Friday, April 15
Mountaineers Take Opener from Jaguars with Walk-off
BOONE, N.C. — Freshman Beau Myers’ bases-loaded walk capped a three-run rally in the bottom of the ninth inning and lifted Appalachian State University baseball to its biggest win of the season to date, a 4-3 triumph over No. 23 South Alabama on Friday night at Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium.
With the victory, Appalachian State (9-25, 4-12 Sun Belt) handed 23rd-ranked South Alabama (26-9, 15-1 Sun Belt) its first Sun Belt Conference loss of the season. After going nearly 29 years without beating a nationally ranked team from 1982-2011, App State now owns 10 wins over ranked teams since ‘11, including at least one in five of the last six seasons.
Things looked bleak for the Mountaineers on Friday night when they entered the bottom of the ninth inning facing a 3-1 deficit and South Alabama closer Shane McKinley on the mound. However, McKinley (1-2) was shaky from the get-go, walking senior Grayson Atwood and sophomore Chandler Seagle to put the tying run on base with nobody out.
Pinch-hitter Drake Zupcic followed with a perfectly executed sacrifice bunt to bring Matt Vernon to the plate with runners on second and third and one out. Vernon, who was 0-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts to that point in the contest, fell behind 0-2 in the count, prompting head coach Billy Jones to call a timeout to meet with the junior-college transfer. After the conference with Jones, Vernon drew even in the count at 2-2 then ripped a line drive back up the middle. Pinch-runner Jason Curtis and Seagle easily scored to knot the ballgame at 3-3.
Following Vernon’s game-tying hit, McKinley issued walks to two of the Mountaineers’ next three batters to load the bases for Myers with two outs. Myers never took the bat off his shoulder, walking on five pitches to force Vernon home with the winning run and trigger the Mountaineers’ third-straight walkoff celebration at home.
The late-game heroics overshadowed a terrific pitchers’ duel between Appalachian State true freshman Bobby Hampton and South Alabama all-America candidate Kevin Hill.
Hampton turned in the finest performance of his young career, keeping South Alabama off the scoreboard for the first six innings of the game. Protecting a 1-0 lead the seventh, the southpaw allowed a one-out single but retired the next batter to bring No. 7 hitter Danny Martinez to the plate with two outs. Martinez, who came into the game with just one home run this season, launched a 2-0 pitch into the USA bullpen in right field to give the Jaguars their first lead at 2-1.
Hampton was lifted from the game after a career-high-tying seven innings pitched and South Alabama tacked on another run in the top of the eighth to make it 3-1. The eighth-inning damage could have been much worse but App State reliever Reed Howell came on with two on, no outs and a run already in and got out of the jam with a groundout and two strikeouts.
Howell (3-1) pitched another perfect inning in the ninth to earn the win. Hampton (7.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 K) did not figure in the decision despite outdueling Hill (8.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 8 K) for much of the evening. Thanks to the Mountaineers’ ninth-inning comeback against McKinley, Hill also didn’t figure in decision and remains at 7-1 on the season.
Leonard went 3-for-4 to pace Appalachian State’s seven-hit attack while Myers and Vernon drove in two runs apiece. Vernon’s game-tying single in the ninth extended his hitting streak to 11 games, the longest by a Mountaineer this season.
Heart-stopping contests have become a trend for Appalachian State, as five of the Mountaineers’ last six Sun Belt games have been decided in walkoff fashion. App State claimed back-to-back walkoff wins two weekends ago against Little Rock and suffered consecutive walkoff defeats last weekend at Troy.
Appalachian State and South Alabama resume their three-game Sun Belt series on Saturday. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. at Smith Stadium.
Simmons, Mavericks Shut Out Eagles
ARLINGTON, Texas - Kadon Simmons struck out 10 and dazzled throughout the night in tossing a three-hit, complete-game shutout on Friday night as UT Arlington took a 4-0 win over Georgia Southern in the series opener at Clay Gould Ballpark.
The righty had flirted with complete games twice earlier in the season, but finished the job on Friday in moving back into a tie for tops in the Sun Belt with his seventh win of the year. It was the first complete-game shutout for a Maverick pitcher since Rett Varner shut out Texas State in San Marcos on May 21, 2010.
