Preece Smashes Three of Baseball's Seven Homers in Series Opening Win over SEMO

MOREHEAD, Ky. -- The Morehead State baseball team came out swinging in the series opener vs. SEMO on Friday, smashing 12 extra-base hits with seven of them being home runs in a 13-6 victory over the Redhawks. Ryley Preece led the way for the Eagles, smashing three homers in a game for the second time this season, and third time in his career. 

John Bakke (5-2) got the win for Morehead State (23-13, 8-2). The left-hander went six innings, giving up four runs on seven hits, allowing three walks and striking out one. Luke Lyman also pitched well, going 1.1 shutout innings without allowing a hit, walking none and striking out two.

Preece went 3-for-3 at the plate, supplementing his three home runs with five RBIs. Colton Becker added to Preece's power-hitting performance by going 3-for-4 with two doubles, a home run and three RBI. Jackson Feltner also chipped in for the Eagles, going 3-for-4 with two doubles, a triple, a walk and an RBI.

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. Morehead State hit three home runs in the inning on the way to scoring four runs, as Preece led off with a homer before Colton Becker and Nick Gooden went back-to-back. 

The Redhawks then gained ground, narrowing the lead to 4-2 until the Eagles expanded their advantage in the second. Morehead State scored three runs, all of them coming on a three-run homer off the bat of Preece, scoring Chase Vinson and Carter Sakamoto, which brought the Eagles lead to 7-2.

Southeast Missouri State narrowed Morehead State's lead to 7-4 before the Eagles stretched the advantage to 8-4 in the fifth inning, after Colton Becker doubled and scored on a pair of wild pitches. 

Morehead State held the Redhawks scoreless before their offense got things moving the next inning. The Eagles scored two runs, including one on a solo dinger off the bat of senior Isaias Guzman, who has homered in three straight games, bringing the score to 10-4 in favor of Morehead State.

Southeast Missouri State got within 10-6 until the Eagles scored again in the eighth inning to stretch its lead to 13-6. Morehead State scored three times, with an output that included home runs from both Vinson and Preece. Joe Rotkis notched a pair of strikeouts to close it out for MSU. 

GAME NOTES
» Morehead State got three-hit games from three different hitters.
» The Eagles had three players put together games with multiple extra-base hits.
» All 12 of Morehead State's hits went for extra bases.
» Morehead State's highest scoring inning was the first, when it pushed four runs across.
» Morehead State grabbed a 4-0 lead in the bottom half of the first and didn't surrender that lead for the remainder of the game.
» Morehead State hitters hit seven homers in the ballgame, the most since the 2018 team hit eight vs. UT Martin.
» The Eagles out-hit the Redhawks at a 12-10 clip.
» Morehead State went 3-for-8 (.375) with runners in scoring position.
» The Eagles drew four walks from Southeast Missouri State pitching.
» Preece led the Eagles at the plate, going 3-for-3 with three home runs and five RBI.

Morehead State goes for its fifth straight series win on Saturday, as Grant Herron takes the ball for the Eagles in game two of the series.