Morehead State hitters recorded 25 hits, including eight of the extra-base variety, while four pitchers combined for 17 strikeouts and allowed just two hits as the Eagle baseball team upended Alabama A&M 19-0 at Allen Field Tuesday afternoon.
The Eagles, who improved to an Ohio Valley Conference-best 22-11, have scored in double digits now in four straight contests and 10 times overall this year and have outscored Alabama A&M (12-22) 36-1 in the teams' last four meetings since 2018.
Sophomore right-hander Alex Garbrick (2-3) set the tone on the mound with a career-best nine punchouts in five innings. Junior righty Blake Preston, freshman southpaw John Bakke and senior right-handed tosser Josh Baumgart whiffed eight more combined and didn't allow a hit in the final four Bulldog plate chances.
"We are at our best obviously when we are filling up the strike zone," said head coach Mike McGuire. "(Alex) (Gar) Brick did a nice job today, and we wanted to get him out to have him available for the weekend. Blake, John and Josh have not maybe had as many opportunities this year, but they took advantage today and only allowed one walk versus eight strikeouts and that was excellent."
At the plate, six Eagle hitters had at least three hits, leading to the season-high total which ended up just four short of the school single-game record.
Senior center fielder Connor Pauly and junior right-fielder Chase Sortor cranked four hits apiece with Sortor driving in three runs. Senior catcher Hunter Fain nailed his sixth homer of the year and went 3-for-4 with a team-high four RBI, while senior shortstop Reid Leonard also drove in four runs and had three hits.
Senior left-fielder Jake Hammon and junior DH Jon Burghardt contributed three hits each as well. Junior second baseman Dom Peroni had two base knocks and recorded a pair of RBI.
"I liked our approach today at the plate. We didn't take that many walks (five), but we were aggressive at the plate and took what was given to us," said McGuire. "Some of the hits weren't even that hard (like Reid's) but we used the whole field, and I like when we have that patient approach."
The Eagles dotted the scoreboard once in the first inning and then added multiple runs in six other frames, including four times crossing the plate in the fourth and sixth inning at-bats.
The Eagles and Bulldogs will conclude their midweek series at 11 a.m. ET for an Education Day game on Wednesday.
