Friday, May 15
A-State Wins with Walk-Off
JONESBORO, Ark. (5/15/15) – Stuart Levy’s sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 14th inning propelled Arkansas State to a 4-3 victory over Arkansas-Little Rock Friday night at Tomlinson Stadium on senior day to keep the Red Wolves hopes of clinching a spot in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament alive.
With the victory Arkansas State improved its overall record to 25-27 and 12-16 in Sun Belt Conference play, while UALR dropped to 15-33 and 11-17 in the league.
Tanner Ring started the rally with a walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch to get into scoring position. Ty White laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Ring to third, but White reached safely when Kyle Kirk’s throw pilled the first baseman off the base.
Following an intentional walk to Ty Michelotti to load the bases, Levy drove a ball into left field that was deep enough to allow Ring to score easily from third for its sixth straight conference victory.
Saturday’s finale between the two teams is set to begin at 1 p.m. at Tomlinson Stadium.
Chandler Hawkins (4-7) earned the victory after tossing six shutout innings. He entered the game in the ninth inning and struck out eight, while surrendering three hits and three walks.
Trailing 2-0 after four innings, the Red Wolves scored a pair of runs in the fourth inning off a solo blast by Austin Baker that cleared the scoreboard in right field. White scored later in the inning on an RBI fielder’s choice by Collin Massanelli. White reached on a bunt single earlier in the inning.
UALR added a run in the sixth, but Jeremy Brown drove in Massanelli in the bottom half of the inning to tie the game at 3-3 and the score remained tied until Levy’s walk-off sacrifice fly in the 14th inning.
The extra-inning victory over the Trojans marked the second time in as many years that A-State has defeated UALR in 14-innings and by a score of 4-3 at Kell Field.
UALR looked poised to take the lead in the top of the ninth inning when White misplayed a ball hit to him in right field and then committed a throwing error to allow Sam Vogel to reach third with no outs in the inning.
Hawkins got Petr Sila to strike out swinging for the first out of the inning. Ryan Scott followed with a single to right, but Sila hesitated at third base and White throw home was in time to tag the UALR centerfielder out at home plate to keep the game tied.
UALR had another opportunity to score in the top of the 14th inning when the Trojans had runners on first and second, but Kirk grounded out to Lucas Feddersen at third who stepped on the bag and then throw to first in time for the inning ending double play.
Below is a look at a number of scenarios that can play out tomorrow for A-State to get into the Sun Belt Conference Tournament:
If A-State wins tomorrow and Texas State loses or has its game against UT-Arlington cancelled then the Red Wolves would a secure berth into the tournament. If A-State does not play tomorrow, then it cannot pass Texas State in the final league standings and could be eliminated depending on the outcome of the Louisiana-Monroe and Louisiana-Lafayette doubleheader.
If A-State does not play tomorrow and Louisiana-Monroe and Louisiana-Lafayette do not play either game of scheduled doubleheader then the Red Wolves would also be eliminated from postseason contention.
If A-State loses to UALR then the Warhawks would have to lose both of their games for the Red Wolves to earn a berth.
If Arkansas State wins and ULM does not play either one of its games then A-State would be in the tournament. Additionally, if the Red Wolves win and ULM losses one of its two games then Arkansas State would be in the tournament (the Warhakws would have to play both games for this scenario to play out).
In the event of a three-way tie in which A-State, ULM and Texas State end up the same conference record the tiebreaker becomes the record against the league’s top seed. If the teams are still tied after that then it would go to the No. 2 seed and so on until the tie is broken.
For the latest on A-State baseball follow the team by logging onto the team’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/astatebaseball and following them on Twitter (@ASTATEBaseball).
Eagles Rally to Even Series with Panthers
ATLANTA – Chase Griffin hit a go ahead RBI double in the eighth inning as the Georgia Southern Eagles rallied from a 3-0 deficit to even the series with a 4-3 win over the Georgia State Panthers.
The Eagles (29-25, 17-12) started the rally with back-to-back extra-base hits in the sixth inning and scored runs in three-straight innings before taking the lead in the eighth inning.
Will Hudgins sparked the rally with a lead off double in the sixth inning and scored the first run for Georgia Southern on Kody Adams' triple to left field. The Eagles put runners on the corners after Ryan Cleveland drew a walk but the Panthers (29-24, 15-12) turned a double play to end the frame.
