BOX SCORE (GAME 1) | BOX SCORE (GAME 2)
MOREHEAD, Ky. -- Freshman center-fielder
Ryley Preece became the first Morehead State player to hit for the cycle since 2018 in the first game as the Eagle baseball team claimed a series win over rival Eastern Kentucky with a 14-5 victory Saturday afternoon. The Colonels turned the tables and claimed the series finale of the doubleheader 11-0 in seven innings.
Morehead State moved to 2-1 in OVC play and 7-7 overall, while the Colonels sit at 5-9 and 1-2 in the league now.
Preece had a triple in the first inning, a double in the second, his first career home run in the fifth and a single to lead off the eighth. The Johnson Central (Ky.) High School product also scored three times.
HOW IT HAPPENED - GAME 1
- Morehead State scored runs in seven of its eight at-bats, including three in the first, four in the fifth and three more in the eighth.
- Preece got his cycle going with perhaps the hardest to get, the triple, as he drove an RBI three-bagger into the right field corner in the first.
- Following a score on a wild pitch by
Bryce Hensor in the third, senior DH
Arthur Sells drilled a solo homer down the left-field line.
- Preece crushed his first career home run in the fifth, and senior
Ryan Layne followed up shortly after with a pinch-hit, three-run long ball to make it 9-4.
- Freshman
Jackson Feltner hit the Eagles' third round-tripper of the game seventh, his second home run of the season.
- Senior catcher
Jack Gardner smacked his team-leading fourth homer of the year, a three-run job, in the eighth to set the final margin at 14-5
- EKU scored a pair of runs in the first and fifth. Charlie Ludwick hit a two-run homer in the first and added a solo shot in the fifth.
NOTABLE - GAME 1
- Preece's cycle was the first for an Eagle since All-American
Niko Hulsizer accomplished the feat on April 18, 2018 versus SIU Edwardsville.
- It was the 10th straight home win in the series versus the Colonels.
- Senior reliever
Cory Conway picked up a four-inning save, his first shutdown job of 2021. It was the first 3.0+ inning save since
Landon Weins on May 24, 2019 in the OVC Tournament.
- Five hitters mad multiple hits, including Preece's 4-for-5 effort.Â
- Gardner's four RBI was his second 4+ RBI game of the year, the other coming at home last week against Marshall.
- Right-hander
Luke Helton went the first five frames, allowing four runs, but was credited with his first career win to move to 1-1 in 2021.
- Hensor upped his hitting streak and reached-base streak to eight games, a team-best.
HOW IT HAPPENED - GAME 2
- The Colonels plated three runs in the first inning as Manny Jackson highlighted with a two-run homer.
- EKU took advantage of five walks and a hit batter, plus a grand slam, in the seventh as they finished off the game with a seven-run inning.
NOTABLE - GAME 2
-
Matt Bettio started for the Eagles but was tagged with the loss, allowing four runs in 3.0 innings.
- The Eagles pitchers did record six strikeouts to keep a streak alive of fanning at least six opposing hitters in a game. That streak is up to 17 games now.
UP NEXT
The Eagles start a mid-week two-game set at West Virginia on Tuesday at 3 p.m. ET.
