MARTIN, Tenn.– The University of Tennessee at Martin baseball team received long balls from Garner Anderson and Jalen Fithian but fell to Samford in Game 1 of the weekend series, 15-4.
Anderson and TJ Grines (RBI, stolen base) each had multi-hit games while Brody Capps (triple, RBI, walk), Jonah Katsaboulas (stolen base), Arderrius Townsend (walk), Blaze Bell (walk), Jordan Hudson (walk) and Cameron Greene (walk) also contributed to the offensive charge for the Skyhawks (5-7).
UT Martin started Jacob Sitton (0-1) on the mound as he struck out seven batters over five innings. The bullpen featured appearances from Brandon King (two innings pitched) and Quin Long (one inning).
Sitton struck out the side to start the first inning, allowing the Skyhawks to take the early lead off an Anderson solo jack in the home half. Samford (7-7) responded with six runs during the second to take the lead.
Sitton bounced back to sit down the Bulldogs in order with two strikeouts in the top of the third. He worked through a clean fourth, leaving two on base to conclude the inning. The junior’s day was capped off by an outfield assist from Anderson for his fourth scoreless frame of the day.
Fithian blasted his first homer of the year and then Capps tripled to plate Grines in the bottom half of the inning, cutting UT Martin’s deficit down to three.
The Bulldogs then scored seven combined runs in the sixth and seventh. The Skyhawks got back on the board again in the bottom of the seventh courtesy of a Grines RBI double. However, Samford added two runs in the eighth to provide the final scoring margin.
The Skyhawks will get back to it tomorrow at Skyhawk Field at 3 p.m.