"Kadon (Simmons) was outstanding," coach Darin Thomas said after the game. "We knew we were facing a really good pitcher in Challenger. He's one of the top three pitchers in the conference for a reason and we were able to able to take advantage of a couple of mistakes and that extended the inning."
"Darien (McLemore) had a couple of huge hits for us. Noah (Vaughan) had a big hit and we were able to get some guys in. We talked about it yesterday, it may only take three or four runs. That's about all he's (Challenger) going to give up."
Simmons allowed a pair of doubles on the night, but did not allow a hit after a leadoff single in the top of the fifth and closed out the night by retiring 10 of the final 11 hitters he faced.
"Normally when you're pitching you don't notice the crowd, you just try and tune everything out, but you can definitely here it," Simmons said following the win. "It's exciting knowing you've got the fans behind you and just that little extra push. It felt good. I got close a couple times ear lie in the year. I was excited when I got to go back out in the ninth and try and finish the ting off. It worked out for the best."
The Mavs (20-15, 6-7 SBC) had their hands full against the Eagles' (19-15, 7-9 SBC) all-conference lefty Evan Challenger, but managed to score all four of their runs with two outs, getting two in the fourth and two more in the sixth, which proved to be enough on the night. He took the loss for Georgia Southern, falling to 4-3 for the season.
Offensively, the Mavs were able to muster just seven hits, but bunched them together and played clean defense on the night behind Simmons. Darien McLemore led the way with a 2-for-3 night at the plate, driving in three runs, none bigger than his 2-out, 2-run triple in the bottom of the sixth that pushed the lead to 4-0.
Brady Cox a pair of hits on the night, as did Colton Turner who scored a pair of runs.
Simmons fanned his first two hitters in the opening frame, stranding an Eagle on third base before retiring the next eight hitters he faced prior to a 1-out double from Ryan Cleveland in the fourth. But that rally went nowhere for Georgia Southern after Simmons left him on third with a punchout of Hunter Thomas.
UTA then got on the board in the bottom half of the inning, taking advantage of a 2-out Eagle error to get two runs up. The 2-out rally started with Turner's first hit of the night, a sharp double into the left-field corner followed by a throwing error on the Eagles' second baseman to put runners on the corners. Noah Vaughan then delivered a sure single to right field to score Turner and McLemore followed with a first-pitch single to right to score Christian Hollie and give Simmons a lead to work with.
That proved to be all Simmons would need for the night, but UTA gave him two more runs in the bottom of the sixth after consecutive singles from Cox and Turner got things going. But Challenger nearly worked his way out of the jam following a sac bunt, getting a grounder with the infield in to keep the runners in scoring position; however, McLemore then delivered the game's big hit when he tagged the first pitch he saw from Challenger into the right-center field gap and raced into third with a 2-run triple.
From there, Simmons took it the rest of the way, allowing just one batter to reach base in the final three innings while striking out five of the final nine hitters to come to the plate.
UTA will try to clinch the series on Saturday when the teams play a doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m. at Clay Gould Ballpark.
Troy Knocks Off Arkansas State, 11-1
JONESBORO, Arkansas – A seven run inning propelled the Troy baseball team to an 11-1 victory over Arkansas State on Friday night at Tomlinson Field.
"Tonight was about as solid of a win as we've had in the past few years," head coach Mark Smartt said. "I thought we played well on the road and in all phases of the game. I'm really proud of the team."
Troy (21-14, 7-6 Sun Belt), who was already up 3-0, scored seven runs in the sixth inning and took a 10-0 lead. Justin Friend drew a walk to start the inning; followed by a Matt Sanders double to right center. Friend scored on a groundout to first base for the first run of the inning, fourth of the game.
The next batter, Chase Smartt, singled up the middle and drove in Sanders that made the game 5-0. Smartt scored on a wild pitch and Cameron Sanders drove in the fourth run of the inning with an infield single.
The Trojans took an 8-0 advantage when Joey Denison singled up the middle for the sixth run of the inning and the seventh run of the inning came from Matt Sanders, who singled through the left side and gave Troy a 10-0 lead. It was the first time Troy scored seven runs in an inning since March 23, 2014, when they did it against ULM in the fourth inning.
Grant Bennett (5-2) picked up the win pitching seven shutout innings. He struck out five, only allowed four hits and walked two. Robert Harris came in to close the game and pitched the final two innings and struck out three, but gave up the lone run of the game.
