By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
JACKSON, Tenn. – Just when it was needed most, three senior members of the Tennessee Tech baseball team stepped up and led their squad to victory Wednesday evening, as the No. 4 seeded Golden Eagles (26-27) took down the No. 5 seeded Jacksonville State Gamecocks (29-26) in the opening contest of the 2015 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament, 5-3.
Experience proved key for the Tech squad, which used pitching performances from a couple of senior arms, as well as a huge day at the plate from the most tenured player on the squad, to capture a victory in the first round of the league tournament.
Tossing potentially his final career start in the purple and gold, senior Chris Chism made every pitch count on the day, keeping the Jax State offense relatively at bay to capture his eighth victory of the season. Despite waiting through a two-hour rain delay to even being the contest, Chism looked strong right of the gate, requiring just eight pitches to set down the Gamecocks in order, 1-2-3.
A native of Tampa, Fla., he essentially cruised the remainder of the game, allowing just three earned runs over six and two thirds innings pitched on nine hits. He walked two while striking out six as part of a 105-pitch outing that proved to be just what the Tech squad needed for a great start to the postseason.
The Golden Eagles wasted little time capturing the early momentum, scratching two runs across the plate in the bottom of the first. After a quick out to leadoff the frame, sophomore Anthony El Chibani ripped a single up the middle, the first of two hits on the day for the right fielder. Fellow sophomore Tyler Brazelton joined his teammate on the base paths seven pitches later, driving a 2-1 offering through the left side for a base knock to put runners on first and second.
Enter senior All-American Dylan Bosheers. One of the players to ever suit up for the Tech program, the shortstop showed off some veteran leadership in his first at bat, working from behind in the count to force a 3-2, do-or-die pitch from Jax State's Zachary Fowler. Bosheers singled through the left side, driving in the first Tech run of the evening. The Golden Eagles snagged one more run in the frame, taking advantage of a Gamecock error late in the inning to take a 2-0 lead.
Jax State bounced back in the second, collecting its own run after an RBI single by Elliot McCummings drove in Tyler Gamble, who had led off the inning with a seven-pitch walk. Two innings later, the Gamecocks evened the score thanks to a solo home run to right field by Ryan Sebra. Just like that, things were knotted at 2-2.
And the score stayed that way for six more outs. That is until Bosheers decided to play hero for the Golden Eagles squad.
In the bottom of the fifth, El Chibani collected his second hit of the night, leading off the frame with a single to right field. Once again, Brazelton followed his fellow outfielder with a base hit of his own, collecting an infield single to shortstop to set up Bosheers for the heroics.
After fouling off the first pitch, the Lawrenceburg, Tenn. native stayed aggressive at the dish, finding the pitch he wanted on the very next attempt by Fowler. Bosheers took the pitch the other way, clearing the right field wall for a clutch, three-run tater and providing his squad a crucial 5-2 lead. On the night, the senior would finish 3-for-4 with all four Tech RBI.
The Gamecocks did manage to grab one more run in the contest, using a two-out double by All-OVC First-Teamer Paschal Petrongolo to cut the Tech advantage to 5-3. The third Tech senior hero of the night took over from there, as closer Jeb Scoggins entered the ball game with two gone in the seventh and end a Jax State scoring threat.
The right-handed hurler went on to cover the final two and one third innings, notching his sixth save of the year after allowing just one hit and one walk. He also fanned two batters while helping Tech move to 16-5 on the year after scoring in the first inning.
Offensively, the Golden Eagles pounded out 13 hits on the day, grabbing three from freshman Chase Chambers, two from freshman Trevor Putzig, two each from Brazelton and El Chibani and three from Bosheers.
With the three-hit performance, Bosheers now sits just seven away from tying the Tech program mark for career hits set by Zach Stephens last season. The senior slugger also moved into 10th in career base knocks in OVC history.
The Golden Eagles will now await the winner of Wednesday's second match-up between No. 3 SIUE and No. 6 Belmont to determine when they will play Thursday. A win by the Cougars means a 7 p.m. CT contest against No. 1 Southeast Missouri while a Bruin victory would equate to a 3 p.m. affair with No. 2 Morehead State.
Fans can follow all the action of tomorrow's contest via live stats, radio broadcast or webstream. Dylan Vazzano will be on the call with Mike Lehman providing color commentary on FM 107.7 WHUB and AM 1400 The Hub while fans can also watch the Tech squad live on the OVC Digital Network.
Photo by Tony Schmidt, Jacksonville State Sports Information
