Saturday, April 4
Bailey's Four RBI Leads Panthers Past UALR, 12-5
ATLANTA -- Matt Rose hit his ninth home run of the season and Caden Bailey had a career-high four RBI as Sun Belt Conference leader Georgia State clinched its series with UALR with a 12-5 victory Saturday at the GSU Baseball Complex.
Georgia State won its fifth straight conference game and improved to 19-13 overall and 8-2 in the Sun Belt.
For the second straight day, Georgia State rallied after falling behind early. UALR (10-16, 7-6 Sun Belt) took a 4-1 lead in the third and Georgia State still trailed 4-2 before scoring five runs in the sixth inning and five more in the seventh.
"If you look at our games, the games have been a little bit back and forth, but we have won the sixth, the seventh, the eighth and the ninth innings, and sometimes the 10th and the 11th. We've won those games in the back half with patience offensively, and our bullpen has been great," Georgia State head coach Greg Frady said.
Freshman Will Johnson led off the bottom of the sixth inning with his first homer to pull the Panthers within 4-3. David Levy and Ryan Blanton followed with singles, putting runners at second and third when Blanton moved up on the throw. Justin Jones was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Bailey, who smacked a bases-clearing triple to the right field corner to put the Panthers ahead 6-4. With those three RBI, the senior infielder topped 100 for his career.
Joey Roach drove in Bailey with a one-out single for his second RBI of the day and his Sun Belt-leading 31st of the season, giving GSU a 7-4 lead after six.
After UALR got one run back in the top of the seventh, the Panthers broke the game open with five in the bottom of the frame.
Johnson walked, moved to second on a wild pitch and then to third on David Levy's sacrifice. That prompted an intentional walk to Ryan Blanton, and with runners at first and third, Jones delivered a single to left field to plate Johnson and extend GSU's lead to 8-5.
Bailey drove in his fourth run with a single, and Jones scored on a wild pitch for a 10-5 advantage. Then Rose blasted his two-run homer to left, and the Panthers led 12-5.
GSU starter Kenny Anderson (3-2) pitched into the seventh inning, allowing five runs but only two earned on seven hits with five strikeouts and no walks.
Jerry Stuckey, Georgia State's career leader in appearances, relieved Anderson with two outs and two on in seventh and GSU holding a 7-5 lead. The senior right-hander got Ryan Scott to ground out for the third out and then pitched the final two innings for his first save of the season.
"Jerry came in after a great start by Kenny Anderson and finished the game for us. I could not be more proud of Jerry, who became our all-time leader in appearances last game," Frady said.
"I had a good feeling about Kenny. I thought he would come out and pitch us a good game, and he did that. Kenny is a veteran leader on our team, and he pitched us into the seventh inning, which is really important."
Bailey finished 3-for-5 with four RBI, while Roach was 3-for-4 with two RBI.
The series concludes with a 1 p.m. game Sunday.
Home Runs Power Eagles Past Cajuns
LAFAYETTE, La. – The Georgia Southern Eagles hit three two-run home runs and erased an early deficit to take the series from the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns with a 7-4 win on Saturday at "Tigue" Moore Field.
Chase Griffin hammered a pitch off of a pine tree in left field to tie the game in the sixth inning at 4-4, and Dalton Busby followed three batters later with his first home run of the season to put the Eagles (19-13, 9-5) ahead 6-4.
Aaron Mizell gave the Eagles a 2-1 lead with his 9th home run of the season in the fourth inning.
The Ragin' Cajuns (15-13, 7-6) answered an inning later scoring three runs to take a 4-2 lead in the fifth inning. Stefan Trosclair hit a solo homer over the old scoreboard in left field, and Nick Thurman plated two more runs with a single to right field.
Tripp Sheppard allowed one run over his first four innings before giving up three runs – two unearned – in the fifth inning. Sheppard (3-2) allowed just six hits over six innings and stranded a pair of lead off base runners in the first and fourth innings to pick up his third win of the season.
