CHARLESTON, Ill. -- The Morehead State baseball team rallied from tied 6-6 in the eighth inning to win in exciting fashion, securing a 7-6 victory over the Eastern Illinois Panthers Friday.
Junior Will Grimmett (2-3) got the win out of the bullpen for Morehead State (29-20, ). The right-hander went 1.1 shutout innings, giving up one hit, no walks and striking out two. Luke Helton had a nice day on the mound, tossing 7.2 innings with nine strikeouts.
Hayden Robbins paced the Eagle offense, finishing 2-4 with a homer and 3 RBI. Hunter Thomas finished 2-4 with a homer as well, and Roman Kuntz and Nick Gooden both finished 1-3 with an RBI.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Eagles were trailing 1-0 in the second inning when they first put runs on the board. Junior Hunter Thomas put Morehead State on the board with a two-out solo home run off junior Christian Carew.
The game remained tied until the very next inning, when the Eagles got going again on offense. Morehead State scored once on an RBI single off the bat of Nick Gooden, which brought the Eagles lead to 2-1.
Morehead State's lead had evaporated once the fourth inning arrived and turned into a 3-2 Eastern Illinois advantage, when the Eagles re-took control at 5-3. The Eagles scored three runs, all of them coming on a three-run homer from freshman Hayden Robbins that scored Thomas and senior Logan Castleman.
Morehead State held the Panthers scoreless before their offense got back to their scoring ways the next inning. The Eagles drove home a run on senior Roman Kuntz's one-out RBI double, bringing the Morehead State advantage to 6-3.
Eastern Illinois fought back to tie the contest at six before the Eagles reclaimed a 7-6 advantage in the ninth inning. Colton Becker stole second, advanced to third and came across on a wild pitch to score the lone run of the inning for Morehead State and get them on the board. The score remained 7-6 for the rest of the game, as the Eagles held on for the win.
GAME NOTES
» Luke Helton struck out nine Panthers hitters.
» Morehead State's highest scoring inning was the fourth, when it pushed three runs across.
» Morehead State pitchers faced 38 Eastern Illinois hitters in the game, allowing 11 ground balls and three fly balls while striking out 11.
» The Eagles drew seven walks from Eastern Illinois pitching.
Morehead State goes for the series win tomorrow with the first pitch coming at 2:00 PM.
