The UTM baseball team split a pair of seven-inning contests with host Eastern Kentucky last Sunday afternoon at Turkey Hughes Field.

The Colonels (9-11, 3-2 Ohio Valley Conference) held the Skyhawks to three hits and rode a 3-for-4, three RBI performance by junior Brett Bolger to an 11-2 win in the opener.

The Skyhawks (6-18, 2-3 OVC) rebounded in the second game and survived a rally by EKU in the bottom of the seventh to take a 6-5 victory.

Eastern Kentucky sophomore McKenzie Willoughby (3-1) threw 5.1 solid innings in the first game to pick up his second conference win. Willoughby surrendered six walks during his outing but made up for it by holding the Skyhawks to two hits, while fanning six batters.

Eastern held a slim 4-2 lead heading into the bottom of the sixth, but exploded for seven runs in the frame to put the game out of reach. Leading by one, the Skyhawks managed to tack on two more unearned runs in the fifth inning of the second game, courtesy of a two-out, two-run single by Brian Berryman.

Junior Justin Bryant (2-3) picked up the win for UTM after going 6.2 innings with five strikeouts.

With two outs and the tying run on second, the Skyhawks called on junior, southpaw Micky Dobson, who promptly struck out sophomore Shawn Flora to end the game and pick up his first save of the season.

The Skyhawks host Arkansas State tomorrow afternoon (Tuesday, April 5) and travel to Memphis Wednesday, April 6 for a 6:30 p.m. game against the University of Memphis Tigers.

This weekend the Skyhawks host Morehead State for a three-gameOVC set (April 9-10).

Following the series against Morehead, the Skyhawks will then travel to St. Louis next Wed. for a single game.