Starting out a long five days of baseball, UTM suffered a 12-4 loss against the Indians of Arkansas State last Tuesday afternoon.

Taking the mound for UTM was junior Casey Estill who suffered his second loss of the season. Estill struck out three of 14 and gave up six runs on six hits.

Junior Brett Spivey attempted to make a fifth inning rally, hitting a massive three-run home run to put the score at 7-4, but the Indians silenced the UTM bats the rest of the game and came out on top.

Returning home, the Skyhawks took on Memphis State on Wednesday.

Both teams were held scoreless through the fourth inning. In the top of the fifth, starting pitcher Scott Massey allowed three runs on three hits, giving Memphis a 3-0 lead.

Cutting the Tigers’ lead to two, the Skyhawks added their lone run when designated hitter Zach Dean advanced from first to third on ground and fly-outs and then scored on a passed ball.

In the seventh, Memphis tacked on one more for insurance on two errors made by second baseman Brett Hall, putting them in front, 4-1.

In the last two innings, the Skyhawks were unable to score, having only one hit in the bottom of the ninth.

Coming off the two losses, the Skyhawks started a three game series with the Western Illinois Leathernecks on Saturday afternoon.

In the first game of Saturday’s double header, the Skyhawks struck first scoring two in the bottom of the third.

Western Ill. tied the game in the top of the fourth, adding two runs of their own. In the bottom of that inning, UTM pulled ahead by two again.

The Leathernecks tied the game one more time with two runs in the top of the sixth.

The Skyhawks avoided extra innings by scoring Dean on a single by left fielder Nick Bruner.

Adam Ledlow picked up the win, pitching all seven innings, allowing only six hits and two earned runs.

The second game started, and finished the same as the first, with the Skyhawks scoring first and picking up the win in the bottom of the seventh.

The score was tied 3-all going into the last inning in which the Leathernecks could not pick up a run in the top half.

The Skyhawks kept the game in regulation with Dean, once again, scoring the winning run when catcher Chris Rezabeck singled to right field.

Pitching the second complete game of the day, Justin Bryant picked up the win with six hits and five strikeouts.

After clinching the series, the Skyhawks picked up the sweep in a high scoring, nine inning game.

Following the trend of the series, down 5-4, the Skyhawks exploded in the bottom of the seventh, scoring six runs to give them the 10-5 lead.

In the seventh, the Leathernecks attempted a comeback and scored three to make it 10-8.

The bottom half found the Skyhawk bats still on fire, and UTM added seven more runs to the total and clinched the 17-8 win.

The sweep of Western Ill. marks the Skyhawks’ first since 2003 when they beat the Chicago State Cougars.

Estill picked up his first win of the season, pitching seven and one-third innings, striking out six and allowing only nine hits and one walk.

The sweep puts the team’s record at 4-6.

The Skyhawks take to the field again today in the first game of a three game series against the Purple Aces of Evansville at 2 p.m.

The team will then travel to Millington, Tenn. for the USA Challenge tournament March 12 and 13.