Click here for game one box score!

Click here for game one play-by-play!

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Eastern Kentucky University baseball team dropped both games of a doubleheader to conference foe Tennessee Tech on Saturday afternoon at Bush Stadium. The Colonels (18-13, 6-6 OVC) were defeated in game one 8-2 and then fell in game two by a score of 4-3.

The losses complete TTU’s series sweep of the Colonels this weekend. Not only is it the first time the Colonels have been swept this year, it is also the first they have lost more than one game over a conference weekend.

Without star hitters Jayson Langfels and Matt Davis in the lineup on Saturday, the Colonels could not get their vaunted offense going. EKU came into the series averaging 11.2 runs per game but averaged only three this weekend.

In game one, TTU (16-12, 4-7 OVC) jumped all over the Colonels early, scoring five runs in the bottom of the second and never giving up the lead.

Junior Jim Clancy (3-2) received the loss as he struggled through five innings, allowing eight runs on 10 hits. Sophomore Macon Smith worked the sixth and did not allow a run or a hit.

A.J. Kirby Jones (2-3) pitched three solid innings of relief to pick up the win, holding the Colonels scoreless during those three innings and only surrendering one hit.

EKU was led at the plate by freshman Jacob Daniel and sophomore Ryan Faidley, both of whom went 1-for-3 with an RBI.

The Golden Eagles were paced offensively by Alex Henry who batted a perfect 3-for-3 with two RBI and two run scored. Ben Burgess, meanwhile, drove in three runs for TTU.

EKU took the lead first in the top of the second when freshman Michael Garcia scored on an RBI bunt single by Faidley.

TTU promptly responded with five runs in the home half of the inning to take the lead for good. Burgess capped the Golden Eagles’ big inning with a two-run single up the middle that scored Henry and Chad Oberaker.

The Colonels cut the lead to three in the next inning when Daniel rifled a base hit into right field that plated senior Tyler Rehmel and made it 5-2.

TTU, however, added one run in the fifth and two more in the sixth to pull away.

TTU 4, EKU 3

Click here for game two box score!

Click here for game two play-by-play! 

In game two, the Golden Eagles stormed back from three down to earn a come-from-behind victory over the Colonels.

Sophomore Paul Duncan (4-3) pitched the entire game for EKU and received the loss, allowing four runs and 12 hits over the six innings of work.

Lee Henry (4-1) pitched a complete game the Golden Eagles as well, allowing three runs on five hits over seven innings of work.

Junior Anthony Ottrando batted 2-for-3 with an RBI to lead the Colonels.

Casanova Donaldson paced the Golden Eagles, going 2-for-3 with a run scored and two RBI.

EKU went ahead 2-0 in the top of the third. The scoring started when Faidley scored after Rehmel reached on error by TTU third baseman Evan Webb. Ottrando then ripped a triple down the right field line that plated Rehmel.

The Colonels added to that lead in the fourth when senior Aaron Barrows laced an RBI double down the left field line that scored freshman Dustin Dunlop. Meanwhile, Faidley was thrown out at home while trying to score on the play. Failure to convert that run would ultimately lead to the Colonels’ defeat.

In the bottom of the fourth, TTU tied it with three runs. The inning was highlighted by a two-run single to center by Donaldson that scored Webb and Burgess.

Kirby-Jones then untied it in the fifth with a go-ahead solo bomb to right center that gave the Golden Eagles the lead for good. Henry retired the Colonels in order in the fifth and sixth innings to seal the win.

The Colonels will return to action on Tuesday, April 14, when they host Georgetown College at Turkey Hughes Field. First pitch is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.