Arkansas State (13-20, 4-12 Sun Belt) scored its only run of the game on a single in the ninth inning. Cody Jackson (0-2) suffered the loss for the Red Wolves. He pitched 5.1 innings, gave up nine hits, seven runs and walked three. Arkansas State as a pitching staff walked eight total batters.
Six different Trojans had multi-hit nights. Matt Sanders and Cameron Sanders had three hits each. Matt Sanders scored two, drove in two runs and had two doubles. It's the first time he's had two doubles in one game this season, but the second multi-double game of his career. Cameron Sanders scored one run and drove in one on the night.
Matt Sanders was one of four players that had two RBIs. The other three were Smartt and Denison, who both had two hits and two RBIs. Trevor Davis was the other, he had one hit on the night, but scored two runs.
Every Trojan in the lineup, except for one, scored at least one run against Arkansas State. Davis along with two others scored two runs.
The two teams will square off at Tomlinson Stadium on Saturday at 6 p.m. The game can be seen live on ESPN3.
Cajun Pitching Holds Up Lions in 4-1 Win
LAFAYETTE, La. – The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns baseball pitching staff was lights out on Friday night limiting a potent Southeastern Louisiana lineup to one hit as the 22nd-ranked Cajuns defeated the Lions 4-1 to open the series at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field.
The win improves the Ragin' Cajuns to 23-11 on the season. Louisiana has now won 11 of its last 13 contests and is 14-2 at The Tigue this year. Southeastern Louisiana falls to 25-10 overall as the Lions have dropped three straight decisions.
"Our hitters did a good job of having a good approach at the plate tonight against a good pitcher," head coach Tony Robichaux said. "He made a couple mistakes and we made him pay for them. Tonight we were able to play a complete ball game with pitching, defense and timely hitting. That's what we needed to do to beat them with the kind of arm that they had on the mound."
Leger (4-2) was outstanding in his sixth quality start of the season holding the Lions to one run on one hit in seven innings to notch his fourth win of the year. The left-hander walked two and struck out two as he retired the last 10 batters that he faced.
Relievers Eric Carter and Dylan Moore combined to toss two scoreless innings to close out the game. Carter fanned two in an inning of work, while Moore picked up his seventh save of the year and 21st of his career with a perfect ninth inning.
The trio held the nation's leading hitting, Jameson Fisher, to an 0-for-3 night at the plate with one free pass.
SLU starter Kyle Cedotal (4-4) was handed his fourth loss of the season after giving up four runs (three earned) on eight hits in 6.1 innings.
Offensively, Brian Mills and Stefan Trosclair led the way with two hits apiece as the Cajuns had nine hits on the evening.
Louisiana got on the board first in the bottom of the second as Dylon Poncho scored on a throwing error by the Lions shortstop Brennan Breaud with two outs to make the score 1-0. Nick Thurman was thrown out at the plate on the play trying to score from second on the errant throw by Breaud.
Southeastern Louisiana answered with a run of its own in the top of the third to even the contest at 1-all on a sacrifice fly to left field by Taylor Schwaner.
The Ragin' Cajuns regained the lead in the bottom half the third when Mills scored on a wild pitch by Cedotal with two outs. Mills doubled to lead off the inning and then moved to third on a ball hit to shortstop by Joe Robbins with one out.
Brenn Conrad extended the Cajuns advantage to 3-1 in the bottom of the fourth as he drove a 2-1 pitch from Cedotal over the fence in right field for his third home run of the season.
Robbins tacked on the final run of the game in the bottom of the sixth with a solo opposite field home run to right to give Louisiana a 4-1 edge. The home run was the ninth of the year for Robbins.
The Ragin' Cajuns pitching staff retired 16 of the final 17 batters in the contest to give the squad a three-game win streak.
The Cajuns and Lions return to action tomorrow at 6 p.m. as the series shifts to Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field in Hammond, La.
Sophomore right-hander Wyatt Marks (3-3, 4.22) will take the mound for Louisiana, while SLU will turn to sophomore right-hander Mac Sceroler (5-2, 2.30 ERA).
The two teams will close out the series at 1 p.m. on Sunday at Alumni Field. Both games can be seen live on Cox Sports Television (CST), channel 37 on Cox and channel 35 on LUS. The broadcast will be simulcast on ESPN3.com outside of the Cox viewing area.
