Leger Dominates As Cajuns Shutout Saint Peter’s To Open Series LAFAYETTE, La. – Junior left-hander Gunner Leger came one batter away from a no-hitter on Friday night as the 15th-ranked Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns baseball team shutout Saint Peter's 10-0 in the series opener at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field at Russo Park. After retiring the first 21 batters that he faced, Leger took his no-hit bid into the ninth inning, and with two outs pinch hitter Brian Turton blooped a single to centerfield to pick up the only hit of the night for the Peacocks (0-2). The Lake Charles, La., native recorded a season-best nine strikeouts while facing just one over the minimum in 8.2 innings of work to improve to 3-1 on the year. "Gunner did a great job with the rain delay, and the team did a job behind him staying hooked in after having to wait around for two hours," head coach Tony Robichaux said. "We came out and played a total baseball game and eliminated who our opponent is and just worried about us. Our biggest goal this weekend was to go and handle up on us, and we did that." Louisiana (7-4) reached double-digit hits for the sixth time in the last seven contest with 13 in the victory. Second baseman Brenn Conrad led the way going 3-for-5 with a double, two runs and two RBI. Centerfielder Ishmael Edwards also drove in a pair of runs on the evening going 2-for-4 at the plate. SPU starter Willie Krajnik was handed the loss after giving up five runs (three earned) on six hits in three innings. The Cajuns didn't waste time getting on the board as Edwards singled to third base, stole second and then scored on an error by SPU shortstop Alex Slawinski to put the team up 1-0 in the first inning. Louisiana tacked on three more runs in the bottom of the second inning on an RBI single by Conrad, a Saint Peter's error and an RBI groundout by Edwards to increase the advantage to 4-0. In the bottom of the third, third baseman Joe Robbins hammered an RBI double into the gap in right center to extend the lead to 5-0. The Ragin' Cajuns plated four more runs in the bottom of the sixth on a pair of doubles by Kennon Fontenot and Conrad, a single by Edwards and a Todd Lott triple. Junior Jam Williams brought home the final run of the game in the eighth on a bases loaded RBI groundout to shortstop. Louisiana and Saint Peter's return to action tomorrow at 2 p.m. as right-hander Nick Lee looks to improve upon his 3-0 record. The Peacocks will counter with right-hander Anthony Assante. Live video and stats are available for the game on RaginCajuns.com. Eagles Split Friday Doubleheader with Elon ELON, N.C. – Georgia Southern Baseball split a Friday twi-night doubleheader, dropping the opener 8-6, but responding with a 7-0 win in game two. The doubleheader was forced due to expected inclement weather on Sunday of up to three inches of snow. The Eagles and Phoenix will close out the series on Saturday at 2 p.m. QUOTABLE Head Coach Rodney Hennon "It was a long day at the ballpark, but I'm proud of the way the guys responded in the second game. We jumped out and got some shutdown innings out of the gate from Brian Eichhorn. It was a strong effort, and we were able to salvage the split. We've got to come out geared up with the same kind of energy that we played with tonight and play our best baseball." GAME ONE - GS 6 - ELON 8 Logan Baldwin's three hit game carried the torch in game one as the junior posted a 3-for-4 afternoon. The Eagles took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first, but a two-run home run tied the game in the bottom half of that frame. The Phoenix would add a run in the third to go up 3-1. The score stayed that way until the sixth when the Eagles leveled the score on Baldwin's RBI single. Elon responded with two in the bottom of the sixth. Two more in the seventh extended the lead to 7-3. The Eagle offense got things going in the eighth with Steven Curry's two RBI single to right. Mitchell Golden got in on the fun with an RBI knock one batter later to cut the lead to 7-6. Elon tacked on an insurance run in the eighth to account for the final 8-6 line. Evan Challenger pitched well, but took the loss, going 5.1 innings and scattering six hits. He fanned nine while throwing a season high 107 pitches. GAME TWO - GS 7 - ELON 0 After out-hitting the Phoenix in game on, Georgia Southern continued its hit party in game two, taking their first shutout of the season. Brian Eichhorn was electric, throwing 7.0 shutout innings while allowing just two hits with a career high 12 strikeouts. It was the first time an Eagle pitcher has fanned a dozen since Sam Howard struck out 12 against Maryland Eastern Shore on February 21st, 2014. The Eagle offense jumped on Elon pitching early, tagging Elon for two runs in the first inning. Curry's leadoff single came around to score when the Elon first baseman dropped the ball after tagging Mason McWhorter, allowing Curry to scamper home. Jordan Wren plated Mitchel Golden with a single to center to make it a 2-0 lead. An RBI single from Golden, followed by an RBI double by Ryan Cleveland ignited a four-run second inning. Two more runs scored with one out on McWhorter's singe