Thursday, March 24
Little Rock Extends Winning Streak to Four Games
LITTLE ROCK – Little Rock baseball (10-11, 3-4 Sun Belt) secured its first four-game winning streak since 2014 with an 11-8 win over Troy (13-10, 3-4) on Thursday night at Gary Hogan Field.
Little Rock came out swinging with 16 hits, its second-most in a game this season.
Six Little Rock players had multiple hits for the game, including Dalton Thomas and Riley Pittman who each went 3 for 5. Thomas extended his hitting streak to 17 games while aslo earning three runs and two RBIs.
The nation's leading hitter, Ryan Scott, did more of the same as he went 2 for 2 with four runs, three walks and an RBI. He's now hitting .512 for year.
Also having big a night at the plate were Nik Gifford, Cameron Knight and Kyle Kirk. Gifford and Knight took home two hits and three RBIs a piece while Kirk had two hits and an RBI of his own.
Troy got out to a quick start as Brandon Lockridge began the game with a leadoff triple to right. Payton Fuller knocked Lockridge in with a single to center to take an early 1-0 lead. Joey Denison reached on a fielder's choice as Fuller was out at second. Trevor Davis got on with a bunt single to third before Troy's leading hitter Matt Sanders grounded out to third for the second out of the inning. With runners in scoring position, T.J. Binder walked on seven pitches to load the bases. Chase Smartt came up with the big hit as sent a two-run single through the right side to give Troy a 3-0 lead.
Little Rock struck back in the bottom of the first with a couple runs of its own. With one out, Scott walked on five pitches before Dalton Thomas reached on an infield single. With two outs, Knight hit an RBI single to right as Scott made his way around to score. Kirk came up with the other RBI single in the inning as Thomas scored to cut Troy's lead to 3-2.
Little Rock's bats stayed warm in the bottom of the second. Zach Baker reached on a throwing error by Troy's third baseman and advanced to second. Hayden Martin put down the sacrifice bunt to advance Baker to third with one out. With two outs, Scott walked for the second time to put runners on the corners. Thomas stepped in and earned his second RBI of the evening with a single through the right side. With runners on the corners once more, Knight put Little Rock ahead 5-3 with a two-run single to left.
Troy got within one in the top of the third. Davis started the inning with an infield single before advancing on a passed ball. Sanders then grounded out to second as Davis moved up 90 feet. Binder hit an RBI ground out to second as Davis scored to narrow Little Rock's lead to 5-4.
Little Rock had its biggest inning of the night in the bottom of the third as it scored four runs on five hits. Pittman got the frame started with a single to center and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Baker. Martin doubled down the left field line as Pittman scored to put Little Rock up by two runs. That would be all for Troy starter Lucas Brown (3-3) as Houston Mabray made his way out of the bullpen after Brown went 2.1 innings with a strikeout while allowing seven hits, seven runs (four earned) and three walks on 65 pitches. However, things wouldn't improve for Mabray as Hunter Owens welcomed him to the game with a single to right. With runners on the corners, Scott singled down the left field line and advanced to second on the throw as Martin scored. Thomas earned an RBI on a ground out to short as Owens scored. Gifford had Little Rock's second double of the inning as Scott scored to put Little Rock up 9-4.
Troy's biggest inning was yet to come as it narrowed Little Rock's lead to 9-8 with four runs on four hits in the top of the fifth. Fuller walked to begin the inning, and Denison doubled to center to put runners in scoring position with no outs. Davis earned an RBI on a ground out to second as Fuller scored and Denison advanced to third. Sanders hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Denison for Troy's second run of the inning. With two outs and no one on base, Binder singled, and Smartt hit an RBI double. That would be all for Little Rock starter Matt McDowell as he went 4.2 innings with a strikeout and allowed eight hits, eight runs (seven earned) and two walks on 89 pitches. Cody Daylor (2-0) was brought in and was welcomed to the game with an RBI single by Justin Friend.
Still up by a run in the seventh, Little Rock looked to provide a couple of insurance runs. With two outs, Scott earned his second hit of the night with a single to center. Thomas then singled to left center before Gifford knocked both runners in with a two-run double to put Little Rock up 11-8.
