Sunday, March 29
Bruce Peddie Earns 400th Win as Warhawks Defeat Jaguars
MONROE, La. – ULM held a 3-0 lead after three complete innings and held on for a 4-3 win over visiting South Alabama on Sunday afternoon at Warhawk Field. The victory was head coach Bruce Peddie’s 400th career victory.
In the home half of the first inning, Kodie Tidwell belted his first homer of the season to right field to give ULM a 1-0 lead. The Warhawks nearly pushed the lead to 2-0, but Justin Stawychny was robbed of a homer by Cole Billingsley as the Jaguar center fielder made a leaping grab at the wall in left center to end the first inning.
In the bottom of the third, the Warhawks tacked on a pair of runs to increase their lead to 3-0. Dalton Todd tallied a one-out double down the left field line and Tidwell drew a two out walk to give ULM a pair on with two outs. Keelin Rasch followed with a two-RBI double to left center to push the Warhawk advantage to three runs.
South Alabama threatened in the top of the fourth as Cole Billingsley was able to reach third with one out, but starter Trey Setzer got a strikeout and a groundout to keep the Jaguars off of the scoreboard.
An inning later the Jaguars were able to breakthrough and trim the Warhawk lead to two runs (3-1) as Garrett DeGallier scored from second on a two-out RBI single up the middle by Ryan Raspino.
In the bottom of the fifth the Warhawks pushed the lead back to three runs as Stawychny doubled in shallow center field as three Jaguars were unable to track down the ball. The senior’s two-out hit allowed Anthony Herrera to score from second to give ULM a 4-1 advantage.
South Alabama answered right back with one run of its own as Matt Bolger scored on Adam Ballew’s sacrifice fly to center field. Ballew’s RBI brought the Jaguars to within two runs at 4-2 and in the top of the eighth, South Alabama closed the gap to one run (4-3) as Bud Collura scored on a throwing error by Warhawk catcher Spencer Hemphill.
ULM limited South Alabama to one hit in the ninth as the homestanding Warhawks claimed a 4-3 win. Setzer improved to 4-0 on the season as he surrendered three runs (two earned) on eight hits and one walk with four punchouts in a career-best 7.1 innings pitched. Herrera earned his second save of the season after allowing just one hit with two strikeouts in the final 1.2 innings.
Todd led ULM with two hits and one run scored, while Tidwell tallied two runs and Rasch drove in a pair.
Trojans Sweep Mountaineers
LITTLE ROCK – UALR baseball (10-13, 7-4) took the three-game series sweep over Appalachian State (7-21, 2-10) with a walk-off home run off the bat of Joseph Paulino to win by a score of 7-5 in the bottom of the 10th inning on Sunday.
Sunday’s sweep of the Mountaineers was the Trojans’ first three-game series sweep of a conference opponent since winning three against Western Kentucky in 2013.
UALR now has walk-off hits in all five of its Sun Belt Conference games played at Gary Hogan Field this season.
“It became a battle of the bullpens,” head coach Chris Curry said. “Whoever batted last was going to be in good shape.”
Appalachian State got out to an early lead in the second inning by scoring two runs on four hits. The Mountaineers tallied two doubles and two singles for the inning. App State added another run in the top of the fifth with an RBI-single to center, scoring a runner from second to take a 3-0 lead.
The Trojans finally a put run on the board in the bottom of the fifth. Tanner Rockwell hit a leadoff single up the middle to begin the bottom frame. With a 1-0 count, Kyle Kirk hit an RBI-double down the right field line, scoring Rockwell all the way from first to cut the deficit to 3-1.
The Mountaineers got another run in the top of the seventh to take a 4-1 lead over the Trojans. After a walk and an error on a fielder’s choice, App State singled to center to make it a three-run lead.
UALR mounted its comeback in the bottom of the eight with a leadoff solo home run by Mitchell Scheuler to left center, cutting the deficit to 4-2. Kyle Barret then singled to short, ending the starter’s day for Appalachian State. With a new pitcher on the mound, Petr Sila got on with a bunt single down the first base line, advancing Barret to second. Jason Prevatt reached on a fielder’s choice, but Appalachian State forced Barret out at third. An RBI-double to right by Ryan Scott with one out scored Sila from second and put runners on second and third. Tanner Rockwell then hit a deep sacrifice fly to center, scoring Prevatt to tie the game at 4-4. This forced Appalachian State to make another move to the bullpen, and it was the right one as the new pitcher struck out the first Trojan batter he faced.
