Baseball Eagles Rally Late, Fall 4-3 at Winthrop

Morehead, Ky. -- Morehead State got a big three-run blast from Aubrey Kearns in the eighth inning to tie the game up, but fell to Winthrop 4-3 Sunday at Founders Field in Rock Hill, S.C.
 
Morehead State (3-4) trailed 3-0 when it came to bat in the eighth inning. Right fielder Kyle Krupp led off with a single to left center. Center fielder Jaden Hart laid down a sacrifice bunt in front of
the plate and Winthrop catcher Cade Norton threw the ball away allowing Krupp to reach third and Hart to pull into second base. Kearns then hit the first pitch of the at-bat over the fence in right field to knot the game up at 3-3.
 
Kearns finished the day two of four at the plate for his fifth multi-hit game of the season and the 15^th of his career. Junior first baseman Alex Kean and freshman right fielder Kyle Krupp both had two hits for the Eagles as well.
 
Winthrop (5-2) came right back in the ninth. Shortstop Noah Cox led off with single to left center. Pinch runner Chazz Grossington replaced him and was forced to second when leadoff hitter Gabe Navidad was hit by a pitch by MSU reliever Devin Costa. Grossington advanced to third on a fly out to center field.
 
After an intentional walk to load the bases, pinch-hitter Gage Handzel hit a 2-1 pitch into shallow right field to score Grossington and give Winthrop the win.
 
Winthrop's Harrison Wilson (1-0) picked up the win out of the bullpen. He threw three innings allowing four hits, all three MSU runs (two earned), and struck out two. Winthrop starter Randy Guzman went six innings, scattering five hits and struck out five Morehead State batters.
 
Devin Costa (0-1) took the loss for Morehead State. He thew three innings, allowing five hits and just one run. He walked one and struck out three.
 
Winthrop got a run in the bottom of the first inning on a throwing error on a double steal to get on the board first.
 
The host Eagles tacked on another run in the second inning on a leadoff single followed by a walk. After a sacrifice bunt to move the runners to second and third, a ground out to MSU shortstop Jaden Correa plated the run.
 
Morehead State threatened in the fifth inning when right fielder JJ Dutton smacked a one-out single to center field, stole second and advanced to third on Correa's fly out to center. Dutton was stranded at third when Krupp flied to center to end the inning
 
MSU threatened again in the sixth inning. Kearns got things going with a one-out single down the left field line. He advanced to second on catcher Caden Sheridan's infield single. Both runners advanced on Alex Kean's bounce out to second. The runners were stranded when Brayton Coomer grounded out to end the inning.
 
Winthrop plated another run in the bottom of the sixth and Morehead State's defense prevented more. Left fielder Jaylen Hernandez led off with a walk and advanced to second on a ground out. He advanced to third on third baseman Colin Crowley's single to right.
 
Hernandez scored on a bunt hit by shortstop Noah Cox. Leadoff hitter Gabe Natividad followed with an infield single, but Crowley was thrown out at the plate. MSU pitcher Devin Costa ended the threat by picking off Cox at second base.
 
Morehead State will return to action Wednesday when it visits Northern Kentucky. First pitch is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. ET.
 
NOTES

• Kearns has hit safely in all seven games this season. He is riding a 10-game hitting streak dating back to the final series of last season. Kearns leads Morehead State hitting .500 (14-28) with three home runs and a double with nine RBI.
• Kearns was productive in the series: he rapped six hits in 12 at bats with three RBI.
• Krupp has hit safely in five of the six games he has played. He has knocked two hits in four of those games. He's hitting .375 (9-24) with a double and a triple on the season.
• Caden Sheridan threw out another base stealer Sunday: his sixth of the season.
• Morehead State's offense left 11 runners on base in both of the first two games of the series. Sunday the Eagles stranded six.