GAME ONE: BOX SCORE I PLAY-BY-PLAY
GAME TWO: BOX SCORE I PLAY-BY-PLAY

RICHMOND, Ky. – Junior Jacob Daniel crushed a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth of game one and freshman Bryan Soloman smacked a pair of three-run homers in game two as the Eastern Kentucky University baseball team swept in-state and Ohio Valley Conference rival Morehead State in a doubleheader at Turkey Hughes Field on Saturday afternoon, winning game one, 4-3, and game two, 12-2.

EKU (13-22, 5-6 OVC) has now won three straight and six of its last eight games.

With game one knotted at 3-3 heading into the bottom of the ninth, Daniel, the first batter of the inning, took a 2-1 delivery from MSU reliever Matthew Robertson and drove it over the wall in left center to give the Colonels a dramatic victory. It was Daniel’s first career walk-off home run, and the Colonels’ first since Jayson Langfels’ did it against Western Kentucky on March 18, 2009.

Daniel finished the game a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate. Junior #A.J. Jamison# batted 2-for-5 with a pair of RBI, while freshman Sean Hagen went 1-for-4 with a pair of runs scored.

For MSU (5-27, 1-5 OVC), Taylor Davis batted 2-for-4 with an RBI, while Eric Bainer went 2-for-3 with a run scored.

Junior right-hander Matt Harris (2-2), the reigning OVC Co-Pitcher of the Week, picked up his second conference win in as many weekends, holding the Eagles scoreless over the final 4.1 innings of the game and allowing only three hits. Junior right-hander Matt Fyffe started on the hill for the Colonels and worked 4.2 solid innings, allowing only two earned runs on five hits and striking out four batters.

Robertson (1-5) picked up the loss for MSU as he surrendered the decisive home run to Daniel in the ninth.

After MSU scored a run in the top of the third, EKU took the lead with a pair of runs in the home half of that inning. Hagen and sophomore Austin Grisham opened the frame with back-to-back singles, and Hagen went to third on a fly out by junior Richie Rodriguez. Following a wild pitch that allowed Hagen to score and Grisham to reach third, Jamison scored Grisham on an RBI groundout to third that made it 2-1.

MSU tied it with a run in the fourth and then took the lead in the top of the fifth when Davis scored Luke Bainer with a base hit through the left side of the infield. The Colonels avoided even more damage in that inning when senior Ryan Faidley made a great catch on his horse in center field that ended the inning and prevented a bases-loaded extra base hit off the bat of Michael Fear.

EKU tied it at 3-3 in the bottom of the fifth when Jamison, again, scored Hagen, this time with a single to right center. The Colonels, however, were similarly denied more runs as Travis Redmon made a great diving play on a Faidley line drive up the middle with two outs and bases loaded in that inning.

The Colonels had chances to take the lead in both the seventh and eighth innings, but left runners stranded on second and third in both instances. With Harris dealing on the mound, though, EKU reached the bottom of the ninth with the game still tied, and Daniel promptly ended it with one swing of the bat.

In game two, freshman left-hander Kyle McGrath (3-2) hurled EKU’s first complete game of the season, going all seven innings and allowing just two runs on five hits while striking out four batters. It is the second consecutive season a freshman has tossed EKU’s first complete game of the year. Sophomore Anthony Bazzani did so last year against OVC foe Jacksonville State on May 15, 2010.

Southpaw Garrick Whittle (1-3) got the loss for MSU, pitching three innings and surrendering seven runs on seven hits.

Soloman batted 2-for-4 in the game with six RBI, while junior Michael Garcia went 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. In all, six Colonels racked up multiple hits in the rout.

EKU took a quick lead in game two as Rodriguez open the bottom of the first with a double, stole second and scored on a base hit by Jamison. Jamison then scored when Faidley reached on an error to make it 2-0.

The Colonels added to that lead in the third when Jamison walked to lead off the inning and Daniel was hit by a pitch before Soloman blasted a three-run home run to right center.

After Davis hit a solo shot in the top of the fourth to pull MSU to within one, EKU blew it open with five runs in the bottom of that inning. Jamison scored junior Dustin Dunlop on a sacrifice fly for the first run of the inning before Soloman scored Daniel and Rodriguez with his second three-run bomb of the game, this one to the same spot in right center field. Garcia capped the fourth-inning scoring with a base hit into left field that scored sophomore Matt Phipps and made it 10-1.

MSU added a run in the top of the sixth, but Dunlop responded in the bottom of the sixth with a two run single to center that made it 12-2.

EKU will go for the series sweep of MSU tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. at Turkey Hughes Field.