Tech downs Catamounts, 11-2; Gets set for OVC showdown
Chad Hayes drove in three runs, A.J. Kirby-Jones set the school home run record by bashing two more, and the bullpen silenced Western Carolina for eight innings as the Golden Eagles claimed an 11-2 win Tuesday in a final tuneup before hosting Murray State in an OVC series to determine the league champion.
Ranked third nationally in batting average,
Oberacker goes 2-for-3;
Kirby-Jones clubs two more home runs to break school
record
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Things could not have worked out any
better Tuesday for the Tennessee Tech baseball team.
Yes, they added a win to their season total with an 11-2
non-conference victory over Western Carolina in Bush Stadium. Tech
has now won 14 of its last 17 games while improving to 26-23
overall.
There were a handful of heroes. Chad Hayes hit a
two-run home run to jump start the offense on his way to three RBI.
A.J.
Kirby-Jones shrugged off strikeouts in his first three at bats
to slug two opposite field home runs and break the school
single-season record. They were his 21st and
22nd of the season.
Chad Oberacker, who came into the game ranked third in the nation
with a .451 batting average, went 2-for-3 to raise his season mark
to .455.
On the mound, senior Wade Bilbrey (1-0) [pictured] logged four
strong innings to earn the win, and four Tech hurlers combined on a
four-hitter with 11 strikeouts.
But, the biggest thing to come out of the contest was that coach
Matt Bragga's bullpen will be rested for the upcoming series with
Murray State.
The Golden Eagles have just with two days of rest before Tech
hosts the Racers in a three-game set in Bush Stadium that could
determine the regular season Ohio Valley Conference champion.
Tech got a wining performance from some seldom-used pitchers in
notching the mid-week triumph.
Starter Nick
Price overcame a shaky first inning and started a streak of
eight scoreless innings by Tech's mound staff. The Catamounts
scored one earned run and another unearned run in the first inning
to take a 2-0 lead. With one out, Matt Johns doubled and Tyler
Kirkpatrick reached second on an error in the outfield that scored
Johns. Ross Heffley's single made it 2-0 before Price settled down.
He retired the next two batters and pitched a 1-2-3 second inning.
Bilbrey worked four innings, striking out six and allowing just
two singles to record his first win of the season.
Ben Burgess,
Tech's usual starting catcher, looked solid in two innings without
allowing a hit in the seventh or eighth. Oberacker, a
candidate for the John Olerud Two-Way Player Award, struck out all
three batters he faced in the ninth.
Meanwhile, Hayes clubbed his fourth home run of the year with Devin Rivers
aboard in the fourth to tie the game at 2-2. Tech had stranded five
runners in the first three innings against WCU starter Preston
Hatcher (1-2), who eventually took the loss despite a solid
start.
Oberacker singled to lead off the Tech fifth, stole second, and
scored what proved to be the winning run on a double by Seth Edwards. Hayes
collected his third RBI of the game with a single to make it a 4-2
lead.
Tech scored four more in the sixth, beginning with a one-out home
run by Kirby-Jones that broke the school record. He topped
his own record that he had established last year with 20.
Oberacker was hit by a pitch and Edwards singled, followed by a
two-run triple from freshman Zephan Guyear to
make it 7-2. Brandon
Crossman's sacrifice fly made it 8-2 through six innings.
With two outs in the seventh, Kirby-Jones launched a blast deep to
right for his second home run of the game and 22nd of
the season to make it 9-2.
Tech added two more in the eighth on two hits. The big blow was an
RBI double by freshman Austin Wulf with two
outs, making it 11-2.
Six Golden Eagles had multi-hit games, topped by Hayes with a 3-for-5 performance Wulf, Kirby-Jones, Oberacker, Edwards and Crossman had two hits each. Tate McMillan walked three times. In all, seven of the Golden Eagles' 15 hits were for extra bases.
Johns was 2-for-4 for Western Carolina, accounting for half of the Catamounts four hits.
Hatcher threw four innings, walking four and striking out a
career-high six. He allowed three runs on five hits. He was the
first of six pitcher used by Western Carolina, whose record moved
to 31-19-1.
Tech and Murray State will play a doubleheader Friday beginning at
1 p.m., and a single game Saturday with the same start time.
Admission is free.
