Tuesday, April 14
Trojans Take Down No. 14 Missouri
COLUMBIA, Mo. – UALR baseball (14-19) took down the No. 14 Missouri Tigers (24-13) by a score of 4-3 on Tuesday afternoon.
This was the Trojans’ first win over a ranked opponent since defeating No. 30 Oklahoma last season.
“This is a proud, proud day for our program and players,” head coach Chris Curry said. “We as a coaching staff couldn’t be more excited and happy to coach these guys, who continue to show a high level of toughness. To come in here and beat the No. 14 team in the country, we’re just extremely happy with the effort.”
Kyle Kirk was the Trojans’ top hitter as we he went 2 for 4 with two RBIs. Kirk wasn’t the only one with multiple hits as Drew Merten and Mitchell Scheuler each had two of their own.
The Trojans got on the board in the first inning. With one out, Ryan Scott reached on an error by the second baseman, but then advanced to second on a ground out. With two outs, Kyle Kirk singled up the middle, scoring Scott from second to take an early 1-0 lead over Missouri.
Missouri tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the fourth inning. With one out, the Tigers hit a double down the right field line, but an error caused the runner to advance to third on the play. Mizzou delivered a sacrifice fly to deep left field to score the runner from third and tie the game.
Missouri took the lead in the bottom of the sixth inning. Brett Peel led off the frame with a single to short. Jake Ring then singled to right field and advanced to second on an error, allowing Peel to score all the way from first. After a failed pickoff attempt at second ended up in center field, Ring came around to score to give Missouri a 3-1 lead.
The Trojans brought the game to within one run in the top of the seventh. Mitchell Scheuler began the inning by singling up the middle. With one out, Scheuler stole his fifth bag of the season. After a Missouri pitching change, Scheuler advanced to third on a groundout to second. Scott knocked his 16th double of the season into left field, allowing Scheuler to score and cut the deficit to 3-2.
UALR tied the game at 3-3 in the top of the eighth. With one out, Drew Merten singled to right center. Jason Prevatt came on to pinch run for Merten as Missouri went to the bullpen for the third time. Sam Vogel then singled, pushing Prevatt over to second. Scheuler then singled down the left field line to bring home the tying run from second.
The Trojans answered one more time in the top of the ninth. Hayden Martin singled to left field to lead off the inning. Tanner Rockwell delivered with a one out single to right, advancing Martin to second. With one hit in the game already, Kirk came through with his second hit of the game, scoring Martin from second to take a 4-3 lead.
Cameron Allen came on to close out the game after Reed Willenborg tallied his best outing to date. Willenborg exited the game after throwing a career-high of eight innings and seven strikeouts. All three of Missouri’s runs were unearned.
“Reed Willenborg has continued to work and get better. We kind of saw this coming of him with the outing at UCA, the start against Stephen F. Austin and the start at Louisiana Tech. Tonight, he came out and had a career night, and I hope there’s more to come. We’ve been missing someone in the midweek games to come out, give us a start and keep us in the game.”
Allen got the first Missouri batter to ground out to first before allowing a single to right field. The Tigers singled once more to put runners on the corners with one out. Mizzou flied out to right, but the runner on third didn’t advance. With two outs, Missouri grounded out to second to give UALR the win.
“Anytime these hitters are in the game and they feel like they have a chance to win, they do what they need to do. I think the juncture of the game was when Missouri took a two-run lead in the sixth inning, and we answered with runs in the seventh, eighth and ninth. That’s resiliency, and that’s championship-winning baseball. If we continue to play like that, we’re going to be right in the middle of things. It’s a proud win for Little Rock and UALR.”
UALR will now face off with the second-place Georgia Southern Eagles in a three-game conference series starting on Friday at Gary Hogan Field.
UTA Falls to No. 6 TCU
ARLINGTON, Texas - Squaring off with No. 6 TCU at Clay Gould Ballpark on Tuesday night, UT Arlington ended on the wrong side of a 7-1 decision.
The Mavericks (15-20, 6-9 Sun Belt) recorded three hits in the matchup, bringing in the lone run in the eighth inning. The Horned Frogs (27-9, 6-5 Big 12) got to the Mavs early by putting up five runs in the first two innings of action.