Chris Brown pitched the ninth inning and struck out a pair of batters to strand a runner in scoring position. Brown (7) picked up his first save since March 7 against Appalachian State.
Greg Milhorn started off strong and struck out five batters and faced the minimum through the first three innings. Milhorn (1-1) struggled his second time through the batting order and allowed three home runs. The senior righthander allowed seven hits over 5.1 innings and finished with six strikeouts.
Chris Charpentier pitched the final 3.2 innings for Louisiana and allowed one run on two hits and struck out five batters.
The Sun Belt Conference series concludes tomorrow with a 1 pm ET first pitch. It will be a battle of freshmen on the mound as lefthander Connor Simmons returns to the Sunday role after a Friday night start last week at Texas State. The Ragin' Cajuns will counter with righthander Evan Guillory to the mound.
A-State Evens Series with USA, 4-1
JONESBORO, Ark. (4/4/15) – The Arkansas State baseball team evened its Sun Belt Conference series against South Alabama with a 4-1 victory Saturday night at Tomlinson Stadium as the Red Wolves scored three runs on sacrifice flies.
A-State (13-16, 4-9 SBC) threatened early when Zach George and Austin Baker both singled to lead off the bottom of the first and were bunted over to second and third by Tanner Ring. Matt Burgess then flied out deep enough to center field to score George to give the Red Wolves an early 1-0 advantage over the Jaguars (21-11, 8-6 SBC).
South Alabama tied the score 1-1 in the top of the third on a RBI single by Jared Barnes, but Arkansas State scored the go-ahead run in the top of the fifth when George singled and scored on a RBI single by Baker. Baker later scored in the inning on another sacrifice fly by Burgess to give A-State a 3-1 edge.
The Red Wolves threatened again in the sixth inning after loading the bases with no outs on a single, walk, and error. George knocked in A-State’s fourth run of the game on a sacrifice fly to left field, but Baker struck out for the second out of the inning in the next at-bat. Ring hit an infield single to shortstop, but Collin Massanelli was thrown out at the plate trying to score on the play to end the frame.
The Jaguars best threat to score again came in the eighth inning when Cole Gleason singled to lead off the inning and Ryan Raspino was hit by a pitch with two outs. Reliever Colton Kibler entered the game at that point and got a pop out to George at third base in foul territory to end the threat. Kibler shut the door on the Jaguars with a 1-2-3 ninth inning and earned his team-leading fourth save as the Red Wolves seized the second game of the three-game set 4-1.
Cody Jackson earned the win for A-State to improve to 3-0 as the right-hander entered the game for starter Jon Glidewell in the third inning and tossed a career-high five innings to work into the eighth inning. Jackson allowed no runs on four hits with one strikeout and didn’t walk a single batter. Glidewell only gave up one run on three hits, but walked five and struck out two in 2.2 innings.
Glidewell worked out of trouble in the top of the first inning when the Jaguars appeared poised to take an early edge. He walked the first two guys, but struck out the next two to get back on track. However, he hit the next batter to load the bases, but wiggled out of the jam as Gleason flew out to right field to end the inning.
Offensively, George was 2-for-2 at the plate with a walk and was hit by a pitch along with driving in one run on a sacrifice fly as he extended his on-base streak to 46 games. Baker also had two hits and drove in one run, while Burgess hit his team-leading 12th double and drove in two runs on sacrifice flies.
Austin Bembnowski took the loss for USA as he allowed three runs (two earned) on four hits with two walks and no strikeouts. The South Alabama bullpen only allowed one run (earned) on five hits in four innings of work. Offensively, the Jaguars registered seven hits with Barnes driving in the team’s lone run.
The Red Wolves return to action Sunday, April 5 in the final game of the three-game set against South Alabama. First pitch from Tomlinson Stadium is set for 1 p.m.
