BOX SCORE (GAME 1) | BOX SCORE (GAME 2)
MOREHEAD, Ky. - The Morehead State baseball Eagles took a doubleheader decision, defeating SIUE on the twin bill 11-9 in both contests during an all-day baseball bonanza at Allen Field.
Returning to the friendly confines of home seemed to bring about the offensive groove the Eagles have been accustomed to in recent years, tabbing 25 hits total for the evening.
Leading the charge offensively for Morehead State was senior
Jake Hammon, who went 5-for-9 combined on the day's action, logging a 4-for-6 effort in the nightcap. The Smyrna, Tennessee native scored four times and batted in seven RBI.
In addition to crossing the 20-win plateau on the 2019 campaign, this evening's first victory also marks head coach
Mike McGuire's 350th collegiate win for his career.
Freshman
Landon Weins picked up the win in game one for Morehead State, moving to 3-0, while senior
David Looney earned the win in game two, earning his first victory of the year (1-0). Picking up the save in both tilts was junior
Jake Ziegelmeyer, who now has six on the season.
GAME 1
The Eagles came out with bats blazing in the matinee, jumping out to a 7-0 lead after the third inning. A three-run dinger by Hammon, a solo shot by senior
Connor Pauly, a two-RBI single by junior
Chase Sortor, and a throwing error that later plated Sortor got MSU going early.
SIUE would strike back, however, scoring their next five runs unanswered over the course of the fourth and fifth inning.
In the sixth, MSU got some cushion off of a two-run long ball to straightaway center by sophomore
Stephen Hill, stretching the lead to 9-5.
More resistance was met, though, as the Cougars pegged three more on the board in the seventh, homering twice off back-to-back batters.
The Eagles answered back in the bottom of the frame, scoring
Dom Peroni on a sacrifice fly, and plating junior
Arthur Sells on an RBI double from Pauly, placing the score at 10-8 at that juncture.
Each team would bring across another run each, before Ziegelmeyer closed the door, bringing Morehead State to victory.
GAME 2
The back half of the split-bill saw more of the same complexion as the front half, as the Eagles jumped out to an early 6-0 lead after one frame before the visitors came back with four unanswered runs in the second to keep SIUE in striking distance.
After a Hammon two-run homer in the third made the score 8-4, the guests struck back on a three-run round-tripper off of Cougar first baseman Peyton Cordova-Smith.
The back third of the contest featured a back-and-forth affair, trading runs until Ziegelmeyer played hero once again, getting the Eagles out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth, allowing only one run to score. The Union, Ky., native coaxed an inning-ending double play, forcing a grounder to third that Hill snagged and made the play to
Trevor Snyder at first to close the stanza.
The final three Cougar batters went down in order for the closer, as the Eagles forced a fly-out to center, a groundout to short, and a game-ending strikeout to complete the weekend sweep.
UP NEXT
The Eagles return to action to begin a midweek series with Alabama A&M on Tuesday and Wednesday. First pitch is scheduled for 11 a.m. ET on both days at Sonny Allen Field.
