BOX SCORE
MOREHEAD, Ky. -- Morehead State Baseball put together a four-run ninth-inning rally in its 2021 season opener Friday at Charlotte, but unfortunately the host 49ers had already put together six scoring innings and three multi-run innings as the Eagles fell 12-4 at Hayes Ballpark.
It marked the first game for the Eagles since March 9, 2020 when they defeated Dayton before having the season cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Charlotte hadn't seen action since March 10 when it knocked off nationally-ranked NC State.
Morehead State got a two-run single, a wild pitch score and a solo-run single in the ninth to score its four tallies, but Charlotte busted the game open in the second and third frames with seven total runs, including five in the second. An Eagle fielding error led to four of those runs being unearned though.
The Eagles used three pitchers on the day, with junior righty
Will Lozinak absorbing the loss. He allowed only three earned runs but six hits in 2.1 innings. Sophomore right-hander
Joe Rotkis and junior righty
Jarrett Miller also saw action. Rotkis fanned a career-high four 49er batters over a personal-high 4.0 innings of relief, and Miller was a bright spot with three strikeouts over an inning-and-two-thirds.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Charlotte scored five times in the second inning. Designated hitter Rafi Vazquez kick-started the rally with a solo home run. First baseman David McCabe plated the final two with a two-run double dow the right-field line.
- Charlotte made it 7-0 after three when it got a double steal of second and home to work and an RBI single as well.
- Right-fielder Craig Keuchel belted a two-run long ball in the sixth, and catcher Aaron McKeithan made it 12-0 in the seventh via an RBi single.
- The Eagles' ninth inning scoring started when senior right-fielder
Logan Goodnight pounded an RBI single to third base as junior
Bryce Hensor came across the plate. Fifth-year center-fielder
Ryan Layne also scored on an error on the play.
- Senior third baseman
Stephen Hill scooted home on a wild pitch, and then freshman left-fielder
Bryce Ray sent Goodnight home on his RBI single.
NOTABLE
- Ray's hit carried over a team-best hitting streak from last season into 2021 with his fourth straight game with at least one hit.
- Hill has now reached base in nine straight games since the end of the 2020 campaign, while Hensor is at eight consecutive on the reached-base streaks.
- Miller, a transfer from Enterprise State (Ala.) only gave up one hit and tossed 26 pitches in his Eagle debut.
- First baseman
Priamo Lozada, a transfer from Frederick (Md.) Community College, also made his MSU debut and recorded the Eagles' first hit in 2021.
- With eight strikeouts today, Eagle pitchers have now recorded at least seven or more strikeouts in a game in four straight dating back to March 7, 2020. MSU had its pitchers record double-digit strikeouts in eight of the 15 games played before the season ended in 2020.
- It was third time in program history to open a season at Charlotte, having also done so in 1995 and 1998. Overall, Charlotte leads the series with the Eagles now 7-1.
UP NEXT
Morehead State has a unique day-night doubleheader on Saturday. MSU and Charlotte meet again at 1 p.m. ET, and then the Eagles will ride the 22 miles to Davidson, N.C., to face head coach
Mik Aoki's alma mater at 6 p.m.Â
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