Richmond, Ky. - Morehead State used a solid stellar outing from Adrian Duran and big defensive plays to take a 5-3 victory from Eastern Kentucky on Saturday, ruining Senior Day for EKU's eight graduating Colonels. Eastern mounted a rally against the Morehead State bullpen over the final two innings, but could not overcome its early 4-0 deficit, and the fact that the offense stranded 11 runners on base.
The Colonels (23-29, 14-12 Ohio Valley Conference) head to next week's O'Reilly OVC Baseball Tournament as the No. 6 seed, and will face Morehead State in the first round at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday in Paducah, Ky.
Duran (8-5) went 6.2 innings with nine strikeouts for Morehead (28-26, 15-11 OVC), and carried a no-hitter into the fourth. He received a boost from the Eagle defense which prevented a run from scoring in the first, compliments of a solid play at third from Zac Carr, and threw a runner out at the plate in the sixth.
Morehead manufactured four runs in the third after junior starter Nick Barte (2-4) loaded the bases with one out. After walking Bo Stohler, Barte surrendered back-to-back singles to Pete Troyer and Kevin Bryant to load the bags. Morehead's first run came across when Barte hit Lance Seasor with a pitch. A sacrifice fly by Donald Cheney made it a 2-0 game as Troyer barely beat the throw to the plate from junior Brett Bolger in left. A two-out, two-run double by Bryan Ingram capped off the Eagles' big inning and made it a 4-0 contest.
Duran kept cruising up into the seventh, when freshman Joe Oliver ripped a two-out double (his third of the year) and then came around to score off a base knock by freshman Lucas Waters. Duran tried to work his way out of the jam, but allowed Waters to score from third off a wild pitch. Leading 4-2, Dan Klausmeier came on for Duran and got out of the inning with an EKU runner on third.
EKU pulled within a run in the bottom of the eighth after senior Will Whisenant got the team going with a leadoff double (his eighth of the year). Whisenant moved up to third on a single by junior Chris O'Dell, then scored off a fielder's choice by sophomore Tony Wells.
With two on and no out, the Colonels appeared to be in prime position to tie the game. Both runners advanced on a sacrifice by senior Adam Visnic, before Klausmeier loaded the bases with an intentional walk to pinch hitter Aaron Landis. But Eastern could not scratch across the tying run, as Klausmeier induced a 6-4-3 double play from freshman Lucas Waters to end the inning.
A two-out fielding error extended Morehead's ninth inning, and led to an insurance run for the Eagles. A single by Bolger, who went 3-for-3 on the day, and a double by senior Bryan Stevenson gave the Colonels hope, but Ryan Perkins and Reid Kittleson combined to get the final two outs and seal the win. Kittleson got the final out to end the game and pick up his second save of the year.
Bryant led the Eagles with a perfect 4-for-4 effort at the plate, while EKU was paced by Bolger's three hits. The junior outfielder added two steals to bring his season total to 18, while senior Derrick Bussell swiped his team-leading 30th base of the season. Barte took the loss after allowing four runs and seven hits, with five strikeouts, over 6.0 innings.
