Long Ball and Efficiency on the Mound Leads to 9-4 OVC Tournament Win for Baseball

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OXFORD, Ala. -- The nation's most potent offense was in full force, and pitchers Aaron Leasher and Curtis Wilson teamed up for 13 strikeouts, as the Morehead State baseball team opened the 2017 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament with a 9-4 win over No. 7 Austin Peay late Wednesday at Choccolocco Park.

The Eagles, seeded No. 2, improved to 35-21 as the hitters slammed three home runs and had 10 total hits. The win kept Morehead State in the winner's bracket as it will face No. 6 Murray State at 5 p.m. ET Thursday.

Leasher improved to 9-3 and became only the second pitcher in program history to record 100+ strikeouts in back-to-back seasons as he fanned nine Governor batters through seven frames. He now has 105 strikeouts, just two short of the 107 he had in 2016. Wilson sat down four batters via punchouts and only gave up an unearned run in the final two innings.

"We had a great start, and it feels nice to win our first game," said head coach Mike McGuire. "The top half of our lineup is all all-conference guys, but tonight it was the lower half of our lineup that really came through. We have been hard to beat when everybody contributes, and tonight we did that. Aaron and Curtis were pretty dominant as well."

Meanwhile, senior rightfielder Will Schneider kick-started the offense with a two-run homer during a three-run third inning. His long ball careened off the top of the wall in centerfield and fell to the ground beyond the fence.

Austin Peay tied the game 3-3 on Cayce Bredlau's two-run homer in the sixth, but sophomore catcher Hunter Fain quickly broke the stalemate in the next inning with an RBI single. Senior centerfielder Ryan Kent then had one of the biggest at-bats of his career as he drilled a two-run round-tripper down the left field line to make it 6-3.

Sophomore first baseman Tyler Niemann connected on the Eagles' third circuit clout in the seventh, sending a line drive over the right field wall. 

The Eagles' 6-9 hitters were 8-for-14 as junior second baseman Braxton Morris went 3-for-4 in his home state. Fain and Niemann had two hits.