Morehead, Ky. -- Morehead State rallied from behind twice, but wild pitches and a late unearned run proved to be the Eagles' undoing as they fell 7-6 in the opener of their three-game series with Western Illinois at Alfred D. Boyer Stadium in Macomb, Ill.
Western Illinois (16-28/ 8-14 OVC) got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the second inning. The Leathernecks got two runs on just one hit, an RBI double by third baseman Kyree Alexander to take the early lead. MSU starter
Kamden Hawks allowed three walks in the inning; both runners scoring were aboard via bases on balls.
Morehead State (12-36/ 2-20 OVC) got a run back in the top of the third inning.
Austyn Peak led off with a single to left, advancing to second on an error on the play. He was replaced by
Aubrey Kearns as a pinch runner. Kearns advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on third baseman
Griffin Olson's sacrifice fly to center field.
The Eagles evened up the game in the fourth. Center fielder
JJ Dutton singled to center field and scored on shortstop
Andy Cisneros' triple to the left-center gap.
WIU rallied for four runs in the fifth on just two hits, highlighted by left fielder Tyler Large's two run home run. The Leathernecks scored two runs on two walks and three wild pitches and took a 6-2 lead.
MSU rallied again in the sixth. Left fielder
Davis Germann led off with a single through the left side, and
JJ Dutton reached on an infield error. Cisneros' sacrifice bunt moved the runners to second and third.
After Germann scored on a passed ball,
Alex Kean scored Dutton with an RBI triple to right. He scored on Kearns' single to right field to pull the Eagles within a run at 6-5.
Germann showed up again in the seventh inning. He shot a ball through the left side for his second hit of the day. Then, with two outs, he stole second base and advanced on an infield error to extend the inning. He scored for the second inning in a row on a passed ball to even up the score at 6-6.
Western Illinois went back on top with an unearned run in the seventh. WIU's Matt Olive rapped out a one-out single and then scored on an error by
Alex Kean in right field to push the Leathernecks up 7-6.
WIU's Jorge Romero (3-2) got the win. MSU's
Ethan Davis (2-4) took the loss. Eric Rawlings (2) picked up the save.
Morehead State and Western Illinois will square off Saturday in game two of the series. First pitch is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. ET.
NOTABLE
- The loss is the 13th in a row for Morehead State, the longest skid since the 2013 season.
- JJ Dutton and Davis German both extended their reached-base streaks. Dutton has now reached safely in 27 straight games, while Germann's streak now stands at 23.
- Germann has 16 multiple-hit games, tied with Alex Kean for second on the team. Hunter Thomas leads the club with 18.
- Alex Kean extended his hitting streak to 10 games.
- Caden Sheridan extended his hitting streak to eight games. The game with his 16th of the season with multiple hits.
