Sunday, April 5
UALR Takes Series Finale Over Georgia State
ATLANTA – UALR baseball (11-16, 8-6) took the series finale with Georgia State (19-14, 8-3) on Sunday afternoon by a score of 4-2.
Ryan Scott was a powerhouse at the plate on Sunday as he went 2 for 3 with a home run, a double and three RBIs.
“What an unbelievable year Ryan Scott is having,” head coach Chris Curry said. “He has great leadership and toughness. He’s mad every time he gets an out, and he did a great job of leading us today.”
UALR scored the game’s first run in the top of the third inning. Kyle Barret walked with one out and then earned his first-career stolen base with two outs. Ryan Scott then hit an RBI-double to the right center gap to score Barret from second and take a 1-0 lead.
Georgia State answered the Trojans’ run in the top of the inning with a leadoff homer by Ryan Blanton in the bottom of the inning. GSU singled to center with no outs, and then flied out to right for the first out. The next batter for the Panthers hit a single up the middle, advancing the runner from first to third. Georgia State then popped up to short for the second out of the inning. The Panthers took a 2-1 lead with a single to center, allowing the runner from third to score.
Joseph Paulino led off the top of the 4th inning with a single to left and advanced to second on a balk. Justin Steelmon then came on to pinch run for Paulino. With a 3-2 count and one out, Drew Merten drew a walk. James Gillean roped a single into left to load the bases for the Trojans. Petr Sila grounded into a fielder’s choice, but Steelmon was able to score from third to tie the game at 2-2.
Ryan McSwain walked to lead off the top of the fifth inning. Scott then hit a two-run blast to right center for his second home run of the season, giving UALR a 4-2 lead. Tanner Rockwell then walked, and that was all for Georgia State’s starter.
Starter Sam Thoele pitched eight strong innings, setting a new career-high for innings pitched and earning his second win of the season. Cameron Allen earned his third save of the season by shutting down Georgia State in the bottom of the ninth inning to give UALR the win.
“Sam Thoele gave us exactly what we needed with a depleted bullpen by going eight innings," Curry said. "He was a big game pitcher today, and that’s what he has the capability of doing. That’s why he has the chance to pitch at the next level. I’m also proud of Cam Allen. He had a rough night on Friday. We gave the ball right back to him today, and he got three big outs for us.”
With Sunday’s win, UALR moves to 8-6 in Sun Belt play and remains fifth in the conference standings.
“I can’t say enough about what this team showed today and how big of a win this is over Georgia State, the top team in the league," Curry said. "They’re a very good team. To salvage a win here and not get swept is huge for our season moving forward, our psyche and mentality. We were leading in all three games, and to their credit, they came back and won the first two. I’m so proud of this team. This win really sets us up and keeps us in the hunt for the rest of the year.”
UALR will now travel to Ruston, La., for a pair of midweek non-conference games at Louisiana Tech on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Cajuns Win on Sunday, 5-1, Over Georgia Southern
LAFAYETTE, La. – The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns baseball team defeated Georgia Southern 5-1 in a rain shortened series finale on Sunday at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field.
With the victory, the Cajuns improve to 16-13 overall and 8-6 in Sun Belt Conference play. Georgia Southern falls to 19-14 on the year and 9-6 in league action.
"The good thing for us is that we hung on and didn't get swept," head coach Tony Robichaux said. "They way we are treating things is that Saturday was the last game of the first half of the season. We are now 1-0 in the second half with the win today. We need to fix the things that made us average in the first half. Our thing today was to get rid of the errors and running mistakes, and play a total game and were able to do that."
Freshman right-hander Evan Guillory notched his second straight quality start limiting the Eagles to one run on six hits in six innings to move to 3-0 on the year. Guillory had six strikeouts in the outing.
"Evan threw a good ballgame for us," Robichaux added. "He set a good tempo in the first inning, and from that point forward the rest of the day fell into place. When a pitcher sets a good tempo for you, it makes it a lot easier to play behind you."
Fellow freshman Dylan Moore picked up his fourth save of the season throwing two scoreless innings of relief to close out the game.
