Breds Open OVC Play With Wild 13-9 Win Over Morehead State

Friday, March 23

Murray, Ky.

2 p.m.

Murray State

13-10, 1-0

Morehead State

11-11, 0-1

Morehead State

Murray State

Photo by: Samantha Mohr

Breds Open OVC Play With Wild 13-9 Win Over Morehead State

3/23/2012 6:24:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

BOX SCORE | PHOTO GALLERY

Murray State took advantage of four Morehead State errors to score seven unearned runs, and then withstood a late Eagle charge for a 13-9 victory Friday afternoon in the Ohio Valley Conference opener for both teams at Reagan Field.

The Breds (13-9, 1-0 OVC) got on the board in the first inning as Travis Isaak doubled off the base of the fence in left field and scored on a Mike Kozlowski single to left field.

The Eagles (11-11, 0-1 OVC) took advantage of an error with two outs in the second to push across three unearned runs in the frame. Bobby Lewis drew a two-out walk and went to second when Duran Elmore's chopper in front of the plate was bobbled by the catcher. Jeff Birkofer drove in one run with a single to center field, and Nick Duff followed with a two-run triple off the fence in left center.

MUR responded in a big way in the third inning as Ty Stetson drew a leadoff walk and scored on an Isaak two-run home run to left center. Kozlowski followed with a bloop double to center, before Jacob Rhodes delivered a run-scoring triple off the fence in left center. Cody Larson plated the fourth run of the inning with a sacrifice fly to center field.

MOR got a run back in the fourth on a Lewis single to left field to start the inning. After a sacrifice bunt and a groundout, Duff drove in the runner with a single to right field.

The Breds took advantage of three Eagle errors in the fourth inning to push across five unearned runs. Isaak started the rally with a hard single to second. Kozlowski followed with a grounder through the legs of the second baseman, allowing Isaak to score from first. With two outs, Larson ripped an RBI double just inside the bag at third to scored Kozlowski, before Brandon Elliott hit the next pitch up the middle for an RBI single. Dylan Wheeler followed with a grounder through the legs of the first baseman, scoring Elliott, before Noah Zipko closed out the scoring with an RBI triple to left center.

The Eagles got two runs back in the fifth on an Eric Bainer two-run home run to left center.

MOR continued to climb back into the game in the sixth inning as they loaded the bases with two outs, and Cole Cleveland delivered a two-run pinch-hit single to left field.

The Eagles scored for the fourth-straight inning in the seventh as Greenwell tripled to right center and scored on a Lewis single to center.

The Breds pushed across three runs in the eighth as Isaak doubled to left center and Kozlowski was intentionally walked. After a fielder's choice put runners on the corners, Larson delivered an RBI single to left field. Elliott reached on a fielding error to load the bases, and Wheeler drove in two runs with a single through the right side.

Tyler Beers (3-1) earned the victory after allowing six runs, three earned, on seven hits and seven strikeouts over five innings. Will Handlin (2) earned the save after giving up three runs on five hits and seven strikeouts over four innings. Aaron Goe (2-3) took the loss after surrendering five runs on seven hits over 2.1 innings.

Isaak continued to swing a hot bat for the Breds as he went 4-for-5 with a home run, two doubles, two RBIs and four runs scored. Larson finished the game 2-for-4 with two runs scored and three RBIs, while Kozlowski, Elliott and Zipko each added two hits and an RBI.

The two teams are scheduled to play the middle game of the three-game series Saturday afternoon at Reagan Field. First pitch has been moved to 12 p.m. due to expected rain in the Murray area.