By Rob Schabert, Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Information
CHARLESTON, Ill. -- Tyler Brazelton, Kevin Strohschein and David Garza each slammed two of Tennessee Tech's eight doubles Saturday as the Golden Eagles (12-10/5-4 OVC) claimed a 14-2 victory at SIUE (4-16/2-7 OVC) to win the rubber game in the three-game Ohio Valley Conference series. Tech pounded out 18 hits.
Junior starter Michael Wood (3-0) worked five strong innings on the mound to earn the win, yielding just one earned run and striking out six. He didn't walk a batter and scattered eight hits.
Kit Fowler tossed three scoreless middle innings in relief with six strikeouts, allowing two hits. Jake Usher closed the door with a 10-pitch, scoreless ninth inning. He struck out one, giving the Tech staff 13 strikeouts on the afternoon.
Brazelton went 3-for-6 with five RBI, one of three Golden Eagles to collect three hits. Strohschein was 3-for-5 and Garza finished 3-for-4 with three RBI. Tech also got multi-hit games from Jake Farr, Ryan Flick, Chris Brown, and Trevor Putzig, each going 2-for-5. Brown collected his fourth home run of the season, his second in two game.
SIUE, which had scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth Friday to capture a 5-4 victory, didn't have the chance to mount that type of comeback Saturday as the Golden Eagles jumped to a quick 5-0 lead in the second inning and slowly added to the margin. The Golden Eagles put another five-spot on the scoreboard in the ninth, after entering the frame with a 9-2 lead.
Brown's first at bat came with one out and one runner aboard in the top of the second, and the junior catcher from Jackson, Tenn., launched a 1-0 pitch for a 2-0 lead. Three batters later, Garza doubled to make it 3-0, and Brazelton capped the rally with an RBI double to make it 5-0. In between, Alex Junior's sacrifice bunt brought home Strohschein to make it 4-0.
A single, passed ball and RBI single nu Jackson Layton in the bottom of the second made it a 5-1 difference, before Tech tacked on two runs in the fourth to chase SIUE starter Conner Buenger (0-5). Garza had an RBI double and Brazelton's added an RBI single up the middle for a 7-1 lead.
SIUE added a single run in the bottom of the fourth on a leadoff home run from Dustin Woodcock, before Tech tacked on single runs in the fifth and sixth to make it 9-2.
With two out in the ninth and the bases loaded, Junior added his second RBI when he was hit by a pitch, opening a five-run inning. Brazelton hit a bases-clearing, three-run double down the left field line, and Jake Farr's double delivered the final tally.
Buenger took the loss, allowing seven runs in three innings. He was the first of six SIUE pitchers.
Tech, which has won six of its last eight, will host Kennesaw State Wednesday in a 4 p.m. non-conference game in the Averitt Express Baseball Complex. Following that the Golden Eagles welcome Austin Peay for a three-game OVC series, April 1-3.
Photo by Patrick Clark, Athlete's Eye Photography
