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RICHMOND, Ky. – Freshman Richie Rodriguez blasted a three-run homer with no outs in the bottom of the 10th to pull the Eastern Kentucky University baseball team to within one run of UT Martin Sunday afternoon at Turkey Hughes Field; however, Coty Green retired three of the next four batters he faced to silence the rally and give the Skyhawks a 10-9 victory.

With the loss, EKU (18-9, 6-3 OVC) remains in third place in the OVC standings.

After UT Martin (10-16, 1-5 OVC) scored four runs in the top of the 10th to take a seemingly safe 10-6 lead, junior Anthony Ottrando led off the bottom of the inning with a walk. He advanced to second on a single by freshman Jacob Daniel and then went to third on a throwing error by Skyhawk left fielder Miles Hartsfield. Rodriguez then smashed his first home run of his EKU career, a three-run job over the wall in left center that pulled the Colonels to within one.

UT Martin then called on Green – the Skyhawks’ game one starter – to close things out. The right-hander promptly struck out the first two batters he faced and, after walking freshman Alan Abreu, got the Colonels’ leading hitter, senior Matt Davis, to pop up to first to end the game.

Freshman Matt Harris (1-1) received the loss for EKU, going 4.2 innings while surrendering four runs, all of which came in the top of the 10th.

Sophomore Paul Duncan started the game for EKU and went five innings, allowing six runs on 12 hits. Sophomore Macon Smith came on briefly in the sixth and faced just two batters.

Jordan Owen (1-0) came in from right field to pitch for the Skyhawks with two outs, the bases loaded and the game tied 6-6 in the bottom of the ninth and got senior Tyler Rehmel to strike out swinging. The strikeout earned him the win as UT Martin took the lead in the 10th inning and never gave it back. Green, meanwhile, earned his first save of the season.

Davis and fellow senior Aaron Barrows paced the Colonels offensively. Davis finished the day 3-for-6 with three runs scored while Barrows batted 3-for-3 with two runs scored and four RBI.

Mark Hartsfield led UT Martin at the plate, going 4-for-6 with two runs scored and three RBI.

EKU went ahead 2-0 in the bottom of the first when Barrows hit his first home run of 2009, a two-run shot to right field that scored Davis.

UT Martin took the lead in the third when Mark Hartsfield crushed a three-run home run to left center, plating Cody Terry and Kevin Holt.

The Skyhawks added one more in the fourth and then went ahead 6-2 in the fifth when Wes Patterson hit a two-run shot to left center.

In the home half of the fifth, Barrows singled home Davis and later scored on a sacrifice fly to center by Daniel, cutting the Skyhawk lead to two.

The Colonels tied it in the eighth. With one out in that inning, junior Joey Stevens drew a pinch hit walk and was then replaced in favor of pinch runner Abreu. After Davis advanced Abreu to second with a base hit, Barrows singled through the right side to score both base runners and tie the game, 6-6.

Both teams failed to score in the ninth inning before the Skyhawks strung together five hits for four runs in the 10th to take a lead they would not relinquish.

The Colonels return to action on Wednesday, April 8, when they travel to Western Carolina to take on the Catamounts. First pitch is scheduled for 5:00 p.m.