The Mountaineers took a 5-4 lead in the top of the ninth with a single, a stolen base and RBI-single through the left side.
In the top of the ninth, James Gillean reached on fielder’s choice and then advanced to second after Scheuler walked with one out. With two outs and a runner on third, Ryan McSwain pinch hit for Sila. On 3-1, McSwain doubled down the left field line, scoring Gillean from third to tie the game once again at 5-5.
After only allowing Appalachian State to get a hit in the top of the 10th, UALR went to work. The Mountaineers started the inning by walking Scott on four straight pitches after making their third pitching change of the day. With two outs and a 1-1 count, Joseph Paulino delivered with a walk-off two-run homer to left for his first-career home run as a Trojan.
The Trojan pitching staff was effective for the majority of the day. Starter Sam Thoele pitched 5.0 innings, struck out seven, and allowed three runs on eight hits. Cameron Allen came on in relief and pitched 4.1 innings with four strikeouts and allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits. Dyllon Brownmiller made his third appearance of the series as he pitched 0.2 innings on six pitches and allowed no hits.
Rockwell and Drew Merten ended the day 2 for 4 while Rockwell had an RBI and a run. Kirk ended the game 2 for 5 with an RBI.
“Our confidence is through the roof,” Curry said. “We know we’re never out of it, and we know good things can and will happen.”
UALR will welcome non-conference opponent Stephen F. Austin to Gary Hogan Field on Tuesday for its sixth midweek game of the season.
Cajuns Blank Red Wolves, Win Series
LAFAYETTE, La. – The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns baseball team notched its first shutout of the season as freshmen Evan Guillory and Wyatt Marks combined to blank Arkansas State 3-0 to win the series on Sunday at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field.
With the win, the Cajuns have now claimed three of the first four conference series on the year and improve to 15-10 overall and 7-4 in league play.
"Sundays sometimes the ERAs climb, but we knew, we told ourselves that this is not a traditional Sunday pitcher," head coach Tony Robichaux said. "We were going to have to match him in pitching and defense. This is how you take down what we call a buffalo, or a good arm. The whole pack has to take him down. We have to play defense. We have to get good pitching, can't walk people, can't give them free runs and we've got to hold serve until we can get one or two runs. That's what they did."
Guillory scattered seven Arkansas State (11-14, 3-8 Sun Belt) hits over 6.2 scoreless innings in the start to improve his record to 2-0 on the year. The Jennings, La., native struck out out four in the contest while allowing only one walk.
Marks was outstanding in relief needing only 22 pitches to close out the final 2.1 innings of the game to earn his first career save. The freshman had two strikeouts in the outing.
ASU starter David Owen (2-3) was handed the loss despite limiting the Cajuns to three runs on five hits with nine strikeouts in seven innings.
Offensively, Louisiana was outhit 7-5 by the Red Wolves in the game. Centerfielder Austin Baker had a game-high three hits for ASU.
Junior second baseman Stefan Trosclair led the Cajuns offensive attack going 2-for-3 with a double and two RBI to extend his hit streak to eight games. Shortstop Blake Trahan also extended his hit streak to a career-best 16 games with his single in the sixth inning, while outfielder Brian Mills saw his 10-game hit streak come to an end going 0-for-3 with a sac bunt.
Senior Evan Powell gave the Ragin' Cajuns a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third as he drove the first pitch he saw over the fence in left for his first home run of the season.
The Red Wolves threatened in the top of the fifth loading the bases with one out before Guillory got a great defensive play by Greg Davis at first base as he turned an unassisted lineout double play to get out of the inning.
In the bottom half of the fifth, Trosclair delivered a two-out, two-run double down the left field line to extend the Cajuns lead to 3-0.
Guillory and Marks combined to face one more than the minimum over the final four frames of the contest to pick up the victory.
Louisiana returns to action on Tuesday at 7 p.m. as they face No. 1 LSU in the Wally Pontiff Classic at Zephyr Field in Metairie, La. Following the contest with the top-ranked Tigers, the Cajuns return home for a three-game conference series with Georgia Southern at the "Tigue" starting on Friday.
