Saturday, May 21
Cajuns Baseball Sweeps ULM To Claim Share Of Sun Belt Championship
LAFAYETTE, La. – The 19th-ranked Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns baseball team used a five-run fifth inning to complete the sweep of ULM with a 6-2 victory in the series finale at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field as the squad claimed a share of the Sun Belt Conference regular season championship.
The win is the 19th straight for the Ragin' Cajuns (37-19, 21-9 Sun Belt) over the Warhawks (20-35, 10-20 Sun Belt) in the all-time series. Louisiana shares the Sun Belt regular season crown with South Alabama with both teams finished at 21-9 in conference play, but the Ragin' Cajuns will be the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament having won the head-to-head series with the Jags.
The SBC regular season championship is the sixth in program history and the third since 2010, while the Cajuns have posted 20-plus wins in conference play for the seventh time under head coach Tony Robichaux.
"This was big for us to be able to win a championship in the last game at this stadium as it is now," Robichaux said. "What a great way for us to pay back our fans who have been out in droves all year long. We started a little slow and had to work through a lot of things, but the credit is that there was no quit. That's why we are champions."
Sophomore right-hander Evan Guillory (5-5) notched his fifth victory of the season to match his career-best five wins from a year ago. Guillory surrendered just two runs on four hits in seven innings of work with six strikeouts and a walk. The Jennings, La., native allowed just three runners to reach scoring position in the outing.
ULM starter Trey Auger (1-3) took the loss giving up three runs on five hits in 4.2 innings of work.
Louisiana outhit the Warhawks 9-6 in the contest as Kyle Clement, Stefan Trosclair and Nick Thurman each had a pair of hits. Trosclair had a game-high three RBI with his sixth home run of the year.
The Cajuns grabbed a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first on a two-out RBI single up the middle by Trosclair to score Clement from second base. Clement singled with two outs to left field and then stole second to get into scoring position.
After three scoreless innings, ULM went in front 2-1 on a Danny Springer two-run homer to left field in the top of the fifth.
The Ragin' Cajuns answered in the bottom half of the fifth scoring five runs on four hits and two error to take a 6-2 lead that it would not relinquish. Alex Pinero evened the game with an RBI single to right field to score Thurman from second base. Later in the inning, Clement drove a two-out double into right field to bring home two more runs and put Louisiana in front 4-2.
Trosclair capped the scoring in the fifth with two big insurance runs on a two-run blast down the left field line to make the score 6-2.
Junior Chris Charpentier closed out the contest with two scoreless innings in relief to seal the victory.
The Ragin' Cajuns return to action on Wednesday at the Sun Belt Conference Tournament in San Marcos, Texas as they will face the No. 8 seed Arkansas State.
Burgess’s Grand Slam Propels @ASTATEBaseball to Series Win at Little Rock
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (5/21/16) – The Arkansas State baseball team trailed Little Rock 10-7 entering the top of the ninth inning Saturday afternoon at Gary Hogan Field, but an eight-run frame, highlighted by a Matt Burgess grand slam, gave A-State a 15-11 win and series win against the Trojans in both teams’ regular-season finale.
A-State (27-27, 13-17 SBC) began the rally with a one-out single from Tony Ortiz that scored Jeremy Brown, who led off the inning with a hit, to make the score 10-8. Ty White singled to load the bases and set up a Joe Schrimpf sacrifice fly that made the score 10-9, but also gave Little Rock (26-26, 17-13 SBC) the second out of the inning. However, Trojans’ reliever Cole Townsend walked Garrett Rucker and Tanner Ring back-to-back with Ring’s walk bringing in the tying run.
The Trojans made a visit to the mound, but the first pitch to Burgess from Townsend was sent over the left-field fence for a grand slam in what was Burgess’s first at-bat from the right side during the game to put A-State on top 14-10. The Red Wolves added another run on a double by Tim Seldomridge, who had entered earlier in the inning to pinch run for Daltan Lovell, which was lost in the sun by Little Rock’s Keegan Meyn.
Tyler Zuber entered the game to pitch the bottom of the ninth for Arkansas State and allowed one run before the Trojans loaded the bases with two outs and the tying run at the plate. However, the Pine Bluff, Ark., native froze Hunter Owens on a 1-2 pitch to preserve the 15-11 victory for A-State.
Zach Haake picked up the win for A-State after allowing two runs on two hits in the bottom of the eighth inning and improved to 2-0 on the year, both wins coming this week with the first on Tuesday night against No. 6 Ole Miss. Bryan Ayers was the most effective pitcher for the Red Wolves with three shutout innings as the Vilonia, Ark., native allowed four hits with one walk and three strikeouts. Starter Zachary Patterson and Adam Grantham combined to allow eight runs in four frames.
All 10 A-State players that received an at-bat reached base at least once in the game, with Jake Bakamus the only one not recording a hit. Burgess finished 3-for-6 with a career-high five RBIs with four coming on his sixth home run of the year. Ring filled up the box score as well with a 3-for-5 performance which featured three runs knocked in, three runs scored, two doubles, and a walk. White and Ortiz also had three hits apiece, with Ortiz, Schrimpf, Rucker, Brown, and Seldomridge all picking up a RBI.
