By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
Tennessee Tech Baseball Weekend Preview (Apr. 13)
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech baseball team returns to Ohio Valley Conference action with an early, weekend home series against Southeast Missouri starting Thursday, Apr. 14 with a 6:00 p.m. CT tilt at Quillen Field and Bush Stadium at the Averitt Express Baseball Complex.
Game two of the series will commence at 5:00 p.m. Friday evening while the finale will feature a 1:00 p.m. first pitch on Saturday. The weekend marks a brief return home for the purple and gold before hitting the road again for a five-game stretch starting next Tuesday at No. 11 Vanderbilt.
The Golden Eagles enter the weekend series fresh off one of the biggest victories in program and school history, becoming the first team in Tech history to defeat a No. 1-nationally ranked opponent. Tech edged Tennessee while playing a wood-bat contest at Smokies Stadium, home of the Tennessee Smokies, the Double-A Minor League affiliate of the Chicago Cubs.
It marked just the second loss of the season for the Vols and snapped the Knoxville crew's 23-game winning streak. Slugger Eric Newsom provided the big swing to give Tech the lead, smashing a two-run home run to center fielder off fireball hurler Ben Joyce. Reliever Carter Gannaway was brilliant out of the bullpen, tossing five and two-thirds frames of no-hit ball with a career-high nine strikeouts.
This season, the purple and gold rank eighth nationally in home runs per game (1.80), 15th in home runs (54), and 21st in slugging percentage (.504). Tech leads the Ohio Valley Conference in batting average (.301), slugging percentage, on-base percentage (.396), hits (329), home runs, home runs per game, sacrifice flies (16), and total bases (550).
Slugger Jason Hinchman has paced the Golden Eagle offense, ranking second nationally with 15 home runs and a mark of 0.50 home runs per game. His 59 career round-trippers are just three shy of tying both the program and OVC records held by former Golden Eagles Zach Stephens and Kevin Strohschein.
Southeast Missouri comes into the series after falling in a 3-2 decision against Southern Illinois, dropping its first home contest of the season against the Salukis. Overall, the Redhawks boast the most wins in the OVC, sitting at 23-8 on the year and a 7-2 mark in league play.
SEMO also owns claim to one of the top offenses in the OVC, leading the league in runs scored (240) and RBI (228) while ranking second in slugging percentage (.496), doubles (60), home runs (52), total bases (526), and walks (149).
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Tennessee Tech vs. Southeast Missouri | Thursday, Apr. 14, 6:00 PM
Cookeville, Tenn. | Quillen Field at Bush Stadium (1,100)
Tennessee Tech vs. Southeast Missouri | Friday, Apr. 15, 5:00 PM
Cookeville, Tenn. | Quillen Field at Bush Stadium (1,100)
Tennessee Tech vs. Southeast Missouri | Saturday, Apr. 16, 1:00 PM
Cookeville, Tenn. | Quillen Field at Bush Stadium (1,100)
TENNESSEE TECH GOLDEN EAGLES
2022 Record: 18-12
2022 OVC Record: 2-4
Head Coach: Matt Bragga
TTU: 464-404-2 (16th Season)
Career: 515-480-3 (19th Season)
STATS LEADERS
AVG: Ed Johnson (.388)
2B: Gabe Lacy (10)
3B: Ed Johnson / Austin Turner (1)
HR: Jason Hinchman (15)
RBI: Jason Hinchman (41)
R: Ed Johnson (36)
BB: Hayden Gilliland (21)
SLG%: Jason Hinchman (.766)
OB%: Jason Hinchman (.456)
SB: Ed Johnson (2)
ERA: Peyton Calitri (3.27)
W: 3 players tied (3)
APP: Colt Taylor (12)
IP: Peyton Calitri (52.1)
K: Peyton Calitri (39)
BAA: Connor Adams (.235)
SV: Jackson Berry (2)
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI REDHAWKS
2022 Record: 23-8
2022 SEC Record: 7-2
Head Coach: Andy Sawyers
SEMO: 141-126 (6th Season)
Career: 228-153 (8th Season)
STATS LEADERS
AVG: Tyler Wilber (.363)
2B: Andrew Keck (10)
3B: Jevon Mason (3)
HR: Tyler Wilber (11)
RBI: Tyler Wilber (45)
R: Jevon Mason (40)
BB: Peyton Leeper / Jevon Mason (22)
SLG%: Tyler Wilber (.702)
OB%: Brett Graber (.459)
SB: Jevon Mason (12)
ERA: Jason Rackers (4.08)
W: Kyle Miller (5)
APP: Blake Cisneros (15)
IP: Jason Rackers (39.2)
K: Jason Rackers (41)
BAA: Jason Rackers (.268)
SV: Kyle Miller (6)
Photo by Thomas Corhern
