Cajuns Baseball Defeats Sam Houston State 6-1 To Clinch Series
HUNTSVILLE, Texas – The 13th-ranked Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns baseball team had a breakout day at the plate as the squad pounded out 13 hits to defeat No. 18 Sam Houston State 6-1 to clinch the series on Saturday at Don Sanders Stadium.
"Hopefully this is a good sign that we are putting things together and getting on the same page offensively," head coach Tony Robichaux said. "We left some runners on early, but our players stayed the course and started stringing together hits when it mattered. Our pitchers did a good job of keeping their hitters at bay. We need to come out tomorrow not satisfied with two wins and sweep somebody."
The victory puts the Cajuns (3-2) above. 500 for the first time on the season, while the Bearkats drop to 2-4 overall.
Freshman designated hitter Todd Lott led Louisiana offensively going 4-for-5 with a home run, three RBI and scored a run. Second baseman Brenn Conrad, centerfielder Ishmael Edwards and first baseman Alex Pinero each had a pair of hits in the contest.
Sophomore right-hander Nick Lee tallied his second win of the year with yet another quality start holding Sam Houston State to one run on five hits in seven innings of work. Lee walked one and fanned eight on the day, while junior Wyatt Marks was stellar out of the bullpen retiring all six batters he faced including four strikeouts.
SHSU starter Seth Ballew was touched for his first loss of 2017 after surrendering three runs on seven hits in 4.1 innings of work.
Louisiana threatened early loading the bases in the top of the first with no outs, but Ballew induced an infield fly by catcher Handsome Monica and a ground ball double play by Pinero to get out of the jam.
After leaving two more on in the third inning, the Cajuns broke into the scoring column in the top of the fourth when Pinero scored on a Ballew wild pitch. Pinero double to left field to leadoff the inning and then moved to third on a balk.
The Ragin' Cajuns took command of the game in the top half of the fifth scoring three runs on three hits and a Bearkat error to extend the advantage to 4-0. Edwards scored the first run of the inning on a throwing error by second baseman Lance Miles. Lott brought home the final two runs of the inning on a two-out, two-run single up the middle.
Sam Houston State cut the lead to 4-1 in the bottom half of the fifth on an RBI single to right field by Taylor Beene.
Louisiana picked up its final two runs in the eighth on a solo blast two left by Lott and a throwing error by catcher Robie Rojas.
The Cajuns look to complete the sweep tomorrow with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m. at Don Sanders Stadium. Junior right-hander Evan Guillory (0-0, 0.00 ERA) will face off against freshman right-hander Hayden Wesneski (1-0, 3.18 ERA). Fans can listen to the game live on News Talk 96.5 KPEL-FM with Dan McDonald and Jeff Schneider calling the action.
"We need to make sure that we don't look back and wonder what could have been if we would have hit like this to start the season," Robichaux said. "We have to move forward and continue to progress and we will be just fine as a ball club."
Bobcats earn marathon triumph over #22 OSU
STILLWATER, Okla. – The Texas State baseball team earned a hard-fought 12-11 upset victory over No. 22 Oklahoma State Saturday afternoon at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium.
The Bobcats improved to 3-4 on the year in a marathon contest that last 4 hours, 6 minutes. The Cowboys dropped to 3-3.
Texas State never trailed in the game but could not quite put away OSU until the very final out was recorded.
TXST initially pushed ahead in the second inning after scoring four runs with two outs, but Oklahoma State cut the lead in half with single tallies in the home halves of the second and third frames.
OSU spotted the Bobcats a five-run lead by allowing three more in the top of the fourth, but the home side brought around five in the fifth inning to tie proceedings at 7-7.
Junior Derek Scheible belted a two-run homer in the sixth, but the Cowboys quickly answered with a pair of runs in the home half of the frame to pull even.
TXST scored once in the seventh, but OSU again responded in the eighth to equalize for the third and final time at 10-10.
Junior Jared Huber drew a full-count walk to lead off the ninth. Fellow junior Mickey Scott, pinch-running for Huber, later scored on a Scheible single to right field that included a throwing error. The error moved Scheible to third, and he scored what would become the game-winning run on a sacrifice fly from junior Dylan Paul.
Oklahoma State got an RBI double and the tying run over to third in the bottom of the ninth, but junior Blake Walden struck out Dustin Williams to end the game.
Walden (2-0) earned the win on the mound after throwing the final 1.2 innings. He allowed one run on two hits. Sophomore Wes Engle took the ball first and left after 4.0 frames. He struck out five, walked four and gave up three runs on two hits. Senior Joe Powell, junior Braden Pearson, sophomore Brandon Lewis and true freshman Zachary Leigh all logged time on the mound between Engle and Walden.
Scheible went 4-for-5 at the plate and tied the school record by scoring five times. He also registered a career-high four runs batted in to go along with a career high in hits.