Mountaineers Even Series with 5-2 Win over Troy
BOONE, N.C. — Senior pitcher Jeffrey Springs outdueled Troy ace Lucas Brown to lead Appalachian State University baseball to a 5-2 win over the visiting Trojans on Saturday afternoon at blustery Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium.
With its third victory in four games, Appalachian State (10-22, 3-11 Sun Belt) evened its three-game Sun Belt series versus Troy (16-16, 5-6 Sun Belt) at a win apiece. The rubber match of the weekend series is set for 1 p.m. Sunday at Smith Stadium.
Springs headlined Saturday’s triumph by limiting Troy to just two runs on six hits over seven innings of work. The southpaw struck out six and moved to 2-1 on the campaign.
Springs was backed up by an Appalachian State offense that nearly matched the amount of runs that had been scored all season against Brown (2-1).
Troy’s right-handed junior came into Saturday with a sterling 1.15 ERA, having surrendered only six runs (five earned) in 39 innings. However, the Mountaineers plated five runs (four earned) against the Trojans’ ace to hand him first loss of the season.
Matt Brill opened the scoring with a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the second but the biggest hit of the ballgame came an inning later when Noah Holmes doubled off the center-field wall to stretch the Mountaineers’ lead to 3-0.
After Troy scored its only two runs of the afternoon in the fourth, Appalachian State responded with a two-spot of its own in the bottom of the frame to maintain the three-run advantage. Dillon Dobson and Michael Pierson both delivered RBI singles for the Mountaineers in the two-run fourth.
From there, Springs turned in three scoreless innings, highlighted by keeping the Trojans off the board after a runner reached third base with nobody out in the fifth.
Junior Caleb McCann relieved Springs in the eighth and turned in two hitless innings to close out the win and earn the first save of his career.
Dobson, Pierson and Holmes combined for five of Appalachian State’s six hits and four of the club’s five RBI. Holmes led the way by going 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored. Dobson finished 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run and Pierson went 1-for-3 with a walk, an RBI and a run.
T.J. Binder (2-for-3) was Troy’s lone player with multiple hits.
Warhawks Rally Twice, Sweep UT Arlington in Sunday Twinbill
MONROE, La. -- ULM (15-14, 5-7 Sun Belt) scored eight of its nine runs Saturday in the fifth inning or later as it rallied twice to pick up a doubleheader sweep and a series win over UT Arlington (14-16, 5-7) on Saturday at Warhawk Field.
ULM 2, UT Arlington 1 (DH Game 1)
After Trey Setzer struck out the side in the top of the ninth inning, the Warhawks completed the comeback with a walk off win in the bottom of the ninth. With one out, Spencer Hemphill doubled down the left field line and was replaced by pinch runner Vincent Dellocono. Dellocono moved to third on a wild pitch and scored what proved to be the winning run on Danny Springer’s walk-off RBI sacrifice fly to left field.
Setzer picked up the win and improved to 5-0 on the season after registering his first career complete game. During his 117-pitch outing, he surrendered four hits, four walks and one unearned run while striking out six.
Maverick relief pitcher Daniel James was tagged with the loss and falls to 2-2 on the season after surrendering three hits and two earned runs with three strikeouts in 2.1 innings.
Both starting pitchers, Setzer and Brad Vassar, matched scoreless frames over each of the first five innings and it wasn’t until the sixth that either team scored.
In the top of the sixth, Brady Cox reached on an error and later scored on a Travis Sibley RBI single to right field to give the Mavericks a 1-0 lead.
ULM tallied a single run in the bottom of the eighth as pinch runner Robbie Podorksy scored on a RBI single through the left side by Keelin Rasch to even the game at 1-1 after eight innings. The Warhawks tallied another single run in the ninth as the squad picked up their first walk-off win of the season.
Rasch and Dalton Todd led the Warhawks at the plate as the duo combined for five of the Warhawks seven hits. Rasch also drove in one run in the win.