Starter Conner Simmons was the losing pitcher of record for Georgia Southern giving up two runs on three hits in three innings of work to fall to 1-2 on the year.
Offensively, Louisiana outhit the Eagles 9-7 led by Stefan Trosclair, Blake Trahan and Dylan Butler who each registered two hits. Both Trahan and Trosclair extended their hit streaks in the contest as Trahan is now sitting on a 20-game hit streak, while Trosclair ran his hit streak to 12 games on his fourth home run of the season.
Butler gave the Cajuns a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second as he drove a line drive solo homer off of Simmons for his four home run of the year.
The Eagles answered in the top of the third on a bases loaded ground out by Chase Griffin to plate Logan Baldwin and even the game at 1-all. Guillory got a big strikeout in the next at bat to end the threat and limit the damage.
Louisiana regained the lead in the bottom of the third on a two-out single by Girouard scoring Trahan from third to make the score 2-1. Trahan led off the inning with a single to left field to extend his hit streak.
Georgia Southern loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the fourth, but Guillory settled down and induced a ground out by Kody Adams to second base to end the inning.
The Cajuns added three runs in the bottom of the fifth to get out to a 5-1 advantage. Trosclair notched his third home run of the series to start the inning. After the Cajuns put runners on the corners, catcher Nick Thurman increased the lead to 4-1 on a safety squeeze with no outs. Two batters later, pinch hitter Kyle Clement lined a ball off of right-hander Patrick Riley for in infield single to score Greg Davis from third.
With runners on second and third and one out in the eighth for Louisiana, the skies opened up causing the game to be halted just before the drop dead time. After a 28 minute delay the game was called with the score 5-1.
The Cajuns return to action on Tuesday at 6 p.m. as they host No. 20 Houston at the "Tigue" in the first of five games on the week. Following the matchup with the Cougars, Louisiana will head east on I-10 to face in-state foe Southern at Lee-Hines Field.
Gates Pitches Jags to Series Clinching Win over A-State
JONESBORO, Ark. – Jaguar left-hander Jared Gates pitched into the ninth inning and struck out a career-high nine batters to lead the University of South Alabama to a 2-1 series-clinching win over Arkansas State Sunday at Tomlinson Stadium.
Gates (2-1) allowed just four hits and one unearned run while issuing eight walks in a career-high 8 1/3 innings pitched. Right-hander Ben Taylor tossed two-thirds of an inning in relief and struck out one to earn his fourth save of the season while extending his scoreless streak to 17 1/3 innings.
"I went out there and didn't have my best stuff, but I felt okay and just tried to grind it out and do my best for the team," Gates said.
USA spotted Gates two runs before he threw his first pitch of the contest. Cole Billingsley led off the game with a single to center field, and stole second before Adam Ballew reached on two-out walk. Danny Martinez followed with a two-run double to right field to score Billingsley and Ballew for the Jags' only two runs.
"That (two-run first inning) changed the whole mindset," Gates said. "I went out there with a lead, and I just tried to fill up the zone and let the defense make plays."
ASU (13-17, 4-10 SBC) loaded the bases three times against Gates, but each time the southpaw pitched out of the jam.
A leadoff walk by Ty White and a hit by pitch from Gates to Joe Schrimpf put the first two ASU batters on base in the bottom of the second. Lucas Feddersen advanced both runners into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. Gates induced a popup to shortstop off the bat of Jeremy Brown for the second out of the frame before a two-out walk to Zach George loaded the bases. But the left-hander escaped the inning to preserve a two-run Jag lead with a strikeout of Austin Baker.
Gates did not allow a hit until the fourth inning when Schrimpf and Feddersen reached on consecutive one-out singles to center field. A sacrifice bunt by Brown moved both runners into scoring position with two outs. A walk to George from Gates loaded the bases for Baker, but Gates worked out of the spot for the second time in the game with an inning-ending flyout to center field to keep the USA lead at two runs.
