Sunday, April 24
NO. 23 JAGS CLINCH SOUTHERN SERIES BEHIND BEMBNOWSKI
MOBILE, Ala. – Right-hander Austin Bembnowski turned in his fourth quality start of the season to lead the No. 23 University of South Alabama baseball team to a 7-1 series-clinching win over Southern Sunday at Stanky Field.
Bembnowski (5-1) allowed one run on five hits, and struck out five while issuing two walks in 6 2/3 innings pitched to earn his fifth win of the season. Right-hander Ryne Long struck out a career-high seven batters, recording every out via strikeout, and allowed just one hit in 2 1/3 scoreless innings to earn his first career save. SU right-hander Troy Lewis (1-3) allowed five runs on six hits with eight strikeouts and three walks in seven innings in the loss.
"We got off to a good start," USA head coach Mark Calvi said. "I would have liked to have seen us with a few more hits, but their (Southern) kid (Lewis) pitched well. He had a good fastball and he found his breaking ball; he made enough pitches that counted to keep you off balance. But we hit seven or eight balls really hard and ended up with nine hits. We pitched well and played very good defense; I was glad to see that."
USA (30-11) spotted Bembnowski a two-run lead in the bottom of the first. Travis Swaggerty led off the inning with a ground-rule double to right field, extending his hitting streak to 13 games, and Billingsley followed with a walk. A groundout to shortstop by Drew LaBounty moved both runners into scoring position before a wild pitch from Lewis allowed Swaggerty to score the first run of the game. A second wild pitch from Lewis on a third strike to Danny Martinez allowed Billingsley to score and double the Jag lead at 2-0.
South Alabama pushed its advantage to three runs in the bottom of the third. Billingsley led off the inning with a single to center field, advanced to second on a balk by Lewis and moved to third on a groundout to shortstop by LaBounty. Carter Perkins delivered a two-out RBI single to right field later in the inning to score Billingsley for a 3-0 lead.
Southern (12-24) answered with its first run of the game in the top of the fifth on a sacrifice fly to center field by Lewis to cut the USA lead to 3-1.
The Jaguars responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh to push their lead to four runs. Ben Gann led off the inning with a single back up the middle, and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Tanner Halstead. Brendan Donovan followed with a walk before Swaggerty delivered an RBI single through the right side of the infield to score Gann for a 4-1 Jag lead and put runners at the corners with one out. Swaggerty stole second before a balk by Lewis allowed Donovan to score and extend the USA lead to 5-1.
A two-out RBI double to left-center field by Gann and two-out RBI single by Tanner Halstead scored the game's final runs.
Swaggerty went 2-for-3 with a double, one RBI and one run scored, and Gann finished 2-for-4 with a double, one RBI and two runs scored to lead USA at the plate. Perkins added two hits and one RBI, and Halstead recorded one hit and drove in one run. Phillip Williams went 2-for-4 with one run scored to lead Southern offensively.
USA will return to action Tue., April 26, when it travels to Auburn, Ala., for a 6 p.m. contest against Auburn which will be broadcast by the SEC Network+.
Cajuns Blanks Texas State To Win Series
LAFAYETTE, La. – The 20th-ranked Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns baseball team got another stellar performance from the pitching staff as the Cajuns shut out Texas State 1-0 on Sunday at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field to win the squad's eighth series of the year.
The shutout is the fourth of the season for the Ragin' Cajuns who improve to 27-13 overall and 12-6 in league play. The Cajuns also improve to 17-3 at home this season.
"Today was just the game paying us back," head coach Tony Robichaux said. "We gave them one yesterday, and then they gave us one today. You saw what pitching and defense can do you for you right there. This win was big for us to be able to come back on a Sunday and get a win. You have to be able to come back from a loss and get a win if you want to a championship team."
Starter Nick Lee went six scoreless innings in a no decision and tied a career-high with eight strikeouts. Lee walked three in the outing and only surrendered two hits.
Eric Carter and Dylan Moore were good in relief coming on to hold the Bobcats (22-19, 10-8 Sun Belt) scoreless over the final three frames. Carter (2-0) earned his second victory of the season after tossing a scoreless seventh inning. Moore came on in the eighth and recorded a six-out save to pick up his tenth save of the season and 23rd of his career.
Texas State starter Jonathan Hennigan held Louisiana scoreless in six innings of work with three walks and four strikeouts. Reliever Anthony Pagano (0-1) was tabbed with the loss after giving up one run on two walks in 0.2 innings.
Offensively, the Bobcats outhit the Cajuns 4-3 with Tanner Hill going 2-for-4 at the plate. The Ragin' Cajuns drew eight walks in the contest with Stefan Trosclair, Steven Sensley, and Brenn Conrad each reaching twice on free passes.
The Cajuns put a runner in scoring position in four of the first five innings but could not find an answer to push across the first run of the game.
Texas State threatened in the top of the fourth loading the bases with one out on two walks and a Hill single. Lee bore down and got Dylan Paul to strike out swinging and Luke Sherley to fly out to right field to end the inning unscathed.
After six scoreless innings, the Cajuns loaded the bases drawing three straight two-out walks. Following a Texas State pitching change, Sensley drew a four-pitch walk from right-hander Chase Hodson to bring home the winning run.
The Ragin' Cajuns then turned to more Moore who allowed just one runner to reach in the final two innings to seal the victory for the Cajuns.
Louisiana returns to action on Tuesday as 6 p.m. as the team heads to Hattiesburg, Miss. to face Southern Miss in the first of five games on the week. The Cajuns then host Louisiana Tech on Wednesday at 6 p.m. before heading to UT Arlington for a three-game series next weekend.