Sun Belt Conference Weekly News and Notes (Full PDF)
2014 Sun Belt Conference Media Guide
2014 Sun Belt Conference Composite Schedule
2014 Sun Belt Conference Standings
2014 Sun Belt Conference Statistics

Around the Sun Belt Conference
Junior second baseman Jace Conrad became the third member of the UL Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns baseball team to earn Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week honors, after posting 10 RBI in the Cajuns' series sweep of Texas Southern.

Conrad hit .400 in the series going 4-for-10 at the plate with 10 RBI, including a grand slam, and scored two runs. He also drew two walks, was hit by a pitch and swiped three bases.

The Lafayette native opened the series with a pair of RBI and drove in the game-winning run in the ninth. In the second game, Conrad posted a career-best five RBI on two hits including the grand slam. Conrad followed that up with three RBI in the series finale.

WKU senior right-handed pitcher Jake Thompson threw seven scoreless innings on Sunday as the Hilltoppers (10-5) blanked Illinois (6-7) 1-0 at Nick Denes Field to sweep the series.

Thompson tossed a career high seven innings and struck out a career-high seven batters, allowing just two hits on the day to cap a dominant weekend by the WKU pitching staff. Thompson did not surrender a hit and only allowed one base runner in between the third and seventh innings. Six of Thompson’s seven strikeouts came in those middle innings as he registered his second-straight quality start.

Week 4 Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week

Jace Conrad (UL Lafayette, Junior, 2B)
Junior Jace Conrad had a career weekend helping guide the Ragin’ Cajuns to a sweep of Texas Southern going 4-for-10 at the plate with 10 RBI, a grand slam and scored two runs. Conrad opened the series with a pair of RBI and drove in the game-winning run in the ninth. In the second game, Conrad posted a career-best five RBI on two hits including the grand slam. Conrad followed that up with three RBI in the series finale. He also drew two walks, was hit by a pitch and swiped three bases.

Week 4 Sun Belt Conference Pitcher of the Week

Jake Thompson (WKU, Senior, RHP)
Thompson threw seven scoreless innings and struck out a career high seven batters in WKU’s 1-0 victory over Illinois on Sunday. The senior right-hander registered his second consecutive quality start and surrendered two hits against an Illini team coming off of two victories at No. 23 Florida. Thompson allowed two hits in the second inning and was nearly perfect from that point on, allowing just two base runners between the third and seventh innings. He grew stronger as the game went on, recording six of his seven strikeouts between the fourth and seventh innings. Only two bases runners entered scoring position while Thompson was on the mound. Thompson’s ERA of 0.81 ranks second among qualifying conference pitchers while his two runs allowed are a league low in 2014.

Player of the Week Archive
2.17 - David Hall, Troy
2.24 - Scott Wilcox, WKU
3.03 - Drew Merten, UALR

Pitcher of the Week Archive
2.17 - Carson Baranik, UL Lafayette
2.24 - Lucas Humpal, Texas State
3.03 - Austin Robichaux, UL Lafayette

Recent Results

Tuesday, March 4
Arkansas State at Missouri State CANCELED
Georgia State at Kennesaw State L, 0-3
South Alabama at Jackson State L, 4-5
Samford at Troy L, 9-11
No. 25 Texas A&M vs. UT Arlington L, 4-5

Wednesday, March 5
Lipscomb at WKU L, 2-10
Southeastern Louisiana at UL Lafayette POSTPONED
Michigan State at UL Monroe W, 5-1
South Alabama at No. 12 Mississippi State L, 0-3
Valparaiso at Texas State L, 2-3 (10)

Friday, March 7
(5) Utah at UT Arlington L, 3-5
Xavier at Georgia State L, 1-16
UL Monroe at Samford L, 3-9
Texas Southern at No. 15 UL Lafayette W, 5-4
New Orleans at Troy L, 3-5 (13)
Southern Illinois at South Alabama W, 4-3 (10)
UALR at No. 17 Ole Miss L, 1-2 (10)
Texas State at Washington State L, 6-8

Saturday, March 8
(5) Missouri State at UT Arlington W, 6-5
Illinois at WKU W, 4-3
Xavier at Georgia State L, 10-11
New Orleans at Troy W, 3-1
Texas Southern at No. 15 UL Lafayette W, 13-0
Southern Illinois at South Alabama W, 4-1
UL Monroe at Samford L, 6-9
Illinois at WKU W, 5-3
Texas State at Washington State L, 3-4
Texas State at Washington State W, 5-3
UALR at No. 17 Ole Miss L, 5-11
Creighton at Arkansas State L, 3-7