ULM 7, UT Arlington 5 (DH Game 2)
After a scoreless first inning, UT Arlington plated five runs (four earned) to take the early advantage. Travis Sibley highlighted the inning with a two-RBI single down the left field line.
ULM scored its first game of the contest in the home half of the third as Dalton Todd singled to left field and later scored on a RBI single through the right side by Kodie Tidwell.
The Warhawks were able to trim the deficit to one run after a three-run fifth inning. Two of the three ULM runs in the frame were unearned and Keelin Rasch and Nathan Pugh each tallied RBI in the frame that brought the Warhawks within one run.
An inning later the Warhawks again struck for three runs as they took a 7-5 lead after six innings of play. Anthony Herrera, Tidwell and Justin Stawychny all tallied RBI in the frame that saw the Warhawks take the lead for good en route to the twin bill sweep.
Starting pitcher Keegan Curtis gave way to Weston Mason and Herrera as the duo combined to pitch the final 2.1 innings of the nightcap, allowing just two hits with two strikeouts. Curtis earned the win and improved to 2-0 after allowing four runs (five total) on seven hits with four walks and three strikeouts in 6.2 innings. Herrera earned his third save of the season as he pitches a scoreless top of the ninth.
Todd and Tidwell paced the Warhawks in the finale as Todd finished 3-for-4 with three runs scored, while Tidwell was 2-for-4 with two RBI.
UT Arlington reliever Kyle Leberge was tagged with the loss after allowing three runs (one earned) on five hits and one walk with three strikeouts in three innings of work.
ULM will return to action on Tuesday evening as it welcomes McNeese State for a 6 p.m. contest at Warhawk Field.
Bobcats Outlast Baylor, 4-1
WACO, Texas – After 27 hits combined in the past two games against Baylor, Texas State only tallied four hits Saturday to score four runs. However, that's all the Bobcats would need with great defensive play and pitching throughout the game. After three double plays and the second consecutive complete game from a Texas State starter, the Bobcats beat Baylor, 4-1.
Texas State earned the win in Waco, Texas, Head Coach Ty Harrington's hometown. He joined the Bobcats in the dugout for the first time this season. With the victory, the Bobcats improve to .500 on the year at 15-15-1. The sweep of Baylor marks the first ever three-game weekend series sweep of a Big 12 opponent in Texas State Baseball's history.
Jeremy Hallonquist helped make it happen from the mound with the first complete game of his career. He struck out five and only gave up five hits and one earned run in nine innings. From the end of the fourth inning, Hallonquist retired 15 of 17 batters to close out the game.
David Paiz, Derek Scheible, Jared Huber and Luke Sherley each tallied a hit in the game with Huber striking for two RBI, his fifth and sixth of the series against Baylor. Theodore Hoffman and Sherley each finish with an RBI as well.
Both defenses stayed in control throughout the first three innings, but the Bobcats were able to get a run across in the fourth. Cedric Vallieres started the inning with a walk. After that, Paiz put the ball in play on a 12-pitch at bat. He would reach safely on a fielder's choice and Vallieres outran the play at second to put two runners on base. Tanner Hill followed with a walk to load the bases.
With two outs, Hoffman took a hit by pitch on a full count to plate the first run of the game. After that, Jared Huber knocked his fifth and sixth RBI of the series with a two-RBI single straight up the middle to put the Bobcats up 3-0 in the top of the fourth.
Sherley kept the run going for Texas State with a full count single to right centerfield to plate Hoffman from second base and push the lead to 4-0 before the top of the fourth inning ended. All four runs came with two outs in the inning.
The four runs in the fourth inning would prove to be enough for the Bobcats to pull out the win. Baylor could only manage one run the rest of the game as Hallonquist continued to stymie the Baylor lineup throughout.
For the series, Hill led the team from the plate with a .455 batting average. Huber hit .444 while Sherley finished at .400 with three RBI.
Texas State will return home to host Incarnate Word at 6 p.m. Tuesday before heading to UALR for another Sun Belt Conference series over the weekend.