Wednesday, March 25
Eagles Rally for Second Consecutive Mid-Week Win
STATESBORO, Ga. – The Georgia Southern Eagles rallied from a one-run deficit and scored six runs in the bottom of the seventh to defeat the Jacksonville Dolphins 9-4 at J.I. Clements Stadium on Wednesday.
With the bases loaded in the seventh inning and the Eagles (16-11) down 4-3, Cody Lanford singled to right field to plate two runs and give the Eagles their first lead of the game.
Two batters later Ryan Cleveland broke open the one-run game with a grand slam, the first of his career. Cleveland hit his third home run of the season and second in as many games to cap off a six-run inning.
"We had a few opportunities earlier in the game and hit a few balls on the nose but didn't have anything to show for it. The guys hung in there," Head Coach Rodney Hennon said. "I am really proud of Cody Lanford. The guy works hard everyday and always brings good energy. He has been waiting his turn and got up there in a big situation tonight and delivered."
With the victory, Georgia Southern won their fourth-straight game and eighth in the series. The Eagles tallied 14 with five Eagles finishing with multiple hits. Aaron Mizell tallied three hits and doubled in the eighth inning, while Chase Griffin drove in three runs with a single and a home run in the third inning.
Logan Baldwin tossed three scoreless innings out of the bullpen and picked up the win in his first career appearance. Baldwin (1-0) allowed two hits and got a pair of double plays, including one to end the game.
Andrew Ciocia took the loss after allowing three runs on five hits and a walk. Ciocia (0-1) tossed three innings and struck out a batter.
Tyler Payne and Anthony Paesano combined for two scoreless innings before giving way to Baldwin in the seventh inning. Payne held the Dolphins (12-12) hitless over 1.2 innings.
Baseball hits the road for a first-place showdown with Texas State. The three-game Sun Belt Conference series opens Friday with a 7 p.m. ET first pitch and continues Saturday at 4 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.
UALR Falls to UCA on Wednesday
CONWAY, Ark. – UALR baseball (7-13, 4-4) fell to rival Central Arkansas (12-7, 6-3) by a score of 15-3 in seven innings at Bear Stadium in Conway on Wednesday night.
Ryan Scott went 1 for 4 and extended his hitting and reached base streaks to 17 games with a single in the top of the fifth inning.
UALR started the game by loading the bases with one out in the first, but a double play ended the Trojans’ chance to put a runner on the board.
The Bears showed no mercy in the first inning, hanging nine runs on the board with seven hits to begin the game.
UCA continued the offensive in the second inning, scoring a couple of more runs on four hits to take an 11-0 lead.
The Bears added two more runs in the third inning with a two-run shot by over the left field wall shortstop Logan Preston to take a 13-0 lead.
A two-run home run in the bottom of the fourth by center fielder Tyler Langley extended Central Arkansas’ lead to 15-0.
The Trojans ended the shutout with a couple of runs in the fifth inning. With one out, Justin Steelmon singled up the middle. Ryan Scott singled through the right side of the infield, advancing Steelmon to second. Tanner Rockwell popped up to the middle of the infield, but UCA’s pitcher dropped the ball as Steelmon crossed the plate for the Trojans’ first run. Kyle Kirk then singled through the left side, scoring Scott to cut the deficit to 15-2. Mitchell Scheuler singled to right to load the bases for the Trojans, but a fly out to center ended UALR’s run.
Reed Willenborg entered the game in the bottom of the fifth and only allowed Central Arkansas to get one hit while striking out three in two innings on the mound.
After Hayden Martin walked with one out in the top of the sixth, he advanced to second with a UALR ground out. Sam Vogel then hit an RBI-single up the middle to cut the deficit to 15-3.
Down by 12 runs in the top of the seventh, UALR needed at least three runs to keep the game going due to an imposed run limit, but the Trojans’ night ended after grounding out, striking out and flying out.
UALR will look to get back on track this weekend as it welcomes new conference-foe Appalachian State to Gary Hogan Field for a three-game series starting on Friday at 6 p.m.
Cajuns Can't Overcome Miscues in 3-1 Setback to Nicholls State
LAFAYETTE, La. – The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns baseball team couldn't overcome three costly errors on Wednesday night as the squad fell to Nicholls State 3-1 at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field.
The Cajuns (13-9) were outhit by the Colonels (13-10-1) 8-7 in the contest. Starter Connor Toups was handed his first loss of the year despite giving up three unearned runs in six innings. Toups scattered eight hits in the effort and struck out three while not allowing a free pass. Nick Zaunbrecher and Reagan Bazar combined to throw three scoreless innings in relief for Louisiana.
Reliever Cole Stapler earned the victory for Nicholls State tossing 1.2 scoreless innings with two strikeouts to move to 1-0 on the year. Stuart Holmes recorded his ninth save of the season in the contest throwing 1.1 scoreless innings to close things out.
