Hulsizer Goes Deep Three Times; Humphreys Sets Record in Baseball's 13-6 Win

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MOREHEAD, Ky. -- Sophomore Niko Hulsizer launched three home runs and drove in nearly half of Morehead State's 13 runs Tuesday, and senior pitcher Luke Humphreys established the program record for career starts as the Eagle baseball team handed Alabama A&M a 13-6 defeat at Allen Field.

The Eagles, winners of 13 of their last 14 games, tied the program record for the best 24-game start at 18-6. The 1976 team was also 18-6 before falling in its next outing against EKU. Morehead State has also now won 10 consecutive home games.

Humphreys made his 46th career start, surpassing Sean Hogan's previous career standard, and he nearly made it a more memorable day by taking a no-hitter into the seventh inning. He allowed three doubles in that inning before exiting but still claimed the win, to go along with a season-high seven strikeouts, to move to 2-1.

"Luke pitched really well, and he didn't allow too many free bases," said head coach Mike McGuire. "That's the key right there, just stick with what he does well and limit his free bases. I really like the way we are playing as a team right now, and you can see us getting better each and every day."

Hulsizer got the scoring going in the first with a monster solo blast to deepest part of Allen Field in left center. He added a three-run bomb to left field in the second to make it a 6-0 Eagle lead, and he capped his prolific day with a herculean two-run long ball in the sixth that sailed out of the park over the scoreboard in left field. Hulsizer now has five homers and 12 RBI in the last two games and has 10 circuit clouts on the season.

Morehead State also got a solo homer from senior outfielder Will Schneider in the second which followed Hulsizer's homer, and junior Jake Bublitz nailed a pinch-hit solo shot in the eighth to close the Eagle scoring.

The Eagles finished with 16 hits and now have 78 hits in their last five outings. OVC multi-hit game leader Braxton Morris had another one today with two hits, while Schneider, senior Ryan Kent, sophomore Reid Leonard and senior Michael Patrick each had two hits as well. Kent had a pair of singles to move into a tie for second place in career singles at MSU with 170. 

The Eagles and Bulldogs will close the mid-week series on Wednesday at 11 a.m. ET for Education Day.