Offensive Explosion Wins Series for Texas State
SAN MARCOS, Texas – Texas State rebounded in a big way from Saturday's loss with an 11-4 victory over Georgia Southern on Sunday afternoon to take the series from the Sun Belt Conference foe. With the win, Texas State improves to 12-14-1 on the season but 8-4 in the SBC for the most wins in the conference and a spot atop the conference rankings.
The Bobcats used three home runs from Granger Studdard, Ben McElroy and Tanner Hill and nine hits overall to score early and often against the Eagles Sunday. Georgia Southern scored first with an unearned run in the top of the first inning, but Texas State answered with two runs in the bottom of the inning. After Cedric Vallieres reached on an error, Studdard knocked his third home run of the season to put the Bobcats on top after one inning of play.
Texas State's defense forced consecutive 1-2-3 innings from Georgia Southern at the plate and then ran away with the game in the bottom of the third inning, all with two outs. Vallieres and David Paiz both earned two-out walks, and Studdard plated his third run of the day when he followed with a single to score Vallieres.
Next, Hill knocked a double to deep left centerfield to score Paiz and Studdard and give Texas State a 5-1 lead. Cobly Targun took a hit by pitch next, and McElroy followed with his second home run of the year, a three-run roundtripper to give the Bobcats an 8-1 lead. Both of his homers this year were three-run bombs to bust games open.
The Bobcats didn't slow down. Next, Derek Scheible reached on a hit by pitch. After the pressure at the plate, Scheible applied pressure around the bases when he stole second to force a throwing error and advanced to third. With him at third, freshman counterpart Luke Sherley knocked a single to right field to plate the seventh run of the inning and put Texas State up 9-1.
Texas State didn't look back after that. The Bobcats scored two more runs in the fifth on a solo homer from Hill and when Cory Geisler knocked in Scheible for his second run of the day.
Jeremy Hallonquist struck out six batters in the first weekend start of his career. He threw 94 pitches in 6.1 innings of work, only giving up two hits, two earned runs and two walks, keeping the Eagles off balance early. The redshirt junior from Hallsville, Texas, did not give up a hit until the fifth inning and retired nine consecutive batters in the second, third and fourth inning. In relief, Cory Geisler struck out two for the Bobcats over 2.2 innings.
Texas State's next action will come at UTSA at 6 p.m. Tuesday in baseball's second installment of the I-35 Rivalry. The Bobcats made a thrilling comeback in the seventh inning to beat the Roadrunners, 11-7, in their last meeting on March 17.
Uvila, Barnette Pitch Panthers Past UTA
Arlington, Texas -- Cole Uvila and Logan Barnette combined to allow just one run on eight hits and Trae Sweeting scored the winning run on a wild pitch in the top of the 10th as Georgia State completed a three-game sweep at UT Arlington with a 2-1 victory in 10 innings Sunday at Clay Gould Ballpark.
The Panthers (17-12, 6-2 Sun Belt) won in extra innings for the second straight day and for the fifth time in their last 13 games to remain in first place in the Sun Belt Conference standings. GSU's swept a Sun Belt series for the first time and earned its first conference road sweep since 2008 at VCU, when the Panthers were in the Colonial Athletic Association.
Uvila, the junior right-hander, pitched six innings, allowing one run on six hits with six stikeouts and four walks. He worked out of bases-loaded jams in both the fifth and sixth innings. In the fifth with one run in, the Mavericks still had the bases loaded the bases with one out and looked like they were going to take the lead on Eric Tate's fly ball to Rhett Harper. But the freshman right-fielder threw out T.J. Hillman at the plate for the double play.
One inning later, Uvila got pinch hitter R.J. Williams on a called third strike with the bases loaded and two outs.
"I didn't have my best stuff today, but Joey [Roach] and Coach [Adam] Scott called a great game, and I just did everything I could to keep us in the game," Uvila said.
Barnette (3-0), a freshman, came on in the seventh and covered the final four frames to earn his second victory in as many days. In Saturday's 11-inning victory, he threw one pitch and rolled an ending-inning, double play in the bottom of the 10th to become the pitcher of record when the Panthers scored the winning runs in the top of the 11th.
