Great Pitching, Four Home Runs Highlight Baseball's Win Over Bellarmine

MOREHEAD, Ky. -- The Morehead State baseball team played long-ball on Tuesday, smashing four home runs to kickoff the week with a 9-2 win over Bellarmine at Allen Field. 

Roman Kuntz kicked off the home run derby with a solo shot in the first, his fourth homer of the year. Jackson Feltner, Isaias Guzman, and Ryley Preece all followed suit later in the game with homers of their own, as seven of MSU's nine runs came via the homer. 

Senior Joe Rotkis (5-0) started on the mound and picked up the win for Morehead State (22-13). The right-hander went three shutout innings while giving up one hit, allowing one walk and striking out two. Senior Matt Bettio also made an impact on the mound for the Eagles, throwing two scoreless innings while allowing one hit, with no walks and two strikeouts. Eagle pitchers combined for eight total scoreless innings.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Eagles got the scoring started early, putting one run on the board in the bottom the first inning with the game still scoreless. Kuntz put Morehead State on the board with a two-out solo home run.

The Eagles then held the Knights scoreless before expanding their lead in the fifth inning. Jackson Feltner launched his ninth home run of the season, a two-run blast to left that made the score 3-0. 

Morehead State held Bellarmine scoreless before building their lead to 5-0 in the seventh inning. Morehead State recorded two runs, including one on a solo homer off the bat of senior Isaias Guzman, who has homered in back-to-back games.

The Knights gained ground, closing the gap to 5-2 until Morehead State added some insurance in the eighth. Colton Becker scored on a wild pitch, before Ryley Preece smashed his OVC-leading 13th home run of the season, a three-run shot that put an exclamation point on MSU's 22nd won of the year. 

GAME NOTES
» The Eagles had both Feltner and Preece smack multiple extra-base hits in the ballgame.
» Morehead State's highest scoring inning was the eighth, when it pushed four runs across.
» Four Eagles had multiple hits in the ballgame.
» The Eagles out-hit the Knights at a 12-6 clip.
» Morehead State pitchers limited Bellarmine to just 1-for-5 (.200) with runners in scoring position.
» Morehead State pitchers faced 33 Bellarmine hitters in the game, allowing nine ground balls and 10 fly balls while striking out five.
» Preece led the Eagles at the plate, going 3-for-5 with a double, a home run and three RBI.

Morehead State returns to action this weekend for a huge OVC series with SEMO at Allen Field.