Thursday, May 19
NO. 23 JAGS TAKE GAME ONE AT TROY IN EXTRA INNINGS
TROY, Ala. – No. 23 University of South Alabama baseball scored three runs in the top of the 10th inning for a 6-3 series-opening win over Troy Thursday at Riddle-Pace Field.
South Alabama rallied for five runs with two outs in the top of the 10th. Jared Barnes reached on a two-out single to left field, before Danny Martinez doubled to center field just under a diving Steven Whitaker in center field to score Barnes from first base for a 4-3 Jaguar advantage. Ben Gann followed with a single into shallow left-center field to plate Martinez for a 5-3 USA lead. Matt Bolger then singled through the right side of the infield to score Gann and double the Jaguar lead at 6-3. Drew LaBounty followed with a two-run home run to left field for the game's final runs.
"We got a big hit that mattered," USA head coach Mark Calvi said. "Danny Martinez hit an in-between ball to center field. We got the big hit from (Travis) Swaggerty last Friday night, but aside from that we have had a lot of chances dating back to Appalachian State where some guys who have been great for us all year long – which is basically our whole team – haven't had good fortune. For whatever reason, some things haven't gone their way. And this game is unforgiving if you let it be, and that's why it's important that you maintain your composure at all times through good and bad because it comes back to the right people. If you're not ready for it, then you're going to miss your window and it's going to compound on you.
"But our guys have been level-headed and composed through wins and losses, and we have had our fair share of tough losses and big wins; tonight was one of those big wins. I think it just came down to the tougher team here in the end, and we have a tough group. If the game comes down to who is tougher, I will take this group."
South Alabama (38-16, 21-7 SBC) jumped out to a two-run lead in the top of the first inning. LaBounty drew a walk to lead off the game, and moved to second on a single through the right side of the infield by Cole Billingsley. A sacrifice bunt by Travis Swaggerty moved both runners into scoring position with one out. Brendan Donovan followed with a two-run double down the right field line to score LaBounty and Billingsley for a 2-0 Jaguar lead.
Troy (30-24, 15-13 SBC) answered with a run in the bottom of the first to cut its deficit to one. Whitaker drew a walk to lead off the inning, then stole second with one out before scoring on a one-out single back up the middle by Justin Friend.
The Trojans pushed a run across in the bottom of the second to tie the game. Brandon Lockridge led off the bottom of the second with a single through the right side of the infield, and moved to second on a walk by TJ Binder. Peyton Fuller followed with a one-out RBI single through the left side of the infield to score Lockridge and tie the game 2-2. A single to right field by Whitaker loaded the bases with one out. But Jaguar right-hander Kevin Hill escaped the jam with a 5-2-3 inning-ending double play off the bat of Matt Sanders.
Troy took a one-run lead in the bottom of the fifth. Whitaker led off the inning with a single to right-center field, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Sanders and advanced to third with one out on a wild pitch by Hill. Joey Denison followed with a two-out RBI single through the right side of the infield to score Whitaker for a 3-2 Troy lead.
The Jaguars responded with a run in the top of the sixth to tie the game. Barnes doubled to right-center field with two outs in the inning, and scored one batter later on an RBI single to shallow left-center field by Martinez to tie the game 3-3.
Troy threatened when it loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth on three consecutive one-out singles by Chase Smartt, Peyton Fuller and Stephen Whitaker. USA right-hander Mike Dolloff struck out Matt Sanders for the second out of the frame, and escaped the jam with an inning-ending lineout to third base off the bat of Friend to force extra innings.
Dolloff (4-4) tossed 1 2/3 shutout innings and struck out one to earn his fourth win of the season. Troy right-hander Corey Childress (2-3) allowed five runs on eight hits with three strikeouts and one walk in four innings in the loss.
USA pounded out 14 hits in the game, led by Martinez who went 3-for-5 two doubles, two RBI and one run scored. Billingsley finished 3-for-5 with one run scored and Barnes went 3-for-5 with a double and two runs scored. Whitaker finished 3-for-3 with a double and two runs scored to lead Troy offensively.
South Alabama will attempt to clinch the series in game two Saturday at 6 p.m.
Trojans Set Program Record With 17th Sun Belt Win
LITTLE ROCK – On a rainy Thursday night at Gary Hogan Field, Little Rock baseball (26-24, 17-11 Sun Belt) broke the program record for Sun Belt wins in a season at 17 with a 9-4 win against Arkansas State (25-27, 11-17 Sun Belt).
