By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – A special day on the mound and clutch hitting early lifted the Tennessee Tech baseball team (10-20, 2-4) to a 4-3 victory over Ohio Valley Conference rival Lindenwood (7-25, 4-5) on a rainy Saturday afternoon at Quillen Field and Bush Stadium at the Averitt Express Baseball Complex.
Golden Eagle hurler Hunter Mann set the tone right out of the gate for the purple and gold, striking out the side in what would become the theme for the right-hander throughout the contest. The junior picked up his first win in a Tech uniform, tossing six innings with a whopping 11 punch outs without issuing a free pass. He held the Lions to just three runs, two earned, on five hits.
After fanning 12 batters in a tough-luck, six-inning outing last weekend at Morehead State, Mann became the first Golden Eagle to punch out 10 or more in back-to-back outings since David Hess back in the 2014 campaign. The Columbia State CC transfer also became the first Tech pitcher to post multiple 10-strikeout performances in the same season since Hess recorded three such outings in the 2014 season.
Following Mann's red-hot start to the ball game, the Golden Eagle offense back him up with an instant lead. Catcher Hayden Gilliland lifted a one-out, base knock to right field before third baseman Peyton Mills piped an infield single to the shortstop up the middle.
Two batters later, a scorching hot John Dyer delivered the big blow of the day on offense with an incredible, 10-pitch at-bat. With two outs, the Tech first baseman fouled off four pay-off pitches before finally connecting with one squarely and blasting a three-run bomb down the left-field line.
The jack marked the fifth-year senior's eighth of the season and the 32nd of his career. Dyer now ranks in a tie for eighth in program history for career long balls, matching the efforts of former Tech sluggers Jeremy Bonczynski (1996-97), Matt Ballard (1989-92), and Steve Hawkins (1984-87). Each of the three Golden Eagles listed with Dyer held at least a share of the program's record for career round-trippers until A.J. Kirby-Jones set the new standard in 2010 and finished with 51.
In the second frame, Mann chalked up two more Lions to his strikeout tally before the Golden Eagles added a very important insurance run. Designated hitter Will Long legged out a triple to right-center field to open the bottom half, scoring two pitches later on an infield single off the bat of center fielder Nicho Jordan.
With a four-run lead behind him, Mann went on cruise control through the next two innings, securing one punch out in the third and two more swing-and-miss outs in the fourth. The Lions finally got the Golden Eagle fireballer in the fifth with a little help from the field conditions.
Mann's command struggled a bit with a wet and sticky mound, as the junior plunked the lead-off man and gave up an RBI double to left-center field to the next batter. Following some work to the mound, the righty got his first out on a sacrifice bunt by the visitors.
Lindenwood plated its second run of the game on a defensive miscue on the next play, but the Golden Eagles immediately gathered a huge second out as Gilliland threw out the base runner trying to steal second after he slid off the bag.
The Lions pulled within one on a solo tater that just cleared the fence down the left-field line, but Mann forced a flyout to escape the inning without further damage.
The visitor's bullpen did a great job of bending but not breaking over the final six frames, scattering four hits and one walk, but it was no match to the job by Mann and the Tech bullpen. Mann returned to the hill for the sixth and secured two more strikeouts to end his day.
Jacob Morin took over in the seventh and pitched around a lead-off walk to lock down the first inning. The redshirt junior needed just four pitches to pick up a pair of quick outs in the eighth, including a three-pitch strikeout, but a two-out walk gave the visitors some life.
For the second time in the game, Gilliland came up huge, gunning a bullet to shortstop Tanner Shiver who corralled a high throw and laid down an impressive tag mid-air for the final out of the frame. Morin struck out the first batter of the ninth before running into a little jam with a walk and base hit surrendered to a pair of pinch hitters for the Lions.
Head coach Matt Bragga went back to the pen to call on rookie Brody Lanham for the final two outs of the day. The freshman was spectacular, fanning the first batter he faced before inducing a weak ground ball back to himself for the final out of the contest. Lanham earned his second save of the season with the performance in the high-leverage situation.
Dyer stayed hot at the dish to pace the Tech bats, finishing 2-for-4 with three RBI while scoring a run. Shiver also turned in a multi-hit day, producing a pair of doubles in three at-bats. Left fielder Austin Turner joined the two-hit club as well.
The Golden Eagles will head back out on the road for a five-game swing, starting with a midweek rematch in Nashville against in-state rival Lipscomb on Tuesday. After besting the Bisons in Cookeville, 10-5, back on Feb. 28, the Tech squad will head to Dugan Field for a 6:00 p.m. CT tilt.
Photo by Jim Dillon
