Sunday, February 22
Troy Tops Nicholls State on Sunday
Pensacola, Florida – After a pair of low-scoring contests in the Cox Diamond Invitational, Troy's offense erupted in Sunday's finale knocking off Nicholls 10-2. The Trojans pounded out 18 hits off of three Colonel pitchers.
The Trojans got things going with two outs in the top of the first inning with four consecutive RBI base hits. Bert Givens doubled home Logan Hill before Reid Long struck with a two-RBI double. Clay Holcomb and Trevin Hall followed with RBI singles to give Troy an early 5-0 lead. Prior to Sunday, Troy had scored just one run in the first inning in six games this season.
Givens tacked on a run with an RBI single in the second. Long added another with a sacrifice fly in the fourth. The Marianna, Florida, native blasted his second home run of the season, a solo shot in the eighth. Long finished the game 3-for-4 with four RBIs.
Trevin Hall capped a red-hot weekend with a solo home run in the seventh inning. Hall was 5-for-11 with two stolen bases in three games.
Troy starter Tucker Simpson (1-1) was solid in five innings of work, striking out five while surrendering a pair of runs.
Nicholls (4-2-1) scored in the third on an RBI single from Christian Correa and in the fourth on a solo home run from Marc Frazier. Austin Crook, Levi Tate, Ben Tidwell and Robert Harris all combined in relief to close the game.
Eight Trojans finished the contest with multiple hits. Troy's 18 hits are a season high and the most since March 30, 2014 against Georgia State. As a team, Troy has double-digit hits in four-of-seven games this season.
On the season, the Trojan pitching staff has allowed just 12 earned runs and has a Sun Belt Conference-best 1.72 ERA.
The Trojans will travel to Birmingham to face Samford on Tuesday. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.
Georgia Southern's Rollins Drives in Six in 15-2 Rout of WVU
STATESBORO, Ga. – Kent Rollins drove in six runs to help power the Georgia Southern Eagles to a 15-2 win and series victory over the West Virginia Mountaineers at J.I. Clements Stadium on Sunday.
Georgia Southern (5-2) jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on Aaron Mizell's first home run of the 2015 campaign and never looked back. The Eagles extended their lead to 5-1 in the fourth inning before scoring 10 runs combined in the sixth and seventh innings.
"We tried to put yesterday behind us and come back out and play better baseball in all phases," Head Coach Rodney Hennon said. "We got a good effort from Connor Simmons, and I thought Mizell's home run that gave him the early lead was big. Overall we played a complete game for all nine innings."
Rollins, making his first start as an Eagle, finished a double shy of the cycle and broke the game open with a bases-clearing triple in the sixth inning. An at-bat later Rollins plated three runs with his first home run of the season.
Simmons (1-0) held West Virginia (3-3) to two runs on four hits. The freshman lefthander struck out three batters and walked three over five innings for his first career win.
"He did a nice job throwing strikes," Hennon said about his freshman lefthander. "I thought he responded well after giving up the first home run. He continued to run the ball in there for strikes and let his defense work."
Chad Donato was saddled with the loss after allowing five runs – two earned – on six hits. Donato (1-1) tossed four innings and struck out two batters.
GS tallied 10 plus hits for the fourth time in seven games this season. Hudgins tallied two hits to extend his career-opening hit streak to seven games, while Dalton Busby plated two runs with sac flies, walked, doubled and scored twice.
The Mountaineers scored both runs on a pair of solo home runs by Taylor Munden and Jackson Cramer.
The Eagles wrap up a season-opening eight game homestand Tuesday against The Citadel. First pitch in the first of two mid-week games is set for 6 p.m.
Mountaineers Drop Series Finale with Canisius
LEXINGTON, S.C. — Five unearned runs in the top of the second inning proved to be all Canisius needed in a 10-3 win over Appalachian State University baseball on Sunday afternoon at Lexington Sports Complex.
With the loss, Appalachian State (2-3) dropped the three-game weekend series to Canisius (4-3), two games to one. The series was originally scheduled to be a four-game set at Appalachian’s Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium but was moved to Lexington following a week of wintry weather that blasted much of North Carolina.
A catcher’s interference call against freshman backstop Chandler Seagle opened the floodgates for Canisius in the five-run second inning. The Golden Griffins went on to score two more runs in the third, two in the fourth and one in eighth to extend the lead to 10-0.
The Mountaineers scored their only runs in the bottom of the eighth. Freshman Dylan Hamel provided the inning’s big hit with an RBI triple in his first collegiate at-bat and later scored on a wild pitch. Jaylin Davis also doubled and scored in the three-run eighth.
Appalachian State managed only five hits against four Canisius pitchers, including just three in five innings against starer Alex Godzak (2-0).
Conversely, Canisius plated seven runs (two earned) on seven hits in two-plus innings against Mountaineer starter Dallas DeVrieze, who suffered the loss and fell to 1-1 on the season.
In all, App State sent seven pitchers to the mound, headlined by senior Taylor Thurber, who struck out five and retired all 11 batters he faced in 3.2 perfect innings of relief.
Appalachian State looks to snap a two-game slide on Tuesday when it makes the short trip to Winston-Salem for a 4 p.m. matchup against longtime rival Wake Forest.
