Tuesday, April 7
Mills' Late Game Heroics Lift Cajuns Past No. 22 Houston
LAFAYETTE, La. – Junior outfield Brian Mills delivered a walk-off RBI double as the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns baseball team scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth to defeat No. 22 Houston 6-5 Tuesday night at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field.
Junior Kyle Clement got the rally started in the ninth with a one-out single as the Cajuns trailed 5-3 going into the inning. After Brenn Conrad drew a walk from left-hander Aaron Fletcher, Evan Powell delivered an RBI single through the left side of the infield off of reliever Aaron Garza to cut the Cougars lead to one run. In the next at bat, pinch runner Jam Williams came home to score on an errant throw by Garza on a safety squeeze attempt by Blake Trahan to even the game at 5-all.
With runners on second and third and one out, Mills drove a ball down the right field line off of Houston reliever Kyle Dowdy over the head of outfielder Kyle Survance to double in Powell to win the game.
"We swung the bats with some aggressiveness right there and hit the ball hard in the ninth inning," head coach Tony Robichaux said. "They won't go away and that's a good sign. I'd rather take that kind of team every day of the week. We were ugly in the first half of the season, but now we are 2-0 in the second half."
With the victory, the Cajuns improve to 17-13 on the season and are 3-2 against ranked opponents, while Houston falls to 22-12 on the year.
The Ragin' Cajuns outhit the Cougars 12-10 in the contest led by Trahan who was 3-for-5 and scored a run while also extending his hit streak to 21 games. Tyler Girouard, Greg Davis and Clement each had a pair of hits in the game.
Junior Stefan Trosclar saw his 12-game hit streak come to an end going 0-for-4 in the contest.
Survance led the way offensively for Houston going 3-for-5 with a pair of infield singles and scored twice.
Reliever Wyatt Marks picked up his second win of the season limiting the Cougars to one run on three hits in two innings of work with a strikeout and a walk.
Garza got the loss for Houston falling to 0-2 on the year after giving up the game-winning run without recording an out.
The Cougars jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the top of the first on an RBI single by Chris Iriart and a two-run single by Ian Rice.
Girouard cut into the Houston lead in the bottom half of the first doubling in Trahan who had led off the inning with a single to make the score 3-1.
Houston looked to tack on another run in the top of the fourth with a runner on third and two outs, but Rice was thrown out at the plate trying to score on a Colton Lee wild pitch that ricocheted back to catcher Nick Thurman who made a good throw to Lee at the plate for the third out.
Davis evened the contest at 3-all in the bottom of the fourth with a two-run blast over the left field fence for his third home run of the season.
In the top of the sixth, the Josh Vidales scored on a Chris Charpentier wild pitch with the bases loaded to put the Cougars back in front 4-3. Charpentier would walk Robert Grilli to reload the bases but then struck out Ashford Fulmer on three straight pitches to end the threat.
After two scoreless innings, Houston extended its lead to 5-3 in the top of the ninth on a sac fly to center by Jacob Campbell with runners on the corners and one out.
Louisiana rallied for three runs on three hits and a Cougars error in the ninth to complete the come from behind win.
The Cajuns return to action tomorrow at 6 p.m. as they face in-state foe Southern at Lee-Hines Field. The game will be broadcast live on Cox Sports Television (CST) with Lyn Rollins calling the action and Ronnie Rantz adding color.
Studdard Walks Off Again in 11th
SAN MARCOS, Texas – After knocking a walk-off home run to finish Baylor Thursday night, Granger Studdard did it again against Incarnate Word to propel Texas State to an 11th-inning victory, 4-3, on Tuesday evening. The Bobcats move above .500 for the first time this season at 16-15-1 with the win.
4/7/2015 Baseball vs. Incarnate Word (April 7) Baseball vs. Incarnate Word (April 7)
Texas State trailed, 3-2, for most of the game until Cedric Vallieres tied the game with his seventh home run of the season in the bottom of the seventh inning. With the game tied, neither team could score until Studdard's 11th-inning game-winning home run, also his seventh of the season.
