By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
MOREHEAD, Ky. – Leads in a pair of games proved to not be enough for the Tennessee Tech baseball team to walk away victorious Sunday afternoon, as the Golden Eagles saw Ohio Valley Conference foe Morehead State rally for two wins to close out their weekend series at Allen Field. The Eagles took home victories of 10-7 and 4-3.
In the first contest of the day, the purple and gold battled back and forth with its longtime league foe, falling behind early, 2-0. Tech (9-17, 1-2) fought back for a run in the second courtesy of an RBI ground out off the bat of first baseman John Dyer.
In the fourth, Dyer went back to work, ripping an RBI double to left-center field to square the contest at 2-2. Morehead State (15-12, 5-1) fought right back, striking for a three-spot in the bottom half of the frame thanks to a three-run home run off the bat of Riley Preece, the Eagles' MVP of the series.
Trailing 5-2, the Golden Eagles chiseled away a run in the fifth thanks to an RBI single up the middle from third baseman Peyton Mills. Tech then took its first lead of the contest in the sixth, starting the scoring with a sacrifice fly from shortstop Nick Spardone to pull within one. Eddie Garza stepped in as a pinch hitter and promptly delivered in the moment, doubling to right-center field for a pair of RBI and 6-5 advantage.
The purple and gold pushed its lead to a pair in the seventh, with right fielder Preston Ford leading off the frame with a long ball on the first pitch he saw. It marked his second of the season and moved Tech out front 7-5.
Morehead State was quick to tie the contest, however, picking up an RBI double and scoring the tying marker on a wild pitch. In the eighth, the home Eagles completed the comeback, moving in front on a squeeze bunt that brought in the game-winning run. For good measure, Preece clobbered his second dinger of the ball game to right-center field later in the frame, plating a pair for the 10-7 victory.
Dyer finished game one 2-for-5 with a pair of RBI while Garza added two RBI of his own. Ford tallied a pair of hits as well.
The two teams turned right around and kicked off the second contest of the day, a seven-inning affair shortened due to OVC travel policies. Tech's Hunter Mann and Morehead's Luke Helton kicked off a pitcher's duel to open the tilt, with neither side allowing a hit through the opening four frames.
The Tech offense finally broke through in the fifth, with second baseman Troy Baunsgard ripping a single through the right side with one out. Dyer followed with a base knock to left field and two batters later, left fielder Austin Turner drew a free pass to load the bases with two outs. Center fielder Nicho Jordan made patience pay dividends for the second straight batter, earning his own walk with the bases juiced to drive in a run and make it a 1-0 ball game.
Almost like a light switch, the Eagle offense flickered on to life, tying the contest with a lead-off double and RBI single right off the bat. Mann locked down back-to-back strikeouts before another base hit on a 1-2 count brought Preece to the batter's box.
Mann got ahead of the slugger with another 1-2 count, but the Morehead center fielder won the at-bat, smashing a three-run jack to right-center field for a 4-1 lead.
Never deterred, Tech fought back with a run in the sixth, rallying with two outs thanks to a walk drawn by Ford. Two pitches later, Baunsgard drove him in, lacing a double to right-center field to cut the deficit to 4-2.
Mann held the Eagles off the scoreboard in the sixth, completing a very solid showing on the mound while giving the Golden Eagles a shot at forcing extras. His team very nearly accomplished the feat, as Turner ripped a one-out double to left field.
Fighting to stay alive on a 1-2 count, Jordan tripled to center field, easily driving in Turner and putting the tying run just 90 feet away with just one out. Morehead rallied for a strikeout before turning to the bullpen for the final out of the contest, inducing a groundout to second base.
Baunsgard accounted for two of Tech's six hits in the game while Jordan finished 1-for-1 with team-highs of two RBI and two walks. Mann tossed all six innings for the purple and gold, striking out a career-high 12 batters with five hits, four runs, and two walks allowed. His 12 Ks marked the most by a Tech hurler since Marcus Evey fanned 13 UT Martin hitters back on Mar. 9, 2018.
The Golden Eagles will wrap up their seven-game road swing Tuesday afternoon with a 4:00 p.m. CT tilt at in-state rival Belmont.
File photo by Austin Slough, Queens Athletics