Sunday, March 9
(5) Abilene Christian at UT Arlington L, 1-2
Xavier at Georgia State W, 7-6 (10)
Illinois at WKU W, 1-0
UL Monroe at Samford L, 5-6 (10)
Southern Illinois at South Alabama W, 5-4 (10)
Creighton at Arkansas State L, 4-5
Texas Southern at No. 15 UL Lafayette W, 7-2
New Orleans at Troy W, 3-2
UALR at No. 17 Ole Miss L, 1-11

Upcoming Games

Monday, March 10
Utah at UT Arlington 1:00 PM
Creighton at Arkansas State 6:00 PM

Tuesday, March 11
Arkansas State at Murray State 2:00 PM
Siena at Georgia State 4:00 PM
Jackson State at UL Monroe 6:00 PM
WKU at Georgia 6:00 PM
Troy at Alabama State 6:00 PM
Texas at Texas State 6:30 PM
UL Lafayette at Tulane 6:30 PM
^Oklahoma vs. UT Arlington 7:00 PM

Wednesday, March 12
Siena at Georgia State 4:00 PM
WKU at Georgia 4:00 PM
UAPB at UALR 6:00 PM
UL Monroe at Jackson State 6:00 PM
South Alabama at Southern Miss 6:00 PM

Friday, March 14
WKU at Georgia State * 5:00 PM
UL Lafayette at UL Monroe * 6:00 PM
UALR at Arkansas State * 6:00 PM
UT Arlington at Texas State * 6:30 PM
Troy at South Alabama * 6:30 PM

Saturday, March 15
WKU at Georgia State * 1:00 PM
UT Arlington at Texas State * 3:00 PM
UALR at Arkansas State * 4:00 PM
UL Lafayette at UL Monroe * 6:00 PM
Troy at South Alabama * 6:30 PM

Sunday, March 16
WKU at Georgia State * 12:00 PM
UT Arlington at Texas State * 1:00 PM
Troy at South Alabama * 1:00 PM
UL Lafayette at UL Monroe * 1:00 PM
UALR at Arkansas State * 1:00 P

NOTE: All Game times are Central and Subject to Change
* - denotes SBC game

Team News and Notes

UALR Trojans
The Trojans had a tough week getting swept by No. 15 Ole Miss in Oxford, Miss. Senior Travis McDonald put UALR in position to take game one of the series by pitching 6.2 scoreless innings and allowing just three hits while striking out six. However, a ninth-inning error allowed the Rebels to time the game before taking the win in the tenth. On Saturday Ben Crumpton scored twice to reach 102 runs scored in his career, which is good for a tie for fourth in the school’s all-time list. Justin Steelmon led the offense going 4-for-10 over the weekend. The Trojans were play all four game this week against in-state opponents starting Wednesday when they host UAPB then a visit to Arkansas State for a weekend series.

Arkansas State Red Wolves
The Arkansas State baseball battled its most difficult opponent to date this season, the weather, which wreaked havoc on the team’s midweek and weekend playing schedule. The Red Wolves were scheduled to travel to Missouri State for two-game, midweek series but the wintery weather that moved through the Midwest and Southeast over the week forced the games to be rescheduled. Only one of the games will be made up and that is scheduled to be played March 26 at Hammons Field in Springfield, Mo., on the campus of Missouri State. The weather also forced Arkansas State to move its home series against Creighton to Millington, Tenn., at USA Baseball Stadium, the former training site of the United States Amateur baseball team. The start of the series was also pushed back by a day to Saturday and the time off was not kind to A-State who suffered a 7-3 loss to the Bluejays in the opening game. The Red Wolves battled also suffered a heartbreaking loss on Sunday afternoon, dropping a 5-4 decision. Arkansas State led 4-3 after 6 innings, but Creighton rallied to retake the lead in the seventh inning. The Red Wolves had an opportunity to tie and/or win the game in the bottom ninth when it loaded the bases with just 1-out, but failed to push across a run. The series with Creighton will conclude Monday night at 5 p.m., while A-State’s midweek game with Murray State is in question due to the threat of more rain in the area. The team is slated to open Sun Belt Conference play against in-state foe UALR on March 14-16.

Georgia State Panthers
Georgia State freshman David Mayo hit his first career home run in the 10th inning to give the Panthers a 7-6 walk-ofictory over Xavier. Mayo led off the bottom of the 10th with a solo blast for the walk-off win. The win was Georgia State’s second walk-off victory of the season. In six of their seven victories, the Panthers have trailed in the seventh inning or later. Nic Wilson has been the Panthers’ top hitter, leading the team with a .407 average and three homers. He is third on the team with 11 RBI. In Sunday’s 7-6, 10-inning come-from-behind victory over Xavier, Wilson went 4-for-5. With the Panthers trailing 6-5, he led off the ninth inning with an opposite-field double off the wall to start GSU’s game-tying rally. He also hit a solo homer in the fifth inning to tie the game at 4-4, and he led off the seventh inning with a single that led to a run. Shortstop Chad Prain delivered another clutch hit for the Panthers in the win over Xavier. With GSU trailing by one in the ninth inning, he delivered a two-out, pinch-hit single to bring home the tying run. Prain also provided key hits in two other come-from-behind wins. In the season-opener against Illinois, his run-scoring double tied the game in the bottom of the ninth and the Panthers went on to win in the 10th. Against Savannah State, his two-run single in the eighth inning turned a 6-5 deficit into a 7-6 victory.