For the sophomore from Buda, Texas, it's his fifth career walk-off hit and third career walk-off home run with the second coming just days ago in Texas State's last home game to beat Baylor on Thursday. He finished the night 3-for-5 with two RBI and a run scored.
Freshman Mickey Scott stepped into the lead-off spot in the lineup as a designated hitter for Texas State Tuesday night and finished as the only other Bobcat with multiple hits, knocking two in his first two at bats. He scored once on the night. Vallieres, Tanner Hill and Jared Huber were the other Bobcats to tally a hit in the game.
Incarnate Word capitalized on a Texas State error in the opening inning to score three unearned runs. However, the Bobcats did not even allow a base runner to third base after the second inning. To answer the first scores from UIW, the Bobcats closed the gap to just one run in the bottom of the first.
Scott legged out an infield single to get it started for Texas State and Vallieres followed with a walk. A single from Studdard plated one run, and David Paiz walked after that. With bases loaded, Hill earned a walk from UIW starter Kris Looper to pull the Bobcats within one, 3-2.
With one out in the bottom of the seventh, Vallieres tied the game with his solo shot, swinging on the first offering of the at bat from Looper. After that, Studdard worked his magic with one out in the bottom of the 11th to clinch the win.
Relief pitchers Joe Powell, Pasquale Mazzoccoli and Cory Geisler were able to shut down the Cardinals from the end of the second inning until Studdard's hit. The trio did not give up a run and only walked one batter. In 2.2 innings, Geisler did not allow a hit, finishing the last six batters in a row to earn the win.
Next up for the Bobcats, they'll be traveling to Little Rock, Ark. to take on the UALR Trojans in a three-game series, returning to Sun Belt Conference play. Games are set for 6 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.
Warhawks Top Cowboys, 7-3, in Tuesday Night Tilt
MONROE, La. – ULM’s seven-, eight- and nine-hole hitters accounted for six of the team’s 10 hits and also tallied five runs and four RBI as the Warhawks picked up a 7-3 win over visiting McNeese State Tuesday night at Warhawk Field.
After a double play on a pop out to second baseman Anthony Herrera, McNeese plated the first runs of the game with one earned and one unearned run in the top of the second inning. Lewis Guilbeau scored on a bunt single by Cameron Toole and Lucas Quary also scored as he advanced to third and scored on an error by Warhawk catcher Dalton Todd.
The Warhawks answered right back with two runs of their own in the home half of the second inning. Spencer Hemphill became the first base runner of the game as he was hit by a pitch. Danny Springer followed and delivered a two-run homer to left to even the game at 2-2. Springer’s homer was his fifth homer of the season and he is now tied with Keelin Rasch for the team lead.
ULM took the lead in the bottom of the third inning as Todd singled through the left side and later raced home on a Bryce Kingsley wild pitch to put the Warhawks ahead, 3-2.
The Warhawks increased their lead to three runs as the scored a pair of runs in the fifth inning. Dalton Todd picked up a one-out double and scored for the second time in the game on a wild pitch. Herrera, who singled to left, came in to score on a RBI double down the right field line by Kodie Tidwell to give the home club a 5-2 lead.
McNeese State trimmed the deficit to two runs (5-3) on a sacrifice fly to left field by Quary in the top of the sixth inning.
ULM tallied its second two-run homer of the night as Jacob Stockton connected on his first homer of the season (and second career) as he also brought home Springer to give the Warhawks a four-run lead at 7-3. The homer by Stockton concluded scoring in Tuesday’s game as ULM earned the 7-3 win.
Payton Coddou (1-0) was solid on the hill for the Warhawks as he notched his first collegiate win as he tossed six complete innings allowing eight hits and two earned runs (three total) with one walk and one punchout. The sophomore right-hander also notched a pair of perfect innings (fourth and fifth innings).
Weston Mason and Logan Dopson closed out the game for the Warhawks as the duo combined to toss three scoreless innings and each tallied one strikeout.
Springer led the way with three hits, two RBI and two runs in the win. Stockton had one hit, two RBI and one run, while Todd registered two hits and two runs against McNeese State.
