By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – It may have taken over six hours to complete, but there was just no stopping the Tennessee Tech baseball team from walking away with a victory Friday afternoon as the Golden Eagles (12-17, 6-8) took down Ohio Valley Conference rival Eastern Illinois (0-23, 0-11) in an 11-5 decision at Bush Stadium at the Averitt Express Baseball Complex.
With thunderstorms and heavy rain just as much a part of the game Friday as hot dogs and peanuts, the Golden Eagles focused on one thing. Scoring runs. And they wasted little time accomplishing that.
In the bottom of the first, Tech started early, gathering the early 1-0 lead behind an RBI single by Chase Chambers up the middle. Two batters later, freshman Ryan Flick kept his torrid pace over the past five games rolling with a two-out, two-run double to left center field. Just like that, the Golden Eagles were on top 3-0.
Eastern Illinois crossed two across the plate in the top of the second, making things far more interesting until the Tech bats got their second turn. With the first two runners of the inning reaching, left fielder Tyler Brazelton came to the plate for his second at bat in the same amount of innings. He singled to center to drive in another Tech run and keep the offense rolling.
Senior David Allen followed, reaching on a bunt single that found no man's land towards the third base line. With the bases juiced, All-American Dylan Bosheers drove in a second run for Tech in the inning, sending a long sacrifice fly ball into foul territory just shy of the wall in right field. Two batters later, catcher Jordan Hopkins jumped the Golden Eagle lead to 6-2 with an RBI double to right center field.
The Panthers snagged a quick run in the top of the third, using a solo shot by Cale Hennemann to get to Tech starter Evan Fraliex, but the sophomore hurler settled into a groove over the next three innings.
Tech plated another run in the bottom of the fourth, with Hopkins delivering on a sac fly to right field. Eastern Illinois did manage to etch out one more marker in the top of the sixth, cutting the Tech lead to just 7-4 with the home squad due up in the bottom half.
And that's when Mother Nature took over. Before the Golden Eagle could get to the plate, lightning in the area forced what would turn into a delay of roughly one hour, ending a solid performance on the mound for Fraliex. The right-hander provided six innings of work, scattering eight hits while allowing three unearned runs and four total. He also fanned six Panther batters, his highest strikeout total of the season.
With the poor weather seemingly subsided, Tech took its turn with the sticks in the bottom half of the sixth, jumping on reliever Andy Fisher immediately with a single by Brazelton through the left side. A David Allen sacrifice bunt moved the sophomore into scoring position with Bosheers coming to the plate. The senior singled to right field, but Brazelton was forced to hold up at third base.
It barely mattered, however, as Hopkins drew a six-pitch walk to load the bases for the increasingly dangerous Ryan Flick. The designated hitter earned an RBI the hard way, taking a pitch off the wrist to drive in Tech's eighth run of the game. With the bases still loaded, it was time for another Golden Eagle youngster to shine.
Second baseman Trevor Putzig came to plate with a huge opportunity at his disposal and the freshman delivered. Putzig took a 3-2 pitch the opposite direction through the right side, driving in two runs and giving the Golden Eagles a commanding 10-4 lead. What made the moment so much more important was what happened next.
Heavy rain and more lightning found its way into the Cookeville area, forcing the Golden Eagles to tarp the field and once again wait for an opening. The weather apparently liked the area a little too much, however, forcing a three-hour delay in the middle of the sixth inning before finally opening a short window to just squeeze in the final three inning of the contest.
Both sides worked quickly over the final three frames, with each side trading one run to bring the long, grueling day to an end with an 11-5 victory for the Golden Eagles.
Tech received a huge boost out of the bullpen from senior Jeb Scoggins, who covered the final three innings for the Golden Eagles with great efficiency. The right-hander allowed two hits and run to score while also walking two batters in extremely windy and wet conditions. But he also set down a career-high seven batters on strikes over the final nine outs, collecting his second save of the season in the process.
As for the Tech bats, Ryan Flick led the way with three RBI on the day, bringing his season total to a team-high 33. The freshman is now batting .500 over his past four games, scoring five runs and driving in seven on eight hits. He has a double and two home runs for a slugging percentage of .938 and also owns an on base percentage of .579, all for that span.
David Allen went a perfect 3-for-3 at the dish on the day, scoring three runs while laying down three bunts, including two for base hits and another as a sacrifice. Brazelton and Bosheers each tallied multi-hit games as well, scoring two runs apiece and driving in one each.
Seven Tech players gathered at least one hit in the contest, seven garnered at least one walk and six drove in at least one run.
The Golden Eagles will go for the series sweep over the Panthers on Saturday with first pitch set for a 2 p.m. CT start.
Photo by Jim Dillon