Little Rock's relievers allowed just two hits and four walks after McDowell left the game in the fifth. Dylan Slayton came on for Daylor in the sixth with two outs and bases loaded and got Brody Binder to fly out. Slayton struck out two and allowed nothing in 1.1 innings on the mound. Preston Oberling made his way to the mound to begin the bottom of the eighth. Oberling got in some trouble as he gave up a hit and walked two to load the bases, but he got himself out of a jam with a strikeout to end the inning. Cody McGill came on to close things out and worked efficiently as he earned his third save of the year with just 12 pitches.
"It was an awesome effort by our offense tonight, and then our bullpen came in and did another great job," head coach Chris Curry said.
Little Rock will go for the series win in the second game of the three-game series against Troy on Friday at 6 p.m.
Jags Rally to Take Game One from Bobcats
SAN MARCOS, Texas – Carter Perkins delivered a two-out, two-run single in the top of the ninth inning to lead the University of South Alabama baseball team to a 6-4 series-opening win over Texas State Thursday at Bobcat Baseball Stadium.
Travis Swaggerty reached on a one-out single back up the middle, and Drew LaBounty singled with two outs later in the inning. Jason Cryar followed with a walk to load the bases for Perkins, who delivered a two-run single into left-center field to plate Swaggerty and LaBounty with the game's final runs.
Jaguar left-hander James Traylor (4-0) tossed 1 2/3 scoreless relief innings, and allowed two hits with a pair of strikeouts to earn his fourth win of the year. Left-hander Shane McKinley allowed one hit and struck out one in one inning to earn his fifth save of the season. Bobcat right-hander Brayden Theriot (1-1) allowed two runs on three hits with two strikeouts and one walk in one inning in the loss. USA right-handed starter Randy Bell tossed a career-high 6 1/3 innings, and allowed four runs on 11 hits with three strikeouts and two walks without factoring in the decision.
Texas State (15-7, 6-1 SBC) was poised to take the game's first lead in the bottom of the third. Jared Huber led off the inning with a walk, and advanced to second on a single by Jonathan Ortega. Granger Studdard singled with two outs later in the inning, but Jaguar center fielder Cole Billingsley retrieved the ball and threw to Jared Barnes at home plate to cut down Huber attempting to score from second.
USA jumped out to a one-run lead in the top of the fourth on a two-out RBI double down the right-field line by Carter Perkins that scored Drew LaBounty, who reached on a fielder' choice earlier in the frame.
The Bobcats loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the fourth on three consecutive singles from Tanner Hill, Ryan Newman and Cory Geisler. Huber then grounded to shortstop which was mishandled by LaBounty and allowed Hill to score and tie the game 1-1. Nick Perez followed with an RBI single to center field to plate Newman for a 2-1 Texas State lead.
TXST pushed its lead to 3-1 in the bottom of the fifth on a two-out solo home run to left field by Hill.
USA answered with a pair of runs in the top of the sixth to tie the game. LaBounty reached on a hit by pitch from Humpal to lead off the inning. Danny Martinez and Perkins followed with singles to load the bases with no outs. Brendan Donovan then drew a walk to plate LaBounty and cut the Bobcat lead to 3-2. Ben Gann followed with an RBI groundout back to Humpal that scored Martinez to tie the game 3-3.
Hill delivered a one-out home run to left-center field in the bottom of the seventh – his second of the game – to give the Bobcats a 4-3 lead.
USA responded with a run in the top of the eighth to tie the game. Martinez drew a leadoff walk, and was lifted for pinch-runner Dylan Hardy who advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Perkins. Eddie Paparella then delivered a pinch-hit RBI double to left field to score Hardy and tie the game 4-4.
Texas State loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the ninth on three straight singles by Luke Sherley led Studdard and Teddy Hoffman. But McKinley induced a popup into foul territory to Gann at first base off the bat of Hill for the first out of the inning, recorded the second out of the frame via strikeout and ended the game with a flyout to center field.
"You can see why they (Texas State) were 6-0 coming in to this series," USA head coach Mark Calvi said. "(Lucas) Humpal was probably 90-94 (mph) early on, and they have a very potent offense. They have some experienced returners in that lineup, some good young guys and they play really good defense. We feel very fortunate to have won this ballgame. There is nothing given to you in this league, and we worked for this one. It wasn't because we didn't have any adversity. We handed them some opportunities, a little uncharacteristically, defensively early on, but you see what a player is made of when things don't go their way. You see what type of team and players you have when things don't go their way. When there's an inning-ending double play that is not made behind them and they score a few runs, you see how the pitcher – Randy Bell – and the player – Drew LaBounty – respond. It's almost like they lacked a pulse out there. LaBounty made a mistake and he comes right back and kept playing harder, and Randy Bell kept competing. It was a team effort tonight, as it always is."
