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MOREHEAD, Ky. -- Junior closer
Matt Duncan closed out his 12
th Eagle victory as Morehead State baseball defeated UT Martin 8-5 Friday at Allen Field. The win, coupled with Tennessee Tech's loss to Austin Peay, clinched an Ohio Valley Conference tournament spot for the Eagles.
Senior reliever
Matt Robertson earned the win for the Eagles. He allowed a pair of hits, issued two walks and fanned one in 1.2 innings. Duncan pitched the ninth and allowed two runners to reach but finished off his 12th save with an infield double play ball.
MSU will either be the fifth or sixth seed for next week's tournament in Jackson, Tenn., and the Eagles' first game will be on Wednesday in the opening round. MSU last qualified for the postseason league tournament in 2009.
The lead traded hands several times in game two of the three-game set, but a sixth inning RBI double from senior catcher
Eric Bainer in the sixth inning gave MSU a 6-5 lead. He led the Eagles offensively going 3-for-4 with a single, double and two RBI.
Skyhawk starter Alex Boshers allowed 11 hits, six runs and walked three. Despite giving up a pair of runs in the first, Boshers lasted 6.2 innings and took the loss.
MSU (27-25, 12-14 OVC) added a pair of runs in the eighth, one scoring on a triple from senior third baseman
Andrew Deeds and the eighth came home on senior right fielder
Luke Bainer’s sacrifice fly. Deeds broke up a 0-for-13 streak at the dish with a single in the sixth. He is three hits from breaking the single-season program record.
UT Martin (13-40, 7-19 OVC) first baseman Grant Glasser went 2-for-3 and drove in two runs in the sixth to give the Skyhawks a temporary lead. Glasser also stole a base in the fifth inning and came home on right fielder Jordan Owen’s triple.
The heart of the Eagle lineup; the three, four, five and six-hole hitters contributed nine of the MSU’s 13 hits in Friday’s contest.
The regular season finale versus the Skyhawks will begin Saturday at 1 p.m. ET. Senior Day festivities are scheduled to start at 12:20 p.m. ET. A win would secure the fifth seed for MSU.
