MARION, Ill. – Senior left-handed pitcher Tristan Walton solidified his status as one of the premiere arms in the Ohio Valley Conference today, going the distance for his first career complete game as the University of Tennessee at Martin baseball squad advanced to the second round of the league’s tournament via a 3-1 triumph over Tennessee Tech.
A Clay, Ala. native who was just named to the All-OVC first team yesterday, Walton carved up the Golden Eagle lineup to the tune of just one run on three hits – striking out 10 batters against just one walk. After allowing one run in the bottom of the first, the southpaw zoned in and allowed just one hit – an infield single in the eighth – the rest of the way. When the dust settled, Walton’s gem was the program’s first nine-inning complete game since Rhett Fetner accomplished that feat at Central Arkansas on March 11, 2022.
Eight of the nine Skyhawks in the batting order hit safely today as Alec Beaman and Cole Smith each had big homers. Beaman’s solo shot in the fifth evened the score at 1-all before Smith put a charge into a two-run jack for the go-ahead runs in the sixth. Beaman and Mac Danford both ended the day with two hits while Blaze Bell scored the second run of the contest for UT Martin (21-34), who won its fourth straight decision over Tennessee Tech this spring.
Walton generated a pair of strikeouts in the bottom of the first but the Golden Eagles (29-26) struck first on a sacrifice fly. That started a stretch of 11 straight Tennessee Tech batters retired by Walton, who picked up two more strikeouts in a perfect second before breezing through three-up, three-down frames in the third and fourth.
Beaman crushed an 0-1 pitch that carried well past the left field wall to lead off the fifth inning, knotting the score at 1-all. It marked the second homer of the season for the senior shortstop out of Franklin, Tenn.
Following a leadoff walk in the bottom of the fifth, Walton sat down the next nine Golden Eagles. He stranded a runner in scoring position in the fifth to give the Skyhawks the momentum they would need in their next time at-bat.
Bell lined a single into the gap in left center with one out in the sixth, setting the stage for Smith. The junior designated hitter from Dothan, Ala. pulverized a 3-2 offering for a no-doubt moonshot that landed past the right field wall, giving UT Martin its first lead of the game.
Walton picked up right where he left off, retiring the side in order in the bottom of the sixth before coasting through an eight-pitch inning in the seventh.
Tennessee Tech’s infield single ended a stretch of 6.2 no-hit frames from Walton. His defense picked him up shortly thereafter, turning a 5-4-3 double play on the next pitch. Walton then struck out three of the final four batters he faced. The Skyhawk faithful in the Mtn Dew Park stands let out an emphatic cheer when Walton returned to toe the rubber in the bottom of the ninth as his phenomenal day was punctuated by an emphatic whiff on a 3-2 count for the final out.
The Skyhawks advance to the OVC Championship second round, where they will take on No. 4 seed Southern Indiana at 4 p.m. on ESPN+.
