NASHVILLE, Tenn.– The University of Tennessee at Martin baseball team outhit in-state rival Belmont today and put together a solid effort on the hill but fell 3-2 to the Bruins at ES Rose Park.
A pair of home runs from Cole Smith and Andrew Fernandez helped the Skyhawks apply pressure in the back-and-forth contest. UT Martin’s offense also received base hits from Will Smith (who added two walks), Mac Danford, Jackson Cooke and Hunter McLean.
Senior righty Choyce Diffey (1-2) made his team-high eighth appearance and fourth start of the season and was very effective, allowing only two hits in 4.1 innings. Tucker Reed (2.2 innings, two hits allowed, three strikeouts) and Brock Arender (one inning, one strikeout) provided exceptional relief out of the bullpen, combining for 3.2 scoreless frames with no walks allowed.
Diffey began the game with two no-hit innings and was supported by a second inning Cole Smith blast over the wall in right field to give the Skyhawks (5-12) the upper hand early.
After the Bruins were able to obtain one run in the home half of the third to knot the score, a 1-4-3 inning-ending double play got UT Martin out of the frame tied at 1-all.
The ballgame remained tied until the bottom of the fifth as Belmont scored on an RBI single and a sacrifice fly to go on top, 3-1.
The Skyhawks wasted no time getting back in it as Fernandez – the second batter in the top of the sixth – sent the first pitch he saw in the at-bat out of the ballpark for his team-best fourth jack of the spring.
Reed was surgical on the mound in the next two innings, striking out a pair of Bruins in the bottom of the sixth and adding another whiff to his line in the seventh.
UT Martin’s offense provided scoring opportunities in the seventh and eighth but couldn’t cash in. Danford and Cooke singled in the seventh to put runners on the corners with one out. In the following frame, the Skyhawks loaded the bases with one away following three walks to the first four batters of the inning. However, Belmont was able to escape both jams and cling to a one-run lead.
Arender induced a strikeout and inning-ending double play in the bottom of the eighth to give UT Martin a chance in the top of the ninth. Pinch-hitter Garner Anderson drew a one-out walk to put the potential tying run on the basepaths but once again the Bruins snuck out of the inning unscathed.
The Skyhawks return home for a four-game homestand starting this Friday, March 15, opening a three-game set against Illinois State.
