BOX SCORE | ARCHIVED AUDIO

MOREHEAD, Ky. -- Despite getting 15 hits and scoring six in the first three innings, the Morehead State baseball team was held in check for five innings while Austin Peay pulled away Saturday for a 15-9 win at Allen Field.

The loss dropped MSU to 11-6 in the OVC and 24-16 overall and marked only the third home three-game series loss for the Eagles since 2015.

Morehead State spotted the visitors a 3-0 lead in the first inning before answering with a three-spot of its own. Junior left-fielder Niko Hulsizer tattooed his sixth home run of the year more than 400 feet to left center-field to make it 3-2.

Following three more runs by the Governors in the second, the Eagles again fought back with a run in the second and three in the third to tie it. Hulsizer collected his third RBI of the day with a single in the second, while junior catcher Hunter Fain tied it with a mammoth two-run homer to center field in the third.

But, APSU pulled ahead for good with four runs in the sixth inning. Nick Walker's three-run homer broke the stalemate, and catcher Alex Sala added on three more with a three-run smash in the eighth.

Morehead State did not go quietly though as junior center-fielder Connor Pauly notched an RBI single in the ninth, and senior DH Eli Boggess cranked a two-run double into the right-field corner.

Despite striking out four over 2.1 innings and only allowing a run to score (via a subsequent pitcher), freshman right-hander John Sherman was tagged with the tough-luck loss. Jacques Pucheu surrendered the six early runs but made it into the sixth inning to improve to 5-1.

Hulsizer and senior second baseman Braxton Morris were each 3-for-5, while Boggess and senior Tyler Niemann had two hits. Junior shortstop Reid Leonard also tallied two hits and moved his reached-base streak to 32 games.

The teams will conclude the series on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.