ALGOOD, Tenn. (Interstat) — The Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to erase a one-run deficit and defeat the Austin Peay Governors 7-5 in nonconference baseball action Tuesday night at Bush Stadium at Averitt Express Baseball Complex.

The game’s decisive rally came against Austin Peay reliever Bryce McCain. Eddie Garza led off the eighth with a triple to deep center field. Landon Smelser then hit a fielder’s choice to first, and Garza was thrown out at the plate. Smelser reached on the play and advanced to second on a single by AJ Marchetti. Jackson Rooker followed with a single through the right side, scoring Smelser to tie the game 5-5 and moving Marchetti to third. Owen Lee then delivered a sacrifice fly to center, plating Marchetti with the go-ahead run.

After a pitching change that brought in Gavin Alveti for Austin Peay, Jorsixt Jimenez grounded out, but the damage was done. The Golden Eagles added an insurance run earlier in the inning on Rooker’s key single.

The comeback made a winner of reliever Reece McDuffie, who worked 1 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out two. Carson Davis earned the save with 2 1/3 perfect innings of relief, striking out one. Drew Kirby also contributed a scoreless inning for Tennessee Tech.

Austin Peay had taken a 5-4 lead in the top of the fourth inning. With the bases loaded and one out, Ray Velazquez singled to left field, driving in two runs. Velazquez was a standout for the Governors, finishing 3 for 4 with a walk, two doubles and two RBIs.

The Governors’ early lead was short-lived. Tennessee Tech answered a two-run first inning by Austin Peay with two runs of its own in the bottom half. Jimenez tripled to drive in Owen Lee, and Connor Crowson followed with an RBI groundout. The Golden Eagles added two more in the second on a wild pitch that scored Nash Crowell and an RBI double by Rooker to take a 4-2 lead.

Austin Peay starter Colin Carney provided critical relief to keep the game close. Entering in the third inning, Carney threw three scoreless frames, allowing no hits and one earned run while striking out two. Chance Cox followed with a scoreless sixth inning.

Tennessee Tech tied the game at 5-5 in the fifth on an RBI single by Manny Garza that scored Jimenez, setting the stage for the eighth-inning heroics.

Both teams finished with 12 hits. For Tennessee Tech, Rooker went 2 for 5 with two RBIs, while Jimenez was 2 for 5 with an RBI and two runs scored. Marchetti had three hits and scored twice.

With the win, Tennessee Tech improved to 11-22 overall. Austin Peay fell to 16-17. The teams are scheduled to meet again next Tuesday in Clarksville.

The result flipped the pregame projections. Interstat’s game simulator had predicted a 5-3 Austin Peay victory, and its ELO system gave the Governors a 59.80 percent probability to win.