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MASON, Ohio -- Senior pinch hitter Cole Cleveland smacked a walk-off single in the bottom of the 10th to give the Morehead State baseball team a 2-1 victory and doubleheader split against Murray State on Saturday. The Eagles dropped game one of the series, 7-3, earlier in the day at Prasco Park.
Cleveland’s single through the right side marked the first walk-off win of the season for the Eagles, who moved to 6-8 overall and 1-1 in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Thoroughbreds are now 6-8 overall and 1-1 in league play.
In game two, Morehead State jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when senior right fielder Nick Duff brought in sophomore first baseman Kane Sweeney with a line-drive single down the left-field line.
The game then turned into a pitchers’ duel, with Eagles junior left-hander Noah Smallwood and Thoroughbreds freshman right-hander Andrew Bramley not allowing another run over the next six innings. Smallwood finished the day only allowing three hits and no runs with two strikeouts in seven innings.
In the top of the eighth, Thoroughbreds senior shortstop Noah Zipko drove in a run on a sacrifice fly to left field, which tied the game at one. The scoring stayed that way until Cleveland’s walk-off.
Senior right-hander Austin Haney, who allowed only one hit in 2.2 innings, earned the win out of the bullpen for the Eagles. Freshman left-hander Sheldon Baxter was charged with the loss for Murray State.
Murray State scored three runs in both the second and third innings of the opener. The Thoroughbreds plated one more in the fifth, while Morehead State manufactured one run in the third, fifth and eighth innings.
Four different Eagles -- sophomore catcher Chris Robinson (2-for-4), Sweeney (2-for-5, 1 RBI), freshman third baseman Alan Mocahbee (2-for-5, 1 RBI) and junior second baseman Jeff Birkofer (2-for-4) -- recorded two hits each in the opener.
Morehead State sophomore right-hander Blake Smith took his first loss of the season, allowing eight hits and five earned runs while striking out five in 3.1 innings. Murray State junior righty Cameron Finch picked up the win, allowing five hits and two earned runs in five innings.
The Eagles and Thoroughbreds meet on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET to decide the series winner. Live stats and audio for the contest can be found at MSUEagles.com.
Full stats from Saturdays' games will be posted shortly.
