Friday, April 29
App State, A-State Split Twinbill on Friday Night
BOONE, N.C. — Appalachian State University baseball scored 16 runs and banged out 27 hits in a doubleheader split with Arkansas State on Friday at Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium. Arkansas State won the opener, 9-7, but Appalachian State rebounded for a decisive 9-2 victory in the nightcap.
Appalachian State (12-31, 7-16 Sun Belt) slugged its way to 14 hits in Game 1 and 13 hits in Game 2. Eleven of the Mountaineers’ 27 hits went for extra bases (six doubles, a triple and four home runs). Freshman Tanner Mann-Fix and junior Matt Vernon led the offensive outburst with the duo combining to go 11-for-18 with two doubles, a triple, four home runs, 10 RBI and six runs scored over the course of the doubleheader.
App State also received solid starting pitching in both contests. Freshman Bobby Hampton allowed three earned runs on four hits over five innings in the opener while fellow freshman Breydan Gorham limited A-State to one run on three hits over seven innings in the nightcap.
Relief pitching in Game 1 proved to be the difference between a split and an Appalachian State sweep.
After the Mountaineers took a 6-4 lead in the second inning of the opener, Arkansas State reliever Tyler Zuber (4-3) came on and limited App State to one run over the final 7.1 innings of the game. Meanwhile, after Hampton departed the game in the sixth with the 6-4 advantage still intact, Appalachian’s bullpen surrendered five runs in four innings, which allowed the Red Wolves to rally for the victory.
In the nightcap, Appalachian State battered A-State’s pitching throughout the ballgame. The Mountaineers scored one run in the second inning, four in the fourth, one in the fifth, one in the sixth and two in the eighth to match their largest winning margin ever in a Sun Belt Conference game (App State beat UL Monroe, 7-0, on March 20 of last season).
Gorham (2-4) struck out four in Game 2 and needed only 101 pitches to cruise through a career-high-tying seven innings. Luke Watts closed it out with two innings of one-run relief.
Despite the sterling pitching in the nightcap, the story of the day for App State was its prolific offense, headlined by Mann-Fix and Vernon. Mann-Fix went 4-for-4 with two doubles, a home run, two RBI and two runs scored in the opener and was 2-for-4 with a triple, home run, RBI and two runs in the nightcap. Vernon finished 2-for-5 with a three-run homer in Game 1 and went 3-for-4 with another three-run blast and four total RBI in Game 2.
Tanner Ring had two hits in each game for Arkansas State (20-22, 9-14 Sun Belt), which had a six-game winning streak snapped with its defeat in the nightcap.
The rubber match of the rain-condensed three-game Sun Belt series has been moved to 1 p.m. Saturday at Smith Stadium.
Troy Holds off Texas State Rally for 12-8 Win
SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Troy baseball team survived a ninth inning rally by Texas State and sealed a 12-8 Friday night victory in the series opener at Bobcat Ballpark.
Troy (24-18, 10-9 Sun Belt) scored eight runs in the third inning – the first time a team has scored eight runs in an inning since April 5th, 2014 – and tacked on one more each in the fourth, sixth, eighth and ninth innings. However, Texas State (22-21, 10-9 Sun Belt) scored six in the ninth and had the tying run on deck as the final out was made.
Chase Smartt led the third inning off with a double down the left field line. Back-to back-fielding errors scored Smartt and put runners at first and second with no outs. TJ Binder singled home a run and gave the Trojans a 2-0 lead.
Later in the inning, Cameron Sanders doubled to left center field with the bases loaded and scored two. He advanced to third on an error and Matt Sanders scored on the same error giving Troy a 5-0 advantage.
After the second out of the inning, Justin Friend singled home Cameron Sanders. Next up, Smartt, who led off the inning with a double, hit his first collegiate home run to left field and drove in the final two runs of the inning.