Rose Homers Twice but Panthers Fall, 9-2
ATLANTA -- Matt Rose homered twice but Georgia State fell to UMass Lowell 9-2 Sunday at the GSU Baseball Complex to split the four-game series.
Rose, the junior infielder and Preseason All-American, hit a pair of towering solo blasts for his fourth and fifth home runs of the season. He entered the weekend tied for the NCAA lead in homers. Thhe Melbourne, Fla., native has 10 RBI in eight games.
Junior catcher Joey Roach had a single and a double to cap a week in which he went 9-for-19 with two homers, two doubles and nine RBI in five games.
But UMass Lowell (2-2) jumped on Georgia State starter Garrett Ford (0-1) with six runs in the second inning, aided by an error, and the Panthers (4-4) could not recover.
River Hawks starter Geoff DeGroot (1-0) allowed just one run on four hits over seven innings.
"I told the team, we've played eight games, and we've won four and we've lost four. We've done some really great things, and there are other things where we are a step slow or need to improve on," head coach Greg Frady said.
"We're kind of at a crossroads. We need to increase our aggressiveness, and when that happens, we're a better team. When we're playing catchup like were today, confidence seems to be down and we lose energy. I think that's an identity we're still searching for as a team.
"We'll regroup, practice and get ready for Georgia Tech on Wednesday."
Warhawks Drop Series Finale with Lumberjacks
MONROE, La. – Trailing by one with two outs and runners on the corners, Kodie Tidwell attempted to steal home, but was called out on a close play at the plate giving Stephen F. Austin an 8-7 win in the series finale Sunday afternoon at Warhawk Field.
The Warhawks move to 3-3 on the season after taking two of three from the Lumberjacks (2-6) in the series.
SFA jumped on the board first with a pair of unearned runs in the third inning.
In the bottom half of the frame, ULM would take advantage of a pair of singles up the middle to take a 3-2 lead. Tidwell got the scoring started with a two-run single. The junior shortstop then stole second base to set up a Keelin Rasch RBI single.
Back-to-back singles by Cody Stone and Tidwell in the fifth put a pair of runners on for Rasch who continued his hot streak with a two-run double to left center to make it 5-2 in favor of the Warhawks.
However, the Lumberjacks retook the lead with a pair of three-run innings in the sixth and eighth innings, respectively.
Trailing 8-5 in the bottom half of the eighth, ULM answered back with two runs of its own to make it a one run ballgame. Josh Faciane doubled down the left field line to drive in Danny Springer before eventually coming around to score on a throwing miscue by SFA.
Starter Brayden Bouchey got the no decision after allowing two hits and two runs, none earned in five innings of work. Anthony Herrera (0-1) was tagged with the loss as the sophomore gave up three runs on five hits in 1.2 innings.
Freshman Keegan Curtis relieved Herrera and followed up his first career win with 1.2 innings of shutout ball.
Grant Page (1-0) tossed three scoreless innings in relief to earn his first win of the season after SFA starter Eric Polivka exited early with five runs in four innings coming off his belt. Tyler Wiedenfeld earned his second save of the season as he pitched the final 1.1 innings.
Jags Fall to UCF
MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama baseball team rallied for three runs in the ninth inning, but fell to Central Florida 7-5 Sunday at Stanky Field.
USA (4-3) loaded the bases with an out in the bottom of the ninth, and cut the UCF lead to 7-3 when Cole Billingsley drew a walk to score Daniel Martinez, who reached on a single earlier in the inning. Cole Gleason followed with an RBI single to third base to score Drew LaBounty after he singled earlier in the frame. Jared Barnes lifted a one-out sacrifice fly to center field for the final Jaguar run.
UCF right-hander Robby Howell (2-0) allowed two runs on seven hits with a pair of strikeouts and two walks in 6 1/3 innings pitched to earn the win. Knight right-hander Trent Thompson struck out one inn two-thirds of an inning to earn his first save of the season. Jaguar left-hander Zach McMullen (0-1) struck out five without issuing a walk, and allowed two earned runs on seven hits in five innings pitched.
Gleason went 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI, and LaBounty finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored to lead the Jags at the plate. Kyle Marsh went 2-for-4 with three RBI to lead the Knights offensively.
UCF (7-0) took the first lead of the game in the top of the third inning. JoMarcos Woods doubled down the left-field line with one out, and scored on a two-out RBI single to center field by Kyle Marsh.
USA answered to tie the game in the bottom of the third on a two-out RBI single to center field by Cole Billingsley to score LaBounty, who reached on a one-out walk earlier in the inning.
The Jags took their first lead of the game in the bottom of the fourth. DeGallier reached on a one-out single, advanced to second on a single to left field by Martinez and scored on a two-out RBI single to center field by Raspino for a 2-1 USA advantage.
But UCF answered to tie the game 2-2 a half-inning later when Logan Heiser homered to left field on the first pitch he saw from McMullen in the top of the fifth. Woods reached on a hit by pitch from McMullen with one out, advanced to second on a failed pickoff attempt and scored on a one-out single to left-center field by Marsh to give the Knights a 3-2 lead.
Erik Barber doubled the UCF lead to 4-2 in the top of the eighth with a solo home run to right-center field to lead off the inning. The Knights added their final three runs of the game in the ninth on a one-out RBI double from Woods, a sacrifice fly from Marsh and bases-loaded walk by Matt Diorio.