By Ryan Frye, Morehead State Athletic Media Relations
BOX SCORE | ARCHIVED AUDIO
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Pitching was the story for Morehead State on Friday as the Baseball Eagles shut out Alabama A&M 5-0. Three Eagle pitchers combined to scatter just four hits, while striking out 13 Bulldog batters.
The win moved Morehead State to 3-3 on the season.
Senior right-hander
David Calderon got the start for the Eagles, picking up where he left off in his previous outing. Calderon tossed seven scoreless innings, surrendering just two hits and one walk, while fanning eight batters.
"
David Calderon picked up right where he left off last week and was dominant," said head coach
Mike McGuire. "He filled up the strike zone. He walked the first batter of the game and didn't walk anyone after that. He had one hit by pitch on a breaking ball down and in, but was in very little trouble, pitched ahead in the count, and threw multiple pitches for strikes the entire game."
Senior right-side hurlerÂ
JC Hatcher and sophomore rightyÂ
Dom Masullo also pitched for Morehead State. Hatcher surrendered two hits, while striking out both outs he notched. Masullo struck out three in 1.1 innings of works en route to his second save of the season.
The Morehead State offense was held in check through six-plus innings before junior
Jake Hammon's go-ahead, two-out RBI double in the seventh plated senior
Tyler Niemann to give the Eagles a 1-0 advantage.
The offense subsequently exploded from there with three runs in the top of the eighth to put the game out of reach. Juniors
Connor Pauly and
Niko Hulsizer led off the inning with a single and double, before senior
Eli Boggess drew a walk to load the bases. Back-to-back RBI singles by freshman
Bryce Hensor and junior
Reid Leonard plated two more runs. The third run of the frame crossed when Niemann grounded into a double play, extending the Eagle lead to 4-0.
Hulsizer added insurance for Morehead State, driving a 1-2 pitch off the left-field wall to plate senior
Braxton Morris.
"I liked what we did offensively the last three innings of the ballgame," added McGuire. "Hopefully we will pick up right where we left off tomorrow."
Hulsizer led the Morehead State offense with three hits, while Boggess and Hammon each had two hits apiece to pace the Eagles.
Morehead State returns to action tomorrow at 2 p.m. ET for game two of its series with Alabama A&M.