Friday, April 17
UL Monroe, Hermeling Shut Down Red Wolves
MONROE, La. -- ULM starter Alex Hermeling tossed eight strong innings and Josh Leone closed the book on Arkansas State with a scoreless ninth inning as the Warhawks claimed a 3-2 win over the visiting Red Wolves on Friday night at Warhawk Field.
ULM (19-18, 6-10 Sun Belt Conference) pushed the first run across in the home half of the fourth inning. Danny Springer led off the inning with a walk and swiped his fifth bag of the season as he stole second. Springer moved to third on a single to right field by Jacob Stockton to give ULM runners as the corners with one out. Springer was able to race home and put ULM ahead on a squeeze bunt by Spencer Hemphill.
Arkansas State (14-21, 4-14 SBC), after being held scoreless over the first six innings, evened the game at 1-1 with two outs in the seventh as Ty White drove home Collin Massanelli with a RBI single through the left side.
The Warhawks answered right back with a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh to retake the lead at 3-1. Kodie Tidwell led off the inning with a double to right center and moved to third on a fielding error by right fielder Ty White. Rasch was intentionally walked with one out in the frame and Springer followed with a RBI double to left center to put ULM ahead, 2-1. Later in the inning, Rasch was able to come home on an infield single by Stockton to give the Warhawks a two-run advantage (3-1) after seven complete innings.
The visiting Red Wolves scored the game’s final run in the top of the eighth inning to set the final tally at 3-2 in favor of the Warhawks.
Hermeling logged eight strong innings, allowing two runs on five hits with three walks and four strikeouts. On the night, the RS-Junior tossed 100 pitches as he improved to 3-5 on the season. Leone notched his second save of the season as he tossed a perfect ninth inning, needing just nine pitches to do so.
Stockton led the Warhawks with three hits and one RBI, while Rasch and Tidwell each tallied two hits and scored once in the win.
Arkansas State reliever Colton Kibler (2-3) was tagged with the loss after allowing two runs on four hits and two walks. Kibler struck out two batters over the course of his 2 1/3 innings of work.
The two teams are scheduled to play game two on Saturday night at 6 p.m. Fans should follow ULMWarhawks.com for any potential changes to the weekend schedule.
Eagles Knock off UALR, 10-8
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The Georgia Southern baseball team rallied from a 6-1 deficit to take the series opener 10-8 over the UALR Trojans at Gary Hogan Field.
The Trojans (14-20, 10-8) scored six runs over the first three innings and struck for five unearned runs off of Eagle (22-16, 12-7) starter Evan Challenger in the second inning.
GS scored four runs over the fourth and fifth innings and tied the game in the eighth inning, 6-6, before Ryan Cleveland hit a three run pinch-hit homer to give the Eagles a 9-6 lead. Cleveland went the other way for his fifth long ball of the season.
Jason Richman allowed two runs – one earned – over 4.1 innings to pick up his fourth win of the season. Richman (4-0) took over for Challenger in the fourth inning and struck out a pair.
Chris Brown entered in the eighth inning and recorded the final five outs to record his eighth save of the season. Brown (8) walked two and struck out three batters.
Jarrid Garcia took the loss after allowing seven runs on eight hits. Garcia (1-2) struck out 11 batters over 7.1 innings but seven of his 9 base runners crossed the plate.
UALR took advantage of two throwing errors on a pair of bunts and four hits to score five runs in the second inning. Mitchell Scheuler hit a one-out double in the third inning to extend the lead to 6-1.
GS started the rally from there, scoring three runs in the fourth inning and a single run in the fifth inning to cut the lead to 6-5.
Chase Griffin homered to lead off the fourth inning, and C.J. Brazil delivered a two run two-out double to cap off a three-run inning.
Aaron Mizell added his 11th long ball of the season in the fifth inning.
The series continues tomorrow at 3 p.m. eastern time. Senior righthander Tripp Sheppard (4-2, 2.55 ERA) will take the mound and will face righthander Cory Malcom (4-2, 4.02 ERA).
Panthers Win Fourth Consecutive with Win over Appalachian State
Boone, N.C. -- Freshman Justin Jones drove in the go-ahead run with a 12th-inning single as Sun Belt Conference leader Georgia State won at 4-3 in 12 innings at Appalachian State Friday night, the Panthers' fourth straight victory.