Perkins went 3-for-4 –tying a career high in hits – with a double and a career-high three RBI to lead USA offensively. Paparella added a double and an RBI, and Donovan had one hit and drove in one run. Hill finished 3-for-5 with two home runs, two RBI and three runs scored to lead the Bobcats at the plate.
"This was a big one," Calvi said. "Our team believed in Randy, and no matter what happens the mark of this team is we are going to compete and play hard no matter what. We understand the game can turn on a dime, whether good or bad, for you or against you. And when things happen, whether good or bad, you keep working and don't get caught up in the good or bad things. We became more of a team tonight. We figured out how to win against a really good pitcher, and what we have to do in some clutch moments as far as making pitches and at-bats."
The series will continue with game two Friday at 4 p.m. at Bobcat Baseball Stadium.
Cajuns Edge Panthers, 4-2, in Series Opener
LAFAYETTE, La. – The 29th-ranked Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns baseball team plated two runs in the bottom of the eight to defeat Georgia State 4-2 in the series opener Thursday night at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field.
The victory ends a three-game skid and improves the Cajuns to 13-9 on the season and 4-3 in Sun Belt Conference play, while the Panthers fall to 12-10 overall and 2-2 in league play.
"With pitched and played defense tonight. That's got to be our M.O., we have to pitch and play defense and get timely hitting," head coach Tony Robichaux said. "I have faith in Wyatt (Marks) that he can come back and just let it roll. Tonight he let it all hang out. We are making some adjustments offensively, and we are trying to get back to pitching, playing defense and getting timely hitting."
Marks posted his third quality start of the season in his longest outing of 2016 limiting GSU to two runs on six hits in 6.1 innings of work. Marks struck out six and walked three in a no decision.
Sophomore Dylan Moore (2-1) picked up his second win of the year going two scoreless innings in relief to close out the contest. Moore saw just one Panther reach base in the two frames on a one-out walk in the ninth.
Bryce Conley (4-2) was tagged with the loss for Georgia State after surrendering two runs in 0.1 innings with three walks and a strikeout.
GSU starter Wayne Wages was strong on the mound in a no decision, holding the Ragin' Cajuns to two runs on two hits in seven innings with six strikeouts.
Offensively, the Cajuns were outhit 6-2 with Jaylen Woullard and James Clements each tallying a pair of hits for Georgia State. The two hits are the fewest posted by Louisiana in a game this season.
The Cajuns took an early 2-0 lead on a controversial two-run homer to center by Joe Robbins in the bottom of the first. The home run is the sixth of the season for Robbins.
After four scoreless innings, the Panthers clawed their way back into the game scoring a pair of runs in the sixth to even the contest at 2-all. Joey Roach brought home the first run of the inning sending an RBI double off the wall in left to cut the Louisiana advantage to 2-1. Following a Marks wild pitch that moved Roach to third, Ryan Blanton tied the game with a sacrifice fly to right to score Roach.
In the bottom of the eighth, the Cajuns would plate two runs without the benefit of a hit to take a 4-2 edge. Stefan Trosclair got the inning started as he was hit by a pitch and then stole second. After a Brenn Conrad walk and a Robbins strikeout, Steven Sensley walked to load the bases. In the next at bat, Ishmael Edwards drew a four-pitch walk from Conley to bring home Trosclair and put the Ragin' Cajuns up 3-2. Nick Thurman tacked on an insurance run in the next at-bat scoring Conrad on a sac fly to deep centerfield.
Moore faced the minimum in the top of the ninth inducing a ground ball double play from Nick Gatewood to end the contest.
Louisiana and Georgia State return to action tomorrow night at 6 p.m. at The Tigue as the Cajuns look to clinch their fourth series victory of the year. Sophomore left-hander Gunner Leger will make the start for the Cajuns. The Panthers will send right-hander Marc-Andre Habeck to the mound.
Challenger’s 10 Ks Stymie Arkansas State in 8-3 Road Victory
JONESBORO, ARK. – Georgia Southern Baseball opened its three-game series at Arkansas State with an 8-3 win on Thursday night. Georgia Southern picked up its fifth-straight road win to improve to 14-7 and 5-2 in league play behind a career-high 10 strikeouts from starting pitcher Evan Challenger. The Trojans fell to 10-11 on the year and 2-5 in Sun Belt play. Game two of the series is set for Friday night at 7 p.m. (ET)/6 p.m. (CT).