to the gap in right to make it a 6-0 lead after two frames. The Eagles added their seventh run in the fourth inning, loading the bases with a hit and two walks. C.J. Ballard earned the RBI with a five pitch walk. From there, Georgia Southern was on cruise control, out-hitting Elon 11-3 in the second game. Curry led the way at the plate with three hits. Eichhorn's win improves him to 1-1 on the year and drops his ERA to 2.12. Georgia Southern and Elon close out the three game series on Saturday with a 2 p.m. matinee. Latham Park is the site with the game available on the Georgia Southern Sports Network. JAGS SPLIT DOUBLEHEADER ON DAY ONE AT MSU STARKVILLE, Miss. – The University of South Alabama baseball team split a doubleheader Friday at Dudy Noble Field in Starkville, Miss. USA defeated Columbia in game one before falling to Mississippi State in the nightcap. USA 4, Columbia 1 South Alabama scored three runs in the top of the ninth inning to break a 1-1 tie en route to a 4-1 win over Columbia in game one of Friday's doubleheader. Brendan Donovan led off the top of the ninth with a single to right field, and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Jared Barnes. Will Luft reached on a one-out walk, and Drew LaBounty drew a two-out walk to load the bases. Pinch-hitter Hunter Stokes then worked the count to 3-1 before drawing a walk from Columbia right-hander Harrisen Egly to score Donovan for a 2-1 lead. Travis Swaggerty followed with a two-run single to right field to plate Luft and LaBounty with the game's final runs. USA (8-5) jumped out to a one-run lead in the top of the first inning. LaBounty reached on a fielding error by Columbia left fielder Shane Adams to lead off the game, and advanced to second on a one-out walk by Swaggerty. A balk by Lion right-hander Ethan Abrams moved both runners into scoring position with one out. Wells Davis followed with an RBI sacrifice fly to center field to plate LaBounty with the game's first run. Columbia answered with its lone run in the bottom of the first on a two-out RBI single to right field by Kyle Bartelman to tie the game 1-1. Jaguar right-hander Nick DeSantis (3-0) struck out four in two perfect innings in relief of Randy Bell to earn his third win of the season. Bell struck out nine batters against one walk and allowed one run on six hits in seven innings pitched without factoring in the decision. Egly (0-2) took the loss for the Lions, allowing three runs on three hits with three strikeouts and four walks in 2 2/3 innings pitched. Swaggerty went 1-for-3 with two RBI to lead the Jags at the plate, while Stokes and Davis drove in one run apiece. Bartelman finished 2-for-4 with an RBI to lead Columbia offensively. "I am just happy we won the ballgame," USA head coach Mark Calvi said. "We've played so many close games this year; we're familiar with tight ballgames. Today we made some pitches and it was good to win a close ballgame late. We have been on the opposite end of close games a little too much, but our team works hard and can execute in all different situations. When you play close games, it toughens your guys up and forces them to concentrate. It does nothing but help you getting ready for league play. I like the way our guys fought until the end. We got three runs in the ninth (inning), and I was happy to see our guys pull it out." Mississippi State 2, South Alabama 0 Mississippi State left-hander Konnor Pilkington struck out a career-high 13 batters in 7 2/3 scoreless innings pitched to lead the Bulldogs to a 2-0 win over South Alabama Friday evening at Dudy Noble Field. Pilkington (2-2) allowed just four hits and issued only one walk against his 13 strikeouts to earn his second win of the season. USA left-hander Thomas Huston (0-1) struck out a career-high six batters against three walks and allowed two runs on six hits in his first career complete game in the loss. Bulldog right-hander Spencer Price struck out one in one inning of relief to earn his third save of the season. MSU (8-6) jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on an RBI groundout to second base off the bat of Brent Rooker. The Bulldogs loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the sixth and doubled their lead to 2-0 on an RBI fielder's choice off the bat of Dustin Skelton. South Alabama (8-6) threatened when it loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the eighth on a one-out walk by Cam Cummings, a two-out single by Luft and two-out walk from Swaggerty. But MSU left-handed reliever Trysten Barlow recorded an inning-ending strikeout of Davis to escape the jam. Luft, Swaggerty, Davis and Stokes had one hit apiece to lead the Jaguars at the plate. Rooker finished 2-for-3 with a double, one RBI and one run scored to lead the Bulldogs offensively. USA will return to action Saturday when it faces Mississippi State at 4 p.m. in a game that will be broadcast on SEC Network+. @AStateBaseball Splits Doubleheader With No. 24 Louisiana Tech JONESBORO, Ark. (3/10/17) – The Arkansas State baseball team bounced back from a game one loss to defeat No. 24 Louisiana Tech 6-5 in the second game of a Friday doubleheader at Tomlinson Stadium. A-State (9-6) was able to come back from behind