By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech baseball team visits Marion, Ill. and Marion Stadium for the 2024 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament presented by SERVPRO starting Wednesday, May 22. The No. 5 seeded Golden Eagles are set to square off with No. 8 UT Martin in an elimination game at 9:00 a.m. CT.
Should the Golden Eagles defeat the Skyhawks, they would then take on No. 4 Southern Indiana in a 4:00 p.m. tilt on Wednesday, also a single elimination contest. Fans can follow all action throughout the tournament on ESPN+.
THE SERIES
Wednesday's contest marks the 93rd match-up since 1949 between the two programs, with the Golden Eagles owning a 58-36 lead in the series. Last season, Tech claimed three of the four meetings with the Skyhawks, including a tilt in the OVC Tournament.
Competing in Cookeville during the regular season, the purple and gold took the series opener with a 13-7 win, backed by an eight-spot in the third inning alone. UT Martin answered with a huge offensive day in game two, cruising to a 16-2 decision to square things up.
The Golden Eagles took care of business in the rubber game, tossing an 11-0, seven-inning shutout while holding the Skyhawks to just five hits. Tech dropped a whopping seven runs in the sixth frame alone. The two in-state foes went toe-to-toe in an elimination game at the OVC Tournament, as the purple and gold used spectacular pitching and stellar defense to secure a 7-3 win and advance to the semifinals.
Tech had a tough go at UT Martin this season, dropping three OVC contests on the road. The Skyhawks used big early innings in the first two contests to earn wins of 7-2 and 15-6. In the finale, UT Martin went hitless through the first 5.1 innings before breaking through and pulling out an 8-4 victory.
LAST TIME OUT
The Golden Eagles dropped three contests with OVC regular-season champion Little Rock over the weekend, closing out the regular season in Cookeville. The Trojans picked up wins of 15-6, 16-4, and 10-7 to secure the series sweep.
TEAM NOTES
Known historically under the watch of long-time head coach Matt Bragga as one of the premier, home-run slugging programs in the country year in and year out, this year's Golden Eagles squad sports a slightly different look on offense. The 2024 edition still ranks third in the OVC in long balls, but it's been the patience and speed that has shined during the season.
Heading into the weekend, the Golden Eagles ranked tied for 28th in the nation in triples as a team, boasting 17 so far on the year. Tech also ranked tied for 25th nationally in walks, drawing 293 this year to lead the OVC.
Left fielder Austin Turner paces the group with a whopping 57 in 52 games, ranking fourth nationally and second in a single season in program history. Boasting 130 in his Tech career, he now ranks third in program history for walks, boasting nine more than current teammate and Golden Eagle catcher Hayden Gilliland, who ranks seventh with 121. Turner's eight career triples rank eighth in program history while his 133 runs scored rank tied for 18th and his 27 steals are tied for 23rd. Turner and infielder Tanner Shiver are both tied for 39th in the nation with four triples each.
Gilliland has climbed a number of career record charts for the purple and gold in his senior campaign in addition to the all-time walks list. He currently ranks tied for 12th in home runs (30), 14th in on-base percentage (.430), 17th in RBI (131), tied for 19th in hits (195), and 23rd in runs (122). Defensively, he now ranks second in program history with 51 runners caught stealing, trailing Britt Clubb (2002-05) by five for the all-time record.
Peyton Calitri has been special on the bump, ranking third nationally with a walks/nine innings mark of 1.03 and sixth with a strikeout/walk ratio of 7.90, fanning 79 batters with just 10 free passes on the year. He also has been ascending the all-time career leaderboards, ranking second in walks/nine innings (2.10), third in strikeout/walk ratio (3.49), sixth in starts (40), tied for eighth in wins (17), tied for ninth in strikeouts (185), 11th in innings pitched (227.2).
Tech head coach Matt Bragga is starting to climb the OVC's all-time coaching wins list, tying for sixth place overall. Bragga and TTU Sports Hall of Famer David Mays represent the only pair of coaches from the same school to rank in the league's top eight of OVC wins.
| 1. | Gary McClure, Austin Peay (1988-15) | 847 | ||
| 2. | Johnny Reagan, Murray State (1958-93) | 776 | ||
| 3. | Jim Ward, Eastern Kentucky (1980-01) | 628 | ||
| 4. | Jim Case, Jacksonville State (2004-21) | 564 | ||
| 5. | David Mays, Tennessee Tech (1974-98) | 554 | ||
| 6. | Matt Bragga, Tennessee Tech (2004-18, 22-present) | 526 | ||
| Mark Hogan, Southeast Missouri (1995-12) | 526 | |||
| 8. | Jim Schmitz, Eastern Illinois (1997-15) | 480 | ||
| 9. | John Stanford, Middle Tennessee (1974-87) | 402 | ||
| 10. | Steve Peterson, Middle Tennessee (1988-00) | 401 |
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#5 Tennessee Tech vs. #8 UT Martin | Wednesday, May 22, 9:00 AM
Marion, Ill. | Marion Stadium (7,000) | Video | Live Stats
TENNESSEE TECH GOLDEN EAGLES
2024 Record: 29-25
2024 OVC Record: 13-14
Head Coach: Matt Bragga
TTU: 526-478-2 (18th Season)
Career: 577-554-3 (21st Season)
STATS LEADERS
AVG: Preston Ford (.339)
2B: Troy Baunsgard (19)
3B: Tanner Shiver / Austin Turner (4)
HR: Hayden Gilliland (13)
RBI: Hayden Gilliland (56)
R: Austin Turner (51)
BB: Austin Turner (57)
SLG%: Hayden Gilliland (.576)
OB%: Hayden Gilliland (.436)
SB: Austin Turner (19)
ERA: Peyton Calitri (3.30)*
W: Peyton Calitri (7)
APP: Jaxson Pease (19)
IP: Peyton Calitri (87.1)
K: Landon Smiddy (80)
BAA: Peyton Calitri (.252)*
SV: Jack Erdman / Jaxson Pease (3)
* minimum 1.0 innings pitcher per team game played
Photo by Jim Dillon