Thursday's game featured a 20 mph breeze blowing out to left field to make it a rare hitter's day at Tomlison Stadium in Jonesboro.
QUOTABLES
HEAD COACH RODNEY HENNON
"We got the four-spot in the second inning and they helped us out with a couple of errors. We took advantage of that and got some big at bats from the bottom of the lineup. Those guys gave us some good at bats and got some good hits. I thought (Evan) Challenger got better as the game went on. He wasn't very sharp the first few innings, but he settled in and pitched well for us. We've got to come out and play with a sense of urgency again tomorrow. I liked the energy tonight, it was a good start, but we've got to bring it again tomorrow night."
PITCHERS OF RECORD
WIN – Evan Challenger (4-2)
LOSS – Tyler Zuber (2-2)
SAVE – None
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Evan Challenger – LHP – R-JR - Mount Dora, Fla.
7.2 IP – 6H – 3R – 3 ER – 2BB – 10K
Evan Challenger delivered an outstanding outing on a hitter's day in Jonesboro. The redshirt junior gave up just six hits and three runs to pick up his fourth win of the season. He walked two and struck out a career high 10 batters.
CRUCIAL MOMENTS
TOP 2nd – Georgia Southern capitalized on two Red Wolf errors to take an early 4-0 lead. CJ Ballard scored one with a double to left while Lawson Humphries tallied his first collegiate hit to plate Ballard. A sacrifice fly from Evan McDonald and an infield single by CJ Brazil did the rest of the damage to provide some early run support for Evan Challenger.
BOTTOM 2nd – A-State responded immediately with a run of their own in the second, loading the bases with a walk and two hits. An RBI ground out by Neil Lambert
TOP 3rd – Three doubles in the third opened the door for the Eagles to score two more in the frame with Logan Baldwin and Ballard coming in to score.
TOP 4th – Brazil clubbed his fourth double of the season to open the frame, but it was a sacrifice fly from Ryan Cleveland that drove in the Eagle catcher to extend the lead to 7-1.
BOTTOM 4th – A leadoff walk came back to haunt the Eagles with Joe Scheimpf lofting a two-run home run to left. The ball got into the gale blowing out to left and carried just over the wall to cut the lead to 7-3.
TOP 8th – CJ Brazil tagged his third hit of the game with a solo shot to left to extend the lead to 8-3. It marked the second-straight game that the Eagle backstop has hit a home run.
NOTES
- Ryan Cleveland extended his hit streak to 11-straight games. He went 1-for-3 to improve to 13-43 over the last 11 games where he is hitting .302.
- The bottom three hitters in the Eagle lineup combined for six hits, tallying two each. Lawson Humphries went 2-for-4 with a double to take his first career hits. Cal Baker was 2-for-5 with a run scored while CJ Ballard got two hits (both doubles), two runs scored and two RBIs.
- Leadoff hitter Evan McDonald's 11-game hit streak came to an end on Thursday night when he went 0-for-3. He got an RBI off a sac fly and opened the game by getting hit on the second pitch of the game.
- Georgia Southern had six extra base hits in the game, surpassing their previous season high by two. The Eagles tied their season-high in just the fourth inning.
- The Eagles tallied 13 hits in the game, one off of a season-high 14 against College of Charleston on March 1st.
NEXT GAME
The Easter Weekend series continues on Friday night with game two starting at 7 p.m. (ET)/6 p.m. (CT) in Jonesboro. Video streaming is available at AStateRedWolves.com with radio coverage from the Georgia Southern Sports Network available at GSEagles.com/showcase.
ULM Uses Big Innings to Down Appalachian State
MONROE, La. -- ULM scored 10 runs on 13 hits en route to a 10-5 win over Appalachian State on Thursday night at Warhawk Field.
After the two teams traded zeros in the first and second, the Warhawks (9-12, 1-3 Sun Belt) struck first as they plated a pair of runs in the bottom of the third. Nathan Reynolds led off the inning with a double down the left field line and Cade Stone followed with a double of his own to bring in the game’s first run. Later in the inning Stone scored on a RBI single by Nathan Pugh.