"Our team hung in there. I am proud of our guys fighting back," Head Coach Rodney Hennon said. "Will Hudgins was the spark for us tonight. He kind of started that off with a big hit the other way. He had some good at bats all night long. It was good to see some fight from our team."
Aaron Mizell got the offense started again in the seventh inning after legging out an infield hit. Hunter Thomas plated Mizell and tied the game with his 10th home run of the season a batter later.
Cleveland drew his second walk of the game with one out in the eighth inning and scored a batter later as Griffin doubled on a liner through the right side of the defense.
"It was a big at-bat from Ryan Cleveland to lay off a couple of pitches and draw the walk. Chase Griffin stepped up and came through for us with the big double to right field," Hennon said.
Ryan Frederick picked up the win out of the bullpen after entering in the seventh inning and stranding a pair of base runners on a diving catch by Adams in center field. Frederick (3-1) allowed a lead off double in the eighth inning but left Joey Roach stranded with back-to-back strikeouts.
Chris Brown walked two batters after a strikeout of David Levy to start the ninth inning. Brown (11) picked up the save after retiring Matt Rose with a long fly out.
The rally handed starter Tripp Sheppard a no decision. Sheppard tossed a quality start and allowed just one earned run over six innings. The senior allowed three runs – one earned - over six innings on six hits and a walk.
Logan Barnette was tagged with the loss after allowing the eighth inning run. Barnette (3-1) allowed one run on one hit over an inning of work.
Georgia State starter Kenny Anderson tossed five scoreless frames before running into trouble the third time through the order. Anderson left with a no decision after surrendering three runs on seven hits over 6.1 innings.
The series continues tomorrow with a 2 p.m. first pitch. Freshman lefthander Connor Simmons (2-5, 3.99 ERA) will get the start for the Eagles. Georgia State will counter with lefthander Garrett Ford.
Bobcats Pull Closer to Tourament Berth
SAN MARCOS, Texas – Scott Grist had a long day Saturday. He had an early morning "T" Ring Ceremony for Texas State student-athlete graduates, then walked the stage for graduation. But once he stepped onto the field at Bobcat Ballpark, he made it a long day for the UT Arlington Mavericks. Grist pitched a complete-game five-hitter to lead the Bobcats past UTA, 4-1, to even the series and pull Texas State closer to clinching a berth in the Sun Belt Conference Championship Tournament.
With the win, the Bobcats improve to 21-30-1 overall and 13-16 in the Sun Belt Conference. Texas State clinches a spot in the SBC Championship Tournament with a win on Saturday or a loss by the UL Monroe Warhawks to UL Lafayette in either one of the games in their doubleheader on Saturday. The Bobcats will also get in if UALR beats Arkansas State on Saturday.
In addition to Grist's solid work on the mound, another senior came through for Texas State. In a 1-1 tied baseball game, Ben McElroy knocked a three-run homer high over the Bobcat scoreboard to put the Bobcats up, 4-1, the eventual final score. Both seniors will be honored with four others during Texas State's senior day recognition before Saturday's game.
The Mavericks were able to jump on the scoreboard first with an opening-inning run. They knocked two hits and moved the runners with two groundouts to go ahead, 1-0, early. After that, Grist kept the Mavericks off balance, not allowing a run and only giving up three hits the rest of the game. He struck out four batters and walked one on 108 pitches to give Texas State a chance.
UT Arlington would cling to the 1-0 lead until the Bobcats tied the game in the fifth. Colby Targun knocked a double down the first base line and went to third on a Zach Sullivan single. After that, Luke Sherley brought Targun home with a sacrifice bunt to tie the game in the fifth. An inning later, the Bobcats would go ahead on McElroy's home run, his fourth of the year..
Granger Studdard hit a one-out double to deep right centerfield to get the offense started in the inning. Tanner Hill followed with a single to push Studdard to third. Next, Hill stole second base to put both runners in scoring position. It didn't matter though, as McElroy sent the ball for a trip to the Texas State Football parking lot to plate all three runs and put the Bobcats up, 4-1, in the sixth inning.
McElroy, Cedric Vallieres, Studdard, Hill and Targun all struck a hit in the game while Sullivan led the offense with two hits on a 2-for-3 night. McElroy's three RBI paced the Bobcats while Sherley added one on his sacrifice bunt.
Saturday, the Bobcats will recognize their six seniors: Grist, McElroy, Cedric Vallieres, David Paiz, Colby Targun and Blake Whitter before the 1 p.m. first pitch in the rubber match between Texas State and UT Arlington.