Wednesday, April 1
Mountaineers Edge NC A&T, 12-10
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Appalachian State University baseball outlasted North Carolina A&T on Wednesday at War Memorial Stadium, 12-10, for its second win in as many days. Appalachian was powered to the win by the long ball with three different Mountaineers (9-21, 2-10 Sun Belt) combining to hit four home runs.
The Aggies (3-23, 1-10 Big MEAC) got on the board in first inning with the aid of a wild pitch and a throwing error to take an early lead. Michael Pierson led off the second inning and drove the fourth pitch he saw over the right field wall to even to score.
After A&T tacked on a run in the bottom of the second and a scoreless third inning, the Mountaineers exploded for seven runs in the top of the fourth. Noah Holmes led off the inning, drew a walk and then advanced on Grayson Atwood’s sacrifice bunt. Drake Zupcic singled through the left side on the infield, driving Holmes across the plate.
After another walk, Brandon Burris hit a double that drove in two more runs. The inning seemed to be over when Dillon Dobson popped up to the right of the pitcher's mound, but the Aggie second baseman dropped the ball allowing Burris to score and keeping the inning alive. Pierson stepped up to the plate and blasted his second home run of the day. Conner Leonard followed up Pierson’s homer with one of his own and Appalachian opened an 8-2 lead.
The Aggies didn't go down easy, scoring four runs in the fourth to make it a two run ballgame. After retiring the Mountaineers in order in the fifth, A&T loaded the bases and plated two runs to tie the game at eight apiece.
It didn't take long for Appalachian to regain the lead in the sixth inning when Brian Bauk scored on a wild pitch. Then Holmes doubled off the center field wall, driving in two more runs. The Mountaineers would lead the rest of the way. Dobson hit a solo home run in the eighth to extent the lead to 12-8.
NC A&T made a final push in the bottom of the ninth on A.J. Hunt's two run homer, but was to complete the comeback.
Appalachian State will host Troy this weekend for a three-game Sun Belt conference series at Beaver Field. Game times are scheduled for Friday at 6 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m., and Sunday at 1 p.m.
Long, Van Aken Pitch Jags Past JSU
MOBILE, Ala. – Jaguar right-handers Ryne Long and Cody Van Aken combined to lead the University of South Alabama baseball team to a 2-0 shutout over Jackson State Wednesday at Stanky Field.
Long (2-2) walked two and struck out five while allowing just three hits in seven innings pitched to earn his second win of the season. Van Aken tossed two scoreless relief innings, and recorded one strikeout to earn his third save. The win marked the Jags' fourth shutout of the season, and the third time they have shut out the opposition in a start by Long.
USA (20-10) scored the game's only runs in the bottom of the fifth. A two-out RBI single to right field by Bud Collura scored Ryan Raspino, who reached on a one-out single to extend his hitting streak to nine games earlier in the inning. Cole Billingsley followed with an RBI single to center field to plate Collura and double the Jag lead to 2-0.
After the Jaguars spotted Long a two-run lead, the right-hander retired JSU in order over his final two innings.
Danny Martinez went 2-for-4 with a double, and Collura and Billingsley added a hit and an RBI apiece to lead South Alabama at the plate. Jevon Jacobs finished 2-for-3 to lead the Tigers offensively.
The win marked the Jags' third straight at Stanky Field, while improving to 12-1 all-time against Jackson State (16-11).
USA will return to action this weekend when it travels to Jonesboro, Ark., for a three-game Sun Belt Conference series with Arkansas State.
Panthers Fall to Georgia Tech
ATLANTA -- Georgia State fell to Georgia Tech 6-3 Wednesday evening at the GSU Baseball Complex.
Justin Jones and Sam Few each had two hits and an RBI for the Panthers, but Georgia Tech built a 4-1 lead and then held off the Panthers.
Georgia State (17-13) trailed 4-1 in the seventh inning when the Panthers mounted a two-out rally. Ryan Blanton doubled to right and then scored on Justin Jones' double nside the bag at third. Then Caden Bailey
But Georgia Tech (19-10) answered with a two-out rally of its own in the eighth, scoring two insurance runs to push its lead to 6-3.
The Panthers tried to rally again in the eighth, bringing the tying run to the plate with one out after Sam Few singled and Trae Sweeting was hit by a pitch. But Georgia Tech turned an ining-ending double play.
"Something that I talk about a lot with the team is winning the decisive moments in the game, and tonight we didn't do that," GSU head coach Greg Frady said. "We hit into two crucial double plays, and we had a couple of two-out opportunities that we couldn't cash in on. That's what I really didn't like about the game. What I did like about the game is that there was a lot of fight in our team. We fought from behind on all night long.
