Saturday, April 2
JAGS SWEEP DOUBLEHEADER FROM ULM TO CLINCH SERIES
MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama baseball team swept a doubleheader from Louisiana-Monroe Saturday at Stanky Field to clinch its fourth consecutive Sun Belt Conference series.
USA (20-7, 11-0 SBC) shut out ULM (10-17, 2-6 SBC) 13-0 in the series opener, followed by a 10-4 win in game two. Jaguar right-handers Kevin Hill and Hunter Soleymani each turned in a quality start, while the USA offense pushed across 23 runs in two games.
"We have some younger kids really swinging the bat well," USA head coach Mark Calvi said. "We played clean defensively in the first game, and not-so-clean in the second game which disturbs me a little bit. But Kevin Hill was outstanding, and Hunter Soleymani was outstanding again. Our two catchers, Jared Barnes and Tanner Halstead, have done a fantastic job with this pitching staff. Overall, it was a team effort and good to come off the mat after a sloppy game on Wednesday and win two conference games. I am proud of the way the guys responded, and pleased with the overall results today. But it started on the mound with those two seniors, and we swung the bats well."
Game 1 – South Alabama 13, ULM 0
Right-hander Kevin Hill tossed eight shutout innings to lead the Jaguars to a 13-0 series opening win over ULM Saturday at Stanky Field.
Hill (6-1) allowed just three hits and struck out 10 with one walk to earn his sixth win of the season. He also moved to sixth in career strikeouts (261), passing former Jaguar Kenny Rayborn. ULM right-hander Chris Hunt (2-3) allowed six runs on six hits with eight strikeouts and three walks in 4 2/3 innings in the loss. Cody Van Aken struck out one in one scoreless inning to combine with Hill for the shutout.
USA took a two-run lead in the bottom of the second inning. Danny Martinez drew a leadoff walk, and moved to second with two outs on a wild pitch from Hunt. Jared Barnes followed with an RBI single to center field to score Martinez with the game's first run. Ben Gann then doubled to right field to plate Barnes and double the Jaguar lead to 2-0.
South Alabama added six runs to its advantage with a two-out rally in the bottom of the fifth. Cole Billingsley singled to center field with two outs, then stole second before Drew LaBounty drew a two-out walk. Martinez followed with an RBI single to second base to score Billingsley from second and extend the USA lead to 3-0. Carter Perkins then singled back up the middle to score LaBounty and push the Jaguar lead to 4-0. Donovan followed with an RBI single to right field to plate Martinez for a five-run USA lead. Barnes then delivered a two-run triple to the right-center field gap to score Perkins and Donovan and increase the Jaguar lead to 7-0. Barnes scored on a passed ball later in the inning for an eight-run USA advantage.
The Jags pushed three runs across in the bottom of the sixth. Adam Wolfe drew a leadoff walk, and moved to second with one out on a wild pitch. Billingsley followed with an RBI double to right-center field to score Wolfe and push the USA lead to 9-0. LaBounty then reached on a hit by pitch, and was lifted for pinch-runner Ryan Raspino. Martinez followed with a two-run double to right field to plate LaBounty and Raspino for an 11-0 lead.
A two-run pinch-hit double by Dylan Hardy in the bottom of the seventh scored the game's final runs.
Barnes went 2-for-3 with a triple, tied a career high with three RBI to lead the Jags at the plate. Martinez finished 2-for-4 with a double, three RBI and two runs scored, and Billingsley and Gann each went 2-for-4 with a double and one RBI. Billingsley also scored twice.
Game 2 – South Alabama 10, ULM 4
Jaguar right-hander Hunter Soleymani struck out a career-high eight batters, and allowed one earned run on five hits with one walk in 7 2/3 innings pitched to earn his second win of the season and lead the Jaguars to an 8-4 series-clinching win in game two. Soleymani retired the first 10 batters he faced in the game before surrendering a one-out single to Nathan Reynolds in the top of the fourth inning.
