By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Strong pitching efforts and continued offensive success led the Tennessee Tech baseball team to a huge, doubleheader sweep of Ohio Valley Conference rival SIUE Saturday, as the Golden Eagles (17-27, 8-10) completed a 3-0 weekend over the Cougars (24-22, 7-11) to catapult to fifth in the league standings.
The purple and gold kicked off the day with a 7-5 victory over the visitors from Edwardsville, Ill., and followed it up with a 9-7 win in the second contest, earning its first series sweep of the season. Tech piled up a whopping 25 hits on the day and received a plethora of clutch pitching.
In the first game of the day, SIUE opened the scoring with a two-run home run for the second straight day. The Golden Eagles were quick to respond, with shortstop Troy Baunsgard clobbering a lead-off bomb to left field on the second pitch. It marked his eighth of the year and cut the deficit in half.
Later in the frame, catcher Hayden Gilliland ripped an RBI single through the left side, driving in left fielder Austin Turner from second base. The outfielder singled earlier in the frame and stole second base to set up the game-tying hit.
In the third, first baseman John Dyer continued his incredible tear, blasting his 10th long ball in as many games out to deep left field to give Tech the lead. It represented the senior's 18th of the year and 42nd of his career.
The Cougars squared things up in the fifth with a lead-off long ball, but TTU hurler Brock Smith dug deep and orchestrated back-to-back strikeouts to escape a jam with runners on second and third. The Tech offense made sure to have the southpaw's back, taking back the lead in the bottom half to secure his second win of the season. Smith ended the day with five innings pitched, four hits allowed, four runs allowed, six walks, and five strikeouts.
Center fielder Nicho Jordan opened the clutch frame for the purple and gold with a base knock to right field and Baunsgard followed with a walk. Turner laid down a sacrifice bunt to move them over and Jordan scored later in the frame on a balk to retake the lead. Two batters later, Gilliland made it a 5-3 ball game with a sacrifice fly to left field.
SIUE picked up a run in the sixth to cut the Tech lead to two, but the home squad fought back with two more in the bottom half. With runners on first and second and two outs, third baseman Peyton Mills blooped a ball out to shallow right field that found grass and drove in a pair for a 7-4 advantage.
The visitors managed one more run in the seventh, using another lead-off dinger to make it a 7-5 contest. With one out and runners on first and second, senior Colt Taylor took over on the mound for the Cookeville crew and walked the first batter he faced to load the bases. The right-hander flipped the script two pitches later, inducing a ground ball up the middle that Baunsgard grabbed, stepped on second base, and fired a pellet to Dyer at first for an inning-ending double play.
Taylor worked a scoreless eighth, working around a one-out walk to keep the Tech win alive. With the potential, game-tying run at the plate, the sidewinder turned in back-to-back swinging strikeouts to end the frame.
After earning his third save of the season with three innings of masterful work on Friday, Jacob Morin answered the call again for the Golden Eagles in the ninth. The right-hander struck out the first batter he faced before inducing a pair of fly balls to the outfield to lock down the win. He earned his fourth save of the year with the clean inning.
All nine of Tech's batters recorded at least one hit in the contest, with Theo Bryant IV and Turner leading the way with two each. Jordan, Baunsgard, and Turner each scored a pair of runs while Mills and Gilliland both tallied two RBI.
It was déjà vu again to start game three of the series, as the Cougars kicked things off with a two-run jack for a 2-0 lead in the first inning. It took a little longer the previous two tilts, but the Golden Eagles did provide a response, scoring in the second on a lead-off tank off the batter's eye in center field by Gilliland, his sixth of the year.
The Cougars picked up another run in the third to move out front 3-2, but Tech starter Tyler Zarella limited the damage to give his offense time to give him room to work. The purple and gold did just that in the bottom half, exploding for a five-spot.
Jordan led things off with a base knock and moved to third on a single down the left-field line by Baunsgard. Thanks to a throwing error by the SIUE left fielder, Jordan scored on the same play to cut the deficit to one. Turner squared things at 3-3 two pitches later, blistering a double down the first-base line to drive in Baunsgard.
Far from finished, the Golden Eagles loaded the bases to set up Gilliland for an RBI, bloop single down the left-field line and the lead. Designated hitter Preston Ford made it a 5-3 advantage with an RBI groundout off the Cougar hurler and second baseman Eddie Garza added one more to the tally with a sac fly to right field.
In the fifth, the TTU crew plated an insurance run on an RBI ground ball by Bryant, turning in a 7-3 lead. SIUE finally chased Zarella in the sixth, scoring once before rookie reliever Brody Lanham ended the scoring threat. Zarella picked up his third win of the season behind five and one-third frames on the hill, allowing just one earned run, four total runs, and one walk with five strikeouts.
Tech added two more key markers to the scoreboard in the sixth, with Dyer extending his hitting streak to 16 games with an RBI double down the left-field line. Gilliland accounted for the second ribbie, plopping a single into left-center field for a 9-4 advantage.
The visitors managed a solo shot in the eighth and a two-run jack in the ninth to trim the Golden Eagle lead to a pair, but Lanham closed things out down the stretch, inducing a foul out and two flyouts to secure his third save of the season and complete the sweep for the purple and gold.
Eight Golden Eagles piled up hits in the second contest, with Gilliland shining to the tune of a 4-for-4 effort with three RBI and two runs. Turner, Garza, and Jordan all managed a pair of knocks each while Baunsgard and Dyer each scored a pair.
The Golden Eagles are slated to hit the road for their final midweek tilt of the season, heading to Lexington Tuesday evening for a 5:30 p.m. CT match-up at Kentucky.
Photo by Jim Dillon