GSU (23-15 overall) improved to 12-3 in the Sun Belt, including 6-0 in conference road games. The Panthers won their sixth extra-inning game of the season, including their fifth Sun Belt game.
With the game tied at 2-2, David Levy led off the top of the 12th with a single, his third hit of the day. Ryan Blanton followed with single to put runners at first and second, and then Jones, the rookie shortstop, smashed a ball to the wall in left center to bring home Levy.
With Jones at first and Blanton at second, the Panthers executed a double steal, and then Blanton came home with a key insurance run on a passed ball.
"Justin Jones' at-bat in extra innings was huge," head coach Greg Frady said. "He finally got a good pitch to hit and got the bat head out. It was extremely difficult to hit the ball over the outfielders' head tonight because the air was heavy, but he really squared it up, maybe one of the best balls he's hit all year.
"Another play that can't be lost is the double steal so we could get the fourth run on the passed ball, which turned out to be the winner," Frady continued. "All in all, a really hard-fought win on the road in conference baseball. A crazy night, but we're happy to win game one."
The Mountaineers managed a run in the bottom of the 12th and had two runners on before Jerry Stuckey came on to strike out Matt Brill for the final out.
Closer Kevin Burgee (3-1) pitched a career-long outing, allowing one run on four hits over four innings to earn the win, and Stuckey recorded his second save.
Both starting pitchers were outstanding but did not figure in the decision. Georgia State's Nathan Bates pitched 7.2 shutout innings with six strikeouts before the Mountaineers (11-27, 4-15) scored twice in the eighth.
Appalachian State starter Taylor Thurber struck out 10 over nine innings and allowed just two unearned runs on six hits.
"Nathan Bates was outstanding tonight," Frady said. "David Levy had a good game offensively, and Jerry Stuckey came in and got a very difficult out.
"I want to compliment their pitcher. He pitched a fantastic game. It was just a grind-it-out game, and I was glad to get that final out."
The game was scoreless until Georgia State scored two unearned runs in the top of the eighth as Blanton and Jones came home with two outs on a throwing error by the shortstop.
But Appalachian State (11-27, 4-15) tied the game with a two-out rally in the bottom of the eighth, stringing together two doubles and a single.
The series continues with a 2 p.m. game Saturday.
Jags Take Game One Over Evansville; Doubleheader Set for Saturday
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Ben Gann's third-inning grand slam helped lead the University of South Alabama baseball team to a 7-3 win over Evansville Friday at Braun Stadium.
EU (18-16) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first on a two-out, two-run home run to right field by Kevin Kaczmarski.
But USA answered with four runs in the top of the third. Jared Barnes doubled to left-center field to lead off the top of the third. Ryan Raspino followed with a single to left field to put runners at the corners with no outs, and then stole second before Cole Billingsley drew a walk to load the bases. Ben Gann followed with a grand slam to left field for a 4-2 USA lead.
Evansville cut its deficit to one run in the bottom of the fourth on a two-out RBI single to center field by Shain Showers.
But the Jags answered with a run a half-inning later. Raspino singled to left field to lead off the top of the fifth, and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Billingsley. Collura delivered a two-out single to center field later in the inning to plate Raspino and extend the USA lead to 5-3.
South Alabama (25-13) added its sixth run of the game in the top of the seventh. Billingsley led off the top of the frame with a double down the right-field line. Gann followed with a single to right-center field to put runners at the corners with no outs. Collura then reached on an RBI fielder's choice to shortstop to score Billingsley and double the Jaguar lead to 6-3.
The Jags added the game's final run on a two-out RBI single to center field by Collura that scored Billingsley, who reached on a bunt single to lead off the inning.
Jaguar right-hander Kevin Hill (6-0) allowed three runs on seven hits with seven strikeouts against three walks to earn his sixth straight win. Ben Taylor struck out all three batters he faced in a perfect ninth inning to earn his fifth save of the season. EU right-hander Patrick Schnieders (2-5) allowed six runs on nine hits with three strikeouts and a pair of walks in six innings in the loss.
Gann went 2-for-5 with a home run, a career-high four RBI and one run scored, and Collura finished 3-for-5 with three RBI to lead the Jaguars at the plate. Kaczmarski went 3-for-5 with a double, a home run, two RBI and a run scored to lead the Purple Aces offensively.
The series will conclude Saturday with a doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m.