Senior utility man Chris Robinson hit a walk-off RBI single in the ninth inning Saturday as the Morehead State baseball team put the skids on a six-game losing streak with an 11-10 triumph against Eastern Kentucky at Allen Field.
Robinson, who was 4-for-5 with two doubles and a triple, lifted a one-out line drive that dropped into right centerfield to score sophomore centerfielder Ryan Kent. Kent led off the last frame with a double off the wall in deep left center.
Morehead State improved to 12-13 overall, 2-4 at home and 4-7 in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Colonels, who defeated MSU 11-10 a day earlier, slipped to 7-15 overall and 2-5 in the conference.
"After struggling lately we'll take these wins one at a time," Head Coach Mike McGuire said. "It feels good though. We got behind early again, but we have a good offense and I knew we would have our opportunities to come back. They made a few mistakes in the field, and we took advantage today."
The Eagles fell behind 6-1 after three frames and had an 8-3 disadvantage heading to the fourth. MSU plated one in the fourth, two in the fifth and took a 10-9 lead in the sixth.
EKU's leftfielder dropped what would have been the second out in the sixth, and following a wild pitch that allowed a run, senior shortstop Robby Spencer delivered a three-run homer to tie the game 9-9. Four batters later, another EKU fielding miscue allowed the go-ahead run to cross the plate.
Colonel centerfielder Kyle Nowlin blasted his third home run of the afternoon in the eighth to knot it back up at 10-10.
Kent was 3-for-5 from his leadoff spot in the batting order, while senior rightfielder Brandon Rawe and senior first baseman Kane Sweeney were 2-for-5. Sophomore third baseman Alex Stephens added a pair of hits. MSU's top four spots in the lineup - Kent, Sweeney, Rawe and Robinson - are now 24-for-46 (.521) in the first two contests versus EKU.
The visitors nailed five round-trippers today and have nine out of the park in the series. Third baseman Mandy Alvarez and shortstop Kenny Hostrander also went deep today.
Junior Aaron Goe (3-0) earned the win. The last of five Eagle hurlers, he only allowed the game-tying homer from Nowlin as his lone hit. Ben Gullo (0-1), who tossed 2.1 innings and gave up four hits, surrendered the final run to be pinned with the loss.
The rubber match of the series is set for Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.
