By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
CHARLESTON, Ill. – Consistent pressure with the bats and a pair of strong pitching performances propelled the Tennessee Tech baseball team to an 8-3 victory to open its Ohio Valley Conference series at Eastern Illinois Friday afternoon.
The Golden Eagles (14-25, 5-8) were quick to give their starting pitching a lead to work behind, plating a pair in the opening frame with a hefty attack. Left fielder Austin Turner ripped a one-out single through the left side and scored all the way from first just two pitches later.
Third baseman Peyton Mills drove in the speedster, peppering a double down the left-field line for the 1-0 lead. The purple and gold doubled its lead over the Panthers (23-16, 4-9) later in the frame, with designated hitter Preston Ford lifting a base knock to center field to drive in Mills.
Junior hurler Hunter Mann opened the contest with a pair of scoreless innings before the home squad finally pegged a run off the right-hander. The Panthers used some small ball to cut the deficit in half, using a lead-off single, sac bunt, wild pitch, and sacrifice fly ball to right field to do the damage.
Following the run, Mann retired the next seven batters in order before EIU worked its way back to a tie. In the bottom of the sixth, a lead-off walk and subsequent throwing error on an attempted double play on a pop-up allowed the Panthers to put a runner on third with just one out.
Eastern Illinois scored the tying run with two outs on another Tech defensive miscue. With the EIU runner caught in no man's land on a wild offering, the Golden Eagle throw to attempt to catch him missed its target and sailed into the outfield.
The Tech offense immediately made up for the defensive mistakes, going back on top for good in the top of the seventh. Center fielder Nicho Jordan beat out a bunt to the pitcher for an infield single with one out and shortstop Troy Baunsgard made it two runners on base with a base hit to center.
Working a full count, Turner provided the biggest swing of the ball game on the sixth pitch he saw. The lefty blasted a three-run jack to right field, clearing the wall for his first round-tripper of the season and 5-2 Tech lead. For good measure, first baseman John Dyer smashed a dinger of his own two batters later, pulverizing a solo shot to left-center field for his 13th trot around the bases on the year.
The Panthers chased Mann from the ball game after the first two batters reached to open the bottom half of the frame, but right-hander Jacob Morin came on in relief and limited the home attack to just one run on another sac fly.
Tech added another run to its lead in the eighth, with right fielder Theo Bryant IV reaching on a bunt single to first base to lead off the inning. The junior scored later in the frame on a wild pitch for a 7-3 lead.
After Morin held the EIU offense off the scoreboard in the eighth, the Golden Eagles added one more insurance run for the final 8-3 score. Dyer returned to the dish and promptly clobbered a 2-2 offering to left-center field for a lead-off nuke and his second long ball of the day.
The senior's 14th blast of the season also marked the 38th of his career, breaking a tie he reached earlier in the contest with former All-American slugger Ryan Flick for sixth on the program's all-time career home run charts. With two more tanks, Dyer can become just the sixth player in program history to reach 40 home runs in their career.
Morin finished off the win for the Golden Eagles with a scoreless ninth, capping off a three-inning effort out of the bullpen. The redshirt junior earned his second save of the year while limiting the Panthers to two hits and a walk.
Mann picked up his second win of the year behind a quality start, tossing six innings with three hits, three runs, and three walks allowed. The fireballer racked up four strikeouts in the contest as well.
Turner led the bats with a 3-for-4 day at the dish, picking up a walk, two runs, and driving in a team-high three runs. Dyer, Ford, and Jordan all tallied multiple hits in the contest while all nine Tech hitters produced at least one base knock.
The purple and gold will look to win its second straight OVC series Saturday afternoon, facing off with Eastern Illinois in game two of the weekend in Charleston. First pitch has been pushed up to a 10:30 a.m. CT start at Coaches Stadium, with potential inclement weather threatening the area.
File photo by Jim Dillon
