Late Rally, Solid Pitching Lift Eagles Past Eastern Illinois 8-5

Morehead, Ky. -- The Morehead State baseball team rallied late and got solid pitching to claim an 8-5 win in a back-and-forth affair over Eastern Illinois in the series finale Sunday at Frost Field at Coaches Stadium in Charleston, Illinois.
 
Morehead State (12-16, 1-5 OVC) came to bat in the top of the eighth with the score tied at 5-5. Alex Kean reached on a lead-off walk and was replaced by pinch-runner Jaden Hart. Running on the first pitch, Hart stole second and advanced to third on the errant throw by the EIU catcher. Griffin Olson drew a walk and stole second.
 
With the EIU infield drawn in, Eagle left fielder Kyle Krupp hit a smash up the middle that the Panther shortstop was able to knock down but took an error on the play that allowed Hart to score and Olson to advance to third. Davis Germann was hit by a pitch that loaded the bases. Designated hitter Aubrey Kearns plated Olson with a sacrifice fly to left to give MSU a 7-5 lead.
 
Morehead State added an insurance run in the ninth when second baseman Nick Griffith hit a looping liner down the right field line for a double and scored on Brayton Coomer's sharp single past the EIU third baseman.
 
Eagle reliever Devin Costa (1-1) got the win pitching 3.1 innings of no-hit, shutout baseball. He did not allow a base runner while recording two strikeouts.
 
After giving up a solo home run in the bottom of the first inning, the Eagles got on the scoreboard in the top of the first inning. Right fielder Ian McCubbin led off with single to left and Griffith belted a one-out home run over the fence in right field to give the Eagles a 2-1 lead.
 
MSU added two more runs in the third. Olson led off with a single up the middle. Krupp followed with a smash that the EIU second baseman knocked down but was unable to make a play. Kearns then delivered an RBI single with a liner into the gap in left center putting runners at the corners. McCubbin then fisted a soft liner into right for the second run of the inning to stretch the Eagle lead to 4-1.
 
Eastern Illinois (16-10, 2-1 OVC) got a run back in the bottom of the third to make the score 4-2. The Panthers threatened a big inning with a leadoff single and a walk followed by a sacrifice bunt to put runners on second and third. Another walk loaded the bases with just one out. A sacrifice fly to left scored a run and another fly ball to center ended the threat.
 
The Panthers regained the lead in the fourth inning, scoring three unearned runs. After a ground out and a fly out, an infield error on a ground ball set the table. A single put runners on the corners. Morehead State starter Connor Davis induced a fly ball to center, but a balk was called scoring a run. Two more singles pushed two more runs across and EIU led 5-4.
 
Morehead State evened the score at 5-5 in the fifth. Kearns smacked a one-out single to right and advanced on a passed ball. McCubbin singled on a flare to right to advance Kearns to third. Sheridan walked to load the bases. Griffith bounced to first to score Kearns.
 
Davis was solid in a no-decision in his seventh start of the season. He threw 5.2 innings, scattering eight hits and allowed five runs, two earned. He walked four batters and recorded a strikeout.
 
Panther reliever Nate Marshall (1-2) took the loss. He threw three innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on one hit. He walked three Eagle batters and recorded two strikeouts.
 
Morehead State will return home for a series with UT Martin. The series is scheduled for a 6:50 p.m. ET, first pitch Thursday. The game is scheduled to be aired on ESPN+.
 
NOTABLE

• After going hitless in the first two games of the series (the first instance this season of him going hitless in back-to-back games), Aubrey Kearns rapped two hits in four at bats with two runs batted in. He has hit safely in 24 of the Eagles' 28 games this season.
• Kearns leads MSU with 32 runs batted in this season.
• Ian McCubbin went 3-5 at the plate with a run batted in. It was his eighth multi-hit game of the season.
• First baseman Alex Kean extended his reached-base streak to 16 games with a walk in the eighth inning.
• Griffin Olson went 2-4 with a walk, three stolen bases and scored twice.
• Olson is 11-12 in stolen base attempts this season.
• Nick Griffith was 2-5 at the plate with three runs batted in. His home run in the second inning was his third of the season.
• Kyle Krupp extended his hitting streak to six games.
• Krupp stole his 19^th stolen base of the season. He is now 19-26 in stolen base attempts this season.