Troy took a 9-0 lead as Matt Sanders scored on passed ball, but Texas State answered with a couple of runs in the fourth. Troy added three more for a 12-2 lead as Cameron Sanders, Trevor Davis and Matt Sanders each drove in a run.
The Bobcats strung together four singles and scored two runs to cut the lead to 12-4 in the ninth inning. The inning continued as an RBI double sandwiched in between two RBI singles chipped away at the lead and made it 12-7. The final run scored on a fielding error; before Robert Harris came in and got the final out of the game with runners at first and second and picked up his first save of the season.
Grant Bennett (7-2) picked up his seventh win of the season and had another quality start. He pitched seven innings, gave up 11 hits, but only allowed two runs and struck out two.
Denison had his second four-hit night as a Trojan with a double and he two runs scored. Smartt went 3-for-4 on the night with two runs scored, two RBIs and a double. Cameron Sanders had two hits on the night with a run scored and three RBIs. Matt Sanders also had a multi-hit night with two RBIs and three runs scored.
Bobcat starter Lucas Humpal (5-4) suffered the loss. He struck out six but surrendered 10 runs – only three earned – on 11 hits in 5.1 innings. Offensively for Texas State, the one through five hitters combined for 14 of the Bobcats 19 hits.
The two squads will battle in game two of the series on Saturday at 3 p.m.
No. 23 South Alabama Defeats Georgia State, 9-3
ATLANTA – The 23rd-ranked University of South Alabama baseball team pounded out a season high 17 hits and Kevin Hill tossed his fourth complete game of the season in a 9-3 series-opening win over Georgia State Friday at GSU Baseball Complex.
Every Jaguar starter hit safely in the game, led by Ben Gann and Drew LaBounty who each went 3-for-4 with a double, one RBI and one run scored. Jared Barnes finished 2-for-4 with a double, two RBI and one run scored, Cole Billingsley went 2-for-4 with a double, one RBI, one run scored and a stolen base and Matt Bolger finished 2-for-5 with one RBI and two runs scored. Jason Cryar added two hits and one run, and Danny Martinez recorded one hit with two RBI and one run scored.
Hill (8-1) struck out seven and issued two walks while allowing three runs on six hits in nine innings to earn his eighth win of the season. The right-hander allowed just two hits over his final four frames, and moved to within one strikeout of tying former Jaguar All-American Jon Lieber (298) for fourth on the career strikeouts list at USA.
South Alabama (32-11, 17-2 SBC) batted around in the top of the first inning after spotting Hill a four-run lead. Billingsley doubled to left-center with one out, and scored one batter later on an RBI double to left field by LaBounty for a 1-0 advantage. Bolger delivered a two-out RBI single down the left field line later in the inning to score LaBounty and double the Jag lead to 2-0. Cryar followed with a single to left field before an RBI single to center field by Barnes plated Bolger to extend the USA lead to 3-0. Martinez delivered an RBI single back up the middle one batter later to score Cryar for a 4-0 lead.
Georgia State (19-22, 7-12 SBC) answered in the bottom of the first when Ryan Blanton reached on a leadoff triple, and scored on an RBI groundout to second by Joey Roach to cut the Jaguar lead to 4-1.
USA responded with three runs in the top of the fifth to push its lead to six. Brendan Donovan reached on a hit by pitch to lead off the inning, and moved to third on a single through the right side of the infield by Bolger. Barnes then delivered a one-out RBI double down the left field line to score Donovan for a 5-1 USA advantage. Martinez then reached on a suicide squeeze that scored Bolger to push the Jag lead to 6-1. Ben Gann followed with an RBI double to left field to plate Barnes for a 7-1 lead.
The Panthers scored their second run of the game in the bottom of the fifth. Darius Sewell led off the inning with a single to center field, and scored later in the inning on a wild pitch by Hill to cut the USA lead to 8-2.
GSU cut the Jaguar advantage to 8-3 in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI groundout by Jarrett Hood that scored Justin Jones, who doubled to lead off the inning.