twice in game two after falling behind 3-0 in the top of the first inning on a two-run double by Marshall Boggs with another run coming around on an error in left field. The Red Wolves knocked Louisiana Tech (13-2) starter Cameron Linck out in the bottom of the third after Grant Hawkins walked, stole second, and advanced to third on a wild pitch. The Bulldogs turned to Austin Harrison and he allowed a RBI single by Joe Schrimpf, sacrifice fly by Justin Felix, and run-scoring single to Garrett Rucker to tie the contest 3-3. However, Louisiana Tech regained the lead 4-3 on a sacrifice fly in the top of the fifth. A-State responded in the bottom of the sixth with a lead-off homer by Felix to tie the game 4-4. Later in the inning Louisiana Tech reliever Graham Ahlrich came in to pitch and gave up the go-ahead run on a wild pitch. The 5-4 lead was short-lived however after Diaz singled home the tying run off Tanner Kirby in the top of the seventh. Ahlrich came out to start the bottom of the seventh and allowed a single to Jeremy Brown and he advanced to third on a passed ball and wild pitch before Schrimpf was hit by a pitch. Felix grounded into a double play to score what would prove to be the winning run as A-State went ahead 6-5. Tyler Zuber pitched the final two innings, but ran into trouble in the ninth when he walked pinch-hitter Parker Bates to begin the inning. Bates advanced to second on a passed ball and then to third with one out on a sacrifice bunt. However, the White Hall, Ark., native struck out Jordan Washam for the second out, but he walked Chance Lunceford to put runners on the corners to bring up Diaz, who entered the game hitting .404 and already had two RBI. Zuber threw a first-pitch strike before inducing a weak ground out to clinch the 6-5 win for the Red Wolves. Kirby picked up the win on the mound to improve to 3-0 on the year, while Zuber earned his third save of the season. Ahlrich fell to 1-1 on the year with the loss. A-State starter Peyton Culbertson allowed four runs (three earned) on four hits with five punch outs and two walks. Rucker and Felix led A-State with two hits apiece, while Felix drove in two runs. Washam had three hits and scored three runs for the Bulldogs. The win for Arkansas State was the first over a ranked opponent since defeating No. 6 Ole Miss 8-6 at home on May 17, 2016. It was also the Bulldogs’ first loss on a weekend this season. The first game of the set didn’t go as well for the Red Wolves as the home team dropped a 19-3 decision to the Bulldogs. Rucker put A-State on top in the bottom of the first with his second homer of the year, a solo shot to right field. Louisiana Tech took control with seven runs in the third and fourth innings. The Bulldogs had homers from Diaz and Lunceford in the third after an error started the inning. A pair of RBI doubles highlighted the fourth inning for the visitors. Louisiana Tech pushed the lead to 13-1 with a six-run sixth inning, but A-State scored runs on a RBI triple by Hawkins and sacrifice fly by Jake Bakamus to cut the deficit to 13-3. The Bulldogs scored six runs the rest of the way, including a grand slam by Boggs, to set the final at 19-3. Boggs also slugged a three-run homer in the contest to give him seven RBI in the game. Washam had four hits for the Bulldogs and scored three runs, while Diaz has three hits and four RBI. Alex Howard led the Red Wolves with two hits, including his fifth double of the season. Bryan Ayers took the loss for A-State after allowing seven runs (six earned) on eight hits in four innings with five strikeouts against two walks. Kent Hasler ran his record to 3-0 on the year for Louisiana Tech after going six innings and allowing three runs (all earned) on four hits with five strikeouts and no walks. Casey Sullivan earned his first save of the year by throwing three scoreless innings to finish the game. Arkansas State and the Bulldogs will attempt to play the series finale Saturday at 6 p.m. The forecast isn’t looking good and the game could be moved to a different time tomorrow or to Sunday. Check with AStateRedWolves.com for the latest schedule updates concerning A-State baseball. Pagano, Reich combine for 14 K’s in victory SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State baseball team kicked off its weekend series against Alabama A&M with a 7-2 triumph Friday night at Bobcat Ballpark. The contest was initially delayed 36 minutes due to rain in the area, but the Bobcats (7-7) were able to take the field and earn the victory over the Bulldogs (4-12). The maroon and gold took the early lead on a solo home run in the second inning from junior Theodore Hoffman. He then hit an RBI double in the third and later recorded an RBI groundout in the eighth to finish 3-for-5 with three RBI and two runs scored. Junior Derek Scheible pushed TXST's lead to 4-1 when he ripped a two-RBI double in the bottom of the fourth. Junior Luke Sherley and sophomore Jaylen Hubbard added RBI singles in the seventh before Hoffman completed the scoring in the eighth. Hubbard and sophomore Jonathan Ortega each had two of Texas State's 11 hits. Ortega scored twice. Sophomores Anthony Pagano and Connor Reich combined to record a season-high 14 