By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – A pitchers duel on paper went in favor of the home squad Friday evening, as the Tennessee Tech baseball team fell to Little Rock at Gary Hogan Field in the programs' first Ohio Valley Conference series against each other by a final score of 7-0.
A match-up that pitted the league's ERA leader against the second-best strikeout pitcher in the conference went in favor of the Trojans (28-18, 13-5) and starter Jackson Wells. The right-hander, who sported an OVC-best 1.51 ERA entering the evening, outdueled, Tech's Hunter Mann, who boasted 70 punchouts prior to Friday.
Wells held the Golden Eagles (17-29, 8-11) scoreless through eight and one-third frames on the night, piling up 11 strikeouts and holding the visitors to six hits and one walk. He also hit two batters in the contest.
Mann pitched relatively well, allowing two earned runs in the first, including one on a wild pitch, and two unearned markers in the third. Over five innings, the righty fanned seven batters with just one walk and nine hits allowed.
The Trojans picked up three more runs over the sixth and seventh frames off reliever Andrew Guardino, who finished the ball game for the purple and gold in a huge performance to save the bullpen.
Two Golden Eagles kept impressive season streaks rolling in the contest, starting with senior John Dyer. In the fourth inning, the first baseman ripped a single to center field, extending his career-long hitting streak to 18 games. It now ranks tied for the sixth-longest in Tech single-season history and tied for seventh overall in program history.
Leading off the sixth, shortstop Troy Baunsgard peppered a single up the middle to keep his remarkable reached-base streak intact, rolling the mark up to 43 consecutive games. It represents the third-longest streak in school history, both for a single season and overall.
Overall, Dyer led the purple and gold with two of the team's six hits while four other Tech batters, Baunsgard included, picked up one. Dyer was also hit by a pitch, giving him three trips to first base on the night.
Game two of the series in Little Rock is slated for a 4:00 p.m. CT first pitch Saturday afternoon.
File photo by Jim Dillon