Mountaineers Fall to Gamecocks, 11-1
COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina scored six runs in the bottom of the first inning and went on to defeat Appalachian State University baseball, 11-1, on Tuesday evening at Carolina Stadium. The game was halted after seven innings due to rain and lightning.
South Carolina’s first three batters all recorded hits and the Gamecocks went on to bang out five hits and send 12 men to the plate in the six-run first. Appalachian State starting pitcher Sean Mason also hit two batters and second baseman Dillon Dobson committed the first of the Mountaineers’ four errors in the fateful first inning.
The six runs were twice as many as Appalachian State (10-24) had allowed in any opening frame this season. The Mountaineers came into the contest having surrendered only 21 first-inning runs in 33 games this season.
South Carolina (22-11) scored a single run in the third inning and four in the fourth to stretch the advantage to 11-0.
The Mountaineers plated their only run in the seventh when Michael Pierson’s hard-hit grounder ricocheted off USC second baseman Max Schrock’s glove and into center field, allowing Brian Bauk to score from second base.
Pierson’s RBI single highlighted six hits for Appalachian State. Bauk had the Mountaineers’ lone extra-base hit with a double down the right-field line in the third.
Leadoff hitter Gene Cone went 3-for-3 with three RBI to lead South Carolina’s 14-hit attack.
Appalachian State returns to action this weekend with a three-game Sun Belt Conference series at South Alabama. The series begins on Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET at Eddie Stanky Field in Mobile, Ala.
UALR's Rally Falls Short at Louisiana Tech
RUSTON, La. – UALR baseball’s (11-17, 8-6) comeback bid in the latter part of Tuesday night’s game at Louisiana Tech (14-15, 2-9) fell short as the Trojans took a 9-7 loss.
Tanner Rockwell and Kyle Kirk each had three hits against the Bulldogs on Tuesday. There was no shortage of offense as both teams combined for 28 hits with UALR having 16 hits and Louisiana Tech having 12.
“Once again, I’m proud of this team for fighting back,” head coach Chris Curry said. “We had one of our most competitive efforts for a midweek game, but again, we’re not into moral victories.”
Louisiana Tech scored the game’s first run in the second inning. The Bulldogs led the bottom of the inning off with a single up the middle. The Louisiana Tech runner then moved over to second with a sacrifice bunt. Another single up the middle gave the Bulldogs an early 1-0 lead.
The Bulldogs went up 2-0 in the bottom of the third inning. Louisiana Tech led off the inning with a walk and a stolen base. The Trojans gave up another walk to put runners on first and second with no outs. A sacrifice bunt moved the runners up 90 feet to second and third. The Bulldogs then singled through the right side to take a two-run lead.
Louisiana Tech added one more in the bottom of the 5th inning. With one out, the Bulldogs singled and advanced to second on a wild pitch. LA Tech hit an RBI single to left, scoring the runner from second to take a 3-0 lead.
UALR finally got on board in the top of the six. Ryan Scott led off the inning with a double up the middle, his 13th of the season. Tanner Rockwell flied out to center, but Scott tagged up and advanced to third. Kyle Kirk then grounded out to second, but Scott was able to score decrease the deficit to 3-1.
Starter Reed Willenborg pitched five innings, striking out two and giving up three runs on six hits.
Reliever Chad Bradford came on in relief to begin the sixth inning. Louisiana Tech singled with two outs and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Two consecutive walks loaded the bases for the Bulldogs. A LA Tech single to right scored two and put runners on the corners. Another walk given up by UALR loaded the bases for a second time. A wild pitch scored the third run of the inning to give Louisiana Tech a 6-1 lead.
Junior Brent Mason made his first appearance of the season by relieving Bradford to begin the bottom of the seventh.
After giving up the seventh run of the game in the seventh inning, UALR’s offense clicked into overdrive. UALR started the inning with five consecutive singles off the bats of Kyle Barret, Scott, Rockwell, Kirk and Sam Vogel, allowing three runs to score. Drew Merten then singled through the right side with runners on second and third, allowing Kirk to score for the Trojans fourth run of the inning. The Bulldogs changed pitchers while Jason Prevatt came on to pinch run for Merten. Vogel then scored on a passed ball for UALR’s fifth run of the inning. Hayden Martin then walked to put runners on first and second with one out. The Trojans tied the game at 7-7 with a single from Petr Sila as Prevatt scored from second.