"[Tyler] Alexander is a good arm and that's a tough guy to face on a Tuesday," UT Arlington coach Darin Thomas said. "We caught a break in the seventh last time we played them and then today we gave up five in the first two innings which is very tough to come back from."
Matt McLean paced UT Arlington offensively, going 2-for-3 at the plate. Christian Hollie also chipped in, recording a double in his two appearances in the box.
Brad Vassar (2-4) was tagged with the loss, allowing five hits and four earned runs in 1.2 innings on the hill. The UTA bullpen was strong in relief, combining to allow five hits and two earned runs in 7.1 innings.
UTA's first opportunity to bring in a run came in the fourth inning with a runner on third and one out. Reaching on a fielder's choice, Travis Sibley advanced to third on a throwing error by the third basemen that put the Frisco native in scoring position with only one out. However, a pair of strikeouts ended the inning for the Mavs with no runs.
After the Horned Frogs tacked on one more run to extend their lead to six, the Mavericks responded with an eighth-inning run of their own to cut the deficit to five. Two walks paired with an error by the TCU right fielder loaded the bases with no outs. UTA brought in its lone run on a double play that scored Darien McLemore.
TCU extended its lead in the bottom of the ninth when a sacrifice fly to left field brought in the game's final run.
"We got behind and that was basically the game after the second inning," Thomas added. "This weekend is huge. We have to win a series and we've got three series left at home, and we've got to do a better job and start winning some series."
The Mavericks will return to action this weekend when they host Troy in a three-game Sun Belt series beginning on Friday at 6:30 p.m.
Cajuns Win Streak Snapped by Southeastern Louisiana
LAFAYETTE, La. – The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns baseball team had its six-game win streak snapped Tuesday night as the Cajuns fell to Southeastern Louisiana 5-3 in a non-conference game at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field.
The Ragin' Cajuns (21-14) outhit the Lions (27-11) 11-7 in the contest with junior Kyle Clement recording three hits on the night. Both Tyler Girouard and Nick Thurman had a pair of hits in the game with Girouard posting his second homer of the season.
"When you get caught up in a game like this, this type of team, it's a razor's edge," head coach Tony Robichaux said. "You either pull away from them so you can take away the bunting and hit-and-running, which we didn't do – that was our plan, which was to score first and build on a lead to try to stop that. When you play somebody like this close, they become a better team because they're prepared for low-scoring games. Tyler got us on the board with the big home run, gave us some energy, we just didn't answer it with the relief pitcher.
"We didn't leave ourselves much wiggle room with only a one-run lead. We had guys at second and third with one out and we failed to get a run in. When you're done in by two runs, that's one right there. When you play on the razor's edge like we do, we don't pull away from people. We can't separate ourselves. So because of that, everything has to go right. We've got to play good defense and we've got to do the little things."
Starter Eric Carter left the contest after three innings giving up two runs on three hits with a strikeout, while Will Bacon was strong in relief tossing four scoreless innings with four strikeouts.
Junior Colton Lee was tabbed with the loss for Louisiana allowing three runs on a hit, a walk and a hit batsman in 0.1 of an inning to fall to 1-3 on the year.
SLU starter Pat Cashman went six innings and gave up two runs on nine hits with three strikeouts. Dreagan Bethel was the winning pitcher of record for Southeastern Louisiana throwing one inning in relief and allowing one run on one hit with two strikeouts.
The Lions jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the third on a two-run homer to right by Chris Eades off of Carter.
In the bottom of the fourth, Clement doubled to center to lead of the inning. After moving to third on a bunt by Brenn Conrad, Clement came in to score on a single to left by Joe Robbins to make the score 2-1.
Thurman scored the tying run in the bottom of the sixth after leading off the inning with a infield single and then moved to third on a stolen base and a wild pitch. After Evan Powell was hit by a pitch, Conrad brought Thurman home on a ball hit to second to tie the game.
Girouard gave the Ragin' Cajuns a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the seventh as he launched a leadoff solo homer over the fence in right center.
The lead would be short lived though as the Lions would answer with three runs in the top of the eighth to regain the lead 5-3. With one out and the bases loaded, Kevin Carr lined a single into right to plate one run and tie the game at 3-all. The Cajuns would turn to reliever Dylan Moore who got ahead of Brett Hoffman 0-2 before Hoffman delivered a two-run single through the left side of the infield to give SLU a two-run edge.