USA took a one-run lead in the bottom of the first inning. Swaggerty drew a leadoff walk, stole second and advanced to third with one out on a wild pitch from ULM right-hander Brayden Bouchey. A sacrifice fly to left field by LaBounty scored Swaggerty with the game's first run.
USA doubled its lead in the bottom of the second. Perkins led off the inning with a single to left field, and advanced to second on a balk by Bouchey. Brendan Donovan then drew a walk, before Wolfe singled to third with two outs later in the inning that scored Perkins and doubled the USA lead to 2-0.
Billingsley drew a leadoff walk then stole second before LaBounty reached on a single to shortstop. Martinez followed with an RBI single to left field that scored Billingsley to increase the Jaguar lead to three runs. Donovan singled to shortstop, and LaBounty scored on the play on a throwing error by ULM shortstop Nathan Reynolds for a 4-0 USA advantage.
ULM answered with its first run of the game in the top of the fourth on an RBI sacrifice fly off the bat of Nathan Pugh to cut the Jaguar lead to 4-1.
South Alabama responded with four runs in the bottom of the fourth to push its lead to seven runs. Swaggerty led off the inning with a solo home run to right field for a 5-1 lead. Billingsley followed with an infield single to second base, stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch. Consecutive walks by LaBounty and Martinez loaded the bases for Perkins, who lifted a sacrifice fly to left field to score Billingsley and extend the Jaguar lead to 6-1. LaBounty and Martinez both moved into scoring position on a double steal before Donovan delivered a two-run single to right field for an 8-1 USA advantage.
ULM pushed its second run of the game across in the top of the fifth on a sacrifice fly by Reynolds. ULM added its final runs of the game in the top of the eighth, highlighted by an RBI groundout by Tyler Cox.
Consecutive one-out RBI singles by Perkins and Donovan in the bottom of the eighth pushed across the final two Jaguar runs of the game.
Dononvan went 3-for-4 with a career-high three RBI to lead USA at the plate. Perkins went 3-for-4 with two RBI and one run scored. Swaggerty, Martinez and Wolfe each added one hit and one RBI.
USA will go for its fourth straight SBC series sweep in Sunday's series finale at 1 p.m.
Mavs sweep doubleheader in dramatic fashion
ATLANTA, Ga. – The UT Arlington Mavericks broke out the bats on Saturday, exploding for 27 total runs in a doubleheader sweep of Georgia State at the GSU Baseball Complex, clinching the weekend series by erasing a 10-run deficit in the nightcap.
UTA (16-12, 4-4 SBC) rode a five-run second inning to a 9-5 win in the doubleheader opener, but found itself down 11-1 after just two frames and down to its final strike in the ninth before forcing extra innings and winning in the 10th.
“It was a very long day with the weather, but it ended up being a good day,” coach Darin Thomas said. “It was an offensive day with the wind blowing out, which is not what we have been playing in, typically. We just hung in there all day. That’s the second 10-run deficit I’ve been a part of here and I’m awfully proud of the guys for competing the entire time.”
The Mavs will go for the sweep of the Panthers (13-14, 2-6 SBC) in the series finale on Sunday in Atlanta.
Game 1
UT Arlington 9, Georgia State 5 (Box Score)
Christian Hollie had three hits and the Mavs rode a five-run second inning to a 9-5 win in the opener of the doubleheader.
Kadon Simmons was not as sharp as he in previous outings, but the junior righty still managed to strike out five and earn his league-leading sixth win of the season with 6.2 innings of work.
UTA outhit the Panthers 13-12, getting three doubles on the day and multi-hit games from Hollie, Colton Turner, Darien McLemore and Josh Minjarez. Jacob Moreland made his 75th career appearance, tossing 2.1 scoreless innings with four punchouts.
GSU starter Wayne Wages fell to 1-3 on the season with the loss, allowing eight runs on 10 hits in just 4.2 innings of work.
