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MURRAY, Ky. -- The Eagles relied on solid pitching out of the bullpen to secure the series clincher Sunday at Reagan Field as Morehead State baseball downed Murray State 5-4.
Relievers
Morgan Cirbo and
Matt Duncan combined for 3.1 innings of scoreless baseball and earned their fourth win and sixth save, respectively.
The Eagles (13-11, 2-1 Ohio Valley Conference) took advantage of two first-inning walks from Murray State starter Bryan Babin to gain a one-run edge. Senior third baseman
Andrew Deeds smacked an RBI single up the middle, scoring left fielder
Nick Duff from second. Duff reached base on a leadoff walk to start the game.
Cleveland extended the Eagle lead to two runs in the third. Catcher
Eric Bainer started the inning with a double to left center field, advanced to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a Cleveland single.
Cleveland finished the game 2-for-5 at the plate with two RBI.
The Thorobreds (13-12, 1-2 OVC) plated a run in the fourth inning trailing 2-0 with the help of shortstop Travis Isaak. Isaak turned a weak line drive to center into a one-out double and scored on a single by first baseman Mike Kozlowski to split the Eagle lead.
Morehead State scored two runs in the top of the fifth, but the Breds answered to tie the game 4-4 in the sixth. Kozlowski hit a game-tying two-run drive over the centerfield wall, his second hit of the game, and catcher Jacob Rhodes slapped a run-scoring single up the middle.
Freshman starter
Blake Smith left the game in the sixth and was replaced by Cirbo. Smith allowed four runs on nine hits in his second collegiate start. Cirbo made an appearance in each game of the series and earned the win in Saturday’s contest.
The Eagles broke the tie in the seventh. Deeds reached second on a two-base error to lead off the inning. He advanced to third on a wild pitch from 'Breds reliever Tim Vonder Haar and scored on a sacrifice fly by shortstop
Chase Greenwell.
Cirbo ran into trouble in the eighth inning as the 'Breds threatened to score the tying run. He allowed back-to-back singles to Rhodes and Kozlowski to begin the frame. Right fielder Cody Larson moved the runners to second and third on a sacrifice bunt, and the Eagles called on Duncan to shut the door on Murray State’s rally attempt. Second baseman Dylan Wheeler sent a shallow fly to left for an out and Duff gunned down Rhodes at the plate to end the inning.
Kozlowski finished the game with three RBI and three hits, including his sixth-inning tape measure shot to centerfield.
Murray State once again threatened in the ninth, but Duncan defused the run-scoring situation and earned the save, his second in as many days.
The Eagles travel to Appalachian Power Park Wednesday to face non-conference foe West Virginia in a midweek contest set to begin at 6 p.m. ET.
