Troy Blanks Coastal Carolina
CONWAY, South Carolina – Troy (24-17, 10-9 SBC) knocked off Coastal Carolina (25-16-1, 11-7-1), 4-0, at Springs Brooks Stadium on Friday.
Andrew Crane (4-1) was nearly unhittable against the defending national champions extending his scoreless innings pitched streak to 24.2 with six solid frames. The junior surrendered four hits, struck out seven and walked just one on the night. The right-hander hasn’t allowed a run since March 31 – three starts and one relief appearance.
All of the game’s offense came in the third inning. Drew Frederic and Steven Whitaker each singled ahead off Matt Sanders, whose grounder up the middle was speared by Coastal second baseman Wood Myers. Myers’ throw to first was late and wide allowing both base runners to score. One batter later, Trevor Davis deposited the first pitch he saw into the Trojan bullpen beyond the right field wall to extend Troy’s lead to 4-0.
Cory Gill earned his fifth save and continued his dominance on the mound striking out six of the nine batters he faced; he has now struck out 19 of the 33 hitters that have stood against him over his last nine innings of work. Alex Cunningham (5-2) took the loss for the Chanticleers surrendering all four runs and six hits in the contest; he struck out six and walked one.
The teams continue the series with game two on Saturday. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. Daren Osby (4-3, 3.74) will battle Andrew Beckwith (5-1, 4.70).
QUOTABLE
“It was a great Friday win,” Troy head coach Mark Smartt said. “It starts on the mound and Crane did what he’s been doing lately and that is pitch extremely well. That was a very good team and I thought we handled and executed our game plan very well.”
NOTEWORTHY
• Troy improves to 3-1 against Coastal Carolina all-time.
• The Trojans have posted four shutout victories this season; all four have come by the same 4-0 scoreline.
• With six shutout innings on Friday, Andrew Crane lowered his season ERA to 1.26.
• Trevor Davis hit his fifth home run of the season, a two-run blast in the third inning. All but one of Davis’ home runs have come with runners on base.
Warhawks Grab Series-Opening Victory Friday Night
ATLANTA, Ga. – The ULM baseball team jumped out to an early lead with four runs over the opening four innings on Friday night before Anthony Herrera came on and worked the Warhawks out of a bases loaded, one out situation in the bottom of the eighth inning and ULM grabbed a 4-3 victory in the opening game of the teams' Sun Belt Conference series.
THE BASICS
Score: ULM 4, Georgia State 3
Location: GSU Baseball Complex / Atlanta, Ga.
Teams: ULM (12-30, 6-13 SBC)
Georgia State (14-26, 4-15 SBC)
TURNING POINT
-After Georgia State loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the eighth and the Warhawks holding onto a one-run lead, Herrera came to the mound and struck out a pair of hitters to strand all three runners on the basepaths and preserve the lead.
HOW IT HAPPENED
-ULM got on the board early with a run in the top of the first after Cade Stone opened the game with a walk and later scored on Turner Francis' sacrifice fly before the Warhawks added two runs in the top of the third when Anthony Herrera singled to open the frame and Francis followed him up with a double to set the table for a Spencer Hemphill RBI single and a sacrifice fly from Cade Harper to push the lead to 3-0.
-The Warhawks added to the lead in the top of the fourth when Blake Buckman doubled and later scored on Brian Barefoot's RBI single to extend the advantage to four before Georgia State got on the board with a solo home run by Nick Gatewood in the bottom of the fourth to cut into the ULM lead. The hosts used another solo home run, this time in the bottom of the fifth by Jaylen Woullard, to pull to within two runs.
-In the bottom of the sixth, Georgia State opened the inning with a leadoff walk that scored on an RBI double by Jarrett Hood to cut the score to 4-3 ULM and force the exit of Warhawk starter Josh Leone and the arrival of reliever Tyler Schwaner came out of the bullpen and forced a pair of fly outs before strikeout ended the frame and kept the ULM lead intact.
-Georgia State used three singles to load the bases with one out in the bottom of the eighth and end the night for Schwaner after 2 1/3 innings of relief and set up Herrera, who struck out Darius Sewell and pinch hitter Terrell Frazier to get out of the jam.
-ULM finished with seven hits as a team, with Herrera tallying two hits and the Warhawks receiving a hit apiece from Barefoot, Francis, Hemphill, Harper and Buckman. Barefoot, Francis, Hemphill and Harper each notched one RBI apiece.
-Leone earned his second win of the season after five-plus innings, allowing three runs on six hits with two walks and four strikeouts. Schwaner tallied two strikeouts of his own before Herrera struck out four of his five batters faced to earn his seventh save of the season and 22nd career save.
UP NEXT
-The series with Georgia State continues with a 1:00 p.m. CST start on Saturday afternoon before a 12:00 p.m. CST first pitch in Sunday's finale. ULM then travels to Ole Miss for a pair of midweek games next Tuesday and Wednesday.
Streaking Mountaineers Down A-State in Game 1, 7-6
BOONE, N.C. – Conner Leonard's 4-for-5 outing and Dallas DeVrieze struck out four to help Appalachian State University baseball take down Arkansas State in Game One, 7-6, on Friday night at Smith Stadium.
The Mountaineers (18-24, 7-12 Sun Belt) improved to 6-2 in their last eight games while handing the Red Wolves (20-21, 8-11 Sun Belt) their fourth-straight loss.