The Mavs went quietly in the first, but put up five runs in the top of the second to give Simmons room to work with. The first six UTA hitters of the inning hit safely, with Darien McLemore delivering the first run-scoring hit of the inning with a two-run single that scored both Colton Turner and Christian Hollie. Two batters later Josh Minjarez tugged a single to left to score McLemore before RJ Williams and Brady Cox added sacrifice flies.
Ryan Blanton got one back for the Panthers with a leadoff homer in the home half of the inning, but the Mavs answered back in the top of the third with a sacrifice fly from Noah Vaughan to score Turner and push the lead back to 6-1.
Simmons stranded two in the bottom of the third after a strikeout of Luke Leonard and got another run of support in the top of the fourth on an RBI single from Turner. The Panthers finally got back on the scoreboard in the bottom of the inning with James Clements and Joey Roach each picking up RBI, trimming the UTA lead to 7-3.
But UTA pushed across a run for the fourth consecutive inning with a two-out rally in the fifth, getting back-to-back doubles from Minjarez and Matt McLean to up the lead back to 8-3 and push Wages from the game.
Will Kilgore delivered the second homer of the day for GSU in the bottom of the second, a two-run shot that cut the lead back to 8-5. UTA added a run in the top of the seventh and GSU began to mount a rally against reliever Jacob Moreland in the home half of the eighth. Singles from Justin Jones and Clements put a pair on for the middle of the Panther order, but Moreland dialed up strikeouts of both Roach and Jarrett Hood to end the inning before setting them down in order in the bottom of the ninth.
Game 2
UT Arlington 18, Georgia State 16 - 10 innings (Box Score)
The Mavericks trailed 11-1 after just two innings and 14-6 after four, but followed that up with 12 unanswered runs to pull out an 18-16 comeback win in 10 innings over the Panthers.
Rohrbaugh and Jerame Littell provided the heroics with Rohrbaugh tying the game with a two-run single with two outs in the ninth and Littell smashing a three-run double with two outs in the top of the 10th to put the Mavs in front for good.
“Once you get it to within about five or six runs you know you are just a couple of baserunners away,” Thomas said. “And none of the hits we got were cheap. We squared it up pretty good. It was a total team effort.”
UTA got five RBI apiece from both Cox and Rohrbaugh and totaled a season-high 22 hits, a mark just four shy of the program record. Six Mavs finished with multi-hit games with Cox leading the way with a 5-for-6 game that included a pair of doubles.
Rohrbaugh picked up three hits in six at-bats, including his first homer as a Mav and the game-tying two-run single with two outs in the top of the ninth. McLemore added four hits, McLean had three and both Williams and Minjarez had two apiece.
“One thing that goes overlooked is that we didn’t get it done in the ninth, but got it done in the tenth,” Thomas said. “Sometimes you get disappointed and give it right back to them, but that didn’t happen with us. We basically had two comebacks tonight.”
But it was the UTA bullpen combo of Logan Austin and Jacob Moreland who gave the Mavs the chance to mount the comeback as the pair combined to shut the Panthers down for five straight innings after they had exploded for 14 runs in the first four innings.
Austin, making just his fourth appearance of his career, struck out two and allowed just two hits in 2.2 shutout innings before handing things over to the senior Moreland who moved to 2-0 with the win. The right-hander, pitching for the second time on the day, allowed just two runs in 3.1 innings of relief.
Meanwhile, the Panthers used a bevy of arms of their own, throwing seven pitchers to the mound. Starter Marc-Andre Habeck allowed seven runs in just 5.0 innings while Rhett Harper took the loss after allowing four runs in just an inning of work.
An RBI groundout from Cox gave UTA an early lead in the top of the first; however, the Panthers immediately responded with three runs of their own in the bottom half of the opening inning.
One inning later Georgia State blew it open, scoring eight times – seven times with two outs – in an inning highlighted by back-to-back home runs by Ryan Blanton and Brandon Gonzalez.
After falling behind 11-1 after just two innings, the Mavs began to chip away, cutting the lead in half with a five spot in the third. Cox delivered the first blow with a two-run double, and two batters later, Rohrbaugh launched his first homer of the year over the left-center field fence to score three and cut the GSU lead to 11-6.
