MARTIN, Tenn.– The University of Tennessee at Martin baseball team brought the winning run to the plate in the ninth inning of the rubber match this afternoon but ultimately fell 10-8 to Little Rock.
Andrew Fernandez, Hunter McLean, Blaze Bell and Cole Smith notched two hits apiece at the dish today while Mac Danford belted four RBI’s – including a three-run homer. Will Smith scored twice as the first seven batters in the Skyhawk lineup all scored at least once.
Jeb Bartle (1-3) started the game for the Skyhawks, going five innings before giving way to Tucker Reed. The senior right-hander from Athens, Ala. was phenomenal in relief – allowing zero earned runs on two hits with seven strikeouts over four frames.
After Bartle worked through a scoreless top of the first, UT Martin (13-23, 5-7 Ohio Valley Conference) poured on four runs in the home half. Fernandez, Bell and McLean would each lace RBI singles while Danford drew a bases loaded walk to give the Skyhawks an early lead.
The Trojans would respond with two runs (one unearned) in the top of the second but Bartle battled back in the third with a perfect inning on just seven pitches to keep his squad in front. Little Rock (19-16, 8-4 OVC) took its first lead of the day in the top part of the fourth with five runs (one unearned). The Trojans scored two more runs in the fifth before Reed went three-up, three-down during his first inning of work in the sixth.
UT Martin got back within striking distance in the bottom of the sixth. Cole Smith roped a leadoff double and was followed with a single up the middle off the bat of McLean. Six pitches later, Danford lifted a towering round-tripper to the scoreboard in left field to shave the Skyhawk deficit to 9-7. It marked Danford’s team-high eighth homer of the 2024 campaign.
Reed put together some masterful pitching in the seventh, striking out the side. The Trojans managed another unearned run in the eighth before Reed buckled down in the ninth – pitching around a one-out triple with back-to-back strikeouts, putting UT Martin in position for another walk-off win.
Will Smith deployed a spark in the offense when he walloped a 2-2 pitch over the wall in right center with one away in the top of the ninth. Bell and Cole Smith followed with back-to-back two-out singles to put the tying run on the basepaths but Little Rock escaped the jam.
The Skyhawks will get back to work this upcoming weekend with a conference road trip to Southern Indiana. The series will run from Friday, April 19 through Sunday, April 21.