"When it was 4-3 and we had two outs in the eighth, I thought if we could get them out in the eighth, we were going to win the game. But when they picked up those runs in the eighth, it became much more difficult."
Georgia Tech left-hander Ben Parr (4-1) pitched 5.2 innings and allowed just one on six hits. Zac Ryan recorded the final five outs for his fifth save.
GSU starter Marc-Andre Habeck (3-4) allowed four runs in five innings to take the loss.
Georgia State continues its homestand with a Sun Belt Conference series this weekend as UALR visits for three games at the GSU Baseball Complex, beginning Friday at 6 p.m.
Warhawks Drop Road Tilt at Louisiana Tech
RUSTON, La. -- Despite picking up a hit in eight of nine innings and out-hitting Louisiana Tech, 10-5, the Warhawks fell to the Bulldogs, 3-2, Wednesday night at J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park.
ULM (13-13) had two base runners on in the ninth, but the Warhawks were unable to push the tying run across to extend the game. Nathan Pugh singled but was later caught stealing and Danny Springer reached on catcher’s interference in the final frame.
The loss was charged to Cole Hendrix and he fell to 0-1 on the season after allowing what proved to be the winning run in the sixth.
Spencer Hemphill finished a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate, while Jacob Stockton and Anthony Herrera each had two hits. Stockton scored both runs for the Warhawks in the road contest.
After picking up a single hit in each of the first two innings, the Warhawks were able to break through in the top of the third inning. Stockton led off the inning with a single to center field and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Dalton Todd. Herrera followed and singled to shallow right field as no Bulldog fielder could get to the ball before it hit the ground. Herrera’s single allowed Stockton to move to third and he was able to score on a sacrifice fly to center field by Keelin Rasch and give ULM a 1-0 lead.
After a scoreless fourth inning, the Warhawks were able to push another run across and take a 2-0 lead after the top of the fifth. Stockton led off the inning with a triple to right field that got by a diving Conner Tobias. Todd followed with a sacrifice fly to center and Stockton was able to score easily to put the Warhawks ahead by two runs.
The Bulldogs (12-13) were able to even the game at 2-2 as Conner Tobias delivered a two-out, two-RBI single up the middle in the home half of the fifth inning. Louisiana Tech took the lead at 3-2 as Taylor Nichols delivered a RBI ground out in the bottom half of the sixth inning to conclude scoring in Wednesday’s game.
Laetten Galbraith earned the win for Louisiana Tech and he is now 3-4 on the season.
A-State Falls to Tennessee
JONESBORO, Ark. (4/1/15) – Derek Birginske surrendered just four runs over seven innings and left with a 1-run lead, but Tennessee rallied to score three runs over the final two innings to defeat Arkansas State 7-4 in midweek baseball Wednesday night at Tomlinson Stadium.
Birginske tossed a career-high 115 pitches, struck out four and left the game at 4-4 tie after Tanner Ring drove in Austin Baker in the seventh inning on an RBI single. Tennessee executed a squeeze bunt with Brodie Leftridge in the eighth inning to go up by a run and Christin Stewart hit the second of his two home runs on the night in the ninth inning to give the Volunteers a 3-run cushion and Arkansas State went down in order in the ninth to fall to 12-15 overall. Tennessee improved to 12-13 with the victory.
Austin Baker led A-State at the plate with a 3-for-5 night, while Matt Burgess had a hit and two RBIs. Stuart Levy and Ty White each finished the night a hit and one RBI.
Tennessee plated a run on the top of the first inning when the first two batters reached, but Birginske battled back and got a pair of fly ball outs to left field and Levy threw out a runner trying to steal second to limit the damage to just one run in the inning.
A-State responded with three runs in the bottom of the second inning thanks to a pair of RBI doubles by Levy and Burgess. Levy drove in White on ball that sailed over the right fielder’s head and White was able to slide around the tag at home plate to tie the game at 1-1.
Burgess gave the Red Wolves the lead with an opposite field double that scored Levy and George to put A-State up 3-1.
Tennessee took a 4-3 lead in the fifth inning when Stewart sent the offering from Birginske over the fence in right field for a 3-run home run. Birginske had two on with two outs in the inning and got ahead of 1-2 in the count before the junior leftfielder turned a pitch to give the Volunteers the 1-run advantage.
Zach George extended the nation’s longest on-base streak to 44 games with a hit-by-pitch in the first inning and finished the game with a walk and was hit twice.
The game was delayed for an hour and 48 minutes after heavy rain and lightning moved through the Jonesboro area.
A-State returns to the diamond Friday night at Tomlinson Stadium for a three-game conference series against South Alabama. First-pitch on Friday is set for 6 p.m.