By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – In a rare occurrence for the 2022 season, the home run ball did not play in favor of the Tennessee Tech baseball team Saturday, as visiting Southeast Missouri evened the Ohio Valley Conference series between the two rivals by defeating the Golden Eagles, 9-4, at Quillen Field and Bush Stadium at the Averitt Express Baseball Complex.
The Redhawks (24-9, 8-3) cleared the wall five times in the second contest of the three-game series against Tech (19-13, 3-5), jumping on top immediately out of the gates. SEMO's Jevon Mason smacked a lead-off home run just inside the foul pole down the left-field line to kick things off.
Three batters later, the visitors made it a 4-0 lead in the first with a three-run dinger to right-center field off the bat of Andrew Keck. The Golden Eagles battle back in the second, using a slew of defensive miscues by the Redhawks to do a chunk of the damage.
First baseman Golston Gillespie led the frame off with a walk and designated hitter Hayden Gilliland followed with a single through the right side. Back-to-back passed balls allowed the purple and gold to plate its first run of the ball game. A throwing error on the next at-bat let catcher Will Long reach safely and put runners on the corners.
Second baseman Noah Hattier came up with a clutch base knock through the right side on an 0-2 count, driving in a second Tech run. Center fielder Austin Turner continued the hot stretch for the Golden Eagles, smacking his own single to his counterpart to load the bases.
Two batters later, third baseman Gabe Lacy drove in the third Tech run of the game with an RBI single to right-center field. Left fielder Jason Hinchman tied the game soon after, sending a sacrifice fly ball to left field to square things at 4-4.
SEMO jumped back on top in the fifth, with Keck collecting his second round-tripper of the game, a two-run blast to left-center field. In the ninth, Joel Vaske added a solo shot to center field and Tyler Wilber produced a two-run jack left-center field to round out the scoring.
Tech's Peyton Calitri was saddled with the loss after tossing four and two-thirds frames, allowing five earned runs and six total. Redhawk reliever Austin Williams picked up his fourth win of the season after completing the final five innings for the visitors, striking out nine with two hits allowed.
Brock Myers finished the final four and one-third frames for Tech, allowing just one earned run and three total with five punch-outs. Gilliland and Turner tied for the Golden Eagle lead with two hits each on the night.
Game three of the series is slated for a 1:00 p.m. CT first pitch on Saturday at Quillen Field.
File photo by Jim Dillon
