By Callie Smith Sports Editor Photo by Brian Carpenter
Tech holds onto the number one spot in OVC after a weekend series in Cookeville against Southeast Missouri. Tech took the weekend 2-1.
Game one was stretched. The Redhawks scored one in the top of the first. The scoreboard wasn’t touched again until the bottom of the ninth, leaving zeros all across the board. It was the bottom of the ninth and Tech’s last chance of redemption.
Nicho Jordan took matters into his own hands and sent the baseball sailing over right field to score a single home run, all the Golden Eagles needed to send the game into overtime. However, the Redhawks answered in the 10th with a homerun of their own to finish the game 4-1.
Tech wasn’t going to let the Redhawks mess around on their homefield for long. The Golden Eagles soared out in the first inning scoring four after a grand slam from Theo Bryant IV and adding two more in the second after Hayden Gilliland brought in two RBIs,
Tech wasn’t finished and added three more to the board in the fifth when Preston Ford doubled, bringing home Gilliand. Then Ford and Bryant IV scored off base running. Austin Turner scored in the sixth on fields choice. Southern Missouri didn’t find home plate until the seventh, adding a single run in the seventh and the eight. The game finished at 10-2.
Sunday brought a much closer game at Busch Stadium. Both teams remained scoreless until the third, and shared a point to put the game at 1-1 for another three innings. Troy Baunsgard homrunned for the Golden Eagles to put them on the board.
Tech tallied another in the seventh after a sacrificial bunt from Austin Turner brought in Tanner Shriver to lead 2-1. Southern Missouri answered with another run for themselves to tie it 2-2.
Tech brought two more across the plate in the eighth after a homerun from Ford to add a gap to the score 4-2. The Redhawks attempted a comeback and scored one, but the Golden Eagle defense kept the game from going into overtime, winning 4-3.
With four weekends left in the season, the Golden Eagles share a top record in the 2024 OVC season with Little Rock. Both teams sit at 10-5 currently.
The Golden Eagles face Lipscomb University Tuesday, April 23 at 6:00 p.m. at Busch Stadium. They will soar into OVC play again this weekend, April 26-17 at UT Martin.