Paul went 3-for-5 with three RBI and one run scored, and sophomore Jonathan Ortega finished 3-for-6 with an RBI. Sophomore Jacob Almendarez continued his hot streak of late, as he went 2-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored.
Overall, Texas State outhit Oklahoma State 17-11.
Travis Wacker paced the Cowboys with a 3-for-4 effort that included two RBI and one run. Ryan Sluder finished 2-for-4 with an RBI and three runs scored, while Garrett Benge was 2-for-5 with three RBI and one run. Michael Neustifter failed to register a hit but was able to score twice, and Andrew Rosa also touched home twice.
Jonathan Heasley (1-1) suffered the loss for OSU after conceding two runs on one hit in the final inning. Starter Jensen Elliott was pulled after giving up seven runs on 10 hits in 4.0 innings. Reid Morgan, Joe Lienhard and Parker Scott combined to allow three runs on six hits in the middle 4.0 frames.
The two programs will battle for a series victory beginning at 1 p.m. Feb. 26.
Trojans Blank Purdue for First Win of 2017
LITTLE ROCK – Little Rock baseball blanked Purdue (3-3) by a score of 2-0 to earn its first win of the 2017 season on Saturday afternoon at Gary Hogan Field.
The Trojans (1-5) earned another impressive performance out of starting pitcher Cory Malcom (1-0) as he earned the win while tying his career high for strikeouts with 11. Malcom had 110 pitches in seven innings of work and only allowed five hits and a walk. This was the second consecutive double-digit strikeout performance by Malcom as he tallied 11 in his last start at Oral Roberts. The last Trojan pitcher to record at least 10 strikeouts in consecutive starts was Chance Cleveland in 2012.
"This is why we love Cory pitching on Saturday," head coach Chris Curry said. "He's such a bulldog and pitches with toughness. He's consistent, and that's what you want to see out of a senior. You want to be able to count on them and know what you're going to get every time out."
Cameron Knight earned his second straight multi-hit game as he went 2 for 4 with a run. Christian Reyes earned his first career hit and had an RBI for the Trojans as he went 1 for 2. Zach Baker had the other multiple-hit performance as he went 2 for 2 while also being hit by a pitch.
With no score through the top of the fifth, that changed in the bottom of the inning. With runners on the corners and one out, Reyes earned his first career hit on an RBI to right field. This allowed Knight to score and put Little Rock up 1-0.
The only other run of the game came in the bottom of the seventh. Purdue starter Gareth Stroh (0-1) exited the game to begin the frame as Mike Kornacker came on in relief. With the bases juiced and one out, Bryce Dimitroff picked up an RBI on a fielder's choice as Danny Mitchell Jr. scored to put the Trojans up 2-0.
Left-hander Dylan Slayton entered the game for Malcom to begin the eighth. After he earned two outs, Ryan LeMoine came on to face the right-handed batter. LeMoine got the Trojans out of the inning with a ground out to second.
Still up 2-0 entering the ninth, Joe Corbett came on to close for Little Rock, and he didn't disappoint. The sophomore right-hander picked up his first save as he struck out the side.
"I'm just really proud of the team for persevering and not giving up," Curry said. "That's what we've been talking to them about."
Little Rock will go for the series win in the rubber game with Purdue on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Pitchers, Small Ball Shine in App State Baseball’s 4-2 Win
BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – In a game that needed just 125 pitches to put away, Appalachian State University baseball got its second win of the weekend over Gardner-Webb, winning 4-2 on Saturday afternoon at Bill Masters Field.
The Mountaineers (3-3) scored three of their four runs on the day with to the help of sacrifice bunts in the fifth and seventh inning, while junior Reed Howell got out of a late jam against the Runnin’ Bulldog (2-5) to get the save.
Howell completed the great day for pitchers by coming in the ninth and striking back-to-back batters with runners on second and third to keep the win for the Black and Gold.
After Appalachian scored in the second by junior Drake Zupcic getting his first career triple to bring around Chandler Seagle, Robert Langdon laid down a sacrifice bunt in the fifth to move Zupcic to second and senior Brian Bauk to third. From there, Bauk was able to steal home after GWU’s pitcher threw a wild pitch before sophomore Jason Curtis singled to center field to score in Zupcic.
Curtis then added App State’s final run of the game in the seventh when he sacrifice bunt Langdon to second who brought around by a Matt Vernon single to center.
The Black and Gold’s bottom of the order carried the team offensively as their four runs on the day came from the 4-8 spots in the order. Overall, however, the game marks the first time this season that they have reached 10-plus hits for a game.
Sophomore lefty Colin Schmid received the win, going 7.1 innings and striking out seven batters with only allowing two runs. Sophomore Will Herman also came in in relief for two batters, striking out both to get to the ninth.
The Mountaineers will look to sweep the series against Gardner-Webb on Sunday, Feb. 25. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. and is broadcast on Big South Network.