Box Score MARTIN, Tenn. ? The UALR baseball team (7-14) suffered a 20-11 setback to Tennessee-Martin (8-10) on Tuesday night in an offensive slugfest which featured nine home runs. The Skyhawks built a 17-2 lead through six innings, led by two homers and six RBI from Mark Hartsfield, before the Trojans rallied by plating eight runs in the top of the eighth.
UALR senior Matt Apfel tied a school record by belting three home runs in the losing effort, going 3-for-4 with four RBI on the night. The Double Oak, Texas-native hit solo homers in the first and third innings before delivering a two-run shot in the eighth. Apfel made six plate appearances in the game, adding two walks, and increased his team-leading total to seven home runs.
UTM plated four runs in the bottom of the first to take control early and added five more in the second inning, fueled by a three-run shot from Mark Hartsfield. The Skyhawks tacked on six more runs in the bottom of the fourth, as Hartsfield delivered his second three-run homer of the night.
Three other Skyhawks homered in the win, as UTM racked up 21 hits off the Trojan pitching staff. Kevin Holt went 4-for-4 with four runs scored and a homer, while Wes Patterson went 3-for-5 and hit his fourth home run of the year.
UTM starter Ben Vesser (1-0) picked up his first win of the season after allowing two runs and six hits, with six strikeouts, over 5.0 innings of work. UALR starter Andrew Loe (0-1) was credited with the loss after UTM totaled eight hits and nine runs (six earned) in his one inning.
Senior Kody Kroll went 3-for-5 in the loss, while junior Josh Marazzito went 1-for-3 and drove in three runs with a homer in the eighth inning (his first of the year).
The two teams return to action tomorrow afternoon at 4 p.m. for the final bout of the two-game non-conference series.