In a wild first inning that cumulatively took 46 minutes to complete, A-State drew first blood, placing two unearned runs up on the board off two errors by the Mountaineers. Unpersuaded from the task at hand, however, App State started its time at the plate with Matt Vernon getting one of his two doubles on the day, this time down the left field line, and a Tyler Stroup single up the middle to bring in the first run.
Vernon's two doubles on Friday give him five extra-base hits in the past eight games.
Stroup then moved to second on an error by the Red Wolves before Leonard got his first hit of the night, a shot to right field, followed up by Brian Bauk getting his first RBI on the night with a shot up the middle. Chandler Seagle then joined the party with a single to left field that brought in Leonard before a Jared McCarver single to center field brought home Bauk to end the inning.
Appalachian then extended its lead in the second inning, as Jason Curtis knocked a bullet to center field before Avery Jackson walked and Leonard once again singled to right field. Bauk then got a four-pitch, bases-loaded walk that brought in Curtis.
Bauk's two RBI on Friday give him a team-high eight games with multiple-RBI for the season.
A Calev Grubbs single and wild pitch advancement to second gave Vernon the opportunity to double down the left field line again, bringing Grubbs home in the fifth to give App a 6-4 lead. The final run on the night for Appalachian was scored one inning later when back-to-back singles by Jackson and Leonard led off the sixth before Jackson was brought home despite a 4-6-3 double play.
The Red Wolves would continue to keep things interested, scoring one run in the seventh and eighth innings, but the Mountaineers pitching staff kept A-State at bay as they hung on for the win.
Travis Holden got the usual Friday night, going 3.2 innings and allowing just three hits, two earned runs and striking out four batters on the night. DeVrieze provided the bulk of the relief out of the bullpen, going 2.2 innings and allowing just two hits along with his four strikeouts.
Reed Howell went 1.2 innings, getting two punchouts and allowing two runs before Matt Brill closed the final inning of the game to get his fourth save of the season, striking out two batters in the ninth.
The Mountaineers will look to take the series in Game Two on Saturday, April 29 as their three-game series with Arkansas State continues. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. at Smith Stadium.
BELL TOSSES COMPLETE GAME, LEADS JAGS PAST BOBCATS IN SERIES OPENER
MOBILE, Ala. – University of South Alabama right-hander Randy Bell tossed a complete game to lead the Jaguars to an 8-3 series-opening win over Texas State Friday at Stanky Field.
Bell (4-3) retired 16 of the final 18 batters he faced in the game, and allowed two earned runs on five hits with eight strikeouts and did not issue a walk in nine innings to record his fourth win and first complete game of the season.
"I was able to throw three pitches for strikes, and I just let them (Texas State) put the ball in play," Bell said. "The defense made some big plays behind me, and I was able to stay in the game. I give credit to them, they are a great offensive team. But the defense made some plays and kept me in the windup. I was just able to command all three of my pitches, and that was really big for me."
Bobcat right-hander Connor Reich (2-4) allowed seven runs on eight hits with four strikeouts and six walks in 4 1/3 innings in the loss.
"Randy (Bell) was really good," USA head coach Mark Calvi said. "He gave up the two runs early on, but then he settled in. I am really proud of his effort. And I'm really proud of the at-bats we had. Their starter, Reich, was really good; he was 88 to 91 with a good changeup and breaking ball. He kept us off balance. We left too many men on base, but I want to give him credit. He was a very solid Friday-night pitcher in this league. He made us work, and we eventually got some guys on base and got a big hit. I'm proud of the team's effort up and down the roster. Paul Russo came off the bench with a big double that broke the game open, so I am proud of his and everyone on the team's effort tonight."
Texas State (22-21, 9-10 SBC) jumped out to a two-run lead on Bell following a one-out solo home run to left field by Felipe Rodriguez in the top of the third, and a two-out RBI single back up the middle by Dylan Paul in the top of the fourth for a 2-0 advantage.
But South Alabama (26-17, 13-6 SBC) responded with seven runs in the bottom of the fifth to take a five-run lead. The Jags loaded the bases with no outs in the inning on consecutive singles by Dylan Hardy and Colton Thomas, and a walk by Brendan Donovan. Travis Swaggerty followed with a two-run single to right-center field to score Hardy and Thomas and tie the game 2-2. A walk by Wells Davis loaded the bases with no outs for the second time in the inning. LaBounty then delivered a two-run single through the left side of the infield to score Donovan and Swaggerty and double the Jaguar lead at 4-2. A sacrifice bunt by Will Luft advanced both Davis and LaBounty into scoring position with one out. Barnes drew a one-out walk to load the bases for pinch-hitter Paul Russo, who delivered a two-run double to left-center field for a 6-2 lead. Hardy followed with a walk to load the bases with one out for Thomas, who lifted a sacrifice fly to right-center field to plate Barnes for a 7-2 Jaguar advantage.
USA added its final run in the bottom of the seventh on a two-out RBI double down the left field line by Thomas, while the Bobcats pushed across the game's final run on an RBI single in the top of the ninth inning by Ryan Newman.
Thomas recorded a career-high three hits, finishing 3-for-4 with two doubles, two RBI and one run scored to lead the Jaguars at the plate. LaBounty added two hits, two RBI and one run scored.
The series will continue with game two at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Stanky Field.