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SUMTER, S.C. – The Morehead State baseball team split a pair of games Saturday on its first day in the Palmetto State. Following a 3-2 setback to UNC Asheville in the afternoon, the Eagles capped the day by defeating New Jersey Tech, 5-3, at Riley Park.
Morehead State settled at 6-3 at day's end. The UNCA Bulldogs, members of the Big South Conference, improved to 4-5. The NJIT Highlanders, who are a Division I independent, moved to 2-3.
"We are a little disappointed again in the split," Head Coach Mike McGuire said. "It was similar to last weekend. Our pitching, for the most part, was pretty solid, but we have some guys on offense who aren't contributing like they are capable of. We did see some improvement at the plate though. I thought we competed better in a lot of our at-bats today, and I was proud of some of the younger guys stepping up and getting crucial hits and RBI. In the first game, I thought we walked too many batters."
In the nightcap, MSU scored all five of its runs in the fourth inning and got 11 strikeouts from three pitchers.
Junior right-hander Matt Anderson fanned five in 5.2 innings, allowed four hits and three runs and moved to 1-0. Sophomore lefty Cable Wright struck out three in the seventh and eighth innings and kept the Highlanders off the scoreboard, and junior right-handed closer Craig Pearcy picked up his third save with a trio of punchouts in the final 1.1 frames.
Sophomore third baseman Alex Stephens and freshman second baseman Braxton Morris provided four of the five RBI in the fourth. Stephens clubbed a two-run double to left center field and Morris drove a two-run single up the middle. Senior shortstop Robby Spencer started the scoring flurry with an RBI single that scored senior first baseman Kane Sweeney.
NJIT tacked on solo runs in the first, fifth and sixth frames. Sweeney and sophomore centerfielder Ryan Kent recorded multi-hit efforts.
Sean Lubreski allowed just three earned runs and struck out five in 6.1 innings on the mound but was tagged with his first loss of the season. Bryan Haberstroh went 3-for-4 in the batter's box.
The Eagles and Bulldogs both left 12 runners on the base in the first game, but UNCA broke a 1-1 tie with a pair of runs in the fifth, and relief pitcher Evan Joura stymied the MSU offense in the final three stanzas for his first save.
Morehead State left the bases loaded in the seventh and runners on second and third in the eighth without plating a run.
Jordan Fulbright was credited with his first victory in 2015, tossing the middle three innings and giving up just two hits.
Senior righty Tyler Keele relieved freshman starter David Calderon in the fifth but surrendered the tying and go-ahead runs to be pinned with the loss. Senior reliever Blake Smith worked the final three innings and did not allow a hit.
The Eagles out-hit the Bulldogs 8-7. Freshman designated hitter Eric Crain and senior left fielder Nick Newell collected two hits. Lucas Owens and Joe Tietjen recorded two hits apiece for UNCA.
Morehead State is set to conclude the weekend with an 11 a.m. ET Sunday contest versus George Mason. The game will be played at Lexington (S.C.) High School.
