By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – It was a wild walk-off finish in Cookeville for the Tennessee Tech baseball team on Friday night, as the Golden Eagles picked up a 2-1 win in 10 innings in their series opener against Purdue Fort Wayne at Quillen Field and Bush Stadium at the Averitt Express Baseball Complex.
A pitcher's duel from start to finish, the two sides battled through nine scoreless frames before the chaos ensued in the 10th. For the Golden Eagles (11-4), junior hurler Jaxson Pease turned in a masterful performance, completing 9.0 scoreless frames before heading back out on the hill for the 10th.
The right-hander scattered five hits while striking out six Mastodons and walking none over his nine innings of work. Pease faced the minimum in five of the nine frames on the night, finally walking to the dugout for good after surrendering a leadoff single to start the 10th inning.
Purdue Fort Wayne (1-11) greeted new Tech reliever Juan Vargas with some small ball, immediately moving the runner over to second on a sacrifice bunt. Mastodon third baseman Drew Helton provided the excitement for the visitors when he appeared to check his swing, made contact, and the ball found no man's land down the right-field line.
The two-bagger plated the first run of the ball game and set Purdue Fort Wayne for a potentially bigger frame. Following a quick second out, Vargas issued back-to-back walks to load the bases. The sophomore righty dug deep, inducing a ground ball to second base to escape the top of the 10th without further damage.
On the Mastodon's side, Dillon Fischer tossed up 6.1 innings without allowing a run, holding Tech to two hits and three walks. Tyson Greenwood covered the next inning before Sean Kasper took over in the bottom of the eighth with the Golden Eagles threatening.
After Ryan Lee smacked a ground-rule double to center field to lead off the inning, Luke Bragga pinch-ran and moved to third on a sac bunt by Riley Black. Bragga appeared to have the go-ahead run in his sights after the second offering from Kasper missed its mark and the catcher.
The ball took a fortuitous bounce for the visitors from Fort Wayne, jumping right off the padded backstop and right back to the Mastodon catcher, who flung it to Fischer in time to nab Bragga at the plate.
Kasper finished off the eighth and set the Golden Eagles down in order in the ninth, keeping his team's chances alive. After the top of the 10th, the right-hander took the hill again, this time with a win just three outs away.
Tech never let the Purdue Fort Wayne pitcher get comfortable again. Right fielder Jorsixt Jimenez ripped a 2-0 offering to left field for a lead-off knock, gladly taking the bench for pinch-runner Jackson Green. Center fielder Nicho Jordan followed by laying down a sac bunt to push Green into scoring position.
Enter the contest as a pinch hitter, senior slugger Carter Vrabel played the first hero of the night for the purple and gold, drilling a base knock through the left side and past a diving third baseman. Green never broke stride as he rounded third, sliding in easily ahead of the throw from left field to tie the ball game at 1-1.
The Mastodons picked up their second out of the frame before third baseman Preston Steele coaxed a six-pitch walk out of Kasper, ending the hurler's night. Southpaw Theo Nagy took over on the hill, but Tech's patience and approach at the plate would prove to be too good.
Rookie left fielder Landon Smelser drew a clutch walk on six pitches to load the bases and bring the top of the Tech order to the plate. Second baseman Jackson Rooker took his turn at the dish, quickly falling behind 0-2 before watching the third offering miss its mark for a ball.
Nagy tried to induce a swing and a miss on a slider cutting down and in towards Rooker, but the reliever's offering bounced early and plunked the Golden Eagle batter on the back leg for an RBI hit-by-pitch and walk-off victory for the Cookeville crew. The Tech bench mobbed the redshirt freshman after he reached first base and Vrabel scored the winning run at the plate.
Vargas (2-0) picked up his second win of the year after completing one inning of work in relief.
Game two of the weekend series is slated for a 1:00 p.m. CT first pitch on Saturday at the Quill.
Admission to all Tech baseball games is free of charge. Fans are encouraged to check TTUSports.com and Tennessee Tech social media for any potential updates to this weekend's schedule.
Photo by Jim Dillon