The Panthers added three more runs with solo home runs from Hood, Blanton and Jack Thompson, but that would be the end of the GSU offense for the night until the tenth.
Hollie got one back with a sacrifice fly in the top of the fifth and Austin entered from the UTA pen to hold the Panthers scoreless for the next 2.2 innings.
The Mavs finally struck again for four in the top of the seventh, getting an an RBI single from Minjarez, followed by a RBI from both McLean and Williams. Cox then capped the scoring by ringing his second two-run double of the game off the left-center field wall to cut the lead to 14-11.
Moreland held GSU down in the eighth and set things up for the ninth. UTA put the first two runners on and cut the lead to 14-12 on a two-out RBI single from Cox. Then, after a walk to Turner, Rohrbaugh laced a single to left to score a pair and tie things up. The Mavs had a chance to go in front after McLemore loaded the bases with a walk, but GSU’s Jaylen Woullard made a leaping catch in left to rob Hollie of extra bases and multiple RBI.
The Panthers had their chance to win in walk-off fashion in the ninth, getting a leadoff single and advancing him as far as third base before Moreland got all-conference hitter Joey Roach to ground out to second base to send the game to extra innings.
UTA then took the lead for good in the 10th when Littell took advantage of his only at-bat of the night, clearing the bases with two outs in the inning with a three-run double to put UTA up 17-14. McLemore added an RBI single two batters later, giving Moreland a four-run cushion in the bottom half of the inning. GSU managed to get a pair of runs home, but nothing more as the Mavs finished things off with a groundout from Justin Jones.
Troy Baseball Splits in Doubleheader with New Orleans, Doubles Season Home Run Total
TROY, Alabama – The Troy baseball team split a doubleheader with New Orleans on Saturday at Riddle-Pace Field, as the 1986 National Championship team was honored between games. The Trojans dropped the first game 10-6, but bounced back and took the second, 9-6.
The Trojans (15-13) doubled their season home run total with six combined home runs in both games. Troy hit two in the first game and blasted four in the second. TJ Binder led all players with two home runs on the day, a 5-for-5 performance at the dish and four RBIs.
New Orleans (18-9) scored a combined 16 runs in both games and tacked on 22 hits as well. 14 of the Privateers hits came in the first game.
New Orleans 10, Troy 6 (Game 1)
Troy rallied in the late innings and scored all its runs in the last three innings of the game, but fell to New Orleans 10-6 in the first game of the doubleheader.
New Orleans struck first with one run each in the third and fourth innings. The run in the third came on a fielder's choice and the other came on a single from Jay Robinson. The Privateers took a 5-0 lead by tacking on three more runs in the seventh inning.
The Trojans answered as Peyton Fuller led off the seventh inning with a solo home run to left center field. Another run scored on an error by the Privateer shortstop for the final run of the inning to cut the deficit to 5-2.
The Privateers took a 10-2 lead by adding five runs in the eighth inning with two RBI singles and a three-run home run from Kyle Bracey.
Troy's other home run in the game came in the bottom of the ninth when pinch-hitter TJ Binder hit a towering shot over the wall in right field that scored three and made the score 10-6.
Joey Denison was the only Trojan to have a multi-hit performance in the game. He went 2-for-3 with a double and two runs scored.
Grant Bennett (3-2) suffered the loss for the Trojans. He pitched six innings, allowed 10 hits, five runs – four earned – and struck out five. Perez Knowles pitched 1.1 innings in relief and struck out two batters.
Shawn Semple (4-1) picked up the win for New Orleans. He pitched 6.1 innings and only allowed two runs – one earned – on three hits.
Troy 9, New Orleans 6 (Game 2)
Houston Mabray (3-0) got the offensive helped he needed, but earned the win and pitched a gem through 6.1 innings of work. He didn't give up his first hit until the sixth inning, with one out. The Troy, Ala., native also had career-high seven strikeouts in his first weekend start.
