Potts’ strong arm aids Skyhawks in lone win

Posted: Wednesday, April 17, 2013 12:00 pm

RICHMOND, Ky. — Dalton Potts and Carter Smith carried a shutout into the ninth inning Sunday to help UT Martin claim a 5-1 Ohio Valley Conference victory over Eastern Kentucky in college baseball action at Turkey Hughes Field.
Potts earned his team-high fourth victory of the season after twirling six shutout innings and allowing just four hits.
Smith then finished off the game by tossing three innings, conceding just one run on two hits while fanning four to earn his first career save.
Offensively, UT Martin (10-25, 3-15 OVC) was led by Grant Glasser, who went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored out of the leadoff spot.
Hagen Nelson scored once and drove in a run, while Luis Paublini also collected an RBI.
The Skyhawks also received a big lift out of freshman catcher Drew Erie, who made his first start of the season.
The Lebanon native doubled, walked, scored a run and threw out a pair of would-be basestealers to help keep the Colonels off the scoreboard.
Potts, a Greenfield High School product, improved to 4-4 as he struck out two and walked four.
SATURDAY’S GAME
EKU 7, UTM 3
The Skyhawks scored three runs in the top of the seventh to tie Eastern Kentucky, but four Colonel runs in the bottom of the eighth proved to be the difference.
UT Martin’s three runs in the seventh were courtesy of a three-run homer by Matt Young, his second longball of the season and second in the last five games.
Young would later add his first triple of the season, while Brent Morris also added a pair of hits for the Skyhawks.
Byron Johann and Matt Haynes also crossed the plate for UT Martin.
Sophomore left-hander Taylor Cox gave a valiant effort on the mound for the Skyhawks, tossing a career-high seven innings while allowing just two earned runs. He fanned five batters against one walk but received a no-decision.
Chris Ross (3-3) received the loss for UTM after allowing four runs in two-thirds of an inning.
FRIDAY’S GAME
EKU 30, UTM 4
A tie score going into the bottom of the second inning and a three-run sixth frame for the Skyhawks were buried under an avalanche of Colonel runs in the series opener.
Byron Johann doubled and Hagen Nelson drove in two runs, but everything paled in comparison to EKU’s 29 hits, 28 RBI and 12 walks served up by seven UTM pitchers.

Published in The WCP 4.16.13