Little Rock broke the old record of 16 set in 2000 as the Trojans went 16-13 in Sun Belt play that year.
"I'm excited for these players," head coach Chris Curry said. "Two years ago when we as coaches took a chance coming to Little Rock, a lot of people said that it was going to be a tough job. Now you're starting to see what this program can do and where it's headed. We haven't won a championship or went to a regional yet, but I think it's really easy to see where we're headed. It's easy to see that we didn't just get hot in the middle of the season and that we have a consistent team."
Ty Gunter was Little Rock's offensive leader as he went 3 for 4 with home run, a double, two RBIs and three runs.
Ryan Scott broke the all-time doubles record with his 42nd-career double as he went 2 for 4 with two RBIs and a run. With his 86th hit of the season, Scott tied the Little Rock single-season record set in 1996 by former Trojan Greg Taylor.
Arkansas State got on the board first with a one-out RBI single by Jeremy Brown in the top of the second inning.
Little Rock responded with two run in the bottom of the second. Gunter and Kyle Kirk singled, and then Gunter advanced to third to put runners on the corners with two outs. After Hayden Martin walked, Scott hit a two-run single back up the middle to give the Trojans a 2-1 lead.
The Red Wolves retook the lead at 3-2 in the top of the third. Tony Ortiz walked to begin the inning and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Ty White. An RBI single by Garrett Rucker scored Ortiz from second and knotted the game at 2-all, but an error in center allowed Rucker to score on a three-base error to give A-State the lead.
After Cameron Knight singled through the right side with one out, Gunter cleared the trees with his first-career home run at Little Rock. Gunter's homer once again gave the Trojans the lead at 4-3.
The Red Wolves got the sixth inning started with a leadoff triple by Rucker. With one out, an RBI ground out by Matt Burgess scored the tying run to knot the game at 4-4.
Little Rock put the game away in the bottom of the eighth. Gunter got on with a leadoff double before moving over to third on a sacrifice bunt by Zach Baker. After Kirk walked, Little Rock pulled off the safety squeeze as Owens put down a sac bunt to score Gunter for the go-ahead run. Once Martin singled to left to put runners on the corners, Scott was intentionally walked to load the bases. It was a bad decision on A-State's part as Dalton Thomas hit a three-run triple to center.
With a 9-4 lead entering the ninth, Little Rock's Cody Daylor closed out the game with back-to-back strikeouts and a fly out left. Daylor earned his sixth save of the season while starter Matt McDowell (4-2) picked up the win after throwing 7.0 innings and striking out two while allowing six hits, four runs, three earned runs and two walks.
Little Rock will now go for the series win against Arkansas State on Friday night at 6 p.m., at Gary Hogan Field.
Bobcats Don’t Stop Fighting
ARLINGTON, Texas – On a night when both Texas State and UT Arlington were looking to conserve pitching, what happened? Well, they went 12 innings in a thriller that saw the Bobcats come out on top, 4-3, to improve to 29-25 on the season and 15-13 in the Sun Belt Conference, only bettering the team's position for the SBC Championship Tournament.
The Bobcats only gave up five hits in a game in which the pitching staff was on fire. Lucas Humpal, Cory Geisler, Chase Hodson and Pasquale Mazzoccoli combined for a season-high 15 strikeouts. Geisler struck out five while Humpal and Hodson each had four, Hodson doing it en route to his fourth win of the season. Mazzoccoli finished the Mavericks up with two more strikeouts in the 12th inning for his SBC-leading 13th save of the season, a Texas State record.
As good as the pitching was, it was a first-pitch swing from Mickey Scott that put the Bobcats on top. After Derek Scheible drew a leadoff walk and Luke Sherley pushed him to second with a sacrifice bunt, Scott came up to the plate with two outs looking for his first hit of the night. He liked the first pitch and drove it to centerfield to bring the speedy Scheible around and put the Bobcats up, 4-3.
It was the second big run of the game for Texas State as the Bobcats entered the ninth inning trailing, 3-2. It was another walk that started the offense for the Bobcats, this one from freshman Anthony Pagano. Jacob Almendarez took second on a wild pitch after entering to pinch run. That's when Ryan Newman legged out a slow-rolling infield single to put runners at the corners for Texas State. Sherley put down one of his three sacrifice bunts of the game to plate Almendarez and tie the game.
The Bobcats will throw Jeremy Hallonquist tomorrow, looking for the team's 16th win in conference play.