Nicholls State went in front 1-0 in the top of the first as Justin Smith scored from second on an error by second baseman Kennon Fontenot.
The Colonels capitalized on another error in the top of the third when Kyle Reese scored from second on a two-base throwing error by Brenn Conrad to make the score 2-0.
Stefan Trosclair pulled Louisiana within a run in the bottom of the fourth doubling down the left field line to score Blake Trahan from third. Trahan singled to lead off the inning and then moved to third on a single up the middle by Nick Thurman.
In the top of the fifth, the Colonels threated loading the bases with one out, but Conrad came up with a big play at third turning an inning ending double play to keep the Ragin' Cajuns within a run.
Nicholls State tacked on a run in the top of the sixth when Tanner Vandevere score from third on a sac fly to center by Seth Stevens. Vandevere reached on infield single and moved into scoring position on a Cajuns error.
Louisiana looked to pull even in the bottom of the ninth loading the bases with one out. Derek Herrington hit into a force play at home for the second out of inning. In the next at bat, Trahan worked the count full before lining out to left to end the contest.
The Ragin' Cajuns return to action on Friday at 6 p.m. as they host Arkansas State in a three-game conference series at the "Tigue".
App State Falls to Wake Forest
BOONE, N.C. — Wake Forest scored seven runs — six of them unearned — in the top of the eighth inning to rally from an 8-4 deficit and defeat Appalachian State University baseball, 11-8, on Wednesday night at Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium.
Appalachian State (7-18), which fell into a three-run hole early in the ballgame, rebounded for two runs in the third inning, two in the fourth and three in the sixth to grab the commanding 8-4 lead, which it took into the eighth.
In the top of the eighth, Wake Forest cut the Mountaineers’ advantage to 8-5 with a two-out RBI single by pinch hitter Kevin Conway but one batter later, App State reliever Ryan Ross induced what looked like an inning-ending flyout to right field. However, sophomore Tyler Stroup, making his third appearance of the season in the outfield after missing the first month of the campaign with a leg injury, dropped the ball and two runs scored to cut the Appalachian lead to 8-7.
Wake Forest’s Jonathan Pryor followed Stroup’s error with an RBI single that knotted the score at 8-8.
After Ross hit the next batter with an 0-2 pitch to load the bases, the freshman southpaw produced another fly ball to right field for what could have been the final out of the inning. Unfortunately for the Mountaineers, Stroup misplayed the ball near the warning track, allowing it to fall to the ground and one-hop the wall for a three-run triple that gave the Demon Deacons an unlikely 11-8 lead.
Appalachian State put runners on base in the bottom of the eighth and ninth innings but couldn’t push across any more runs.
The fateful eighth inning overshadowed what was an otherwise strong performance for the Mountaineers, who came up four outs short of their first season sweep of Wake Forest since 2008 and their first season sweep of any Atlantic Coast Conference club since they took two games from Duke in 2012.
At the plate, App State banged out 12 hits, highlighted by Michael Pierson going 3-for-4 with a two-run homer, three RBI and three runs scored. Dillon Dobson, Conner Leonard, Noah Holmes and Bradley Morton chipped in with two hits apiece. Stroup drove in two runs.
The downside offensively was that Appalachian State left a season-high 15 runners on base.
On the mound, relievers Dallas DeVrieze and Robert Whaley combined for 4.1 innings of scoreless relief to allow the Mountaineers to rally in the middle innings. DeVrieze was particularly impressive with seven strikeouts in 3.1 innings of work. Whaley's scoreless inning came in his first appearance of the season after missing the first 24 games due to a personal issue.
Defensively, Appalachian State turned a season-high four double plays but committed three errors that led to just four of Wake Forest’s 11 runs being earned.
Wake Forest (17-10) was led by right fielder Stuart Fairchild, who went 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. The Demon Deacons have won three-straight and four of their last six games.
Appalachian State looks to shake off the heartbreaking defeat this weekend when it travels to UALR for a three-game Sun Belt Conference series. Game times are set for 7 p.m. Friday, 3 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday in Little Rock, Ark.
A-State Falls to SEMO, 6-5
JONESBORO, Ark. (3/25/15) – The Arkansas State baseball team let a 4-2 lead slip away and allowed the winning run to reach base on an error in a 6-5 loss to Southeast Missouri in nonconference action Wednesday at Tomlinson Stadium in Jonesboro.
SEMO (15-9) left fielder Brendon Neel reached on an error by A-State (10-12) shortstop Jeremy Brown to lead off the eighth inning with the game tied 5-5 and was bunted to second base by Alex Burridge. Neel advanced to third on a fly out to right field and Clayton Evans laid down a bunt single that scored Neel for the go-ahead run with two outs. Reliever Derek Birginske walked another batter, but limited the damage with a strikeout to end the inning.
