BOX SCORE
MOREHEAD, Ky. -- A sixth-inning grand slam by senior center-fielder
Connor Pauly broke a tie and proved to be the winning margin as the Morehead State's baseball team claimed a series win over Eastern Kentucky with a 7-5 triumph at Allen Field Saturday.
The Eagles, who won for the third straight game, have claimed the first two games of the EKU series and will look for a sweep with a 1 p.m. ET Sunday matinee. MSU is now 13-5 overall and 3-2 in the OVC. EKU faltered to 11-6 and 0-2 in the conference.
Tied 3-3 in the sixth, DH
Jon Burghardt reached on a throwing error by EKU's shortstop (one of seven combined miscues on the box score). Freshman right-fielder
Zach Boyd drew a five-pitch walk from EKU starter Kaven Brown (4-1)Â before the Colonels switched to Jacob Ferris on the mound. Senior
Reid Leonard worked a full count and then loaded the bases with a walk. Pauly hit a mammoth shot just inside the right-field foul pole and well over the 40-foot-high wall on the first pitch he saw to make it 7-3.
The visitors tagged Eagle reliever
Landon Weins for four runs and another unearned run off MSU righty
Alex Garbrick, but junior
Jake Ziegelmeyer picked up his second save in as many days (and fourth of the year)Â despite the Eagles making three fielding errors in the ninth and loading the bases. Ziegelmeyer coaxed a strikeout and fielder's choice ground out to seal the victory.
"We made it interesting, but I am proud of our team for claiming a series win," said head coach
Mike McGuire. "We don't talk too much about the EKU rivalry, but they have a quality team. We have done some things at the plate and on the mound the last two games. We probably won't have Landon available on Sunday and Ziegelmeyer would be very limited, so I am looking for other guys to step up tomorrow."
Weins was credited with the victory to improve to 2-0.
Burghardt opened the Eagles' scoring in the second with an RBI single, and MSU made it 2-0 when the EKU centerfielder sailed a throw high to the plate on a fly out.
Pauly cranked an RBI double in the fourth to make it 3-0 before Chris Botsoe brought EKU to within 3-2 with a home run to left field in the sixth. Daniel Harris' RBI single tied it at three later in the top of the sixth.
Along with Pauly's two hits, senior catcher
Hunter Fain kept up his torrid pace with two more hits. Fain is now batting .500 after 18 games.