strikeouts on the mound for Texas State. Pagano started the game and punched out a career-high eight batters, while logging the first 4.0 innings. Reich (1-1) earned his first win as a Bobcat after posting career highs in both innings pitched (5.0) and strikeouts (6). Caleb Gay (0-2) tossed a complete game for the Bulldogs. He conceded seven runs (five earned) on 11 hits in 8.0 innings, while walking four and striking out none. The last time Texas State did not strikeout in a game was April 7, 2013 against Sacramento State. Kyle Redmond went 2-for-3 and had one third of Alabama A&M's hits. Redmond and Zeth Malcom scored AAMU's runs. The Bulldogs and Bobcats will continue their series at 1 p.m. March 11. First pitch was pushed up from the original start time of 4 p.m. due to rain the evening forecast. TEXAS STATE COACH TY HARRINGTON Opening Statement… "Anthony (Pagano) and Connor (Reich) both pitched well tonight. Anthony was not as efficient, numbers-wise, as we would have liked to see. He was up to 85 pitches when we went to go get him. His stuff was good, though. That was a lot of strikeouts for us (14), which is something we have not done this year. The beautiful thing when you strike out the other team, then nobody else has to play. (Alabama A&M) had a little bit of momentum in the fifth, but Connor came into the game and was able to minimize the damage. He threw really well. His stuff was just as good in the ninth as it was in the fifth. He was coming off two days rest after throwing two innings against UTSA (on Tuesday), so I was pleased with how he pitched." On the offensive performance… "We hit too many fly balls. We left 10 on base, but hopefully tomorrow we come out tomorrow with a little different approach. I was proud of (Alabama A&M pitcher Caleb Gay). He threw 157 pitches, and he was still throwing it in there in the end. It takes a lot of guts to do something like that. He did a good job for them. He was able to keep the ball down and keep us off balance." On the defensive effort… "We played great defense tonight. The play in the ninth inning was big for us. (Jaylen Hubbard) made a nice play to get the second out. We threw a guy out at the plate (in the fourth inning). The game was 2-0 at the time and Luke Sherley made a nice play. Derek (Scheible) got it in from center field and Sherley made a nice play to throw him out at home." Troy Blanks Hofstra in Series Opener TROY, Alabama – Daren Osby struck out a season-high six over 6.1 scoreless innings as shutout Hofstra, 4-0, in the series opener Friday night at Riddle-Pace Field. Osby (3-1) picked up the win for the Trojans (7-4) – behind his season-high strikeouts while only giving up three hits. He leads the Trojans with 21 strikeouts over just 23 innings of work in his four appearances. Marc Skinner relieved Osby in the seventh inning and shut the door on Hofstra (3-9) – picking up five strikeouts and scattering two hits in 2.2 innings. Skinner picked up his third save of the season and 11th in his Troy career. Trevor Davis continued his tear at the plate – going 2-for-2 with a double and an RBI to lead Troy. Davis is now 9-for-12 (.750) over the last four games. Steven Whitaker, Justin Friend and Drew Frederic accounted for the remainder of the Trojans' six hits. Vinnie Costello led Hofstra's five-hit attack with its lone extra-base hit, a double in the fifth. Teddy Cillis (0-2) took the loss after allowing a run and two hits in five innings on the mound for the Pride – who are now 0-6 all-time against the Trojans. QUOTABLE "Daren (Osby) was great today, besides that one hiccup in the seventh when he walked the back-to-back guys," Troy head coach Mark Smartt said. "He was terrific and was able to use all of his pitches and stay ahead in the count. Marc Skinner executed with a little pressure and did an outstanding job. Anytime you get shutout baseball that is big. I look forward to a day when we will score more than four – not sure when that will be, maybe tomorrow." MOMENT THAT MATTERED Seventh-Inning Spark: Coming to the plate with a narrow 1-0 lead in the bottom of the seventh, Troy's bats came alive to extend its lead to 3-0. Drew Frederic provided the Trojans with a one-out base runner after an infield single and he moved to second on a passed ball. Steven Whitaker followed with a double that one-hopped the wall in right-center to push across a much-needed insurance run. Two batters later, Trevor Davis picked up an RBI with his second hit of the night to push the lead to three. SOUND "SMARTT" WITH YOUR FRIENDS • With a combined 11 strikeouts, the Trojan pitching staff has recorded at least 10 strikeouts in four of the five home games and in six games overall this season. • On a night where hits were at a premium, Brandon Lockridge and Chase Smartt both saw their hitting streaks come to an end – Lockridge at 11 and Smartt at 6. • Marc Skinner made his 90th career appearance for Troy and earned his 11th career save – which moves him into sole possession of fourth place in school history. WHAT'S UP NEXT The series with Hofstra continues with a doubleheader Saturday at 1 p.m. Evan Hebert (0-0, 3.24) and Austin Crook (1-0, 2.70) are scheduled to start on the mound for the Trojans.