MARTIN, Tenn. – Senior shortstop
Reid Leonard tied the Morehead State career record for hits Friday night at UT Martin, but the Eagles didn't come out ahead on the scoreboard, falling 5-4 to the Skyhawks.
Leonard had an infield single in his first plate appearance to tie Drew Lee's school career mark of 277 hits. He also set the MSU career record for plate appearances in the game, now with 999 times at the plate in the last four seasons.
MSU slipped to 17-9 and 4-3 in the OVC, while UTM improved to 10-15 and 3-7 in the league.
"We had some opportunities again today and just didn't get it done," said head coach
Mike McGuire. "We have the makings to be a good offensive club but punching out 10 times is just not a recipe for success for us here at Morehead State."
Sean Dixson nailed a leadoff home run to left field for the Skyhawks, and Creighton Eldridge later lifted a homer to right field to make it a 4-1 ballgame after four frames.
The Eagles fought back to tie the contest 4-4 in the fifth. Catcher
Hunter Fain tattooed an RBI double off the left centerfield wall, second baseman
Ryan Layne sliced an RBI single through the right side of the infield, and DH
Arthur Sells cranked a bases-loaded sac fly to center field.
The hosts moved back ahead in the bottom of the seventh when Dixson laced a triple into the right centerfield gap and scored when Jordan Stoner dribbled in a single down the third base line off reliever
Alex Garbrick. With the bases loaded, however, reliever
Cory Conway coaxed a line out and strike out to keep the game at 5-4.
MSU had runners on second and third in the top of the eighth but a strike out ended the go-ahead opportunity. The Eagles also had the tying run at second with one out in the top of the ninth.
Centerfielder
Connor Pauly led the Eagles with a 3-for-4 day at the plate, while third baseman
Stephen Hill totaled a pair of hits.
Garbrick was tagged the loss to fall to 1-2. The win went to UTM reliever David Hussey (2-2), while Nick Wohlbold picked up save No. 5.
The teams will attempt to play game two in the series Saturday at 3 p.m. ET. With rain the forecast, stay tuned to MSUEagles.com and Twitter (@MSUEagles) for updates.
