MARTIN, Tenn.– The University of Tennessee at Martin baseball team was able to earn its first win of the 2024 campaign in a split of the doubleheader with Northern Kentucky this afternoon, winning Game 1 by a 13-8 margin before falling 7-1 in the nightcap.
Second baseman Andrew Fernandez had a great day at the plate, going 5-for-8 with multi-hit outings in both ends of the doubleheader. He crushed the Skyhawks’ first home run of the 2024 season in Game 1 and added a triple in Game 2. Will Smith also homered with three hits and three RBI’s in Game 1 as eight of the nine members of the starting lineup drove in at least one run. Mac Danford (three RBI’s, two runs scored), Hunter McLean (three hits, two runs scored), Cole Smith (three hits), Jalen Fithian (two hits) and Zac Rice (two runs scored) all did major damage in today’s first contest.
On the mound, UT Martin senior Eric Steensma (4.2 innings pitched, three hits, one earned run) came out of the bullpen to earn the victory in Game 1. Zach Wager (six innings, four hits, three earned runs, four strikeouts) delivered a quality start in Game 2. Tucker Reed stranded a pair of runners while recording the final out in today’s first contest while Campbell Cleveland (0.2 innings) and Davis Benton (one inning) each did not allow an earned run out of the bullpen in Game 2.
The Skyhawks will reset and welcome in Southern Illinois on Tuesday, February 20th at 3 p.m.
Game 1
UT Martin trailed early before a Danford sacrifice fly got the Skyhawks on the scoreboard in the bottom of the first.
Seven runs were then unleashed in the bottom of the second as UT Martin received RBI’s from Fithian, Fernandez, Will Smith, Danford (two), Blaze Bell and McLean. Six of the seven runs in the inning came with two outs.
The Skyhawks weren’t done as a Cameron Brady RBI single in the fourth drove home McLean (who reached on a double).
Fernandez and Will Smith would go yard with back-to-back home runs to open the UT Martin half of the fifth while Cole Smith later smacked an RBI double to put yet another crooked number on the scoreboard.
A double from Rice in the sixth inning led to an RBI single off the bat of Will Smith to conclude the Skyhawks’ offensive production in the frontend.
That offense would be plenty for Steensma, who entered the game in relief of starter Jeb Bartle (four innings, three strikeouts). Steensma kept the Norse off the scoreboard until the top of the ninth, only conceding one hit and one batter to reach on a hit by pitch in his first four innings. Reed took over with baserunners on first and second and two away, inducing a groundout to seal up the first win of the season for the Skyhawks.
Game 2
The rubber match would take the form of a lower scoring affair for the first seven innings as Northern Kentucky’s Ben Gerl and Wager dueled on the mound. The reigning Ohio Valley Conference Freshman of the Year, Wager retired the first four batters he faced and later sat down seven consecutive Norse hitters in the middle frames. The lefty wrapped up his day with a pair of strikeouts in a scoreless sixth inning – his third straight shutout frame of the afternoon.
Fernandez continued his hot start to the season with a 2-for-4 performance in the series finale. The senior laced a two-out triple in the top of the third and would later score on a wild pitch to get UT Martin on the scoreboard.
Garner Anderson would drive in his second run of the series with a pinch-hit single in the bottom of the ninth to cap off the scoring for the Skyhawks. He was the fourth UT Martin hitter to reach base in the inning – following Jonah Wichman (walk), Cullen Box (single) and Cole Smith (walk) – but the Skyhawks could not tack on any more runs.
