By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
LEXINGTON, Ky. – An incredibly long day at the ballpark, full of massive ups and downs emotionally and on the scoreboard, finally went in favor of the Tennessee Tech baseball team Thursday (and into Friday), as the Golden Eagles (30-25) outlasted Southeast Missouri on the second day of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament for an 11-10 victory.
Having won back-to-back elimination games on Wednesday to secure a place in the double-elimination portion of the bracket, the No. 6 seeded Tech squad arrived at Wild Health Field ready to go to battle with the No. 2 Redhawks (34-20) in a scheduled 2:00 p.m. CT affair. Things just didn't really go to plan.
Before the contest could commence, the purple and gold saw a one-hour delay to first pitch with expected inclement weather in the area. Starting at 3:00 p.m., the Golden Eagles made the first inning count.
With two outs and third baseman Gabe Lacy on first after getting plunked by a pitch, Tech turned to Ryan Guardino for the early fireworks. The Golden Eagle right fielder blasted a two-run shot to right field, just clearing the 16-foot wall for his 16th home run of the year and a 2-0 lead.
Southpaw Brock Smith toed the rubber for the purple and gold in the bottom half as rain began to fall, working a 2-2 count to the Redhawk lead-off batter before the skies truly opened up and forced a pause in action. Both sides endured a four-hour, 48-minute rain delay, finally resuming play at 8:00 p.m.
The oddities of the day/night were hardly over, if not just beginning. Southeast Missouri opted to replace its starter after the lengthy delay, and Tech first baseman John Dyer greeted Tommy Windt to the contest in style. The slugger crushed the first pitch from Windt to left-center field for his 12th bomb of the year and 24th of his career.
Designated hitter Luke Jones followed by striking out on a full count, but reached safely at first after a wild pitch on the final strike got away from Redhawk catcher Andrew Keck. Following a walk to second baseman Noah Hattier, center fielder Austin Turner took his turn at first courtesy of a catcher's interference call at the plate.
Shortstop Ed Johnson worked a full count of his own before Windt was forced to leave the contest with an apparent injury. Blake Cisneros took over for SEMO, missing with his first pitch to walk Johnson and allow a Tech run to cross safely. Lacy then sent a long fly ball to right field for a sacrifice fly and another marker for the purple and gold.
Two batters later, Guardino kept things alive with an RBI single through the left side. Following the chaos, the Golden Eagles looked comfortably ahead at 6-0.
Southeast Missouri showed its resolve, answering a two-run home run off the batt of Keck to cut into the Tech lead. Smith escaped further damage to move onto the third. Quick work of the Golden Eagles sent the Redhawk bats back out for the bottom half, chasing Smith with a lead-off walk.
The home team went on to draw two more walks off Tech reliever Colt Taylor with one out, but the side-winder gathered himself enough for a punch-out and pop up to escape the jam. Both sides traded quick zeroes in the fourth, with Taylor picking up two more strikeouts to take things into the fifth.
The Redhawks held Tech off the scoreboard again in the fifth, and during warm-ups for the bottom half, Taylor was forced to exit the contest with an injury. SEMO took advantage of the sophomore leaving the ball game, collecting a solo dinger and two-run smash to pull within a run.
Golden Eagle veteran Tyler Sylvester came in from the bullpen, fanning a pair to prevent further damage and secure the lead at 6-5. Johnson provided some insurance in the sixth, hammering a solo jack to left field for his third round-tripper of the tournament and 14th of the season. It marked Tech's 10th tank of the tournament, tying the program record set in 2017 for the league's annual event.
In the bottom of the sixth, SEMO struck what looked like a crushing blow to the Golden Eagles, collecting an RBI double, RBI single, and RBI ground out off of Sylvester to take its first lead of the night at 8-7. Austin Williams took over for the Redhawks, collecting three outs with just one baserunner to take the contest into the bottom half.
Sylvester returned to the bump for Tech, gathering two swift outs with a strikeout and ground out. After throwing one strike to the next batter, the senior right-hander was also forced to leave the game prematurely with an injury. Southpaw Daniel Holley entered for the Cookeville crew, using one pitch to force another ground out and end the frame.
The Golden Eagles then went to work at the dish. Switch hitter Golston Gillespie pinch hit for his first action of the tournament, drawing a five-pitch walk. Rookie Jackson Green took over as a pinch-runner and Hattier promptly moved him over to second base with a perfect sac bunt. Turner then produced the biggest hit of the night yet, ripping the first pitch he saw down the right-field line for a game-tying, RBI double.
After a ground out by Johnson moved Turner to third, Lacy smashed an 0-1 offering the other way to right-center field, one-hopping the wall for an RBI double and 9-8 Tech lead. SEMO elected to intentionally walk left fielder Jason Hinchman after the senior crushed four long balls on day one of action, his third free pass of the night.
Guardino worked a six-pitch free trip to first next, the team's 10th of the game, loading the bases for catcher Hayden Gilliland. The Golden Eagle backstop delivered, grooving a two-run double to the left-center field gap for two massive insurance runs and an 11-8 advantage.
Taking over on the hill, Travis Odom worked quickly through the Redhawk lineup, gathering a strikeout, ground out, and fly ball to Turner in right-center field. He returned in the ninth, but was lifted after surrendering back-to-back hits and then a two-run double to SEMO first baseman Lincoln Andrews.
Frankie Cresta made his way to the mound from the bullpen with no outs and the tying run at second and wasted no time in punching out the first batter he saw on three pitches. The right-hander secured a ground out next, with Andrews advancing 90 feet to put the tying run at third.
After walking the next batter on a borderline pitch inside, he regrouped quickly to force soft contact and a groundout to Lacy at third. After picking up his first win in the purple and gold Wednesday evening against Morehead State, Cresta earned his first save of the season on the biggest stage of the season.
Guardino led the way with three RBI on two hits while Johnson, Lacy, and Gilliland all drove in two runs each. Eight different Golden Eagles drew walks, with Hinchman collecting three of his own. Holley (3-0) picked up his third win of the year after tossing just a single pitch on the night.
Tech picked up its 30th win of the season for the 12th time in program history, including the ninth time under the direction of head coach Matt Bragga. The victory secured the Golden Eagles a place in the semifinals of the OVC Tournament, with a 2:00 p.m. CT match-up set against No. 1 seeded Belmont Friday afternoon.
The winner of that contest between in-state rivals will advance to the championship game on Saturday while the loser will play a second game Friday evening at 6:00 p.m. against the winner between the day's first tilt between No. 5 SIUE and Southeast Missouri.
Photo by Thomas Corhern
