By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
CHARLESTON, Ill. – A valiant, late rally came up just short for the Tennessee Tech baseball team Sunday afternoon, as the purple and gold fell in its Ohio Valley Conference series finale and rubber match at Eastern Illinois by a final score of 11-10.
Trailing by as many as eight runs after four innings, the Golden Eagles (14-27, 5-10) mounted a furious comeback that the Panthers (25-16, 6-9) managed to snuff out down the stretch. Much like game two in the series, Eastern Illinois attacked early and often to the tune of seven runs in the second inning.
The Cookeville crew answered in the third, much to the thanks of the continued, volcanic-hot play displayed by first baseman John Dyer. With a runner and one out, the slugger crushed a 2-2 offering to left field for a 2-run dinger.
The long ball represented his 16th of the year and made Dyer the 29th member of the OVC's 40-home run club. The Mt. Juliet native also tied a program record with his fifth-straight contest clearing the fences, a mark set by Matt Ballard back in 1992 and matched by Zach Stephens in 2012.
The Panthers responded with three unanswered runs, moving out front by a score of 10-2. In the top of the fifth, Dyer spoke up again on behalf of the purple and gold. The slugger clobbered a three-run four-bagger to left field with two outs in the frame, cutting the deficit to 10-5.
Dyer's 17th long ball of the year and 41st of his career gave the senior eight in his last nine games, a stretch bested only by Ryan Guardino with 10 dingers in seven games last season in program history. The Tech leader has been on a torrid pace the past month plus, piling up a whopping 16 round-trippers in the team's last 22 games and compiling a .413 average, .465 on-base percentage, 1.000 slugging percentage, 25 runs scored, 31 RBI, and six doubles.
EIU got back one more run in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI double, but Tech kept fighting as the game wore on. Right fielder Preston Ford led off the sixth with a solo tank to left-center field to keep the momentum building.
Later in the inning, shortstop Troy Baunsgard reached safely on an error by the opposing pitcher, allowing two more runs to score for the purple and gold. Dyer tacked on his sixth RBI of the day by beating out a double-play ball for a fielder's choice.
Tech continued one last charge in the sixth, with Ford once again leading things off with a solo nuke, this time to left field. TTU put a pair in scoring position with zero outs and eventually loaded the bases, but the Panthers escaped the inning without further damage, holding back the visitor's surge.
Both sides held the other scoreless over the next two innings, ending the Tech rally just one run short. Golden Eagle freshman Reece McDuffie completed two and two-thirds frames of scoreless relief down the stretch, allowing just two hits and two walks over that span.
Ford led the TTU offense with a 3-for-5 day, accounting for two runs and two RBI. Second baseman Eddie Garza tallied a pair of hits, as did Dyer, who also totaled six RBI and a pair of runs scored. Eight of Tech's nine batters in the ball game recorded at least on hit.
The Golden Eagles will now head back to Cookeville for another three-game, OVC set, playing host to SIUE starting Friday at 6:00 p.m. CT at Quillen Field and Bush Stadium at the Averitt Express Baseball Complex.
File photo by Emily Armstrong