Drew Avans and Mac Sceroler combined to throw two scoreless innings to close out the contest for the Lions as Sceroler picked up his fifth save of the season.
The Ragin' Cajuns return to action this weekend as they head to San Marcos, Texas for a three-game Sun Belt Conference series with Texas State. Game one is set for 6 p.m. Friday at Bobcat Ballpark.
Midweek Woes Continue for Troy
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – Troy's midweek troubles continued as Samford used 14 hits including three home runs en route to a 13-2 rout of the Trojans on Tuesday at Joe Lee Griffin Field. The Trojans are now 1-8 in midweek games this season.
The Bulldogs (18-17) scored three runs off Troy starter Ben Tidwell and never looked back. The 11-run margin of victory for Samford was tied for the most against Troy in the teams' 56-game series history. Samford added a run in the third off Tidwell, who took the loss and dropped to 0-2 on the season.
Marc Skinner surrendered three home runs in 2 2/3 innings of work. Frankie Navarrete hit a three-run shot in the fourth, while Richard Greene and Austin Edens launched solo blasts in the Bulldogs' five-run sixth inning.
Troy (20-18) committed four errors and pitchers threw six wild pitches in the contest. The Trojans actually pulled to within one run, 3-2, in the third inning on sacrifice fly balls from Reid Long and Logan Hill. Long also made his collegiate debut on the mound, entering in relief in the sixth. He pitched 1 1/3 innings and recorded one strike out.
Clay Holcomb was the only Trojan to record multiple hits; he finished 2-for-4. Perez Knowles struck out two-of-three batters that he faced in the eighth.
Troy will travel to Texas to take on UT Arlington over the weekend. The series opens on Friday at 6:30 p.m.
Comeback Falls Short for Texas State
SAN MARCOS, Texas – Texas State fell behind early to UTSA Tuesday night in 2015's final installment of the I-35 Rivalry, going down 9-0 after three and a half innings. However, the Bobcats fought back with a furious comeback to pull within one, 9-8, but UTSA was able to persevere at the end to earn a 10-8 victory over Texas State.
After a scoreless first inning, the Roadrunners went on to score one run in the second, four in the third and four more in the top of the fourth for the early 9-0 lead. The Bobcats, though, struck back in the bottom of the inning with five runs, three unearned.
Tanner Hill was able to get on base with a pop up that fell safely for a single, and Jared Huber followed him with a walk. After that, Ben McElroy knocked a two-out double down the left field line to plate Hill. Derek Scheible legged out a high-bouncing infield single to bring in Huber and push Texas State's score to two runs.
Next, Luke Sherley put the ball in play to third base, but the second baseman committed an error when he couldn't handle the throw from third to allow McElroy to score, Sherley to get to second and Scheible to third. In Colby Targun's next at bat, he picked up where he left off this weekend, finishing with six RBI against UALR. He knocked a single straight up the middle to plate two more runners and bring Texas State within striking distance, 9-5.
The Bobcats kept it rolling into the bottom of the fifth inning after finishing UTSA off with a double play in the top of the inning. Hill knocked another single, this one through the left side, and scored on a single from Huber. Hill built upon his solid night with a two-run, two-out double in the sixth to score both Sherley and Cedric Vallieres after they got on base with walks.
Unfortunately for Texas State, they would not find a way to score after that, only knocking one hit the rest of the way. The Roadrunners added an insurance run in the eighth inning to get to the final score of 10-8.
Hill finished 3-for-5 with two runs and two RBI to lead Texas State offensively. Huber was the only other Bobcat to finish with multiple hits, going 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Targun, David Paiz, McElroy and Scheible all struck a hit in the game.
Both Pasquale Mazzoccoli and Tyler Giovanoni did well to close out the game from the mound. In a combined four innings, they only gave up one run with one walk and one strikeout.
Next, Texas State will host UL Lafayette for a Sun Belt Conference series this weekend starting at 6 p.m. Friday. Saturday's first pitch will be at 3 p.m. and Sunday they'll go at 1 p.m.