Friday, April 1

Trojans Earn Sixth Consecutive Sun Belt Win at App State
BOONE, N.C. – Little Rock baseball (13-12, 6-4 Sun Belt) got its weekend started on a solid note as it took a 9-3 win over Appalachian State (6-20, 1-9) on Friday night at Smith Stadium in Boone. The Trojans' six-game winning streak in Sun Belt play ties for the longest in program history.

Dalton Thomas had the big bat for Little Rock as he improved his hitting streak to 21 games and went 4 for 5 with four RBIs and a run.

Ryan Scott, the nation's leading hitter, went a perfect 3 for 3 with three runs, an RBI, a walk and was hit by pitch. His three hits now give him 50 for the season and improves his batting average to .515 for the year.

The third Trojan to have multiple hits was Nik Gifford as he went 2 for 4 with three RBIs.

Starter Matt McDowell (1-0) earned his first win and had the longest outing of the season for Little Rock as he went 7.1 innings with four strikeouts and a walk while giving up three runs (one earned) and nine hits on 99 pitches.

"I'm very proud of Matt McDowell," head coach Chris Curry said. "He gave us exactly what we needed. On Friday night, you want your starter to go deep into a game so that it saves your bullpen for Saturday and Sunday since you never know what kind of trouble you'll get into. I can't compliment him enough on the job he did, especially times when he got into trouble."

Scoreless through two innings, Little Rock jumpstarted its offense in the top of the third with two runs on three hits. Zach Baker hit a leadoff single to left center before Hayden Martin walked on four pitches. Hunter Owens moved the runners into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. Scott brought the lead runner home on a sacrifice fly to deep center for the Trojans' first run. Thomas kept the inning going with an RBI single to short and extended his hitting streak in the process. Hayden Martin scored on the play to put Little Rock up 2-0.

Appalachian State responded in the bottom of the fourth. Grayson Attwood walked to begin the inning before a bunt single by Brian Bauk. However, a throwing error to first allowed the runners to advance into scoring position with no outs. After a line out, Beau Myers hit an RBI single to left to cut Little Rock's lead to 2-1.

With two outs in the top of the fifth, Scott earned his second hit of the game with a single up the middle. After Scott advanced to second on a passed ball, Thomas earned his second hit with an RBI single up the middle as Scott scored to give Little Rock a 3-1 lead.

The seventh inning was a big one for the Trojans as they jumped out to a 6-1 lead as everyone in the lineup had an at-bat. Martin got the inning started with a single to left center before Owens was hit by a pitch. This prompted the Mountaineers to go to the bullpen for the first time as Reed Howell came on for starter Bobby Hampton (1-4). Howell had a rough go of it as Scott walked to load the bases with no outs. Thomas earned his third hit and third RBI of the evening with a single through the left side. Gifford then hit a sacrifice fly with bases loaded to put across the Trojans' second run of the inning. After Cameron Knight was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Kyle Kirk hit the Trojans' third sacrifice fly of the game to deep left to score Owens for the third and final run of the inning.

Little Rock's eight inning proved to be just as successful as the seventh as the Trojans once again had everyone in the lineup make an appearance at the plate. With one out, Owens singled to center and advanced to second on a fielding error. After Scott was hit by a pitch, Thomas earned his fourth hit and fourth RBI with a single up the middle to score Owens. Gifford then came up and delivered the biggest hit of the inning with a two-run double to left center as Scott and Thomas scored to give Little Rock a commanding 9-1 lead.

McDowell exited the game in the bottom of the eighth after giving up an RBI single by Bauke. Cody Daylor came on and earned a strikeout before giving up an RBI single to left by Myers. That would be all for App State as a fly out to center ended the inning. Daylor finished off the Mountaineers in the bottom of the ninth as App State had two fly outs, a ground out and just one hit to conclude the game.

Little Rock will go for its third straight Sun Belt series win and seventh consecutive conference win tomorrow at 2 p.m. (CT).

A-State Baseball Holds Off Louisiana-Lafayette for 7-6 Win
JONESBORO, Ark. (4/1/16) – The Arkansas State baseball team built a 7-0 lead and held off No. 27 Louisiana-Lafayette for a 7-6 victory in the Sun Belt series opener against the Ragin’ Cajuns Friday night at Tomlinson Stadium/Kell Field.

Tanner Ring, who went 1-for-4 with a RBI and run scored, pitched the final two innings to earn his third save of the season. He entered in the top of the eighth after the Ragin’ Cajuns had scored six runs in the previous two innings and allowed only one hit and a walk while facing eight hitters.

Louisiana-Lafayette (16-10, 6-4 SBC) got within inches of tying the game in the ninth, but leftfielder Tony Ortiz made a leaping catch at the wall for the first out of the inning to preserve the lead before Ring sandwiched a strikeout and a groundout around a two-out single to put A-State (13-12, 4-6 SBC) in the win column.

Tyler Zuber (3-2) picked up the win allowing five runs, four earned, on seven hits in 5.1 innings of work. Gunner Leger (3-2) took the loss for Louisiana, allowing five runs, all earned, on five hits in four innings.

A two-out rally by the Red Wolves in the third opened the scoring as A-State grabbed a 4-0 lead. Ty White was plunked with one out and Jeremy Brown followed with a single to put two on with one out. After a lineout nearly resulted in an inning-ending double play, Ring hit a two-out single up the middle to drive in White. Matt Burgess followed and turned on the first pitch for his third home run in as many games to clear the bases and put A-State up 4-0.

The Red Wolves added another tally in the fifth, but failed to capitalize on a second-straight big inning. A leadoff walk to Tony Ortiz got the line moving for A-State and Frankie Alvarez moved Ortiz to scoring position with a well-placed sacrifice bunt. Tim Seldomridge took the second walk of the inning to put two on with one out and White delivered a RBI single to increase the lead to 5-0. Leger pitched out of the jam via a strikeout and groundout.

A-State expanded the lead with a two-run fifth to lead the Ragin’ Cajuns 7-0. A one out walk to Burgess came back to hurt Louisiana (16-10, 6-4 SBC) as Joe Schrimpf tripled off the top of the wall in left-centerfield to make it 6-0. Ortiz was hit by a pitch to put runners on the corners with one out and Alvarez executed the safety-squeeze play to make it a 7-0 lead for the Red Wolves.

After seeing the leadoff man reach in three of the first five innings, Louisiana cashed in on a leadoff walk in the sixth. The Ragin’ Cajuns posted five runs on five hits and an A-State error to cut the Red Wolves lead to 7-5. Louisiana had the bases loaded twice in the inning, but Cody Jackson came on in relief and got a force out at third to hold the two run advantage.

The Ragin’ Cajuns added on run in the seventh and put the potential tying run on 90 feet away with two outs. Louisiana again used the leadoff man to create scoring opportunities, this time via a leadoff single. A groundout moved the runner to scoring position and a single to right field cut the Red Wolves lead to one, 7-6. The Ragin’ Cajuns put runners on the corners with two out, but Jackson painted the outside corner for a called strike three to end the threat.

A-State looks for the series win Saturday at 4 p.m. against the Ragin’ Cajuns at Tomlinson Stadium/Kell Field. The game will air live on ESPN3.