Paducah, Ky. - Eastern Kentucky built a 7-1 lead after five innings against Morehead State on Friday, and held on for an 8-6 victory to remain alive in the 2005 O'Reilly Ohio Valley Conference Tournament. Junior Nick Barte (3-4) threw a season-high 7.2 innings to help the Colonels (25-30) eliminate the Eagles (29-28) and advance to face Murray State at 3:30 p.m. (EDT).
"We came out with a plan and we knew that they were deep into their pitching staff," said EKU head coach Elvis Dominguez. "Realistically, we had a chance to break this game open in the first couple of innings but their guy battled and made some pitches. I was real proud of our guys and the way they battled at the plate and the way we competed. What a gutsy performance by (pitchers) Nick Barte and then Greg Harper at the end."
Morehead starter Matt Clark (3-3) got into trouble right from the start, loading the bases with no outs off three-straight walks. Senior Will Whisenant, who went 2-for-3 in the win, plated Eastern's first run with a RBI single. Clark escaped the jam without any further damage and pitched well until the fourth, when junior Chris O'Dell extended EKU's lead with a two-run homer to right (his sixth of the year). Sophomore Tony Wells came around to score moments later off a wild pitch to put the Colonels on top 4-0.
Barte opened the game with four shutout innings before Morehead got on the board in the fifth thanks to a two-out RBI single by Pete Troyer. The Colonels answered with three more runs in the bottom half, two of which scored off balks by reliever Reid Kittleson, to extend their lead to six runs, 7-1.
After throwing five solid innings to start the game, Barte ran into a load of trouble in the sixth, as the Eagles loaded the bases with no outs off singles by Donald Cheney and Bryan Ingram, and a walk by Paul Rhodes. Eastern managed to get the first out of the inning at the plate, but Morehead would not be denied as a RBI single by Travis Rima and a two-run double by Bo Stohler helped the Eagles make it a 7-5 contest.
Junior Brett Bolger gave the Colonels a bit of breathing room in the bottom of the sixth, when his two-out base knock allowed senior Adam Visnic to cross the plate and put Eastern ahead 8-5. The Eagles cut their deficit to two runs, 8-6, in the top of the eighth thanks to a two-out RBI single by Troyer. With two on and two out, junior Greg Harper came on in relief of Barte to try and close the door on Morehead. Harper got out of the eighth unscathed, then forced MSU to strand two more runners in the ninth en route to his fourth save of the year.
Barte went a season-high 7.2 frames to help EKU preserve its bullpen for the task ahead. Eastern was outhit 12-7 in the victory, but compensated for its shortcomings at the plate by swiping six bases. Whisenant and senior Derrick Bussell led the team with two hits a piece in the win.
Clark took the loss for Morehead after allowing five runs over 4.0 innings. Rima led the Eagles with a perfect 4-for-4 effort at the plate in the loss.
