BOX SCORE | ARCHIVED AUDIO

MOREHEAD, Ky. -- Senior Tyler Niemann's walk-off RBI single in the bottom of ninth inning Friday lifted the Morehead State baseball team to an 8-7 victory over No. 16 Tennessee Tech at Allen Field.

The win, the program's seventh triumph over a nationally-ranked team in the last five seasons, moved MSU to 18-11 in the OVC and 32-22 overall. It also marked the fourth straight season of surpassing the previous school wins mark of 31, set by the 1993 team and originally eclipsed by the 2015 squad. For the second straight day the teams had to endure a weather delay of more than two hours. Tech is now 45-7.

"We got behind, but we kept grinding and having good at-bats," said head coach Mike McGuire. "I can't say enough about how our bullpen pitched too. They gave our hitters a chance. Amd Tyler Niemann was exceptional. He was confident at the plate."

Niemann, who finished with four RBI, knocked four of the final five Eagle runs in after MSU fell behind 6-3 in the sixth. In the bottom of the frame, he smacked a towering two-run run homer down the right-field line to plate junior center-fielder Connor Pauly. He also tied the game in the eighth inning with a sac fly to score senior third baseman Eli Boggess, who had brought the Eagles to within 7-6 with a ferocious RBI double into the left-field corner.

In the ninth, junior first baseman Trevor Snyder got the rally going with a one-out single off TTU reliever Tyler Sylvester. Pauly then slashed a single to right field to put the winning run 180 feet away. Following a fielder's choice ground out, Niemann ripped a 2-0 pitch from reliever Nick Osborne into right field. Pauly raced around second and slid into the plate under a high throw from the outfield to set off the victory celebration in center field.

Junior shortstop Reid Leonard added on to his school-record reached-base streak (46) with a leadoff solo round-tripper in the first inning. Snyder followed suit in the same frame with his team-best 18th four-bagger.

Tech pushed ahead 5-2 before junior right-fielder Jake Hammon cranked his seventh homer of the season to right field in the fifth.

Meanwhile, senior pitcher Kyle Cantu came in after the rain delay and held TTU's vaunted bats to just two runs in 4.2 innings. Left Cory Conway struck out the only two batters he faced with runners in scoring position in the eighth, and sophomore Dom Masullo  (3-1) collected the win with a near-perfect ninth frame.

Leonard had three hits, while Pauly, Snyder, Niemann and Hammon had two.

It will be senior day on Saturday as the teams wrap up the series at Noon ET.