The righty with a side-arm delivery shut down the Mavericks as he allowed just two hits and struck out one.
"Cole gave me a great game. When I came in, I knew I had to throw strikes because ballpark was playing really big today and they weren't going to hit any long balls," Barnette said.
Head coach Greg Frady agreed. "Today was a very difficult day to score runs, so throwing the ball in the strike zone was at a premium. We did a really good job of minimizing freebies today, and we played really good defense," he said.
UTA starter Joel Kuhnel (1-1) was also outstanding as he pitched in the 10th inning of the 1-1 game. Sweeting led off the top of the 10th with a double just inside the back at third. After David Levy bunted the runner to third, leadoff hitter Ryan Blanton was intentionally walked to put runners at first and third with one out.
Jacob Moreland relieved Kuhnel and struck out Justin Jones for the second out. Then UTA turned to lefty Zach Hobbs to face the left-handed hitting Caden Bailey. But Hobbs' second pitch to Bailey bounced in the dirt and got away, allowing Sweeting to score the go-ahead run.
UTA (12-14, 4-5 Sun Belt) put a runner in scoring position with two outs in the bottom of the ninth as Darien McLemore reached on an infield single and advanced to second on a throwing error. But Barnette got Tanner Houston to ground out to end the game.
For the third straight game, Georgia State scored a run in its first at-bat to take the early lead. Blanton led with a double to center field, moved to third on Jones' sacrifice and scored on Bailey's groundout.
Georgia State now plays eight of its next nine games at home, beginning with Wednesday's 6 p.m. game vs. Georgia Tech at the GSU Baseball Complex.
Troy's Pierce Becomes Troy's Winningest Coach as Trojans Sweep Alabama A&M
TROY, Alabama – Troy head coach Bobby Pierce won his 435th game with a 4-1 decision over Alabama A&M on Sunday at Riddle-Pace Field. Pierce passes legendary Troy baseball coach Chase Riddle as the program's winningest coach.
Riddle coached the Trojans from 1979 to 1990 leading the team to 434 wins, six regional titles, five Gulf South Conference crowns and two national championships.
Pierce took over the program in 2003 and has led the team to four conference titles and four NCAA Regional appearances; he's produced 15 All-Americans and 42 all-conference selections. He is a two-time Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year and 2011 ABCA South Central Region Coach of the Year.
Since arriving at Troy, Pierce has averaged 35 wins a season and had 28 players sign professional contracts.
"Coach Riddle was a big part of my life and my coaching career," Pierce said.
"He was always there as a mentor with encouraging words. My love and admiration for him as a man and a baseball coach is at the top of the meter. To have my son coaching by my side and Coach (Mark) Smartt here the entire time means the world."
Troy assistant coach Mark Smartt has already been tabbed as Pierce's successor upon his retirement following the 2015 season and also played under Riddle in 1986-87.
"It's a wonderful day for Troy and for me personally. I played for Coach Riddle and have been side-by-side with Coach Pierce for 13 years, so it's an emotional day for me," Smartt said. "I know both men very well and I'm very excited that Coach Pierce got to break this record because I know how much it would have meant to Coach Riddle."
TROY 4, ALABAMA A&M 1
Troy and Alabama A&M battled in a pitchers' duel for four innings before the Bulldogs broke through in the top of the fifth. Trojan starter Corey Childress hit Dylan Payne with one out and surrendered a double to the next batter. Brandyn Crutcher then grounded out to score the run.
The Trojans (15-14) responded in the bottom half of the inning. Peyton Fuller doubled with two outs and Brody Binder reached on an error. Fuller and Binder successfully executed a double steal to tie the game.
Clay Holcomb reached on an error with one out in the eighth and quickly stole second. Reid Long struck out swinging but the ball got away from the Alabama A&M catcher. As Holcomb advanced to third, the throw sailed into left field allowing him to score. Logan Hill followed the chaos with an RBI single to extend the lead to 3-1. Shaw Pinnell padded Troy's lead by stealing third and scoring on the Bulldogs' fifth error of the game.
Jeremy McGowan (2-2) pitched the final three innings to earn his second win of the weekend. Childress pitched well, allowing three hits in six innings of work.
Hill was the lone Trojan to record two hits in the contest.
Troy will host Alabama State on Tuesday at 6 p.m. in its next game.