Lengthy Delay Doesn't Deter Baseball Eagles From Topping Southeast Missouri

BOX SCORE

MOREHEAD, Ky. -- Morehead State baseball grabbed the lead and then waited through a two-hour lightning delay before tacking on three more runs in the same inning en route to an 8-3 victory over Southeast Missouri Friday at Allen Field.

Morehead State set the program record for regular-season wins by moving to 36-19 overall and also now 18-11 in the OVC. The 2019 team eclipsed the 2015 OVC Tournament Championship and NCAA Regional team's 35 regular-season triumphs. 

Senior shortstop Reid Leoanrd also established the program career record with his 60th double in his four-year foray at MSU. The Redhawks fell to 23-31 overall and 10-19 in the OVC and are now assured of missing out on the league postseason tournament for the first time ever.

Tied 2-2 in the bottom of the second frame, a fielding error with two outs left the door open for sophomore third baseman Stephen Hill's RBI double off the wall in right field. Storms moved into the area and forced a 2:15 lightning delay even though no rain fell. Following the delay, senior center-fielder took an 0-1 pitch from SEMO starter Austin Sachse (who came back after the delay) and crashed it off the wall in center-field to drive in two more.

Junior designated hitter Jon Burghardt then made it 6-2 with an RBI single up the middle.

"I thought it was improtant we come out after the delay and continue to hit. There was no one better suited for that situation than Connor Pauly," said head coach Mike McGuire.

After the delay, sophomore righthander Alex Garbrick kept the visitors at bay for four innings, allowing just two hits and one run. Sophomore lefty Cory Conway closed out the win by tossing the final three frames and surrendering just two hits and no runs. Starter Jason Goe, who was on a pitch count for the final weekend heading into tournament, tossed the first two but did not come back after the long delay. He was still credited with the win to improve to 6-2.

"We gave up a few too many free bases, but I thought our guys pitched well," McGuire added. "Jason may have been able to go a few more innings if not for the delay but we didn't want to put him back out there, and we had planned on using Alex anyway during the game."

SEMO reliever Daniel Bergtholdt was sharp for the final six innings, giving up just four hits. One of those was an RBI double deep into the left-field gap by Leonard in the eighth inning. His 60th career two-bagger broke a tie with former All-American Drew Lee. Senior left-fielder Jake Hammon gave his team its seventh tally on the scoreboard in the sixth with a sac fly to score senior catcher Hunter Fain, who had doubled off the wall in left field.

On a night when eight of the nine position players recorded at least one hit, Fain led the way with three. Leonard had a single as well in the first inning to extend his hitting streak to 16 games.

Senior Day is set for Saturday before the 1 p.m. game. Nine seniors will suit up for the final time at Allen Field.

If the Eagles win, coupled with a win by Eastern Kentucky over Belmont Saturday, then MSU will garner the third seed for next week's league tournament in Marion, Ill. A loss or a Belmont victory would place the Eagles into the four-seed slot. The tournament begins Tuesday with the 7-8 seeds elimination game and rolls into high gear Wednesday.

"This senior class has helped us win a lot of games, and I hope and know they aren't done winning," said McGuire.