CARBONDALE, Ill.– Down by three runs going into the ninth inning, the University of Tennessee at Martin baseball team completed an impressive comeback to take down Southern Illinois, 8-7 at Itchy Jones Stadium.
The Skyhawks (9-16) took their first lead of the night in the top of the 10th inning after a three-spot in the top of the ninth sent the game into extra innings. Cameron Brady (RBI double) and Hunter McLean (RBI single) had clutch hits in the ninth to extend the contest before Alec Beaman came through with the eventual game-winning RBI single in the 10th. Zach Wager (1-2) tossed a clean ninth for his first win of the season while Tucker Reed slammed the door in the 10th for his first save of the spring, snapping the Salukis’ (17-8) four-game winning streak in the process.
Garner Anderson hit his first career home run to highlight a 3-for-5 night while Zac Rice (2-for-5, 2 RBI’s) bashed his fourth jack of the year. Brady doubled twice while Jonah Wichman recorded a multi-hit night, going 2-for-5 in his first start of the season.
A total of eight pitchers saw time on the mound for UT Martin. Choyce Diffey started the game and went four innings while striking out three batters. Eli Martin (one inning), Campbell Cleveland (one inning), Kaleb Baskin (0.2 innings), Wager (one inning) and Reed (one inning) all provided scoreless performances out of the bullpen.
Southern Illinois crossed the plate twice in the first inning before Diffey shut out the Salukis in the second.
In the top of the third, a double from Brady would lead to a Rice RBI single as the Skyhawks got on the scoreboard. Diffey would then work a perfect inning in the bottom half, needing just nine pitches to breeze through the heart of the Southern Illinois lineup.
Anderson led off the top of the fourth by belting a game-tying solo homer. The Salukis retook the lead in the bottom of the fourth, taking a 3-2 advantage.
Martin stranded a pair of runners in a scoreless fifth, allowing UT Martin to even the score once again in its next at-bat. With two away, Anderson singled up the middle and advanced to third on a Wichman single. The Skyhawks then attempted a double steal as Anderson crossed the plate to knot the score at 3-all.
Two runs from Southern Illinois in the sixth gave the Salukis another lead before Cleveland coasted through a perfect seventh inning.
After a Rice solo bomb shaved UT Martin’s deficit to 5-4 in the top of the eighth, Southern Illinois added two runs in the bottom half to take a three-run advantage into the ninth. Anderson once again was a catalyst in the Skyhawks’ rally, singling to open the inning. Beaman reached on an error before Brady and McLean’s aforementioned RBI hits tied things up.
Wager entered in the bottom of the ninth and worked his way out of a jam, inducing an inning-ending double play after an intentional walk loaded the bases and set up a force play at any bag.
Blaze Bell smacked a double to left center to open the top of the 10th and Beaman – also making his first start of the season – drove in the go-ahead run with one out in the frame.
UT Martin’s first win in Carbondale since 2015 was sealed in the bottom of the 10th as Anderson showed great range in tracking down a flyball in left field for the third and final out.
The Skyhawks will host OVC rival Eastern Illinois this week in a three-game series starting Thursday, March 28 and running through Sunday, March 30.
