EKU uses big inning in win
RICHMOND, Ky. – Home runs by Ben Fisher and Alex Holderbach fueled a 10-run fourth inning as the Eastern Kentucky University baseball team overcame a 3-run deficit to beat Jacksonville State University, 10-7, in the series finale on Sunday at Earle Combs Stadium.
The Colonels (22-22, 8-13 OVC) erased a 3-0 deficit with 10 runs in the bottom of the fourth. Ben Fisher led off the inning with his 20th home run of the season. He is now one short of tying the EKU single season record.
Daniel McFarland tied the game with a 2-run single to left center. After back-to-back singles brought in two runs, Nick Howie extended it to a 7-3 lead with a 2-run double to left field. Two batters later, with two on, Alex Holderbach hit a 3-run home run over the wall in left field to make it a 10-3 game. It was his eighth of the season.
JSU (22-19, 10-11 OVC) closed the gap with a run in the fifth on Andrew Naismith’s single up the middle and a run in the sixth on Chase Robinson’s solo home run over the wall in right field. Naismith’s fly ball that just cleared the wall in left center in the top of the ninth added two more to the Gamecock total.
Holderbach finished 3-for-4 with a walk, two runs and three RBIs. Fisher was 1-for-4, scored twice and drove in one. Howie had two hits and drove in two. McFarland had a hit and two RBIs. Miles Jones finished with a pair of hits and a run scored.
Bryan Quillens started and allowed three runs on four hits in four innings of work. He walked two and struck out four. Quillens retired the final eight batters he faced after a rough start. Taylor Blair (1-0) earned the win after tossing one and two-thirds innings of scoreless relief. He walked one and struck out two.
Naismith finished 2-for-4 with a run and three RBIs. Clayton Daniel went 2-for-4 for Jacksonville State. Nic Gaddis drove in two while finishing 1-for-4 with a walk.
“Lots of fight and passion shown by our guys today,” EKU Head Coach Edwin Thompson said. “Getting out of the slump we were in is huge for us going forward. Obviously a 10-run inning is big, but having our bullpen protect that lead was vital. Blair was outstanding, as was Max Ford.”
The Colonels will play at Western Kentucky on Tuesday at 6 p.m.