UL Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns
The seventh ranked Louisiana baseball team got back on track this past weekend sweeping Texas Southern to move to 13-2 on the season. The start is the best through 15 games since 2005 when the Cajuns opened the year with a 14-1 record. The Ragin’ Cajuns got a walk-off sac fly from Jace Conrad to defeat Texas Southern to win the opening contest. Conrad then posted a career-high five RBI in a 13-0 shutout of the Tigers in the second game. Baranik notched a complete-game shutout in the contest to move to 3-0 on the season. The Cajuns then completed the sweep with a 7-2 victory in the series finale behind the arm of reliever Matt Plitt who threw 5.1 scoreless innings coming out of the bullpen. The series win gives Louisiana five straight dating back to the 2013 season. The Ragin’ Cajuns have a four-game road swing this week starting with a 6:30 p.m midweek game at Tulane on Tuesday before opening up Sun Belt Conference play at ULM on Friday at 6 p.m. The Cajuns and Warhawks are scheduled to play at 6 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday. Junior Caleb Adams has reached base in nine consecutive games coming into the week. The Cajuns are undefeated on the road this season with in-state wins against Northwestern State and LSU.

UL Monroe warhawks
After a three-game series at Samford, the ULM baseball team returns home for a midweek tilt Tuesday night against Jackson State... After completing the home-and-home series with the Tigers Wednesday night in Jackson, Miss., the Warhawks will host UL-Lafayette as Sun Belt Conference play begins on Friday night… ULM and Jackson State played a home-and-home series in 2011 with each home team winning... ULM claimed an 8-0 win over Jackson State on Mar. 1, 2011, while the Tigers picked up a 7-6 home win on Apr. 13, 2011… In Sunday’s finale at Samford, ULM fell by a score of 6-5 as the Bulldogs plated one run in the bottom of the 10th to earn the victory… Keelin Rasch hit his first homer as a Warhawk in the top of the first inning and the junior finished with two hits, one run and one RBI... Jeff Fuller also registered multiple hits (with two) and he drove in a pair of runs… After failing to reach base in Sunday’s game, Justin Stawychny’s six-game hitting streak and 13-game reached base streak came to an end... Kodie Tidwell and Keelin Rasch currently have the longest hitting streaks (four games), while Dalton Herrington has the longest reached base streak (10 games)… ULM dropped the middle game of the weekend series in Birmingham, Ala., by a score of 9-6... Justin Stawychny and Anthony Herrera lead the Warhawks at the plate in game two... Stawychny finished with three hits, two runs and one RBI while Herrera tallied two hits and the first four RBI of his career… Game one went the way of Samford, 9-3... Kodie Tidwell and Justin Stawychny each tallied two hits in the loss and Tidwell drove in one run… ULM picked up its third-straight home win as the club defeated Michigan State, 5-1, on Mar. 5… Chris Hunt was outstanding on the hill as the junior logged eight strong innings to earn his first win of 2014... Hunt allowed just three hits and two walks while one unearned run came around to score... He tied a career-best with six strikeouts during his 100-pitch outing... The strong performance by Hunt was his second quality start of the season... Carey Taylor closed out the game on the hill as he tossed a scoreless ninth inning… Justin Stawychny drove in what proved to be the game-winning run with an infield single in the home half of the third inning... Dalton Herrington scored the Warhawks second run of the frame and ULM never relinquished the lead.

South Alabama Jaguars
South Alabama (8-7) dropped two midweek games before sweeping a three-game series from Southern Illinois at Stanky Field last weekend. Two of the Jags’ three wins over SIU came in extra innings. Matt Bolger’s walk-off single in the bottom of the 10th secured the opener, while Hayden Jones’ sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 10th in Sunday’s finale marked USA’s first three-game sweep of an opponent this season. South Alabama fell at Jackson State last Tuesday, and was shut out 3-0 at No. 8 Mississippi State the following night. USA rebounded with a 4-3 win in Friday’s opener with SIU, followed by a 4-1 win in Saturday’s contest in which left-hander Locke St. John struck out a career-high five batters in eight innings. Davis Knapp recorded a career-high three hits in Sunday’s finale, and has posted multiple hits in three consecutive games. He carries a six-game hitting streak into the week. Adam Ballew’s hitting streak ended at nine games on Sunday, while his on-base streak came to an end at 14 games. The Jags batted just .224 last week, but posted a 2.40 team ERA. The USA bullpen went 2-1 with a save and 1.80 ERA in 19 2/3 innings last week, and limited the opposition to a .209 batting average. Right-hander Brandon Hallford extended his scoreless-innings streak to 11 2/3 innings after tossing 2 1/3 scoreless frames in relief in Friday’s opener with SIU to earn his first career win. South Alabama will travel to Hattiesburg, Miss., for a 6 p.m. contest with Southern Mississippi Wednesday before hosting Troy this weekend at Stanky Field to open Sun Belt Conference play.

