By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Two huge innings helped propel the Tennessee Tech baseball team past Eastern Michigan Saturday evening, as the Golden Eagles rallied from an early 3-0 deficit for a big, 13-5 victory at Quillen Field and Bush Stadium at the Averitt Express Baseball Complex.
With the win, the Golden Eagles claimed the series with a 2-0 lead heading into the finale on Sunday, set for a 1:00 p.m. CT first pitch. Saturday's tilt saw a two-hour delay to the start due to rain and sleet in the Cookeville area, but the wait would prove to be worth it for Tech fans.
It took the purple and gold a couple of innings to get going, but once the team started to click, the runs came in droves. Eastern Michigan kicked things off on the day, smacking a two-run home run in the first and plating another runner in the second to take an early 3-0 lead.
Catcher Hayden Gilliland delivered the first response for the purple and gold, smashing an oppo taco to left-center field for his first long ball of the season. After blanking the visiting Eagles in the third, Tech took control of the game for good in the bottom half.
Following a leadoff walk to third baseman Gabe Lacy, first baseman Golston Gillespie created more fireworks for the Golden Eagle fans to celebrate. The slugger crushed his first official round-tripper of the season (he crushed a three-run bomb in Tech's midweek tilt at No. 16 Tennessee that is currently suspended due to rain and awaiting completion), plating a pair to tie the game.
Unfinished with the frame, Gilliland drew his own free pass before right fielder Ryan Guardino singled to left field. Two pitches later, designated hitter Eric Newsom laced a double to left-center field, driving in another score to push Tech on top 4-3. Later in the frame, shortstop Ed Johnson busted the game open, peppering a two-run single up the middle for a 6-3 lead.
In the fifth, Eastern Michigan looked to cut into the Tech lead with a solo home run, but the Cookeville crew was quick to answer again in the bottom half. With the bases loaded, Lacy earned an RBI the hard way, getting plunked to move the lead back out to three.
Left fielder Jason Hinchman took his turn next, rocketing a single up the middle to drive in a pair and make it a 9-4 Tech advantage. An RBI single to left-center field off the bat of Gillespie put Tech in double digits for the fourth straight game. Gilliland made it another five-run inning, sneaking his own RBI single just inside the left-field line.
Lacy took his first trot around the base paths of the year to lead off the seventh, blasting a solo jack to left-center field. In the eighth, Hinchman made it 13 runs for the Golden Eagles, racking up another RBI single up the middle.
Eastern Michigan snagged one more run on a solo shot in the ninth, but Colt Taylor wrapped the game up for the purple and gold, completing two and one-third frames. Matt Gelorme earned the win out of the bullpen on the day, tallying two and two-thirds innings of relief with a trio of punch-outs. Carter Gannaway started the contest, working the first four frames with four strikeouts.
Six Golden Eagles tallied multiple hits in the contest, led by three each from Johnson, Hinchman, Gilliland, and Newsom. Both Hinchman and Gillespie totaled three RBI while Johnson, Lacy, and Gilliland accounted for two RBI each.
Photo by Thomas Corhern
