Early Offense and Strong Mound Effort Lift Eagles to 5-1 Win at Ohio

Morehead, Ky. -- The Morehead State baseball team got out to an early lead on home runs by Ian McCubbin and Davis Germann and freshman starter Sam Smith threw six shutout innings as the Eagles cruised to a 5-1 win over Ohio Wednesday at Bob Wren Stadium in Athens, Ohio.

Morehead State (25-23) jumped on Ohio starter Luke Bryant quickly. Davis Germann lined the first pitch of the game for a single to right center. After a ground out and an Ohio error advanced Germann to third, designated hitter Aubrey Kearns drew a one-out walk to put runners on the corners. Right fielder Ian McCubbin followed driving a 2-1 pitch over the wall in deep right center field to give MSU a quick 3-0 lead.
 
The Eagles struck again in the second inning. Nick Griffith got things going with a one-out single to right. Germann delivered with a homer in nearly the same spot as McCubbin's in the first frame to put the Eagles ahead 5-0.
 
Smith (3-0), making his second start of his collegiate career, tossed six shutout innings allowing just one infield hit and two walks. He struck out three Bobcat batters in his longest stint of the season.
 
Freshman Cole Wells allowed a run on two hits in the seventh, notching a strikeout. Senior Ethan Davis closed out the game throwing two shutout innings allowing a hit and a walk and carding two strikeouts.

Ohio (9-39) registered four hits against Eagle pitching. Starter Luke Bryant (0-5) took the loss. He threw 1.2 innings, allowing all five MSU runs on four hits. He walked one and notched one strikeout.
 
Morehead State returns to action when it hosts Western Illinois in an Ohio Valley Conference weekend series. First pitch for both Friday and Saturday are scheduled for 6:00 p.m. ET. Sunday's series finale is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. ET. Sunday's game is scheduled to be aired on ESPN+
 
NOTABLE

• Ian McCubbin finished the day 2-4 at the plate with three RBI. His home run in the first inning was his 13^th of the season, that's tops on the club and tied for fourth-most in the OVC.
• It was McCubbin's 19^th multiple-hit game, third on the team.
• Davis Germann also finished 2-4 with a home run at the plate. He has hit safely in seven of the last ten games. He now has 21 multi-hit games, second on the club.
• Morehead State pitching continued its trend of throwing strikes Wednesday night in Athens. Eagle hurlers allowed just three walks in the 34 batters they faced.
• The Eagles wrapped up their non-conference slate 16-11. MSU won its last six non-con games and seven of its last 10.