golden Eagles plenty of breathing room on the way to a 9-3 Ohio Valley Conference victory at UT Martin.
The two-homer day for Chambers helped Tech (10-8/3-3 OVC) claim the series from the Skyhawks (3-13/1-2 OVC) by winning two-out-of-three. A freshman from Knoxville, Tenn., Chambers went 2-for-5 with six RBI to pace Tech's 11-hit attack. Jake Farr, Dylan Bosheers and Matt Cunningham also collected two hits apiece.
That offensive firepower backed a sensational pitching performance from starter Travis Moths (1-1), who struck out 11 over six innings on the hill for his first career collegiate win. The freshman from Louisville, Tenn., scattered five hits and walked two.
Jacob Honea and Jeb Scoggins shared the work over the final three innings. Honea worked 1.1 innings, allowing two runs on four hits with three strikeouts and one walk, while Scoggins slammed the door over the final 1.2 scoreless innings. He yielded one hit and claimed the 15th strikeout of the game for the Golden Eagle staff.
UT Martin managed 10 hits, with Andrew Castillo delivering three base knocks. Andrew Massey and Taylor Douglas each had two hits.
Skyhawk starter Alex Martin (0-3) took the loss, allowing seven runs over six innings. He walked three and struck out five. UT Martin got one inning each from Cole Schaenzer, Chris Flores and Gary Price, as the four pitchers combined for 10 strikeouts.
Jake Farr singled and scored on Chamber's blast down the right field line in the top of the opening inning to stake Moths to a 2-0 lead. The long ball was the first of the young man's career.
UT Martin put runners at second and third in the bottom of the inning on a pair of doubles before Moths coaxed back-to-back strikeouts to escape the threat.
Tech made it 3-0 in the second as Jordan Hopkins walked, stole second and scored on an RBI single from Cunningham. Chambers figured in Tech adding another run in the third for a 4-1 lead. His smash to second forced an error and plated Bosheers, who had set the stage with a one-out triple to right field.
The Skyhawks got one run back in the bottom of the fourth after Moths retired the first two batters. Austin Taylor was hit by a 2-2 pitched and moved to second on a balk. A single to left by Luis Paublini drove home Taylor. The threat escalated when Paublini advanced on a wild pitch, Matt Hirsch walked and Mikey Nantze was also hit by a pitch to load the bases, before Moths settled down and ended the inning with a strikeout.
Holding a 4-1 lead, Tech added three in the fifth as Farr singled, Bosheers walked and Chambers belted his second of the day to right field to make it 7-1.
Each team added a single run in both the seventh and eighth innings to account for the final scoring. For Tech, Bosheers doubled in the seventh and scored on a double by Ryan Flick. In the Tech eighth, the Golden Eagles put two runners in scoring position and notched a run on a sacrifice fly by Farr to score Andrew Contreras.
The Skyhawks got a seventh-inning, RBI single from Castillo to score Massey, and in the eighth Massey added an RBI single to drive home Paublini. That brought in Scoggins, who got the final two outs of the inning and pitched around a one-out single in the ninth by wrapping up the contest with a double-play ball.
Tech faces No. 4 Vanderbilt Tuesday night in Nashville, then returns to OVC action this weekend to host SIUE Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The Cougars will come to town with a 6-0 OVC record and a hold on first place in the league standings.
Photo by Jim Dillon