Baseball's comeback bid thwarted in 6-5 setback at UT

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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The Morehead State baseball team erased a three-run deficit late in its game at Tennessee Wednesday night, but the Vols ultimately threw out a potential tying run in the ninth inning and handed MSU a 6-5 defeat at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
 
"I thought we did a lot of good things tonight against a very good club," said Head Coach Mike McGuire. "We just didn't do enough to beat them."
 
MSU fell to 17-12 overall, while Tennessee moved to 18-11.
 
Trailing 5-2 heading into the eighth frame, the Eagles took advantage of two UT errors and tied the game 5-5. Junior third baseman Alex Stephens reached on an error by the first baseman and moved to second on sophomore leftfielder Tyler Niemann's sacrifice bunt. Two batters later, junior first baseman Jesus Carrera plated Stephens with an RBI single. Later in the inning, junior rightfielder Will Schneider reached on another error and Carerra and pinch hitter Niko Hulsizer, who had singled, scored.
 
The Eagles attempted to mount a two-out rally in the ninth as freshman catcher Hunter Fain reached on the third Tennessee error of the night. Freshman Colton Coss pinch ran and moved into scoring position when Carrera drew a walk. Junior infielder Tanner Buenting singled to right field, but Coss was tagged out by catcher Benito Santiago trying to knot the game at 6-6.
 
"We got some big hits from several guys tonight to put ourselves in a position to win," McGuire added.
 
Santiago had given his team a 6-5 cushion in the bottom of the eighth via an RBI double surrendered by Eagle relief pitcher Curtis Wilson.
 
Senior righty Tyler Keele, the Eagles' primary closer, came on for earlier relief than he typically does but tossed 2.1 innings of scoreless ball and struck out two. Wilson (0-3) absorbed the loss. Junior Luke Humphreys
 
"Tyler Keele was outstanding tonight," McGuire said. "His two-plus innings of shutout baseball gave us a chance to get back into the game."
 
The Eagles produced 12 hits as Fain, Schneider, Carrera and junior centerfielder Ryan Kent all had two each. Fain upped his team-high reached-base streak to 22 games, while Schneider now has hits in 20 of his last 21 games.
 
Santiago and Vincent Jackson tallied three hits each as Tennessee had 12 also.
 
Morehead State is scheduled to face Xavier on the road for a non-conference three-game series this weekend. Game one is set for 3 p.m. ET Friday.