MARTIN, Tenn.– The University of Tennessee at Martin baseball team came out swinging today with eight runs in the first three innings but ultimately fell 15-9 to Southeastern Conference foe Missouri.
Blaze Bell went 3-for-4 in the role of designated hitter while Will Smith (2-for-5) notched a multi-hit game as well. Hunter McLean bashed his third home run on the season with a pair of RBI’s while Jackson Cooke (two RBI’s) and Zac Rice (three runs scored) also played key parts in the Skyhawks’ offense.
Freshman Silas Jones (two innings pitched) made his first career start while Baylor Jones (one inning pitched), Eli Martin (one inning pitched) and Dylan Lapic (one inning pitched) threw scoreless frames. Redshirt freshman lefty Brock Arender (0-1) struck out three batters over 1.1 innings but was charged with the loss despite allowing zero earned runs.
UT Martin (11-19) was on the board in the top of the first for the second straight game when Rice led off the game with a walk and eventually came around to score. The Tigers scored four runs in the bottom half of the inning but the Skyhawks got a run back in the top of the second when McLean launched a solo homer out to left center.
Silas Jones retired the first two batters he faced in the second but Missouri was able to score twice before Jones stranded the bases loaded.
UT Martin grabbed the lead with an explosive top of the third, slapping six runs on the board to go ahead by an 8-6 margin. Will Smith started the rally with an RBI single and a bases loaded walk from Cole Smith would follow. Bell (RBI single), McLean (sacrifice fly) and Cooke (two-run single) helped extend the Skyhawk advantage.
Baylor Jones took over for his younger brother during the home half of the inning and hurled a shutout frame while leaving two runners stranded. Arender entered in the bottom of the fourth and held the Tigers scoreless for the second straight frame.
Missouri (12-18) retook the lead during the bottom of the fifth inning with five runs – all unearned. The Tigers would get four runs (three unearned) in the sixth before Martin and Lapic blanked Missouri in the seventh and eighth, respectively.
UT Martin chipped away in the top of the ninth as Rice once again drew a free pass. After advancing 90 feet on a wild pitch, he scored on a Fernandez opposite field RBI single to make the score 15-9 – the game’s final margin.
The Skyhawks head to Edwardsville, Ill. this weekend for a three-game set with Ohio Valley Conference foe SIUE starting Friday April 5 and running through Sunday, April 7.