Little Rock starter Joe Corbett tossed 5.2 innings and gave up seven runs (six earned) on 12 hits, but was in line to win the game when he exited. Reed Willenborg allowed two runs (both in the ninth) in 2.2 innings, while Townsend was lit up for six earned runs in just a third of an inning pitched. Nik Gifford had four hits, while Ty Gunter had three hits and three RBIs to pace the Trojans’ offense.
Little Rock jumped out to a 4-0 advantage in the bottom of the first inning against Patterson. Gifford singled home the first run before Ty Gunter hit a three-run home run, his third round-tripper of the series, to put the tally at 4-0. The Trojans added another run in the bottom of the second inning on a Ryan Scott double for a 5-0 advantage.
The Red Wolves got on the board in the top of the third inning with an infield hit by Ring scoring White for the team’s first run. Burgess had an infield hit a batter later and a throwing error by Little Rock allowed Schrimpf to scamper home to cut the deficit to 5-2. However, Little Rock scored three runs in the bottom of the inning on a RBI ground out and two run-scoring singles to go in front by six runs at 8-2.
Brown knocked in A-State’s third run of the game in the top of the fifth inning with a RBI ground out to plate Ring to make the score 8-3. The Red Wolves loaded the bases in the top of the sixth and scored one run when Schrimpf grounded into a double play to make the score 8-4. The visitors then reeled off three straight hits with a double by Rucker, double by Ring, and single by Burgess that scored three more runs to put A-State within one at 8-7.
Arkansas State clinched a spot in the 2016 Sun Belt Conference Tournament, being held May 25-29 in San Marcos, Texas, with a win against Little Rock last night. The Red Wolves are the eighth seed and will play the top seed Louisiana-Lafayette by virtue of a Ragin’ Cajuns win and South Alabama loss that gives ULL the tiebreaker over the Jaguars. The official tournament bracket with game times will be released later in the day Saturday.
Mountaineers Finish Off Season-Ending Sweep
BOONE, N.C. — Appalachian State University baseball closed the 2016 season in grand style on Saturday with a doubleheader sweep over 30-win Longwood at Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium. Appalachian State won the opener of the twinbill, 3-2, and won the nightcap, 8-6.
With Saturday’s victories, Appalachian State (18-36) swept a season-ending three-game series from Longwood (30-25).
For the fifth time this season, Saturday’s first triumph came in walkoff fashion for the Mountaineers. In a game scheduled for seven innings, Longwood scored once in the sixth and once in the seventh to send the contest to extra frames knotted at 2-2.
With the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the eighth, junior Matt Vernon ripped a 1-0 fastball from Longwood reliever Michael Catlin into the left-center field gap. The blast one-hopped the wall and senior Caleb McCann easily scored the winning run from third base on what officially went down as a long RBI single.
Vernon’s walkoff single was Appalachian State’s first hit since the second inning and the only Mountaineers’ third of the game. Vernon had two of App State’s three hits, as he also opened the scoring with his team-leading eighth home run of the season in the second.
The Mountaineers came out on top for the second time this season when recording only three hits (they also had three in a 5-4 win at UL Monroe on March 25) and scored the winning run in their final at-bat for the ninth time on the campaign.
The nightcap appeared to be a laugher when App State took a commanding 8-3 lead into the top of the ninth inning. However, Longwood plated three runs in the ninth and had the tying run in scoring position when freshman Stephen Schoch induced a soft liner to McCann at second base to end the game.
The story of the nightcap was freshman starting pitcher Colin Schmid, who worked a career-high eight innings in the win. The southpaw scattered seven hits, struck out five and surrendered just two earned runs over 112 pitches to earn the victory.
Offensively, Appalachian State recorded only seven hits in the nightcap but drew 12 walks and struck out just three times. Tyler Stroup finished 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI while Vernon and Brian Bauk drove in two runs apiece.
With 14 freshmen and 10 sophomores on its roster, Appalachian State went 13-17 over its final 30 games of the season and finished the campaign with more overall wins (18), conference wins (9), overall series wins (4) and conference series wins (3) than it did in its inaugural season in the ultra-competitive Sun Belt Conference in 2015. The Mountaineers also notched the most regular-season victories over nationally ranked teams in school history (3).
App State could return as many as 25 letterwinners, including eight starters and its entire pitching rotation, to the roster in 2017.
Troy Blanks No. 23 South Alabama on Senior Day, Wins Series
TROY, Alabama – The Troy baseball team served No. 23 South Alabama its first shutout of the season in an 8-0 rout on Saturday at Riddle-Pace Field to win the series.
"I'm really, really proud of our team," head coach Mark Smartt said. "It was a solid win and we played a really good baseball game. We had a big inning offensively and Houston (Mabray) was spot on."
Houston Mabray (5-3) pitched six shutout innings, only allowed three hits and struck out two. He only walked two of the 22 batters he faced on 86 pitches.
In the bottom of the fourth, Troy (32-24, 17-13 Sun Belt) had runners at second and third, when the players were pulled off the field for an official weather delay that lasted 35 minutes.
