Powered by a pair of seven-hit days from seniors Hunter Fain and Jake Hammon and a grand slam from fellow senior Connor Pauly, the Morehead State baseball team powered its way to a doubleheader sweep of NJIT Saturday.
The Eagles rallied for an 11-7 triumph in game one and erupted for 20 hits en route to a 21-5 bashing in game two.
Morehead State moved to 9-1 in 2019, the best start in program history.
Hammon and Fain were both 5-for-5 in the opener with Hammon scoring six times in the double dip. Sophomore Stephen Hill also provided a punch with six hits and six RBI on the afternoon.
"It was a really good day offensively," said head coach Mike McGuire. "Obviously a lot of guys had good days, and it showed we have a lot of depth to our lineup which we want."
Meanwhile, senior pitcher Garret Rogers (1-0) struck out a career-best eight over the final six innings of the opener to gain the win as Eagle hurlers combined to whiff 24 Highlander batters on the day.
In the opener, a pair of NJIT long balls put the hosts behind the eight-ball, 6-2, after three frames. But, Morehead State scored every inning henceforth, including four in the fifth to gain the upperhand. Every run but one in the final five stanzas was scored on RBI singles. The other came across on a balk.
Hammon, Hill and Fain combined for seven RBI and 13 of the hits.
The second game saw the Eagle bats go crazy with an 11-run second inning when 15 batters came up to the plate. Pauly drilled his grand slam in the frame.
Junior catcher Scott Wolverton provided a spark as well with a pair of RBI doubles (including a three-run two-bagger) and four total RBI.
Hill scores four times in the nightcap.
On the mound, sophomore Will Lozinak only surrendered three hits and fanned four to improve to 2-0. Junior Jason Goe also had three sit-downs on strikeouts, and junior Dom Masullo closed it down by striking out the side in the ninth.
The teams will attempt to finish the three-game series Sunday at Noon. A decision on weather will be made on Sunday morning.
