MARTIN, Tenn.– In what was a thrilling Thursday night at Skyhawk Field, the University of Tennessee at Martin baseball team received a walk-off double from senior Alec Beaman to take Game 1 over Eastern Illinois, 5-4, in 11 innings.
The Skyhawk pitching staff was on point throughout the night, dialing up 16 strikeouts. That marked the most for UT Martin since the Skyhawks whiffed 16 South Dakota State on Feb. 15, 2019 in a neutral-site game in Russellville, Ark.
Tristan Walton pitched a gem with a career-high 10 strikeouts over seven scoreless innings. Tucker Reed (2-0) entered in the eighth and earned a hard-fought victory, throwing a season-high four innings with six strikeouts.
Offensively, Beaman was the hero in his second start of the season. He roped a double off the top of the wall in left center in the bottom of the 11th, plating Hunter McLean (two RBI’s) for the game-winning run. Andrew Fernandez (two runs scored) and Cameron Brady led the team with two hits apiece while Cole Smith (run scored), Zac Rice (run scored) and Garner Anderson (RBI) helped guide the Skyhawks, who improve to 10-16 with a 2-2 Ohio Valley Conference record.
Through three innings, Walton was on cruise control for most of the evening. The senior lefty did not allow a ball out of the infield during a perfect first inning and pitched around a leadoff double in the second with two strikeouts. He came back with another shutdown frame in the third before the run support came in the bottom half.
Rice (single), Fernandez (walk) and Smith (intentional walk) loaded the bases with two away before Anderson and McLean drew back-to-back RBI walks to put UT Martin on top, 2-0.
Walton turned in another 1-2-3 frame in the top of the fourth, needing just nine pitches to retire the side in order. That opened the door for another Skyhawk run as Fernandez led off the frame with a triple before Danford lifted a deep fly ball to center for a sacrifice fly.
Walton stranded a pair of runners in scoring position in the sixth, tossing another zero on the scoreboard. Two more Panthers (5-17, 0-4 OVC) reached base in the seventh but Walton dug deep for back-to-back strikeouts to end any potential threat.
Eastern Illinois tied the game with three runs in the top of the eighth but UT Martin did not sulk – going right back on top in the bottom of the eighth. Smith lined a double into the gap in left center before McLean came through with a go-ahead RBI single to make the score 4-3.
Reed recorded three strikeouts in the bottom of the ninth but a Skyhawk error with two outs extended the game into extra innings. That did not faze the right-hander from Athens, Ala. as Reed proceeded to strike out two more batters in a perfect 10th and add another punchout in a scoreless 11th.
McLean was hit by a pitch to lead off the bottom of the 11th. Two batters later, Beaman stepped up to the plate and drilled a 3-2 pitch off the wall, giving McLean just enough time to slide ahead of the catcher’s tag and give UT Martin its second straight win in extra innings.
Game 2 will be tomorrow at 3 p.m. on ESPN+ with live stats available.
