Murray State
Jacksonville State
'Breds Swept In Double-Header At Jacksonville State
5/19/2006 5:00:00 AM | Baseball
The Murray State Thoroughbreds were swept in their Ohio Valley Conference double-header at Jacksonville State, falling in the first game 13-5 and dropping the second game 12-1, breaking up a JSU no-hit bid in the final inning of that game. Murray State is eliminated from O'Reilly OVC Championship Tournament contention.
In Game 2, Jacksonville State starter Tony Drinkard had a no-hitter going through 6-1/3 innings of the seven-inning game before senior first baseman Brett Wilson slapped a single up the middle. Wilson took second on a wild pitch and scored on a double by Tyler Pittman to break up the shutout as well. Pittman's double was his league-leading 21st of the season.
For JSU, Bert Smith went 3-for-4 with three runs scored. Clay Whittemore had three runs batted in for the Gamecocks.
Michal Perconte (4-7, 2-5 OVC) took the loss, allowing 12 runs (nine earned) on 10 hits, striking out one and walking four in 5-1/3 innings. Anthony Stacy finished the game for the 'Breds (15-39, 8-18 OVC), getting each of the two batters he faced out.
Drinkard (3-4) got the win, allowing one run on one hit, striking out four and walking three in 6-1/3 innings. Justin King finished the game for the Gamecocks, allowing one hit and striking out one in two-thirds of an inning.
In the field, Wilson had six putouts, while third baseman Tyler Owen had four assists. For JSU (31-22, 18-8 OVC), first baseman Allen Rose had eight putouts, while shortstop Bret Pettus had five assists.
In the first game, Jacksonville State popped for six runs in the fifth inning and four in the eighth en route to the 13-5 win.
Trailing 3-0 after four innings, Murray State got on the scoreboard in the fifth when Jamie Leidolf led off with a walk, then Brett Mullins singled him to second. Leidolf went to third on a flyout, then scored when James Akin reached on a fielding error to cut the JSU lead to 3-1.
The Gamecocks added six runs in the bottom half of the inning,but the 'Breds got some of that back in the sixth when Austin Swain hit a one-out single, the Pittman doubled him in. Leidolf then doubled in Pittman to cut the JSU lead to 9-3.
MSU added two more runs in the eighth when Lincoln Kent led off with a walk before Pittman slammed his second home run of the season to further trim the Jacksonville State lead to 9-5. The Gamecocks closed out the scoring with four runs in the eighth.
Pittman had a co-game-high three hits in the game for Murray State, with a double and a home run, to go with two runs scored and three runs batted in.
For JSU, Garrett Bass and Jake Ball each had three hits. Bass and Nick Cleckler each scored three runs, while Ball and Eric Beck each had three RBIs.
In the field, center fielder Pittman and first baseman Leidolf each had four putouts, while third baseman Owen and shortstop Justin Yount each had two assists. For the Gamecocks, catcher Richard Turner had eight putouts, while second baseman Smith had three assists.
On the mound, Kalen Gibson (4-8, 4-4 OVC) took the loss, allowing nine runs (seven earned) on 11 hits, striking out three and walking two in 4-1/3 innings. Jon Newton finished the game, allowing four runs on four hits, striking out one and walking two in 3-2/3 innings.
For Jacksonville State, Donovan Hand (8-4) got the win, allowing three runs (two earned) on eight hits, striking out seven and walking one in seven innings. Josh Miller came on in the eighth, allowing two runs on one hit, striking out one and walking two in two-thirds of an inning, while Jon Clements earned his first save of the season, allowing one hit and walking one in 1-1/3 innings.
"It just wasn't a good day," said MSU head coach Rob McDonald. "We weren't able to put together anything offensively. I thought both of our (starting) pitchers pitched better than what the stats -- what the score -- indicated. We didn't play very good defense behind them. At the plate, for the most part, we were getting the bat on the ball, but not with a lot of authority."
Murray State closes out the 2006 season with the final game of the series at Jacksonville State, to begin tomorrow (Saturday) at 1 p.m. That game can be heard locally on WRKY (1130 AM, Murray) or worldwide through the official Web site of Murray State athletics, www.GoRacers.com.
OVC STANDINGS: Samford (32-22, 21-5 OVC) clinched the top seed prior to today's action, and clinched the regular-season title today with a sweep of visiting Tennessee-Martin (19-35, 8-18 OVC), 5-4 and 2-0. Jacksonville State clinched the No. 2 seed this afternoon, while Austin Peay (31-24, 14-12 OVC) has the No. 5 seed locked up, splitting at Eastern Kentucky (26-24, 15-10 OVC), losing the first game 12-5 before winning Game 2 5-0.
The big game tomorrow (Saturday) will be in Cape Girardeau, Mo., where the winner of the Southeast Missouri-Tennessee Tech game will claim the sixth seed and final tournament berth, while the loser will not take part in the tournament. SEMO (20-31, 10-16 OVC) won the first game today 10-5, while Tennessee Tech (18-35, 11-15 OVC) won the latter game 9-5. Eastern Illinois (30-22, 16-10 OVC) is trying to fend off EKU for the No. 3 spot, while Morehead State (17-35, 8-17 OVC) and Tennessee-Martin were also eliminated from tournament contention.
For more information about the O'Reilly OVC Championship Tournament at Brooks Stadium in Paducah, Ky., visit the official OVC Web site at www.ovcsports.org.
