By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – A back-and-forth affair for the first half of Sunday's contest, the Tennessee Tech baseball team fell victim to the theme of the weekend, a big inning on the scoreboard by an offense.
Unfortunately for the Golden Eagles (14-12, 6-6), the scoring barrage belonged to Austin Peay in the series-deciding contest, as the Governors (16-10, 8-4) plated six in the top of the sixth inning on their way to a 9-4 victory.
The visitors lit up the scoreboard first in the rubber match, snagging a 1-0 lead off an error and sacrifice fly. Tech answered immediately, however, as redshirt freshman Alex Junior led off the bottom half of the frame with a single to center field. A single by senior Jake Farr advanced the speedster to third, giving him plenty of room to dent home plate on an RBI base knock off the bat of junior Chris Brown.
The Golden Eagles took over the lead in the bottom of the third, loading the bases off a base hit from junior Matt Jones and walks to sophomore Ryan Flick and Brown. Third baseman Trevor Putzig cranked a 1-1 pitch out to right field, allowing Jones to tag up for a sacrifice fly and 2-1 Tech advantage.
The Govs took their turn in answering, taking an RBI ground out off the bat of Alex Robles following a leadoff double by Ridge Smith, knotting things up at 2-2. Once again, Tech snagged a one-run lead, using a mammoth long ball from Flick to go up 3-2 in the bottom of the fifth. The solo shot bounced off the green monster in center field for the designated hitter's team-leading sixth dinger of the season.
And then the sixth inning came to pass. Austin Peay scored six runs, including five earned, in the frame jumping out to an 8-3 lead that left everyone in Bush Stadium not wearing red in total shock.
Austin Peay reliever Jared Carkuff put together a masterful performance for the visitors on his way to his second win of the year, finishing the final four and one third innings of the contest while allowing just two hits and one earned run.
Tech did manage to cross home plate once more on the afternoon, gathering an RBI single off the bat of Putzig in the bottom of the seventh inning. The Govs had an answer in the eighth, providing the final score of 9-4 with a single run in the top half.
The Golden Eagles will now ready themselves for a four-game road stretch, beginning with a trip to Alabama A&M Tuesday afternoon. The contest is set for a 3 p.m. CT first pitch and will serve as the midweek prep for Tech's Ohio Valley Conference series at Eastern Illinois next weekend.
Photo by Jim Dillon
