By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – For so many reasons, it was a day to remember for the Tennessee Tech baseball team Friday, as the Golden Eagles (15-27, 6-10) took down Ohio Valley Conference rival SIUE (24-20, 7-9) in the teams' series opener in Cookeville, 14-9.
Prior to the contest at Quillen Field and Bush Stadium at the Averitt Express Baseball Complex, eight members of the purple and gold collected their respective bachelor's degrees at Tennessee Tech University's graduation ceremony in the Hooper Eblen Center. One more Golden Eagle ball player walked in the second ceremony of the day.
Nathaniel Allen, Will Long, Brock Smith, Nick Spardone, and Colt Taylor were among the group to graduate on Friday, joined by a quartet of others that made massive impacts on the outcome of the game. Theo Bryant IV, Nicho Jordan, Peyton Mills, and Jacob Morin all contributed heavily to the day's achievement.
The Cougars jumped out front right off the bat, gathering a two-run home run from the second batter of the contest. The Golden Eagles were quick to respond, with catcher Hayden Gilliland blasting a two-run double off the wall in center field to tie the game.
SIUE moved back in front in the second, using a solo dinger to take a 3-2 advantage, but Tech's graduates made sure to keep the day a big celebration. Following a lead-off double off the bat of second baseman Eddie Garza, it was Jordan providing the spark needed by the purple and gold.
The center fielder clobbered a two-run jack to right-center field to put the Golden Eagles on top for the first time. The towering moon shot marked Jordan's fifth of the year, but Tech was far from finished.
Two batters later, left fielder Austin Turner made some more fireworks, hammering a solo tank to right-center field for his second long ball of the year. Mills made it back-to-back nukes, smashing his 14th of the season to left-center field after working an eight-pitch at-bat. The third baseman's dinger made it a 6-3 Golden Eagle advantage.
Another SIUE home run made it a two-run ball game and marked the final score for either side until the fifth, thanks in large part to Jordan and his gold-glove-caliber defense. The Decatur, Ga. native made a leaping grab at the wall in center field, robbing the Cougars of a potential game-tying, two-run bomb.
In the bottom half, the Tech offense came back alive, with Garza at the forefront again. After the second baseman led things off with an infield single to third base, Bryant followed with an infield base knock to shortstop.
Jordan continued his incredible performance with the bat, destroying the first pitch he saw in the inning for a three-run no-doubter to right field. His second round tripper of the contest marked his sixth of the year and gave the Golden Eagles a 9-4 lead.
In keeping with the run of great play, Turner also uncorked a might swing for his second trot around the bases in the ball game, sending one clear over the fence in center field for his third bomb of the year. SIUE fought back with three more runs in the sixth, cutting the deficit to three.
Tech continued to lay it on offensively in the bottom half, with Bryant keeping the party alive with a lead-off knock to right-center field. The purple and gold proceeded to load the bases with one out, leaving Mills to deliver the dagger.
The Golden Eagle slugger laced a double to right-center field, clearing the bases for a 13-7 lead. First baseman John Dyer added one more to the plate for Tech, sending a sacrifice fly ball to the warning track in left field.
SIUE threatened to get back in the contest in the seventh, loading the bases and scoring once with no outs before Tech turned to Morin to get out of the jam. The right-hander delivered, forcing a fielder's choice that Mills fired to Gilliland for the first out. He followed it up with a strikeout and pop up, limiting the damage to just the one run.
A bit of bad luck allowed the Cougars to score one more time off Morin, as SIUE picked up a lead-off hit in the eighth that took a ridiculous hop at first base. Two batters later, the visitors blasted a laser that Dyer nearly corralled, but the senior's leaping grab saw the ball pop out of his outstretched glove for another hit.
A Tech miscue on defense allowed one run to score, but Morin dug deep for another punch-out and line out to center field to end the inning. He returned to the hill in the ninth, setting the side down in order to pick up his third save of the year.
Eight of Tech's nine batters picked up at least one hit on the day, with Jordan leading the way with three knocks, a team-high five RBI, three runs scored, and a walk. Turner scored a team-best four runs with a pair of hits and two RBI while Mills finished 2-for-5 with four RBI and two runs.
Garza finished 3-for-4 with a pair of runs scored while Gilliland, Dyer, and Bryant all produced a pair of hits. Starter Hunter Mann racked up eight strikeouts in the contest on his way to his third victory of the season, walking just one in six innings of work.
Game two of the series is slated for a 2:00 p.m. CT first pitch Saturday afternoon at Quillen Field. The contest is slated to be streamed live on ESPN+ with Dylan Vazzano on the call.
Photo by Jim Dillon