Appalachian State (4-18, 0-7 SBC scored a single run in the fourth to trim the deficit to one. Matt Vernon scored via an error at first base.
ULM responded with a four-run fourth inning. Jacob Stockton scored on a sacrifice fly by Josh Faciane and Cade Stone connected on a three-run homer to push the advantage to five runs at 6-1.
Two innings later the Warhawks again struck for four runs to extend the lead to nine runs (10-1). Three different ULM batters recorded an RBI in the inning (Cade Stone, Anthony Herrera and Nathan Pugh) and the fourth run came in thanks to a throwing error to cap the four-run frame.
The Mountaineers scored a trio of runs in the seventh and one more in the ninth to set the final tally at 10-5.
Chris Hunt (2-2) earned the win after pitching six complete innings and allowed two earned runs (four total) on nine hits and one walk. He set a new career-best with nine punchouts on Thursday night.
Breydan Gorham (1-3) was tagged with the loss after allowing 10 runs (nine earned) on 12 hits and two walks in 5.2 innings of work.
Cade Stone paced the Warhawk offense as he tallied three hits, five RBI and three runs.
Hollie drives in 5 as UTA blasts UIW in series opener
ARLINGTON, Texas – Christian Hollie's career night at the plate and UT Arlington's season-high 17 hits fueled a 10-2 series-opening victory over Incarnate Word on Thursday night at Clay Gould Ballpark.
Five Mavericks had multi-hit games as UTA (12-11) won its first game with double figure runs since March 12. Hollie set new career highs with five RBI and four hits, and was just a triple shy of the cycle. Darien McLemore was 3-for-4 with a pair of runs.
It was the Mavs sixth win in their last eight games at Clay Gould Ballpark, and its first win in three tries against Incarnate Word who fell to 5-17 on the season.
"We've been swinging it pretty well," coach Darin Thomas said. "Some guys made some adjustments and it's good to see some balls falling for once."
Jacob Moreland earned his first win of the season in middle relief without allowing a single hit and dealing four strikeouts. The senior needed just 32 pitches to finish out his 3.2 scoreless frames.
Starter Brad Vassar tossed the opening 4.1 innings and allowed two earned runs on seven hits with three strikeouts and a walk. Freshman Logan Austin also got into his second game of the season in throwing a scoreless ninth.
"Brad gave us everything he's got," Thomas said. "Moreland can throw every day, so he came in and did his thing. I thought Logan Austin threw really well in the last inning. It was an all around good effort."
The Cardinals struck early with two runs on a pair of RBI singles in the top of the first. Both hits came with two-strike counts and two outs on the board.
RJ Williams crushed his first homer of the season into the shrubs behind the left field fence to cut into Incarnate Word's quick lead.
The Mavericks kept swinging into the second as McLemore singled to lead the rally. Hollie doubled to right center to plate McLemore. Two batters later, Matt McLean walked, but was thrown out on a fielder's choice from Noah Vaughan, though the chopper to short brought Hollie home for the first of Vaughan's two RBI on the night.
From there, UTA decided a one-run lead wasn't enough.
After a scoreless third and another McLean walk, Williams laced a sacrifice fly out to right field to extend the lead 4-2 in the bottom of the fourth.
UIW attempted to add a few to the scoreboard in the fifth frame with a pair of singles, but Moreland had other plans and got Christian Divelbiss looking on a 3-2 count to negate any hope the Cardinals had.
An inning later, Hollie stretched the game further out of reach and connected at the sweet spot of the bat for his second home run of the season, a two-run shot that upped the lead to 6-2.
"I got that pretty good and off the bat, I knew it was gone, so I just started jogging," Hollie said.
UTA fed off that energy in the bottom of the seventh. Josh Minjarez singled with two outs and got the go-ahead on McLean's screaming triple to right field. Vaughan poked a single into right-center for his second RBI of the night to make it an 8-2 ballgame.
The stage was set for a confident Hollie in the eighth with bases loaded and nobody out. Following three consecutive singles from Brady Cox, Quintin Rohrbaugh and McLemore, UTA's designated hitter poked a single through to the left side to close the night with an eight-run advantage.
"I haven't been swinging it to the best of my ability lately, but I've been working a lot with the coaches and it's good to see the work pay off in the end," Hollie said.
Game 2 of the series is set for 6:30 p.m. Friday at Clay Gould Ballpark with Daniel James getting the start for the Mavs. The series finale will be played at 2 p.m. on Sunday.