By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – An early hole proved too much for the Tennessee Tech baseball team to climb out of Tuesday evening, as the Golden Eagles fell to visiting North Alabama, 8-4, at Quillen Field and Bush Stadium at the Averitt Express Baseball Complex.
The Lions (8-12) didn't need long to make an impact on the scoreboard, using a pair of solo home runs and an RBI single to take a 3-0 lead in the first frame. It Tech (12-9) a minute, but the purple and gold responded with a single marker in the second.
Center fielder Nicho Jordan led things off with a double down the right-field line. Third baseman Tanner Shiver worked a full count before ripping a single through the right side to plate the first run of the game for the Cookeville crew.
North Alabama gathered another solo shot in the third to move the advantage back out to three, but the Golden Eagles still had something to say about it. Catcher Hayden Gilliland waited patiently at the plate before securing a seven-pitch free pass with two outs in the bottom of the third.
Jordan followed by clobbering a 2-0 offering to right field, clearing the wall for a two-run long ball. It marked the slugger's fourth dinger of the season and pulled Tech to within a single run.
That would represent the closest the purple and gold would come on the night, as the Lions took advantage of four Tech miscues on defense during the contest to score two more runs in the fifth and two in the seventh.
In the eighth, left fielder Austin Turner attempted to get the Golden Eagles right back in it, peppering an RBI single up the middle. That would be it for the Tech squad, however, as the Lions secured its victory.
Jordan led the Golden Eagles with three hits, two RBI, and two runs scored while both Turner and designated hitter Eddie Garza each tallied a pair of knocks. Brody Lanham completed 1.2 innings on the hill while allowing just one hit and one walk while Jack Erdman flung 1.2 innings with a pair of punch outs and no runs allowed.
Making his first career appearance on the mound, Lawson Stricklin tossed a hitless ninth frame, striking out the side along the way.
The Golden Eagles officially open Ohio Valley Conference action this weekend at Southern Indiana, starting with a 6:00 p.m. CT tilt in Evansville on Friday, March. 22.
File photo by Jim Dillon