“There were so many great positives,” Curry said. “We had 16 hits and battled back to score six runs in the eighth. I’m proud of those guys. We had a lot of guys throw the ball tonight that had not pitched in a while. Brent Mason got his first outing and he was competitive. Those are positives, but when we talk about being a championship program, we want to get past looking for small parts of the game that are positive. We want to come out on top.”
Rockwell moved from third to pitch in the eighth while Kirk moved to third after starting as the designated hitter. The Bulldogs bit back in the bottom of the inning as they the led off the frame with a single to left center. A fielding error with one out put runners on first and second. Louisiana Tech then walked to load the bases. A single through the left side scored two runs to give the Bulldogs a 9-7 lead.
Looking to make another comeback, UALR started the ninth inning with two consecutive singles off the bats of Rockwell and Kirk. The Trojans then hit some bad luck as they lined into a double play at first base. UALR’s comeback bid came to a halt as a strikeout ended the game.
Five Trojans ended the night with at multiple hits including Rockwell, Kirk, Sila, Scott and Merten.
“There is no question that this dugout is going to come out, fight and play hard,” Curry said. “We gave a lot of outs and free base runners away, and that came back to bite us. You have to give credit to Louisiana Tech for taking advantage of it.”
UALR will try to split the season series with Louisiana Tech on Wednesday with the first pitch scheduled for 4 p.m. in Ruston.
Eagles Shutout by College of Charleston
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. – The College of Charleston Cougars scored three runs in the first inning and blanked the Georgia Southern Eagles to win Tuesday's mid-week game 11-0 at the Ballpark at Patriots Point.
Ryan Brown led off the bottom of the first inning with an infield single, and Alex Pastorius followed with his fourth home run of the year over the ivy-covered monster in left field to give the Cougars (22-7) an early lead. Carl Wise kept the inning going with a double, and Morgan Phillips plated the third run of the inning with a sacrifice fly.
Matt Geiger settled in after allowing the first inning and retired 13 of the next 15 batters, allowing just two hits over the next four innings. Geiger allowed a lead off double in the sixth inning before being lifted. The run came around to score on a sacrifice fly by Nick Pappas.
The freshman righthander took the loss after allowing four runs over five innings. Geiger (1-4) allowed six hits and struck out two batters.
Nathan Helvey limited the Eagles (19-15) to one hit over three innings to pick up his fourth win of the season. Helvey (4-3) allowed just one walk and struck out two batters, including one in the second inning to help strand a runner in scoring position.
Will Detwiler followed with 3.1 scoreless innings and limited Georgia Southern to one hit, an infield single from Cal Baker in the sixth inning.
Baker was one of just five GS baserunners to reach second base and was stranded after Chase Griffin grounded into a double play to end the frame.
Baseball returns home to host the UT Arlington Mavericks for a three-game weekend series starting Friday night at 6 p.m. The first 500 fans through the J.I. Clements Stadium gates will receive free sunglasses from Verizon Wireless.
Jags Fall to Southeastern Louisiana
HAMMOND, La. – Southeastern Louisiana scored seven unanswered runs over the final two frames to defeat University of South Alabama baseball 12-2 Tuesday at Alumni Field.
SLU right-hander Pat Cashman (3-3) allowed two runs on seven hits, and struck out two while issuing four walks in six innings pitched to earn the win. USA right-hander Ryne Long (2-3) allowed five runs on six hits with a pair of strikeouts and one walk in the loss.
SLU (25-9) jumped out to a one-run lead in the bottom of the first. Julian Service tripled to the left-center gap with one out, and scored one batter later when Daniel Midyett reached on a fielding error by Danny Martinez at first base.
The Jags answered to tie the game a half-inning later in the top of the second. Adam Ballew reached on a leadoff single to center field, and moved to second base on a throwing error from Cashman on a failed pickoff attempt at first base. Matt Bolger drew a two-out walk, and Ballew advanced to third on a wild pitch from Cashman in the sequence of pitches to put runners at the corners. Garrett DeGallier followed with a two-out RBI single to left-center field to tie the game 1-1.
