PADUCAH, Ky. – Murray State's Elliot Frey delivered a two-run single to right field with the bases loaded and one out in the ninth inning, lifting the Thoroughbreds past Eastern Illinois baseball, 5-4, Friday afternoon in an elimination game at the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.

 

The Panthers, the OVC regular-season champs, went two-and-out as the top seed this year after winning the 2008 tournament title with four victories in four days versus four different teams. No team has repeated as OVC Tournament champs since 1994-95.

 

With a 36-14 overall record, EIU will need an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament to extend it season.

 

Brett Nommensen went 3-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored in his return to the starting lineup for the first time since suffering a wrist injury on April 10. He doubled and scored the go-ahead run in the seventh inning, tying assistant coach Sean Lyons' EIU all-time record for runs scored in the process.

 

Eastern starter Tyler Kehrer struck out 10 through eight innings, his third double-figure strikeout performance of the season. The left-handed moved into second place on the EIU single-season strikeouts list with 90. He issued a leadoff walk in the ninth before giving way to closer Richie Derbak.

 

“It was a much better game [than Thursday's loss to Jacksonville State],” EIU head coach Jim Schmitz said. “Kehrer pitched brilliantly. We had situations to really break it open. But that's kind of where we are, at the point where we're not playing really good ball. I thought we gave a good effort after such a disappointing loss yesterday. Yet we still didn't have what I call that energy to put people away. I don't know where that went, I thought we had it at the middle and end of the year. It's a tournament, just a three-day event, and doesn't take anything away from the season. I'm proud of their effort today and proud of Kehrer. There were a lot of scouts in the stands and he showed how impressive he was.”

 

After striking out the first batter he faced on a bunted foul ball third strike, Derbak (6-3) gave up a single and walked a batter to load the bases. Frey singled to right field on the third pitch of the at-bat and Kyle Tiernan scored the game-winning run from second base.

 

The Panthers had gone ahead on a single by Zach Skidmore in the seventh inning. After doubling to begin the frame, Nommensen moved up to third base on a fly ball to right field by Jordan Tokarz. Skidmore's line drive was dropped by Kyle Noonan on a sliding attempt to catch the ball.

 

Eastern went up 3-0 before Murray (33-21-1) got on the scoreboard with two runs in the fourth. Tokarz scored on a wild pitch with two outs in the third and Derbak plated Jordan Kreke from second with a base hit.

 

An inning later, Zach Borenstein drew a leadoff walk and scored from second on a two-out single from Nommensen through the right side. Gerik Wallsten had moved his classmate into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt.

 

A leadoff walk and three straight hits from the 4-5-6 portion of the lineup produced two runs from Murray in the fourth.

 

Daniel Hill tied the game at 3-3 on the first pitch of the sixth inning with his team-leading 16th home run of the season. He finished the game 3-for-4.

 

Derbak and Tokarz both extended their hitting streaks to 10 games. Tokarz hit safely in all six OVC Tournament games he played in at EIU.

The NCAA Tournament field will be announced at 11:30 a.m. Monday, May 25. ESPN will telecast a special announcement program.

More Info: Contact Ben Turner, Asst. SID