Wednesday, February 24
Troy Defeats UAB
TROY, Alabama – The Troy baseball team picked up its first midweek win of the season and defeated UAB, 2-1, on Wednesday night at Riddle-Pace Field.
"I trust our guys to compete the right way and I think they did that tonight," head coach Mark Smartt said. "Execution we'll take, sometimes we don't execute. However, if we compete the right way, which I thought we competed great tonight, that's how you win close, tight ball games. I hope this is a win that might give us some belief in ourselves with the game on the line that we can come through and win ball games."
Troy (5-0) got all the runs it needed in the seventh inning. Steven Whitaker got his first hit and RBI as a Trojan in timely fashion with a double to left field that scored Windham Jackson, who reached on an error for the first run of the game. The next batter in the inning, Brandon Lockridge, singled through the left side and drove in Whitaker that put the Trojans in the lead, 2-0.
UAB (1-3) cut the lead in half in the third inning, when Brewer Hicklen hit a solo home run to center field with two outs.
Neither team scored for the remainder of the game, but the Blazers threatened in the eighth. A leadoff walk, followed by a sacrifice bunt and a wild pitch put a runner at third with no outs. Esteban Tresgallo hit a ground ball hit to Bert Givens, the Trojans third baseman, who threw the tying runner out at the plate for the second out of the inning. A groundout to the pitcher got Troy out of the inning with the tying and go ahead run on second and third.
Five pitchers saw action for Troy tonight. Starter Zack Lightsey (1-0) picked up the win for the Trojans in his first collegiate start. He pitched four innings, allowed one earned run on two hits and struck out four. Robert Harris, Trey Johns, Marc Skinner and Corey Childress closed out the final five innings and didn't allow a run. Childress picked up his second save of the season.
The Blazers outhit the Trojans 6-3 and left eight runners on base. Whitaker, Lockridge and Sanders had each of Troy's hits on the night.
Troy travels to Hammond, La., for a three-game series against Southeastern Louisiana, which will begin on Friday night at 6 p.m.
For more information on Troy baseball, as well as all of Troy Athletics, visit TroyTrojans.com. Fans can also find the Trojans on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat by searching for Troy Athletics.
Cajuns Fall to Louisiana Tech
RUSTON, La. – A four-run fifth inning was the difference Wednesday night as the sixth-ranked Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns baseball team suffered its first loss of the 2016 season falling 6-2 to Louisiana Tech at J.C. Love Field.
“You have to pitch away from the three-run inning, and we didn’t do that tonight,” head coach Tony Robichaux said. “The game got away from us in the fifth inning, and that’s what really cost us. Hopefully the guys have seen tonight what will happen on the road, and we can learn from this. For us to be a really good ball club, we will have to learn how to win on the road.”
The Bulldogs (3-1) outhit the Cajuns (3-1) 11-7 in the contest led by third basman Raphael Gladu who was 2-for-3 with a double, scored a run and drove in two. Both Brenn Conrad and Nick Thurman had a pair of hits for Louisiana.
Sophomore Evan Guillory took his first career loss for the Ragin’ Cajuns after giving up three runs on five hits in 4.1 innings of work.
La Tech starter Tyler Clancy threw 6.0 scoreless innings to pick up his second victory of the year. Clancy scattered five hits and struck out nine batters.
Second baseman Jordan Washam gave the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second as he doubled down the right field line to score right fielder Sean Ullrich. Ullrich reached on a one-out single and then moved to second on a ball hit to short by catcher Brent Diaz.
An inning later, centerfielder Bryce Stark tripled to center to lead off the third. Gladu singled Stark home in the next at bat sending a ball into shallow left field to make the score 2-0 La Tech.
Louisiana Tech broke the game open in the bottom of the fifth scoring four runs on five hits to take a 6-0 advantage. Gladu doubled to left center to bring home the first run of the inning. In the next at bat, first baseman Marshall Boggs tripled to left to score two more runs. Boggs then scored on a single by designated hitter Cody Daigle to give the Bulldogs a six-run lead.