The Lions answered in the bottom-half of the second for a three-run lead. Chris Eades drew a two-out walk from Long, and moved to second on an infield single to second by Carson Crites. Jacob Seward then delivered a two-out RBI single to center field for a 2-1 advantage. Service followed with a two-run single to center field to push the SLU lead to 4-1.
USA (22-12) loaded the bases with one out in the top of the third on a one-out single by Jared Barnes, a walk by Bud Collura and single to center field from Ballew. Martinez followed with a sacrifice fly to left field to plate Barnes and cut the USA deficit in half at 4-2.
SLU extended its lead back to three runs in the bottom of the third when Kevin Carr reached on a leadoff single, and later scored on a safety squeeze bunt from Brett Hoffman for a 5-2 advantage.
Consecutive singles from Crites and Seward started the SLU bottom of the fourth. A groundout to third base by Service moved both runners into scoring position with one out. Cameron Cochran struck out Midyett for the second out of the frame, and induced an inning-ending groundout to shortstop off the bat of Carr to keep the Jaguar deficit at three runs.
SLU added to its lead in the bottom of the seventh. Midyett and Carr reached on consecutive singles to start the inning. Menard then reached on a throwing error by Collura on a sacrifice bunt to third, which allowed Midyett to score from second and extend the Lion lead to 6-2. A two-run, sacrifice bunt from SLU pinch-hitter Ryan Byers pushed the lead to 8-2.
The Lions scored the game's final runs in the bottom of the eighth on RBI singles by Menard and Hoffman, bases-loaded walks by Eades and Jacob Williams.
DeGallier finished 2-for-4 with an RBI to lead the Jags at the plate, while Ballew went 2-for-4 with one run scored. Carr went 3-for-5 with three runs scored to lead the SLU offense.
USA will return to action this weekend when it hosts Appalachian State in a three-game Sun Belt Conference series at Stanky Field.
Mavericks Rally Comes Up Short against Baylor
WACO, Texas - UT Arlington made a push to erase a Baylor five-run lead entering the seventh inning, but was unable to complete the comeback in a 10-7 loss at Baylor Ballpark on Tuesday night.
The Mavericks were led offensively by Levi Scott, who registered three hits in five at-bats with a pair of RBI and one run scored.
Christian Hollie was also pivotal for the Mavericks, as the freshman was 2-of-3 with two runs and one RBI.
Zach Hobbs (1-2) was charged with the loss after giving up five hits and four earned runs in 2.1 innings on the mound. The Palmer native struck out three Baylor batters while walking none in his 43-pitch outing.
The Mavericks looked to assert themselves at the plate early in the game as they brought three runs across in the opening two innings of the game. Back-to-back doubles by Travis Sibley and Scott accounted for the first run across in the opening frame.
A Hollie single to center field got the scoring started in the second inning with RJ Williams crossing the plate. With two singles and a walk loading the bases for UTA, Matt McLean stepped into the box and reached on an RBI fielder's choice that put the Mavs on top 3-0.
After a two-run second inning by Baylor cut the UTA lead to one run, the Bears tied the game on a wild pitch.
UT Arlington regained the lead (4-3) in the fourth as Hollie scored from second base on a McLean single to left center.
The Bears offense then erupted in the fifth and six innings, combining for six runs. The big blast being a three-run shot to right.
The Mavericks made a late push in the game, cutting the Bears lead to two runs. Eric Tate's single to left-center field cleared the way for Scott to trot home in the seventh to make it 9-4.
Looking to further cut into the Baylor lead in the eighth, UTA put runners on the corners with one out . Sibley recorded an RBI groundout that brought in Hollie. Scott stepped into the box and hit a two-out single to left field that brought McLean in from second and brought the tying run to the plate.
The Bears were able to end the rally as they recorded the final out of the inning with a strikeout.
The Mavericks recorded their seven runs off of 12 hits with two errors. The Bears had 12 hits and one error.
Next up UTA will travel to Statesboro, Ga. to take on Georgia Southern in a three-game Sun Belt Conference series set to begin on Friday.