Published: April 15, 2008 03:26 pm         

Eagle baseball wins Tennessee Tech series

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Morehead State got a strong pitching performance from Matt Clark, and Marc Midden knocked in four runs as the Eagles defeated Tennessee Tech 6-2 Sunday afternoon at Bush Stadium in Cookeville. MSU won the Ohio Valley Conference series two games-to-one.

MSU, which won four out of five games during the week, is now 12-20 overall, 3-9 in the OVC. Tech is 25-10 overall, 7-5 in the league.

The Eagles never trailed in Sunday's game. The jumped on top, 1-0, in the first inning on a one-out triple by Drew Lee and an RBI ground out by Midden. They extended the lead to 2-0 in the third inning. Travis Redmon walked to lead off the inning. He stole second, moved to third on a single by Lee and scored on a single by Midden.

The Golden Eagles cut the lead in half, 2-1, with an unearned run in the bottom of the third inning.

MSU gave itself some breathing room with a three-run fifth inning. Redmon reached on an error to lead off the inning and moved to second on a balk. He scored on a double by Eric Allen. Allen scored on a double by Midden. Midden moved to third on a single by Michael Bottoms, then scored on a sacrifice fly by Andrew Wertz.

Midden also knocked in MSU's final run of the game with a double in the seventh inning, scoring Allen who had walked.

Tech scored the final run of the game in the bottom of the eighth inning on a ground ball double play.

Clark (1-1) pitched the first seven innings for MSU, scattering six singles, giving up only one unearned run, walking only one and striking out three to get the win. Reliever Michael Fahs gave up two hits and a run in the final two innings.

Golden Eagle starter Jared Dobbs (3-3) pitched three innings, gave up the first two runs of the game and suffered the loss.

The two teams split Saturday’s doubleheader with the hosts taking the opener, 9-5, the Eagles bouncing back to claim the nightcap, 3-2.

In the opener, Tech jumped out to a 1-0 in the first inning. MSU took a 2-1 lead in the second inning, scoring runs on a J.D. Ashbrook double and a Michael Fear triple.

After the Golden Eagles moved in front, 3-2, with single runs in the fourth and fifth inning, MSU tied the score at 3-3 when Ashbrook's sacrifice fly plated Marc Midden. The Eagles went on top, 5-3, on Eric Allen's ninth home run of the season, a two-run shot to right centerfield.

Tech rallied, however, scoring three runs in each of the seventh and eighth innings to post the first game victory. Matt Kearney (4-0), the second of three Golden Eagle pitchers, got the win despite allowing two runs in an inning and two-thirds. A.J. Kirby-Jones pitched scoreless baseball in the final two innings to earn his second save of the season. Michael Fahs (0-3), the second of four MSU pitchers, allowed two runs in two-thirds of an inning and suffered the loss.

It was Morehead State who rallied to win the second game. Tech took a 1-0 lead in the second inning. MSU went on top, 2-1, in the top of the third inning. Allen and Drew Lee opened the inning with back-to-back doubles, Allen scoring on Lee's hit. Lee moved to third on a Midden sacrifice and scored on a Bottoms sacrifice fly.

The Golden Eagles tied the score, 2-2, on a Thomas Nelson home run in the bottom of the third. The Eagles scored the winning run in the fourth inning. Ashbrook led off with an infield single, stole second, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a ground out by Travis Redmon.

Bottoms (3-2) pitched five and a third innings in the seven-inning second game and earned the win. MSU's Quentin Morgan pitched the final inning and two-thirds, did not allow a hit or run and picked up his third save. Tech starter Michael Alcorn (4-2) was the loser.

MSU will travel to Kentucky for a 6:30 p.m. EDT game on Wednesday (April 16).