MARTIN, Tenn.– The University of Tennessee at Martin baseball kept chipping away at Illinois State’s lead but never fully completed the comeback, falling in the rubber match by a score of 11-7.
Blaze Bell spearheaded the Skyhawk attack with a 3-for-4 performance at the plate, smacking two doubles and driving in two runs. Cole Smith (three RBI’s), Will Smith (2-for-5, run scored), Mac Danford (2-for-5, double, RBI) and Zac Rice (2-for-5, double) each played a key role in the seven-run performance from the offense.
Jeb Bartle (1-1) pitched six innings in his first start since Feb. 18 but was charged with the loss. Tucker Reed (0.2 innings), Brock Arender (one inning) and Baylor Jones (one inning) were all responsible for scoreless outings out of the bullpen.
Bartle breezed through the top of the first, firing only eight pitches while inducing three groundballs. After the Redbirds (8-9) broke a scoreless tie with one run in the top of the second, UT Martin would take its first lead of the game off back-to-back RBI doubles from Danford and Bell – putting the Skyhawks on top, 2-1.
After Bartle tossed another zero in the run column in the third, UT Martin (6-14) added to its lead in the bottom half. Rice lined a double to left field and later came home to score on a Cole Smith sacrifice fly.
The Redbird bats would bring the lead back in their favor over the next half inning, plating six runs (two unearned). UT Martin responded in the home half as Garner Anderson notched his second RBI double of the season to make the score 7-4.
Illinois State scored once in the top of the fifth before Bartle posted a scoreless frame against the heart of the Redbird lineup in the sixth. In the bottom half, Will Smith, Danford and Bell (RBI) led off with three consecutive singles to keep the Skyhawk deficit within striking distance at three runs.
The Redbirds scored three runs in the top of the seventh but were soon silenced by strong work from Reed, Arender and Jones.
A late rally was beginning to take form in the bottom of the ninth as Cole Smith laced a double down the right field line to score Jalen Fithian (single) and Andrew Fernandez (walk). Will Smith followed with a single but the Skyhawks were unable to cut into the lead any further.
UT Martin will take on Alabama A&M to conclude a four-game homestand on Tuesday, March 19 at 5 p.m.