The contest can also be heard on News Talk 96.5 KPEL-FM with Jay Walker and Jeff Schneider making the call.
Little Sweeps Doubleheader from Texas State
SAN MARCOS, Texas – Two games, two victories. That’s what Little Rock baseball (17-17, 10-7 Sun Belt) finished Friday with as it took wins by scores of 8-7 and 10-2 in a doubleheader at Texas State (21-15, 9-5). Friday’s wins gave the Trojans their fourth Sun Belt series victory of the season.
Little Rock’s 10-7 Sun Belt record to start the season is tied for the best in program history.
The Trojans two wins upped their overall win total to 17 for the season, bypassing last year’s 16.
For the entire day, Cameron Knight and Ryan Scott each picked up five hits and an RBI each. Hayden Martin went 4 for 8 with five RBIs and a run. Dalton Thomas also had four hits in addition to two RBIs, a home run and a double. Zach Baker, Kyle Kirk and Nik Gifford each had three hits while Gifford had a home run.
GAME 1
The Trojans took an early lead in the top of the second inning. With runners on the corners and two outs, Hayden Martin was clutch with an RBI single into left as Zach Baker scored to put Little Rock up 1-0.
The Bobcats didn’t take long to respond as they took a 2-1 lead with two runs on three hits. After two singles, Luke Sherley put the first runner across the plate with an RBI double to left center. Jared Huber then hit an RBI ground to second to score the second run of the inning.
Little Rock knotted it back up in the top of the third. Ryan Scott led off the inning with his 10th double of the season to right field. With Dalton Thomas at the plate, a failed pickoff attempt allowed Scott to take third, but then an errant fielding attempt in center permitted Scott to score and tie the game at 2-2.
After the Trojans threatened in the top of the fourth inning, the Bobcats took the lead once again in the bottom frame. With runners on the corners, Sherley singled through the left side to score Tanner Hill, who led off the inning with a double.
Little Rock punched back in the top of the fifth with two run on three hits to retake the lead at 5-4. After Thomas earned his ninth double of the year to lead off the inning, Cameron Knight earned his third hit of the game with an RBI single up the middle. After Baker laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Knight to second, Kyle Kirk hit an RBI single to left to plate Knight.
The lead exchanged hands once again in the bottom of the inning. After a single, a walk and a passed ball put runners in scoring position, the Bobcats’ Granger Studdard hit a two-run double to give Texas State a 5-4 lead.
Little Rock starter Matt McDowell gave way to reliever Keenan Wingfield to begin the bottom of the seventh inning. Things didn’t exactly go Wingfield’s after walking Hill and allowing him to advance on a wild pitch. With two outs, a Jaylen Hubbard single to left scored Hill and put Texas State up by two at 6-4.
Jarrid Garcia replaced Wingfield to begin the bottom of the eighth inning. After a double and a two-out walk, Cody McGill (1-3) made his way into the game. McGill then gave up an RBI single to Hill as Jonathan Ortega scored the Bobcats’ seventh run.
With an 0-15 record when trailing after the eighth inning this season, Little Rock had much to accomplish in the top of the ninth if it wanted to pull out a win. Texas State made things tougher as it brought on the Sun Belt Conference’s saves leader Pasquale Mazzoccoli. Scott got the inning started on good note with a leadoff single up the middle. Things got even better as Thomas hit a two-run blast to right to cut the deficit to 7-6. With one out, Knight earned his fourth hit of the game with a single up the middle. Christian Reyes came on to pinch run for night and got into scoring position on a wild pitch. After Kyle Kirk walked, Riley Pittman came on to pinch hit. With a 2-2 count, Pittman hit an RBI single through the right side as Reyes scored the tying run. Martin delivered the biggest hit of the afternoon with an RBI single left as Kirk scored the go-ahead run to put Little Rock up 8-7.
Cody Daylor came on to close it out, and he didn’t disappoint as two ground outs and a strikeout earned Daylor his first save and gave Little Rock the series opening win.
“I love coaching these guys because of their fight,” head coach Chris Curry said. “We’re coming together as a team, and we can feel it as brothers. We talk a lot about not caring who gets the at-bat or who gets the base hit. Texas State is really good club who can swing it, and I feel like we kept them contained. They’re going to get their hits. We’re learning to become an unselfish team and play together. That’s why they’re fun to coach.”
