FRIDAY HOME BASEBALL GAME AGAINST NORTH DAKOTA STATE CANCELLED
MARTIN, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee at Martin baseball game scheduled for today against North Dakota State has been cancelled, Skyhawk head coach Bubba Cates has announced.
Martin has been hit with snow flurries for parts of the last two days, causing unfavorable playing conditions. Weather permitting, the single games on Saturday, March 2 and Sunday, March 3 are still on. Both games are scheduled to start at 1 p.m.
UT Martin is coming off three straight one-run victories last weekend. In the series against IPFW, the Skyhawk offense was led by Wade Collins, who hit .545 with three RBI in 11 at-bats. Kenny King also hit .429 with three RBI in seven at-bats, while Brent Morris and Grant Glasser each hit .333 at the dish.
On the hill, all nine Skyhawks who made appearances allowed two or fewer earned runs - allowing UT Martin to post a miniscule 1.80 ERA. In all three games, the Skyhawks piled up double-digit strikeout totals, fanning a total of 33 batters over a span of 25 innings. Relievers Chris Ross, Dalton Potts and John Skubina each picked up their first career victories while Stu Jones earned the first two saves of his career in the series.
Against the Bison, UT Martin had announced Dan Tobik (0-0, 5.00 ERA) and Taylor Cox (0-0, 0.93) as its starters for Friday and Saturday, respectively. Tobik conceded just two runs while fanning seven over five innings against IPFW last weekend, while Cox struck out five batters and allowed only four hits over five scoreless innings in his last start against IPFW.
North Dakota State is in the midst of 20 straight and 32 of 34 road games to start its season. The Bison most recently fell 4-2 at Minnesota on Wednesday.
Four Bison regulars hit over .300, led by junior Blake Turbak (.360). Turbak paces North Dakota State with nine hits and five runs scored while boasting a .640 slugging percentage and .484 on-base percentage.
John Straka (2-0, 0.00 ERA) was scheduled to start for the Bison on Friday, followed by David Ernst (1-1, 3.27) on Saturday and Trevor Jaunich (0-0, 5.59) on Sunday. Straka has been dominant in his first two starts - limiting the opposition to a .127 batting average (seven singles) while fanning 11 against one walk in 16 innings.