MARION, Ill. -- Luke Helton was the man of the hour on Wednesday night, as he and the Morehead State baseball team defeated SIUE 3-1 in an elimination game to move into the double elimination portion of the OVC Tournament.
Helton, who just threw eight innings vs. the Cougars last Thursday, dominated SIUE once again. The graduate student right hander threw a complete game, allowing just one run in the first inning. He racked up eight strikeouts in the victory, his ninth of the season.Â
With the win, Helton (9-2) now has 22 career victories, tying Morehead State Hall of Famer Sean Hogan for the most in program history. After completing the third inning, Helton became the program's all-time leader in innings pitched at 312.1.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Trailing 1-0, the Eagles first put runs on the board in the first inning. Morehead State got an RBI single from senior Logan Castleman, scoring senior Colton Becker from third base.
The score stayed at 1-1 until the fifth inning, when the Eagles put runs on the scoreboard once again. Becker came across to score the lone run of the inning for Morehead State on a wild pitch, which brought the score to 2-1 in favor of the Eagles.
Morehead State kept SIU-Edwardsville scoreless before building their lead to 3-1 in the seventh inning. The score remained 3-1 for the rest of the game, as Morehead State held on for the win.
GAME NOTES
» Freshman Davis Germann compiled three base hits in the game for Morehead State.
» Helton struck out eight Cougars hitters.
» Morehead State's highest scoring inning was the seventh, when it pushed one run across.
» Helton put together nine innings of one-run ball for the Eagles.
» The Eagles out-hit the Cougars at an 11-4 clip.
» The Eagles drew five walks from SIU-Edwardsville pitching.
» Germann led the Eagles at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a double.
Morehead State will play No. 2 Southeast Missouri on Wednesday at 4:00 PM ET.Â