UT Arlington Mavericks
A first-inning home run from Abilene Christian helped top UT Arlington, 2-1, on Sunday to conclude play in the UTA Hilton Invitational at Clay Gould Ballpark. Greg McCall provided UTA’s lone offense in the fourth with a first-pitch double to left field that scored John Michael Twichell. UTA will face Oklahoma at Globe Life Park on Tuesday. The Mavericks are playing at Globe Life Park for the second time this season and third time overall. UT Arlington lost to Texas A&M on March 4 and to TCU last season. The Mavericks have won the last two games against Oklahoma and trail the all-time series 19-11. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Texas State Bobcats
Texas State used a clutch ninth inning to keep Washington State from the series sweep and improve to 10-5 on the season with a 5-3 victory. The Bobcats rebounded from the day’s doubleheader opener, a 4-3 loss. Since the Bobcats finished the series against Washington State with a doubleheader on Saturday, they won’t be back in action until they host No. 17 Texas at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Bobcat Ballpark. Texas State is hosting Texas for the first time since the home opener in 2009. The Longhorns have the advantage in the all-time series, 38-9, while Head Coach Ty Harrington is 5-24 against Texas. The Bobcats have yet to win a home game against the Longhorns, but registered its last road win on April 27, 2005, a 2-1 victory. Texas has won 17 in a row against the Bobcats with a 12-5 victory in the last meeting on April 9, 2013. For the Bobcats, Tyler Pearson continues to lead the way with a .347 batting average, .571 slugging percentage and a .448 on-base percentage, all team-highs. He’s also knocked a team-leading three home runs and leads the team in hits with 17. Texas State is an impressive 9-2 at home and will be looking for its 10th victory at Bobcat Ballpark Tuesday.

Troy Trojans
Senior Garrett Pitts delivered a two-out, RBI single in the seventh inning to give the Troy baseball team the lead and ultimately a 3-2 win as well as the series win over New Orleans on Sunday at Riddle-Pace Field. The Trojans have now earned a series win or tie in 15 of its last 16 non-conference series at Riddle-Pace Field dating back to 2007. Troy will travel to Montgomery to face Alabama State on Tuesday; first pitch is set for 6 p.m.. The Trojans will then head to Mobile to open Sun Belt Conference play against South Alabama over the weekend.

WKU HILLToppers
WKU’s sweep of Illinois was its second-consecutive three-game series sweep and extended its home winning streak to eight games. The Hilltoppers eight game home winning streak is its longest since winning 16 straight at Nick Denes Field during the 2009 season WKU’s 10-5 start to 2014 is its best start since beginning the 2011 campaign 16-5. WKU’s three-game sweep of Illinois was the first time the Hilltoppers swept a Big 10 team since taking three from Purdue in 2008. The Hilltoppers 1-0 shutout in Sunday’s sweep clinching win was its first since blanking Louisiana-Lafayette 3-0 on March 30, 2013. Senior RHP Jake Thompson registered his second-straight quality start and tossed a career-long seven innings and struck out a career high seven batters. Thompson has surrendered the fewest runs among qualifying SBC pitchers (2) and ranks second in ERA (0.81). The WKU pitching staff allowed six runs in 27 innings of work against Illinois, striking out 22 batters compared to 5 walks. The Hilltopper bullpen scattered seven hits and allowed just one run. The staff did not allow a single run in the final 15 innings of the series. WKU’s starting pitching rotation of Justin Hageman, Austin Clay and Jake Thompson has surrendered 10 earned runs, struck out 43 batters and held batters to a .218 average in 63.2 IP on its way to a 4-0 record during the first three weekends of 2014. Junior closer Ian Tompkins leads the Sun Belt Conference with six saves after picking up two against the Illini this past weekend. Tompkins is just six saves away from breaking WKU’s single-season record for saves with 40 regular-season games remaining on the schedule. Tompkins has not allowed an earned run in 14 consecutive appearances and has struck out 32 batters since giving up his last earned run on April 28, 2013.