Clarksville, Tenn. - Eastern Kentucky junior Chris O'Dell drove in a career-high seven runs on Sunday afternoon to lead the Colonel baseball team to a 16-13, 10-inning win over Austin Peay. O'Dell hit a two-out single in the top of the 10th, his fourth hit of the game, to spark a four-run inning for EKU, which avoided a sweep by the Governors with today's victory.
O'Dell went 4-for-6 with two doubles and a homer on Saturday, scoring four runs while driving in seven. EKU (21-27, 12-11 Ohio Valley Conference) ran out to a 7-0 lead after two innings of play, with O'Dell driving in five of those runs. The Lexington, Ky.-native, stroked a two-run double in the first, then followed with a three-run homer in the top of the second (his fifth of the year).
APSU (36-16, 16-8 OVC) starter Devin Thomas didn't make it out of the second inning, exiting after 1.2 frames with seven runs allowed. James Ray came on in relief of Thomas and found more success, pitching an effective 3.1 innings to help the Govs get back into the contest.
Eastern junior Nick Barte held APSU hitless over the first two innings, but ran into trouble in both the third and fourth frames, as the Govs struck for seven runs to tie the game at 7-all. Barte went 5.1 innings for the Colonels, striking out seven hitters during his outing.
EKU struck for four more runs in the top of the sixth to go up 11-7. Junior Brett Bolger plated the team's first run with a sacrifice fly, before O'Dell added another two-run double. Senior Adam Visnic capped off Eastern's burst with a run-scoring sacrifice bunt.
Austin Peay scratched across a run in the bottom of the sixth, then took a 12-11 lead by pushing across four runs in the eighth. Down to their final three outs, senior Will Whisenant drew a leadoff walk to get Eastern going in the ninth. A sacrifice bunt moved Whisenant into scoring position, but APSU pitcher Brad Daniel struck out the next EKU hitter to put the Colonels on the ropes. With two outs on the board, freshman Aaron Landis came in to pinch hit and delivered a RBI single to left to score Whisenant and tie the game at 12-all.
EKU junior Greg Harper held the Govs scoreless in the bottom of the ninth to send the game into extra innings. Daniel retired the first two batters he faced, but O'Dell kept Eastern alive with a two-out single. Whisenant and Visnic followed with consecutive singles, the last of which plated O'Dell. An APSU throwing error on the play allowed Whisenant to score as well, making it a 14-12 contest. Visnic came around to score moments later off a RBI double by junior Sean Ryan, while sophomore Tony Wells scored off another APSU error.
Senior Richard Boothe came on in the 10th to close out the game for the Colonels. Though the Govs threatened with a pair of singles and a walk, Boothe fanned the final two hitters he faced to preserve Eastern's victory and pick up his third save of the year.
Harper (2-1) picked up the win for the Colonels with a solid 2.0 innings of work. EKU's pitching staff combined for a season-high 11 strikeouts in the win, seven of which came from Barte. Four other Colonels recorded multi-hit efforts in the win, in addition to O'Dell, including senior Bryan Stevenson, who pushed his hit streak to 18 games with two hits.
Eastern closes out the regular season this week with a game at Cincinnati on Tuesday. After that, the Colonels welcome Morehead State for their final conference series of the year (May 20-21).
