MARTIN, Tenn.– The University of Tennessee at Martin baseball team put together a big comeback attempt today but ultimately fell to UAB in walkoff fashion, 12-11 in 10 innings.
Andrew Fernandez tore up the Blazer arms, going 3-for-4 with three runs scored and two RBI’s while Cole Smith recorded the first multi-home run game of the season for the Skyhawks. That included a game-tying three-run blast in the top of the ninth inning, capping off a four-RBI day and evening the score after UT Martin once trailed by eight runs. Freshman Garner Anderson also continued to come up clutch, collecting a pinch-hit two-run single in the eighth frame.
Choyce Diffey started the game for UT Martin (5-8), who saw 10 total pitchers take the mound today. Tucker Reed (one inning), Brock Arender (one inning), Dylan Lapic (one inning) and Jeb Bartle (two innings pitched) each tossed scoreless appearances out of the Skyhawk bullpen.
The game started with a bang as Zac Rice drew a leadoff walk and Fernandez sent an inside pitch over the right field wall to give the Skyhawks a 2-0 lead two batters into the contest.
After the Blazers (6-6) scored three runs in the bottom of the first, Reed and Arender kept UAB off the scoreboard for the next two frames.
UAB scored seven combined runs in the next three innings but UT Martin kept grinding. Cole Smith’s first longball of the year in the seventh lit a spark under the offense, which exploded for five runs in the eighth. Jalen Fithian (leadoff double), Rice (single), Fernandez (walk), Will Smith (walk, RBI), Mac Danford (RBI), Blaze Bell (RBI) each contributed to the Skyhawk offense in the eighth before Anderson’s big two-run single.
Bartle entered in the eighth to get a pop up and two strikeouts to give hope to UT Martin’s offense going into the ninth. With two outs and two on for Cole Smith, the left-handed slugger rose to the occasion with his second homer of the game, this time a three-run shot to tie the game at 11-all.
In the bottom half of the inning, Bartle induced two groundouts and a flyout with a runner on third to send the game to extras. Despite the valiant effort, UAB would close the game off with a home run in the bottom of the 10th inning.
The Skyhawks are back in action starting on Friday, March 8 at 6 p.m. against North Alabama in Florence, Ala.
