FORT MYERS, Fla. – Jacksonville University baseball concluded the ASUN Baseball Championship with a 5-2 loss to Eastern Kentucky on Thursday afternoon at Swanson Stadium.
The Dolphins finish the 2022 season with a 27-28 record.
Michael Darrell-Hicks drew the start against a team he was familiar with, having previously appeared three times in his career against the Colonels. We wasted no time in establishing his strength for the day, striking out two in the first to strand runners at first and second.
He struck out the side in the second and the third innings, and fanned one in the fourth to end the frame and strand runners at first and second again.
In the fifth, he collected his 10th and final strikeout, a career-best, to start the inning. A double, walk and hit batsman loaded the bases for EKU, and JU went to the pen. A two-run single gave the Colonels the lead, and they followed that with an RBI single and a two-run double to take a 5-0 advantage.
In the bottom half,
Tommy Joseph singled and
Josh Steidl followed that with his first career home run, a two-run shot to right to cut the EKU lead to 5-2.
Richard Long came on in the sixth, and pitched two scoreless innings of relief, registering three strikeouts along the way,
Parker Murphy worked a scoreless eighth and
Tyler Vogel struck out two in a scoreless ninth.
THREE STRIKES
- Michael Darrell-Hicks registered the sixth double-digit strikeout game of the season by a Jacksonville pitcher
- Josh Steidl became the ninth different Dolphin to homer this season
- The Dolphins racked up 17 strikeouts, the second-most in a single game this season. The team ended the year with 530 total strikeouts, a new program single-season record