When play resumed, Matt Sanders scored from third on a wild pitch and gave Troy a 1-0 lead. In the same at-bat, Joey Denison hit a sacrifice fly to center field for his first RBI of the day.
The Trojans put up six runs in the fifth in large part to Denison's three-run blast, which happened when Troy had a 4-0 lead. Sanders drove in the third run of the game on a sacrifice fly to center and Tripp Calhoun scored the fourth on a wild pitch. In the same at bat as the wild pitch Denison parked one over the left field wall for the 7-0 Trojan advantage.
Following a groundout and a hit by pitch, Lockridge hit his fourth triple of the season that drove in TJ Binder from first base and gave Troy an 8-0 advantage.
Robert Harris, Trey Johns and Marc Skinner pitched one scoreless inning and didn't give up a single hit.
Each hitter besides two in the Trojan starting lineup had one hit each. Justin Friend had the other extra-base hit, a double and Denison had the home run.
With the win Troy clinched the fourth seed and will play host Texas State in the first round of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. First pitch time on Wednesday is still to be determined.
Bobcats Notch 30th Victory, Clinch Fifth Seed
ARLINGTON, Texas – Texas State put together a strong offensive day behind solid pitching from Jonathan Hennigan to claim a 6-2 victory and clinch the fifth seed in the Sun Belt Conference Championship Tournament. With the win, the Bobcats improve to 30-26 on the season and 16-14 in the Sun Belt. Texas State will play fourth-seeded Troy at 4 p.m. Wednesday in the first round of the SBC Championship Tournament at Bobcat Ballpark.
Hennigan struck out six batters and gave up just one hit in five innings of work, going the first four innings without a hit against him. After him, Brandon Lewis threw three innings of two-hit ball while Pasquale Mazzoccoli.
The Bobcat bats started fast with a leadoff double from Ortega. Mickey Scott followed with a hit, and Tanner Hill brought him in with a sacrifice fly to start the scoring. Texas State proceeded to leadoff five separate innings with a hit. They scored four runs combined in the second and third innings and added the game's sixth run in the sixth before UT Arlington finally answered with a run each in the eighth and ninth innings.
Texas State tallied 11 hits in the game with Ortega and Scott finishing with two hits apiece while Derek Scheible led the team on the first three-hit day of his career.
The conference's championship tournament will start at 9 a.m. Wednesday with games at 12:30 p.m., the Bobcats against Troy at 4 p.m. and the final game of the day at 7:30 p.m.
Southern Downs State 5-1 on Senior Day
STATESBORO, Ga. – Georgia Southern Eagles won the regular season finale against in-state rival Georgia State on Senior Day, taking the series victory. Seniors Chris Brown, Hunter Thomas, Kent Rollins, Drew Kelley, and Ryan Frederick were honored in a pregame ceremony for their careers at Georgia Southern.
Freshman Brian Eichhorn went the distance in his longest career outing to take the win. He tossed 8.1 shutout innings, using just 88 pitches while striking out four and allowing four hits. The freshman improved to 5-2 on the year entering the postseason.
QUOTABLES
Head Coach Rodney Hennon
"That was definitely a good way to end the regular season and go into the conference tournament on a high note. I thought Brian (Eichhorn) was really good today and got in a nice rhythm out there and was really efficient. We were able to save the (bullpen) today. Guys should be well-rested going in (to the tournament)."
CRUCIAL MOMENTS
BOTTOM 1st – Logan Baldwin hit a one out single to get the Eagle offense started early. Baldwin stole second and scored from there on a wild pitch to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead.
BOTTOM 3rd – Jordan Wren got hit by a pitch and scored on a Hunter Thomas double to left field to extend the lead to 2-0.
BOTTOM 5th – Ryan Cleveland started the Eagle fifth frame by hitting a triple to the right field corner. Thomas became the fifth Eagle hit by a pitch in the game to put runners on the corners. Cal Baker bunted for an infield hit to score Cleveland and move Thomas over to second. Kent Rollins walked to load the bases. Brazil sent a line drive to center field to score two runs and put runners back on the corners for a 5-0 lead.
TOP 9th – Will Johnson singled, advancing to second on a wild pitch. Johnson stole third and scored on a groundout by Nick Gatewood for the final score of 5-1 Georgia Southern.
NOTES
- CJ Ballard went 2-for-2 in the game, reaching base three times when his hit by pitch was factored in.
- The Eagles were hit six times in the game. Kent Rollins, Ryan Cleveland and Logan Baldwin were the only Eagle starters not to be hit by a pitch.
- Georgia Southern won the final point of the 2015-16 Southern vs. State Rivalry Series. Georgia State won the inaugural edition of the series 14.0-7.0. To view the final scoring breakdown, visit GSEagles.com/RivalrySeries.
- With the series win, Georgia Southern secured its first and only Sun Belt Conference series win at home this season.
UP NEXT
Georgia Southern travels to the Longhorn State for the 2016 Sun Belt Tournament in San Marcos, Texas. The Eagles wait to learn about their seeding for the tournament, but can finish no lower than sixth and possibly move as high as fourth. Tournament brackets will be announced after league play has concluded on Saturday evening.