Murray State
Jacksonville State
Breds Defeat Jacksonville State 8-6 in Series Finale
3/23/2008 5:00:00 AM | Baseball
Wes Cunningham went 3-for-5 with a triple and two RBI as Murray State held off a late Jacksonville State rally and avoided the sweep with an 8-6 victory Saturday afternoon at Rudy Abbott Field.
The Breds (7-8, 1-2 OVC) got on the board in the first inning as they strung together three-straight hits with one out. Elliot Frey got the rally started with an opposite field single just inside the line in right field. Cunningham followed with a chopper to third for an infield single. Taylor Thieke would drive in Frey with a single in the hole past a diving shortstop.
The MSU offense was back at it in the third as Blake Helm started the inning with a single to right center and scored when Frey's liner to right bounced over the head of the right fielder for an RBI triple. Two batters later, Thieke drove in his second run of the day with a groundout to short.
JSU (9-12, 2-1 OVC) got on the board in the fifth as a one-out walk and a balk put a runner on second. Andrew Edge plated the runner with a single to left field.
The Breds added five runs in the eighth inning. With one out, Kyle Tiernan singled to left and went to third on a stolen base and throwing error on the catcher. With two outs, Daniel Miller and Matt Sheer drew walks to load the bases. Helm followed with the third straight walk of the inning to score a run. Frey would follow with a chopper to third that was thrown into center field, allowing two runs to score. Cunningham would follow with a two-run triple to straight-away center field.
The Gamecocks responded in the bottom of inning as a fielding error started a three-run rally. John David Smelser followed up with a double to left field and Bert Smith drove in both runners with a triple down the right-field line. Kyle McCreary would drive in the third run of the inning before Jake Donze came out of the bullpen and struck out three of the five hitters he faced.
JSU was back at it in the ninth as a pair of singles and a walk loaded the bases with no outs. A groundout to first scored the first run before Clay Whittemore delivered a two-out RBI single through the left side. The game ended with two runners in scoring position as Donze go the next hitter to groundout weakly to second base.
Mike Perconte (1-3) turned in the third-straight quality start for the Breds as he allowed four runs, three earned, on six hits and five strikeouts over seven-plus innings. Donze closed out the game by allowing two runs on four hits and striking out four over two innings.
Cunningham's three-hit effort led the offense, while Frey, Thieke, Owen and Tiernan each added two hits. Cunningham and Thieke each drove in two runs.
Nick Hetland (1-4) took the loss after allowing three runs on seven hits and seven strikeouts over five innings.
MSU returns to the field on March 25 at Lipscomb. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.