South Alabama answered with the game's final run in the top of the seventh on an RBI single to center field by Swaggerty – which extended his hitting streak to 14 games – to score Ben Gann, who led off the inning with a double to left field, for a 9-3 advantage.
"I was really pleased with the offense tonight, because of our struggles against left-handed starters," USA head coach Mark Calvi said. "Our overall record against left-handed starters is now 9-3, but our numbers against left-handed pitchers have not been good, and some guys who had been struggling against them made some adjustments and did well tonight so that was good to see moving forward. We hit-and-ran – Matt Bolger executed a hit-and-run – and we were aggressive on the bases. We made a few mistakes, but when you are aggressive on the bases then some mistakes are going to happen.
"Kevin's job is to go out there on Friday and finish the ballgame. Georgia State swings the bats, and they will be ready to play tomorrow. We have a few hours to enjoy this one, then it's a new day and we will be ready to play a very solid offensive team in Georgia State tomorrow."
USA will attempt to clinch its sixth Sun Belt Conference series of the season in game two Saturday at 1 p.m. (CT).
ULM Splits behind Bouchey, Late Dramatics
MONROE, La. – Brayden Bouchey’s 12 strikeouts and Jacob Stockton’s eighth-inning RBI single carried ULM to a 2-1 win in Friday night’s doubleheader nightcap.
Game One
The Eagles defeated the Warhawks 13-1 in the opener. They did most of their damage in the third and seventh innings, scoring four and five runs in those frames, respectively.
Nine different Eagles recorded hits, including CJ Brazil’s solo home run.
Starting pitcher Chris Hunt (3-5) was charged with the loss in 2 2/3 innings of work. Georgia Southern’s Evan Challenger scattered seven hits in 6 2/3 innings as he picked up his fifth win.
Game Two
The game was won in ULM’s final at-bat. Dalton Todd walked on four pitches to lead things off before moving over 90 feet on a Cade Stone sacrifice bunt. Two batters later, Jacob Stockton lined one to center field, and Todd raced home without a play at the plate.
ULM (16-27, 7-13 SBC) struck first in the fifth. Josh Faciane’s third hit of the night went through the middle, and the throw from center field to catch Nathan Reynolds going to third went wide and allowed the game’s first run.
The Eagles (26-18, 11-12 SBC) did not waste any time tying it back up. Jordan Wren tripled to left center field and came around to score when the throw from the cutoff man sailed into the visitor dugout.
Brayden Bouchey went six innings before being relieved by Keller Bradford. A leadoff single in the ninth brought in Anthony Herrera from second base to the mound. A sacrifice bunt put the tying run in scoring position, but Herrera buckled down and struck out the next two batters to pick up his sixth save.
Chase Cohen did not factor in the decision despite allowing three hits over seven innings.
Diamond Notes…
-ULM has won two of its last three against Georgia Southern, dating back to an 11-1 win in the previous year’s series finale.
-Brayden Bouchey collected his third 10+ strikeout game of the year. He had 15 in 36 1/3 the previous year.
-Bouchey has three consecutive quality starts (21 IP, 8 H, ER, 22 K).
-Keller Bradford made his 27th appearance of the year, moving him into six place all-time at ULM for a single season.
-The first contest saw Josh Faciane became the first position player at ULM to take the mound in the Bruce Peddie era. He tossed two scoreless innings and had a strikeout.
-Three Warhawks (Faciane, Anthony Herrera and Jacob Stockton) had two hits in the opener.
Up Next…
The Warhawks and Eagles will meet in the decisive third game on Sunday morning with first pitch slated for 11:30 a.m.
Cajuns-Mavericks Series Opener Rained Out
Teams will play a double-header beginning Saturday at 2 p.m. CT
Little Rock-Tennessee Tech Opener Rained Out
Teams will play a double-header beginning Saturday at 3 p.m. CT.