GAME 2
Texas State got the first run of the game in the bottom of the second inning with a solo shot to left center by Hill.
After a scoreless third inning, Little Rock’s bats burst into flames in the fourth. Two hits and an error loaded the bases, but a double play quickly gave the Trojans two outs as Gifford scored to tie the game. After Keegan Meyn walked, Martin hit an RBI single to right to score Knight. Hunter Owens then hit a two-run triple down the right field line, his second of the year, as Meyn and Martin scored. The Trojans weren’t done just yet as Scott hit an RBI single to right to score Owens and give Little Rock a 5-1 lead.
Little Rock had another big inning in the fifth as they took a 9-1 lead with four runs on four hits and an error. With runners in scoring position, Kirk hit an RBI single to left to score Knight. With a 2-2 count, Meyn was hit by a pitch to load the bases. A wild pitch scored Baker and allowed all the other runners to move up 90 feet. Martin then hit a two-run single up the middle to score Meyn and Kirk as Little Rock took a 9-1 lead.
The Trojans’ lone run in the sixth came on leadoff homer by Nik Gifford that hit the top of Texas State’s scoreboard in right field. His fourth home run of the year gave Little Rock a commanding 10-1 lead.
Starter Dylan Slayton (2-1) had his longest outing of the season and picked up the win as he went 5.1 innings with two strikeouts and allowed just two hits, four walks and a run on 84 pitches. After loading the bases with one out for Texas State, Preston Oberling came on for Slayton and quickly defused the situation with a strikeout and an out at the plate on a near-wild pitch.
With two outs in the bottom of the eighth, Texas State’s Jonathan Ortega hit a solo shot to left to put a chip in Little Rock’s 10-2 lead.
Oberling stayed in the game for the ninth inning and shut the door on the Bobcats to earn his first save.
“We showed a lot of toughness in the second game,” Curry said. “It could have been very easy to rest on our laurels and feel good about ourselves getting the win in the first game. We challenged them to keep going and not be happy with just getting that first game, and they answered. That’s really good to see.”
Little Rock will go for the series sweep over Texas State tomorrow at 1 p.m., in San Marcos. A win in the series finale on Saturday would give the Trojans their best conference start in program history
Wages' Seven Shutout Innings Leads Georgia State to 7-3 Win at ULM
MONROE, LA. -- Georgia State starter Wayne Wages allowed just one in seven shutout innings while Joey Roach, Will Kilgore and Darius Sewell drove in two runs each to lead the Panthers to a 7-3 victory at ULM in the series opener Friday at Warhawk Field.
In a game that started two hours and 15 minutes late due to rain, Wages (3-3) tied his career highs with seven innings pitched and six strikeouts. The only hit he allowed was a third-inning double by Nathan Reynolds.
"What an incredible pitching performance on Friday night, on the road, and with a lot of uncertainty as to whether or not we would be able to play," head coach Greg Frady said. "I'm really proud of Wayne."
Roach, Kilgore and Sewell powered the offense as the Panthers (16-17, 5-8 Sun Belt) scored six of their seven runs with two outs.
Kilgore gave the Panthers an early lead with a two-run double in the second inning, scoring Sewell and Woullard, who both drew two-out walks.
One inning later, Roach delivered a two-out, RBI-single to bring home Justin Jones, who walked to lead off the inning.
The Panthers added two runs in the fifth as Jarrett Hood doubled with one out and then came home on Roach's single to center field. After advancing to second on a wild pitch, Roach scored on Sewell's opposite-field single to give GSU a 5-0 lead. That was the 100th career run scored by the senior catcher.
In the seventh, Sewell had another RBI-single, also to the opposite field, and then the freshman came around to score on a wild pitch as the Panthers extended their lead to 7-0.
Alex Hegner pitched the final two innings for Georgia State.
"For Wayne to come out and pitch seven innings and then Alex Hegner to finish it certainly helps us win, but it also keeps our bullpen in the right position for the rest of the series," Frady said.
"We really played really great defense to support our pitching staff. Our outfield defense was sensational tonight, and we put up a few hits and scored some runs. Darius Sewell had a great offensive night, and I'm really proud of him."
ULM (13-21, 4-9 Sun Belt) starter Trey Auger (1-1) took the loss.
The series continues Saturday at 7 p.m. ET.