Cameron Sanders gave Mabray a little confidence early after hitting a three-run home run – the first of four in the game for Troy – to right field with two outs in the first inning.
TJ Binder hit his second home run of the day, a solo shot to right center field, in the fourth inning to give the Trojans a 4-0 lead.
In the fifth inning, Trevor Davis and Joey Denison had back-to-back yaks and gave Troy a 7-0 lead. Davis' was a two-run homer that scored Chase Smartt, who reached on a single. Joey Denison was next up and blasted a ball to left field that kept carrying until it landed outside the ballpark. The home run was the first homer as a Trojan for Denison and it was the first time two Troy players had back-to-back bombs since April 26 of last year.
New Orleans scored four unanswered runs in the sixth and seventh innings and cut the Trojan lead to three runs, but Troy took an 8-4 lead in the bottom half of the seventh as Sanders singled to left field and drove in his fourth RBI of the game, which set a new a career-high.
Chaz Boyer plated two runs for the Privateers with a single up the middle, but Troy answered and took a 9-6 lead as Shaw Pinnell scored on a sacrifice fly by Tripp Calhoun.
Denison and Sanders had three hits in the game, but TJ Binder stole the show with a 4-for-4 game, a home run and a double. Sanders combated that with a double and a home run of his own, along with four RBIs. Davis had two hits, scored two runs and drove in two. Calhoun rounded out the multi-hit performances with a 2-for-3 night and one RBI.
Trey Johns, Marc Skinner and Corey Childress all made appearances on the mound. Childress picked up his fifth save of the year as he pitched 1.1 innings and only allowed two hits.
The Trojans will try and take the series in the rubber game at Riddle-Pace Field, which will start at 1 p.m. on Championship Sunday.
Marks Dominates As Cajuns Even Series at Arkansas State
JONESBORO, Ark. – Sophomore Wyatt Marks turned in a strong performance on the mound as the 27th-ranked Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns baseball defeated Arkansas State 5-2 on Saturday to even the series at Tomlinson Stadium.
"Marks did a great job. He only had one hit out of the infield on him, and a solo home run usually isn't going to hurt you a whole lot," head coach Tony Robichaux said. "Today is a perfect example of what pitching and defense can do for you. Our goal was to come back today and even things up and then go after tomorrow. We need to come back tomorrow and continue to pitch and play defense."
Marks (3-2) earned his third victory of the season limiting the Red Wolves (13-13, 4-7 Sun Belt) to two runs (one earned) on three hits with eight strikeouts in seven innings of work. The quality start is the fourth of the season for Marks in his longest outing of 2016.
Sophomore Dylan Moore captured his seventh save of the year in the contest and 20th of his career tossing two scoreless innings to close out the game for the Ragin' Cajuns (17-10, 7-4 Sun Belt).
ASU starter Adam Grantham held Louisiana to two runs on four hits in six innings in a no decision. Kirby Tanner was tabbed with the loss for A-State giving up two runs on two hits in an inning of work.
Offensively, The Ragin' Cajuns outhit the Red Wolves 8-3 with Stefan Trosclair, Brad Antchak and Kennon Fontenot each tallying a pair of hits. Both Antchak and Fontenot had two RBI in the contest.
Trosclair put the Cajuns on the board in the top of the first driving a single in right center to score Brian Mills from second base and make the score 1-0.
Arkansas State answered in the bottom half of the first evening the contest at 1-all on a sacrifice fly to center by Garrett Rucker.
It didn't take long for Louisiana to regain the lead as Fontenot singled home Nick Thurman to put the Ragin' Cajuns back in front 2-1 in the top of the second inning.
After three scoreless innings, Joe Schrimpf knotted the game at 2-all in the bottom of the sixth driving a line drive solo homer over the fence in left.
Fontenot responded again for the Cajuns in the top of the seventh as he hit the first pitch he saw from Tanner over the fence down the left field line for a solo home run to give Louisiana a 3-2 edge. The home run is the second of the season for Fontenot.
