MARTIN, Tenn.– The University of Tennessee at Martin baseball team fell to Missouri in a 13-3 setback in Game 1 of its midweek series against the Southeastern Conference opponent.
Andrew Fernandez and Blaze Bell hit solo home runs while Hunter McLean recorded his fifth multi-hit game of the season. Mac Danford also drove in a run while Zac Rice landed a base knock for the Skyhawks (11-18) offensively.
Choyce Diffey (2-3) began the game for UT Martin and was followed by Zach Wager (two innings), Tucker Reed (one inning), Davis Benton (one inning) and Sam Smith (0.2 frames).
The Skyhawks would take an early lead thanks to a Zac Rice leadoff single. After a walk drawn by Will Smith, UT Martin would pull off a double steal that put a pair of runners in scoring position. Danford followed with an RBI groundout to put the Skyhawks on top, 1-0.
The Tigers (11-18) scored twice in the bottom of the first but Diffey would hurl a scoreless frame in the second. After Missouri tallied three runs in the bottom of the third, UT Martin got two runs back in the top of the fourth. Fernandez launched a solo homer to begin the half-inning before Bell cranked a longball just six pitches later, making the score 5-3.
Wager entered in the home half of the fourth and produced a perfect frame on just eight pitches. However, the Tigers scored twice in the fifth as part of eight unanswered runs to close out the contest.
The Skyhawks will look to even up the series in the finale tomorrow at 3 p.m. on SEC Network+.