The Cajuns got on the board in the top of the eight on a two-run single to left center by freshman Hunter Kasuls to cut the Bulldogs lead to 6-2, but La Tech reliever Adam Atkins would come in and throw two scoreless innings to end the contest.
The Ragin’ Cajuns return to action this weekend as they head to Houston, Texas for the Shriner’s College Classic at Minute Maid Park. Louisiana will face No. 11 TCU at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, Texas Tech on Saturday at noon and No. 24 Rice on Sunday at 6 p.m.
Eagles Fall to Georgia Tech in 16, 6-5
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Mistakes Haunt A-State in 4-3 Loss to Ole Miss
OXFORD, Miss. (2/24/16) – The Arkansas State baseball team made three errors that led to three Ole Miss unearned runs as the 21st-ranked Rebels came from behind to defeat the Red Wolves 4-3 on a walk-off sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth inning at Oxford University Stadium/Swayze Field on a cold and windy Wednesday night in Oxford, Miss.
The score was tied 2-2 when Tanner Ring led off the top of the sixth with a triple, but was left stranded after two strikeouts and a groundout to third. Jeremy Brown led off the seventh with a triple to left-center field, but two straight strikeouts gave Ole Miss (4-0) two outs with Brown still standing on third. However, Austin Baker smacked a 0-2 pitch past the first baseman to score Brown and give A-State (2-2) a 3-2 edge.
Ole Miss’s Will Golsan reached on an error by Brown to lead off the bottom of the eighth inning, but reliever J.D. Miller got two outs quickly and appeared to have quelled the home team’s threat. However, a wild pitch followed by a single from Tate Blackman tied the game up at 3-3. A-State was able to get out of the inning without further damage, but couldn’t push across a run in the top of the ninth.
Henri Lartigue led off the bottom of the ninth against Bradey Welsh with an opposite-field double and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt, but the Red Wolves failed to get an out due to a high throw by Ring at third base. The Red Wolves intentionally walked pinch-hitter Connor Cloyd to load the bases and Cameron Dishon hit a sacrifice fly to bring home the winning run for Ole Miss.
A-State starter Cody Jackson tied a career high with five innings pitched in his first career start. The Hot Springs, Ark., native gave up two unearned runs on three hits with three walks and three strikeouts. Coulton Lee pitched two scoreless innings in relief allowing only one hit with one strikeout and no walks. Miller gave up an unearned run in an inning of work while Welsh took the loss.
A-State had six different players register a hit with Ring and Brown both hitting triples, while Ty White, Joe Schrimpf, and Baker each knocked in a run.
Dallas Woolfolk earned the win for the Rebels with a scoreless top of the ninth inning. Ole Miss’s starter James McArthur only lasted three innings while Andy Pagnozzi pitched three innings out of the bullpen. David Parkinson and Brady Feigl also pitched for Ole Miss. Offensively, Blackman led the Rebels with two hits and reached base all four times.
The Red Wolves struck first in the contest with two runs on a single by White and bases-loaded walk from Schrimpf. Garrett Rucker led off the inning with a hit-by-pitch before Matt Burgess singled to right field to put runners on first and second. Tony Ortiz laid down a perfect bunt single to load the bases, but two strikeouts by Ole Miss starter James McArthur made it look as if the Rebels may get out of it before White’s hit and Schrimpf’s walk.
Ole Miss struck back in the bottom of the third to tie the game 2-2 on an error by White in right field. There were runners on first and second with two outs when a fly ball by Lartigue was hit to right field right down the line that White had to range a long way for. He appeared to get there in good shape but had the ball deflect off his glove for the two unearned runs to score. Lartigue was thrown out trying to advance to third to end the inning.
Arkansas State returns to action Friday, Feb. 26 against Morehead State in Emerson, Ga. First pitch from the Perfect Game Complex is scheduled for 2 p.m.
UT Arlington Drops Baylor, 9-2
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South Alabama Remains Undefeated after Beating Alabama State on Wednesday
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Bobcats Fall to Rice Late
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