The Red Wolves loaded the bases in the bottom of the fifth with two outs after a leadoff single by Tanner Ring and consecutive two-out walks issued by Gates. But the left-hander stranded all three runners with an inning-ending flyout to right field to keep the Jaguar lead at 2-0.
"The mark of a good pitcher is what he does when he is in trouble," head coach Mark Calvi said. "Gates was in plenty of it today, but he made some pitches to get out of it. I was super-proud of his performance."
ASU pushed its lone run of the game across in the bottom of the ninth on a sacrifice fly to center field by Matt Burgess.
USA (22-11, 9-6 SBC) earned its third consecutive Sun Belt Conference series win in Sunday's victory.
"Gates has competed for us, he just hasn't gone deep," Calvi said. "He and Coach Keller made a good adjustment in his delivery this week. I hate to see eight walks, but he got us deep into the ballgame. He put the team on his back and said 'I got you from here.' It was great to see a great effort out of Gates today.
"This team has been playing with confidence and playing together as a team for the last six weeks. They show a lot of trust in each other. It's good to win two out of three on the road, especially in the conference. I'm really proud of the way the guys played all weekend."
USA went 6-2 in its eight-game stretch which spanned just 10 days after a series win at Louisiana-Monroe last weekend and a pair of midweek wins over Mississippi State and Jackson State earlier this week before capturing the ASU series.
"It was phenomenal how these guys handled that stretch," Calvi said. "They handled it like professionals. We have some older kids on this team who help show the way for some of the younger guys. I have been proud of our guys, but we're at the halfway point of the conference season. We're two-thirds of the way through with the season, and there is still a long way to go so we need to keep playing at a high level.
"We did plenty of things wrong this weekend as well. We'll have to clean some things up moving forward; it's tough when you don't have many practice days when you have been on the road. We will do the best we can as a coaching staff. Our guys know there are some areas of weakness that need to be addressed, but moving forward we will get that done."
Martinez went 2-for-3 with a double and two RBI and extended his on-base streak to 28 games to lead USA at the plate. Billingsley added a hit and a run scored while extending his hitting streak to eight games, and Ballew finished with a hit and a run scored. Burgess went 1-for-4 with an RBI to lead the Red Wolves offensively.
South Alabama will return to action Tue., April 7, when it travels to Hammond, La., for a 6 p.m. contest.
Troy Claims Rubber Match Win over Appalachian State
BOONE, N.C. – Troy pounded out 17 hits and got a solid relief effort from Austin Crook to win the rubber game against Appalachian State, 12-5. The Trojans have won six of their last eight games and three-of-four conference series this season.
Every Troy starter got a hit including three from catcher Trip Calhoun. Seven Trojan starters finished with multiple hits. The team's 17 hits are the second-most this season. Troy collected 18 hits against Nicholls earlier in the season.
TJ Binder walked with the bases loaded to drive in the first run of the game as Troy scored three times in the opening frame. Peyton Fuller reached on a throwing error as Trevin Hall scored on the play. David Hall later scored on a wild pitch.
The lead wouldn't last long however as Troy starting pitcher Corey Childress allowed four runs on six hits and was able to record just two outs. Crook entered in relief and pitched 6 1/3 innings to earn the win. The junior left-hander struck out four and allowed one run.
Troy (17-16, 6-6 Sun Belt) tied the game in the third inning on an RBI ground out from David Hall. Trevin Hall leadoff the inning with a double and advanced to third on an error. Logan Hill handed the Trojans the lead in the fourth with an RBI double to score Calhoun.
The Trojans exploded for five runs in the fifth. Calhoun drove in a run with a fielder's choice while Reid Long plated two more with single. Nick Masonia scored Calhoun with a sacrifice fly and Logan Hill singled home Long to extend Troy's lead to 10-4.
Calhoun picked up his second RBI in the seventh. Long followed with a double and Masonia drove him home with a single.
Marc Skinner pitched two scoreless innings to close out the game.
Troy finished the series with 14 stolen bases including five from Clay Holcomb who leads the league with 18. TJ Binder led the club at the plate, batting 4-for-9 on the weekend.
Troy will return home to face Kennesaw State on Wednesday.