HTML STATS | PDF STATS
MARTIN, Tenn. -- Junior left-hander Noah Smallwood picked up his first win of the season for the Morehead State baseball team, shutting out UT Martin through seven innings en route to a 7-3 victory on Saturday afternoon at Skyhawk Field.
With their second straight win, the Eagles (11-28) improve to 6-11 in Ohio Valley Conference play, while the Skyhawks (10-28) fall to 3-17 in the OVC.
"We had some good at bats with runners in scoring position today, which is something that we have struggled with," Head Coach Mike McGuire said. "We also were able to cut down on our strikeouts, which has been an emphasis in pratice."
Smallwood (1-4) allowed only two earned runs on eight hits, while striking out five in eight innings.
The Eagles jumped to an early lead in the top of the first when sophomore right fielder Brandon Rawe drove in sophomore first baseman Kane Sweeney with an RBI single up the middle. They tacked on another when junior catcher Bobby Burns plated senior shortstop Chase Greenwell.
MSU expanded its lead to 6-0 with a four-run fifth inning highlighted by singles from Sweeney and Greenwell. An RBI triple from Rawe and a sacrifice fly from freshman third baseman Alan Mocahbee also contributed to the scoring outburst.
UT Martin got on the board in the bottom of the eighth when an MSU fielding error kept the Skyhawks alive long enough for junior first baseman Hagen Nelson to drive in an unearned run on an infield single.
The Eagles got the run back in the top of the ninth on an RBI single up the middle from senior first baseman Bobby Lewis. The Skyhawks cut their deficit to four in the bottom half of the inning with a two-run home run from sophomore designated hitter Taylor Cox.
The bats got hot at the top of the MSU lineup as the two-three-four hitters – Greenwell (3-for-5), Rawe (2-for-4) and Sweeney (2-for-4) – all registered multiple hits in the contest. Sweeney has now reached base in 30 straight contests.
Cox (0-4), who pitched and hit in the lineup, was charged with the loss. He surrendered eight hits and six runs in seven innings.
The Eagles will look for their first series sweep of the 2013 campaign on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET. Links to live stats and audio are scheduled to be available on MSUEagles.com.