The Ragin' Cajuns tacked on two insurance runs in the top of the eighth on Antchak's first career home run as he sent a 2-run blast to left with one out.
Moore came on in the eighth and faced the minimum getting Frankie Alvarez to ground into a double play to end the contest.
Louisiana and A-State close out the series tomorrow with the first pitch of the rubber match set for 1 p.m. Freshman right-hander Nick Lee (4-1, 3.15 ERA) will make the start for the Cajuns, while the Red Wolves will counter with right-hander Bryan Ayers (2-2, 5.13 ERA).
Following the series finale with ASU, the Ragin' Cajuns will head home to face Northwestern State on Tuesday at 6 p.m. at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field.
Bobcats Win Two, Humpal Breaks Record
STATESBORO, Ga. – Texas State had a big day on Saturday en route to two victories over Georgia Southern to claim sole possession of second place in the Sun Belt Conference. The Bobcats, now 17-10 overall and 8-3 in the SBC, beat the Eagles, 4-3 and 7-3, with home runs from Ryan Newman, Theodore Hoffman and Tanner Hill. Most impressively though, Lucas Humpal broke the school record for career strikeouts with four in the game to give him 242 in his career.
In addition to Humpal, the Bobcats also saw great performances on the mound from Jeremy Hallonquist, Chase Hodson and Pasquale Mazzoccoli. Those three, along with Humpal, combined for 14 strikeouts on the day.
Humpal put on a gutsy performance Saturday, picking up his fifth win of the season. He threw 121 pitches and gave up two earned runs on five hits in eight innings of work. But the big number for Humpal was his four strikeouts, exactly what he needed to become the Texas State strikeout king. With four strikeouts Saturday, Humpal now has 242 career strikeouts to break the previous record, 241, set by Bobby Sawicki in 2005.
Mazzoccoli kept the strong pitching performance going with his fifth save of the season in the ninth inning of game one. He struck out one and gave up just one hit in the inning to secure the victory for the Bobcats. Meanwhile, Hallonquist went seven innings and 106 pitches, giving up two earned but striking out five.
In the eighth inning of game two, Hodson entered with bases loaded and no outs. He was able to limit the Eagles to just one run in the inning. He would strike out four in two innings of work to keep the Bobcats on top and close out the day.
Hodson, though, received support from his offense when Hill hit his ninth home run of the season, a three-run shot to open the game up, 7-3. Hill was the third homer of the day as Hoffman knocked one in the eighth inning of game two and Newman put the Bobcats up 3-2 with a solo homer in the eighth inning of game one. It was the fourth home run of the season for both Newman and Hoffman.
Also on offense, Cory Geisler led the Bobcats in hits Saturday, going 4-for-8 with four consecutive hits from his final at-bat of game one through his first in game two. Granger Studdard tallied three hits on the day with two RBIs while Newman and Jonathan Ortega both struck two hits.
After giving up two runs in the second inning of the first game, one on a homer and another after two errors, the Bobcats struck back to tie the game in the top of the sixth inning. Ortega jumpstarted the offense with a base hit to left field and went all the way to third base on a single to right centerfield from Hubbard. With runners at the corners, Studdard sent a single straight up the middle to plate Ortega and cut the Georgia Southern lead in half, 2-1.
With Hubbard at second base and Studdard at first, Hill hit a slow grounder. The pitcher was able to get to it, but as he tried to catch Studdard at second he threw it into the outfield for an error. Hubbard scored on the play to tie the game for the Bobcats, 2-2.
The Bobcats faced their second pitcher of the day starting in the eighth inning when Georgia Southern called in top reliever Landon Hughes. With a righty on the mound, Texas State pinch hit Newman, a lefty hitter. The freshman rewarded the Bobcat coaches for the call with a solo home run to lead off the inning and put Texas State ahead, 3-2. It was the first earned run Hughes had given up in relief this season.
