Morehead, Ky. -- The Morehead State baseball team withstood a late rally and scored two runs in the eighth inning for an 8-7 win to complete the series sweep over Western Illinois Sunday afternoon at Allen Field at Prefontaine Park.
 
Morehead State (28-23, 12-12 OVC) came to bat in bottom of the eighth in a 6-6 game. With one out, Eagle shortstop Jaden Correa hit a sharp single up the middle. JJ Dutton followed with a single through the left side putting runners at first and second bases. Left Fielder Davis German shot a liner down the right field line that went all the way to the corner for a two-run double and an 8-6 Eagle lead.
 
Western Illinois (17-33, 8-16 OVC) mounted its third rally in as many innings in the ninth. Shortstop Josh McClintock delivered a two-out single to left. WIU Krayton Morse was hit by a pitch. A wild pitch that bounced nearly into the Western Illinois dugout allowed McClintock to score from second and Morse to advance to third base. A strikeout ended the game and preserved the win.
 
Cole Wells (4-2) picked up the win out of the bullpen. He got the last out of the eighth inning before getting through the ninth. He allowed one earned run on two hits and got the final out with his lone strikeout of the outing.
 
Freshman Connor Davis turned in another solid start for the Eagles in getting the no-decision. He threw six shutout innings, scattering five hits. He walked four and struck out three WIU batters.
 
Western Illinois reliever Eric Rawlings (2-5) took the loss for the Leathernecks. He pitched three innings allowing two earned runs on five hits and struck out three.   
 
Morehead State opened the scoring in the third inning. Dutton was hit by a pitch and Germann walked. After a double play left Dutton at third base with two outs, designated hitter Aubrey Kearns drilled a triple into the gap in left center that split the outfielders. Right fielder Ian McCubbin plated Kearns with a double off the Big Blue Wall in right field to give MSU the early 2-0 lead.
 
The Eagles expanded the lead in the fifth: Germann led off reaching on a hit by pitch and advanced to second on a balk. Third baseman Griffin Olson drilled a single through the right side that got past the WIU first baseman. Kearns followed with a laser over the Big Blue Wall in right field that traveled 380 feet for a two-run home run and a 5-0 lead.
 
MSU made it 6-0 in the sixth when first baseman Brayton Coomer led off with a walk and stole second. Correa delivered with a lined RBI single into center to plate Coomer.
 
Western Illinois mounted its charge in the seventh. The Leathernecks led off with two hit batsmen and an RBI single through the left side by WIU center fielder Joe Connolly. Designated hitter Cordell Coburn delivered with a two-run triple off the screen in deep left field to cut the MSU lead to 6-3.
 
The Leathernecks knotted it up in the eighth. A leadoff walk and three straight hits, highlighted by first baseman Liam Bushey's two run double tied the game at 6-6.
 
Morehead State returns to action in Cookville, Tennessee, Thursday to close out the season with a three-game series at Tennessee Tech. First pitch Thursday is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET. All games in the series are scheduled to be aired on ESPN+.
 
NOTABLE

• The win clinched the Eagles a berth in the Ohio Valley Conference tournament that begins May 19 in Marion, Illinois. Pending the final week of conference play, the Eagles could land anywhere from the five to the seven seed.
• Morehead State swept three of its home conference series (UT Martin, Southern Indiana, Western Illinois) and got swept in its other two (SIUE, Lindenwood)
• MSU was out-hit 11-9. The Eagles are now 5-17 when tallying fewer hits then their opponents.
• MSU has won 10 of its last 12 games.
• MSU pitching hit five WIU batters in the game running the total to 97 on the season.
• Aubrey Kearns finished 3-5 with a home run, a triple, two runs scored and three runs batted in. It was his team-leading 25^th multi-hit game, his 15^th multiple-RBI game and his 14^th multi-run game.
• Jaden Correa finished 2-3 with an RBI. It was his second game in a row with two hits and his 15^th of the season.
• JJ Dutton went 2-3 with two runs scored.
• Davis Germann was 1-3 with a walk and two RBI in the game. He extended his hitting streak to six games. He has reached base in each of the last 13 games.