Tanner Ring was hit by a pitch by Southeast Missouri reliever Matthew Wade when he entered the game in the bottom of the eighth. Wade got the next two hitters to pop up to third and strikeout before he uncorked a wild pitch that allowed Ring to advance to second base. However, Wade induced a ground out to third base from Joe Schrimpf to escape the inning unscathed.
The Redhawks loaded the bases with one out in the top of the ninth, but Coulton Lee entered the game and recorded two strikeouts to quell the threat. The Red Wolves weren’t able to muster a ninth inning rally after a strikeout and two ground outs to second ended the game and clinched the 6-5 victory for Southeast Missouri.
Austin Baker led the Red Wolves at the plate with two hits, including his second home run of the season, but A-State only had three other hits in the game. Adam Grantham turned in his second consecutive solid start for A-State by tossing a career-high five innings and allowing two runs (both earned) on three hits with three strikeouts against only one walk. Chandler Hawkins, Birginske, and Lee pitching four innings of relief and gave up four runs, but only one of the runs was earned.
Southeast Missouri took an early lead on two runs on a wild pitch in the fourth inning and a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning before Baker hit a home run down the right-field line to bring A-State within 2-1. The Red Wolves tied the game 2-2 on a SEMO error in the bottom of the sixth. The home team took the lead later in the inning on a RBI fielder’s choice by Collin Massanelli and extended the advantage to 4-2 on a Jeremy Brown sacrifice fly.
SEMO wasted little time mounting a response with a three-run inning in the top of the seventh for a 5-4 edge. A-State was able to tie the game in the bottom of the frame on a Matt Burgess sacrifice fly that plated Baker.
The Redhawks’ Alex Siddle took the win after tossing an inning and allowing the tying run to score to improve to 2-0. Wade registered his second save for SEMO, while Garrett Gandolfo and Evans each had two hits. Trevor Ezell led SEMO with three RBIs.
The Red Wolves return to action March 27-29 in a Sun Belt Conference foe Louisiana-Lafayette. First pitch from M.L. Tigue Moore Field Friday is set for 6 p.m.
UTA Falls to West Virginia in Midweek Contest
ARLINGTON, Texas - UT Arlington looked to comeback from a five-run deficit in its game against West Virginia on Wednesday afternoon, but ultimately came up short falling to the Mountaineers 6-4.
"I thought we had some pretty good at-bats without Levi Scott in there, "UT Arlington coach Darin Thomas said."We swung it all right. We struck out a little bit too much, but we're going to be alright. We just have to get back to doing what we do. That's two good clubs we've played when we're a little bit banged up, but we've just got to throw it over the plate."
The Mavericks (12-11) will return to action this weekend against Georgia State at Clay Gould Ballpark. The three-game Sun Belt Conference series will kick off on Friday at 6:30 p.m.
"I know they're going to be good and I know they can swing the bat," Thomas said. "I know we'll have our hands full and if we don't play better than the last two days it's going to be a long weekend, but I have faith in our guys. We'll get back to playing good baseball. We just have to play solid fundamental baseball and we didn't the last two days. When you play good people you're going to get beat when you do that."
Darien McLemore connected in two of his four at-bats, while Matt McLean, Dalton DeLeon and Cody Farrell were 1-of-2 . DeLeon and Farrell each had a RBI.
The relief pitchers for the Mavs had another solid outing as the four pitchers from the bullpen combined to allow three earned runs in their eight innings on the mound.
UT Arlington looked to erase a four-run deficit in the bottom of the fourth inning as UTA loaded the bases with no outs. However, the Mavs came up empty after a double play and groundout ended the threat.
UTA was able to chip into the WVU lead with a one-run fifth inning. With walks in two of the first three at-bats putting runners on, Travis Sibley got ahold of the pitch and sent it to left-center field for a single that brought in the first run for the Mavericks.
West Virginia pushed its lead to five after scoring in the sixth and seventh to go up 6-1.
The Mavericks began the comeback bid with back-to-back doubles to lead off the bottom half of the seventh from DeLeon and Farrell. Morris brought home Farrell with a two-out single through the right side and trimmed the lead to 6-3.
The Mavs continued to whittle down the Mountaineer lead in the eighth when DeLeon's groundout allowed RJ Williams to score.
The final push from UTA came in the ninth inning as it put two runners on with the winning run at the plate. After McLean reached on a walk, McLemore recorded his second hit of the day with a single through the right side that pushed McLean to second. With Eric Tate getting walked to load the bases, RJ Williams came to the plate as the potential game-winning run, but ultimately came up short as he fouled out to the catcher to end the game.
Reid Petty (1-1) received the loss after allowing two earned runs in 1.0 innings pitched. Petty walked two and allowed a hit. West Virginia's BJ Meyers (2-1) was credited with the win as he went three innings with four hits and three earned runs allowed.
UTA scored scored its four runs off of eight hits with a pair of errors, while WVU put six runs on the board thanks to eight hits and no errors.