By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Nearly matching its opponent in the hits column, the Tennessee Tech baseball team couldn't do the same in the runs department Friday evening, as the visiting Gamecocks of Jacksonville State took the first of three games in the two programs' Ohio Valley Conference series.
The Gamecocks (23-10, 12-1) captured the first win of the series, 9-3, behind 16 hits and a strong combination of pitching efforts from starter Graham Officer and reliever Nate Sylvester. The Golden Eagles (19-13, 9-7) managed 14 hits in the contest, but couldn't quite turn the base knocks into run production, scoring just three on the night.
Jacksonville State collected a 4-0 lead after its first two tries at the plate, scoring one in the first inning and three more in the second. Junior catcher Chris Brown seemed to breathe some life into the Golden Eagle offense, smashing a solo shot to dead center field on the first pitch of the frame. The Gamecock defense ended the early rally attempt, however, posting three quick outs to move to the third.
Trailing 5-1 in the bottom of the fifth, the Golden Eagles gathered their second marker of the contest, using an RBI double off the bat of Matt Jones to cut the lead to three.
The visitors tallied one more run in the sixth, taking a 6-2 advantage before some controversy took over the contest. Leadoff man Ryan Flick opened the bottom half of the inning with a single through the right side. Freshman Kevin Strohschein followed by ripping a double to right field, setting up David Garza with a chance at heroics.
The sophomore blasted a high fly ball to shallow left field, with Gamecock leftfielder A.J. Reynolds and shortstop Taylor Hawthorne both tracking it the whole way. The problem was, they never communicated and as the ball appeared to land in Hawthorne's glove, the two collided viciously. The ball hit the grass and both players went down for several minutes before gathering themselves to remain in the contest for the time being.
As for the call, the umpires deemed the ball to be held on long enough for the first out of the inning, a tough blow that the Golden Eagle fans strongly disagreed with. Even an argument from head coach Matt Bragga amounted to no change as the Gamecocks wisely called on the bullpen for a change.
Sylvester had to work 12 pitches for the final two outs, but the southpaw managed two strikeouts to end the frame and the threat. A few batters later, Reynolds blew the contest wide open with a three-run home run to left field for a 9-2 lead.
Tech recorded one more run in the contest, an RBI single from Flick, before Sylvester fanned the final batter of the game for his third save of the year. Officer picked up the win for the visitors, moving to 6-1 on the season.
Trevor Maloney pitched four relatively strong innings of relief in the contest, striking out seven Gamecocks before offering the mistake pitch for the three-run long ball. Senior Josh Pankratz worked a scoreless ninth as well.
Offensively, Strohschein kept his hot streak rolling, finishing 3-for-5 with a double and two singles. Jake Farr, Brown, Flick and sophomore Chase Chambers – who returned to the lineup after missing nine games with an injury – all posted multiple hits as well.
Game two in the series is set for a 2 p.m. CT start at Bush Stadium at the Averitt Express Baseball Complex Saturday afternoon.
Photo by Jim Dillon