Georgia Southern responded with a run on two hits in the bottom of the eighth inning to tie the game, but Texas State scored the winning run in the ninth inning. To lead off, Hill was hit by a pitch. He waited through two outs, but went all the way to third base on a well-executed hit-and-run from Geisler. From third, Hill scored the winning run on a two-out, two-strike wild pitch to help the Bobcats improve to 16-10 on the season and 7-3 in conference play.
The second game of the day started with four scoreless innings, but the Bobcats broke that streak with two runs in the top of the fifth. Texas State took advantage of three Georgia Southern errors and used a hit from Geisler to score. Both Luke Sherley and Geisler scored the first two runs of game two for the Bobcats.
Later, in the seventh inning, Geisler led off with his third hit of the game. He was able to move to second base on a Felipe Rodriguez bunt single. A fielder's choice pushed Geisler to third base, and he scored on a Studdard double that landed just fair in left field, pushing the Bobcat lead to 3-0.
The Eagles struck back with two runs in the bottom of the inning, but Hoffman sent out a huge home run in the eighth inning to give the Bobcats back a two-run cushion, 4-2. Georgia Southern was able to score another run in the bottom of the eighth, but Hodson did strong work on the mound to limit the Eagles to just one run in the inning as he entered with bases loaded and no outs.
Then, with a 4-3 lead in the ninth inning, Hill made sure the Bobcats had breathing room before going to the ninth. With one out, Ortega jumpstarted the inning with a single up the middle. After he stole a base, Studdard drew a walk to put two men on base for Hill. Hill broke the game open with his ninth home run of the season, a big three-run shot, to give Texas State a 7-3 lead and sole possession of second place in the Sun Belt Conference.
Texas State and Georgia Southern will meet for the series finale at 12 p.m. CST/1 p.m. EST on Sunday with Geisler on the mound for the Bobcats.
Huge Rally Leads to Walkoff Win for App Baseball
BOONE, N.C. — Drake Zupcic capped Appalachian State University baseball’s rally from a late four-run deficit with a walkoff single that lifted the Mountaineers to an 8-7 triumph over Little Rock on Saturday afternoon at Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium.
Appalachian State (7-20, 2-9 Sun Belt) scored three runs in the seventh inning, one in the eighth and one in the ninth to complete the improbable comeback from a 7-3 seventh-inning deficit. The win snapped a six-game winning streak in Sun Belt Conference games for Little Rock (13-13, 6-5 Sun Belt) and was only the Trojans’ second defeat in their last nine games overall.
Saturday’s game seemed destined for extra innings when Little Rock reliever Cody McGill (0-2) easily retired the Mountaineers’ first two batters in the bottom of the ninth inning. However, Conner Leonard kickstarted the winning rally with a two-out double off the wall in left center field.
Zupcic, who entered the game in the top of the ninth inning when Brian Bauk moved from right field to pitcher, fell into a 1-2 hole against McGill but battled back to make it a full count. In the process, Jason Curtis, who pinch-ran for Leonard at second base, moved to third on a wild pitch.
Zupcic ripped the 3-2 pitch from McGill up the middle. Little Rock second baseman Hayden Martin dove to his right to keep the ball in the infield but by the time he got to his feet and made the throw to first, Zupcic had easily reached base while Curtis crossed home plate with the winning run.
The rally started in earnest in the bottom of the seventh when App State cut the Trojans’ 7-3 lead to 7-6 on an RBI single by Matt Vernon and a two-run base hit by Tyler Stroup.
Appalachian drew even in the eighth when Vernon was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and two outs.
Bauk (1-0) earned the first win of his career by sitting Little Rock down in order in the top of the ninth.
Zupcic’s walkoff winner aside, Leonard and Stroup played the hero roles for the Mountaineers on Saturday. Leonard went a season-best 3-for-5 with leadoff hits in the crucial eighth and ninth innings while Stroup drove in three of App State’s eight runs. Stroup also made perhaps the biggest play of the game when he gunned down a runner at the plate from left field to keep the Trojans from tacking on any more runs in the seventh.
Appalachian State goes for its first Sun Belt series victory of the season on Sunday when the clubs play the rubber match of their three-game set at Smith Stadium. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.