MOREHEAD, KY -- Luke Helton was mowing people down on Friday, fanning nine Eastern Michigan hitters over eight innings of work to help lead the Morehead State Eagles over the Eagles 12-2.
In addition to his nine strikeouts, Helton (4-1) went eight innings, giving up two runs, both of them earned, on three hits and walking one for Morehead State (9-8).
In the batter's box, the Eagles were led by senior Roman Kuntz, who went 2-for-4 on the day with a double, a home run, a walk and three RBI. Nick Gooden put together a noteworthy effort as well, going 1-for-3 with a grand slam. Senior Ryan Grabosch also helped out for Morehead State, putting together three hits in three trips to the plate while adding a home run, a walk and an RBI.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Eagles were trailing 2-0 in the fourth inning when they first put runs on the board. Morehead State hit two home runs in the inning on the way to scoring six runs.
The Eastern Michigan Eagles failed to push any runs across before the Eagles offense got back to their scoring ways the next inning. Morehead State scored once on an RBI single off the bat of freshman Davis Germann, which brought the score to 7-2 in favor of the Eagles.
Morehead State kept Eastern Michigan scoreless before building their lead to 11-2 the following inning. The Eagles got a grand slam from Gooden off freshman Niko Kreuzer to cash in four runs in the frame.
Morehead State held the Eastern Michigan Eagles without a run before building on their lead in the eighth inning. The Eagles sent home a run on Kuntz's one-out RBI double, bringing the Morehead State advantage to 12-2. The score remained 12-2 for the rest of the game, as the Eagles coasted to the win.
GAME NOTES
» Morehead State got three-hit games from three different hitters.
» Helton struck out nine Eastern Michigan Eagles hitters.
» The Eagles had both Kuntz and senior Colton Becker crush multiple extra-base hits in the ballgame.
» Gooden drove in four runs for Morehead State.
» Morehead State's highest scoring inning was the fourth, when it pushed six runs across.
» Helton put together eight innings of two-run ball for the Eagles.
» Five Eagles had multiple hits in the ballgame.
» Morehead State hitters hit three dingers in the ballgame.
» The Eagles had a total of 15 hits.
» The Eagles out-hit the Eastern Michigan Eagles at a 15-3 clip.
» Both senior Ryley Preece and Becker stole two bases in Friday's game.
» The Eagles stole five bases as a team.
» Morehead State went 4-for-12 (.333) with runners in scoring position.
» Morehead State pitchers faced 28 Eastern Michigan hitters in the game, allowing 11 ground balls and three fly balls while striking out nine.
Morehead State goes for the series win in tomorrow's doubleheader, with the first pitch coming at 1:00 PM.
