EDWARDSVILLE, Ill.– The University of Tennessee at Martin baseball team found clutch hitting to prevail in the second part of the doubleheader against SIUE, 11-9 in 10 innings. Game 1 also went down to the wire but the Cougars claimed a tight contest that finished 6-5.
A total of 11 extra-base hits highlighted the day for the Skyhawks (12-21, 4-5 Ohio Valley Conference) as Blaze Bell (two), Hunter McLean and Mac Danford all went deep. Will Smith and Bell each had a combined four hits on the day while Bell shared the team lead with Cole Smith with four runs scored apiece. McLean’s four RBI’s paved the way for UT Martin, who had 23 hits on the day.
Tucker Reed improved to 3-0 on the season after striking out five batters in 3.2 innings of Game 2. Baylor Jones slammed the door on SIUE (11-21, 5-4 OVC) with his first save of the season in the nightcap, fanning two batters in a perfect frame. Eric Steensma (2-3) started Game 1 of the doubleheader and went seven innings while Jeb Bartle took the ball in the series finale, dialing up five strikeouts over 5.1 frames.
UT Martin will get set for a big weekend with league-leading Little Rock coming to town for three games starting on Friday, April 12 and wrapping up on Sunday, April 14.
Game 1: SIUE 6, UTM 5
The first contest was a thrilling game that featured three ties and two lead changes with neither team leading by more than two runs for all nine innings.
The Cougars took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first but the Skyhawks answered quickly in the next half-inning. Back-to-back singles from Cole Smith and Bell led to an RBI double from McLean and an RBI groundout off the bat of Cameron Brady as UT Martin went on top by a 2-1 margin.
Steensma kept SIUE off the scoreboard in the second before the Cougars knotted the game at 2-all through three innings. Steensma produced yet another shutout frame in the fourth but SIUE scored twice in the fifth to go back on top, 4-2.
The Skyhawks leveled the score once again in the top of the sixth. Fernandez drew a leadoff walk and three batters later, Bell crushed a homer out to left center to tie the ballgame.
The Cougars scored an unearned run in the sixth but Steensma tossed a strong seventh, retiring the heart of the SIUE order with no damage allowed.
After the Cougars tacked on one run in the eighth, Zach Wager stranded the bases loaded to keep UT Martin within striking distance at 6-4. Back-to-back doubles by Bell and McLean opened the top of the ninth and pulled the Skyhawks within a single run but SIUE escaped with the win.
Game 2: UTM 11, SIUE 9 (10 innings)
McLean tied the game with a two-run homer in the top of the ninth before Danford stepped up with a pinch-hit two-run jack in the 10th to give UT Martin the victory.
Bartle struck out a pair of batters in the first but the Cougars were able to take an early 1-0 advantage. After SIUE managed one run in the second, the Skyhawks got on the scoreboard thanks to a Will Smith RBI double that made the score 2-1 after the top of the third.
After SIUE scored twice in the third, UT Martin took its first lead of the series finale in its next turn at-bat. Bell led off the inning with a shot over the left field wall while Jalen Fithian and Will Smith delivered with two-run singles for a five-run frame that tilted the score back in favor of the Skyhawks at 6-4.
Bartle silenced the Cougar offense in the fourth and fifth, allowing UT Martin to pad its lead after an RBI groundout from Fernandez in the top of the sixth made the score 7-4.
SIUE evened the score at 7-all through six frames but Reed held the Cougars to a zero on the scoreboard in the seventh. A two-out, two-run single in the eighth pushed SIUE ahead, 9-7.
With their backs against the walls in the top of the ninth, Cole Smith laced a 2-2 pitch to left for a single before McLean pounded a round-tripper to left center to even the score. The Cougars loaded the bases in the bottom half but Reed was nails, inducing an inning-ending groundout to send the game into extra innings.
After Cole Smith singled in the top of the 10th, Danford pinch hit with two away and delivered the biggest hit of the day. The senior third baseman pulverized his team-best seventh homer of the season that gave the Skyhawks the lead for good. Jones never allowed the game-tying run to come to the dish, retiring the side in order to give UT Martin a big conference victory.
