Texas State earns series win over reigning NCAA champs, Coastal Carolina
SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State baseball team defeated No. 20 Coastal Carolina 10-7 Sunday afternoon at Bobcat Ballpark to claim a Sun Belt Conference series victory.
The Bobcats (12-8, 2-1 SBC) handed the Chanticleers (12-9, 1-2 SBC) their first series loss since 2015 when they were members of the Big South Conference.
The maroon and gold now leads the league in victories so far this season, and they are also 9-2 in the month of March.
Texas State came out firing with three runs through the opening two frames, and the visitors were only able to muster one tally in response during that time.
CCU plated three runs each in the fifth and sixth innings and the contest looked to be all done and dusted, but the Bobcats erupted for five in the seventh to come from behind and earn the series triumph.
Nine of the 10 runs scored by Texas State came with two outs. The home club outhit the Chanticleers 14-10 and did not commit an error.
Sophomore Jonathan Ortega led TXST with a 3-for-5 effort, while scoring three runs and hitting his third homer of the season. Sophomore Jaylen Hubbard and juniors Luke Sherley, Theodore Hoffman and Jared Huber all had a pair hits. Hubbard drove in three and scored once, Huber had the two game-winning RBIs and Sherley scored twice and drove in one run. Sophomore Ryan Newman also scored twice.
True freshman Nicholas Fraze lasted 5.1 innings on the mound in a no-decision effort. He allowed six runs on seven hits, while striking out three and walking three. Sophomore Brayden Theriot (1-0) logged the final 3.2 innings and squashed the Chanticleer offense to earn his first win of the season. He did not concede a run and only allowed one hit, while fanning three batters.
Zack Hopeck (1-2) was tagged for five runs on four hits in just 1.2 frames to take the loss. Starter Jason Bilous went just 4.1 innings and gave up four runs on six hits before being pulled.
Kevin Woodall, Jr. entered the weekend as the nation's home run leader, but the junior slugger was only able to muster four bloop singles total in the three games against the Bobcats.
Seth Lancaster was 3-for-3 with four RBI and three runs scored, and Cory Wood (2-for-3) was the only other member of the visiting side with multiple hits.
Texas State will now gear up for its final game of the recent 13-game homestand, as the Bobcats will play host to Texas at 6 p.m. March 21. TXST will then hit the road for a three-game SBC series against Appalachian State March 24-26.
Monica Lifts Cajuns Baseball To Series Win Over Appalachian State
LAFAYETTE, La. – Junior catcher Handsome Monica came through with a walk-off squeeze bunt in the ninth as the 14th-ranked Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns baseball team defeated Appalachian State 4-3 on Sunday at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field at Russo Park to claim the squads fourth straight series victory of the year.
"I told him (Handsome) on the on deck circle that the situation for a squeeze could present itself and to be ready," head coach Tony Robichaux said. "He told me that he could get it down, so we went with it and he got it done. We put ourselves in a position to pitch and play defense and win going away. We won two out of three this weekend and didn't even have to use our closer this weekend, so that is a good thing."
Sophomore Hogan Harris went five innings allowing just one earned run (three total) on five hits in a no decision. Harris struck out seven with three walks and was able to pitch his way out jams in the first and fourth innings.
"I thought Hogan did a great job today," Robichaux said. "He needs to continue to keep tightening the links in his chain. He had a good three pitch mix and was able to pitch out of a couple jams. That's a good sign when you have a young pitcher who can do that."
Junior Evan Guillory picked up his first win of the season to improve to 1-2 on the year tossing four perfect frames with seven strikeouts to close out the contest.
"We flipped Guillory's brain by putting him in the bullpen," Robichaux added. "He did well at Louisiana Tech and then came back out again today and had another good outing. That sets up really good for us to have him out of the pen."
Louisiana (11-6, 2-1 SBC) outhit the Mountaineers (9-11, 1-2 SBC) 8-5 in the contest led by first baseman Alex Pinero who went 3-for-3 with a walk, two doubles, scored a run and drove in another. Centerfielder Ishmael Edwards had his second multi-hit effort of the weekend going 2-for-4 and scored a run.
Appalachian State reliever Reed Howell was handed his first loss of the season after giving up one run on two hits in 2.1 innings. Starter Luke Watts limited the Cajuns to three runs on six hits in 5.2 innings with nine strikeouts.
App State grabbed a 2-0 lead in the top of the third on a two-out, two-run single to centerfield by right fielder Brian Bauk.
The Ragin' Cajuns didn't take any time to respond answering with two runs in the bottom half of the inning to even the game at 2-all. With two outs, right fielder Steven Sensley sent an RBI double down the left field line to get Louisiana on the board. In the next at bat, Pinero tied the game driving in Sensley on a ground-rule double to the gap in right centerfield.
The Mountaineers regained the lead in the top of the fifth on a solo home run to left field by catcher Chandler Seagle.
An inning later, designated hitter Todd Lott knotted the game at 3-all plating Pinero on a one-out single to left centerfield. The single extended Lott's hit streak to nine games.
In the bottom of the ninth, left fielder Kennon Fontenot led off the inning with a double to left center. Pinch runner Jam Williams moved to third on a sac bunt by Brenn Conrad and then scored on a perfectly executed squeeze bunt by Monica to capture the victory.
The Ragin' Cajuns return to action on Tuesday at 6 p.m. as the squad hosts Houston in the first of five games on the week. Following the matchup with the Cougars, Louisiana will face Tulane on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Russo Park. Fans can use their tickets dated for the originally scheduled April 18 date for entry to the Tulane contest.
CARR, PEACOCK SHUT OUT EAGLES TO CLINCH SERIES
STATESBORO, Ga. – University of South Alabama right-handers Tyler Carr and Matt Peacock combined to shut out Georgia Southern 5-0 in Sunday's series finale and clinch the three-game series at J.I. Clements Stadium.
Carr (1-0) struck out a career-high 10 batters against two walks, and scattered six hits in 6 2/3 innings to earn his first career win. Peacock allowed two hits and struck out three in 2 1/3 innings to earn his third save of the season. Eagle right-hander Chase Cohen (1-2) allowed three runs on three hits with nine strikeouts and four walks in 4 1/3 innings in the loss.
"Those two kids (Carr and Peacock) competed like crazy," USA head coach Mark Calvi said. "They had a full team and dugout behind them, and I was proud of every player's effort on this team – guys who played every day or who played sparingly. Hopefully, we can be a version of this weekend moving forward. We've had some guys in and out of the lineup with guys sick and injured, but our guys make no excuses; they keep playing hard, playing the game the right way and pressuring the other team. It's not easy to win a series against a very good team like Georgia Southern when you lose on Friday, but our guys just came out and battled, played the game the right way and competed every pitch of every inning. I couldn't be more proud of their effort.
"I just like the way we competed in the batter's box, defensively and on the mound. And that's what it should be – it's a competition. You don't just compete in the game, you compete in the small parts of the game which make up the game and that's pitch-to-pitch. I thought our guys competed much better this weekend pitch-to-pitch than we had leading up to this. I think moving forward that it's a great lesson to be learned with a bunch of new players and pitchers – how important it is to compete every pitch and not just at-bat to at-bat or inning-to-inning. It's every single pitch because that's what makes up the at-bats and the innings, and ultimately makes up the game. When you compete every pitch, you look up in the ninth inning and you are either winning or have a chance to win, and that's where we have been a lot of times this year. We've given some at-bats and pitches away – we haven't competed every single pitch and therefore we have a few too many one-run losses. But I think our guys learned how to compete every single pitch over the last couple of games, and I am really proud of them for that."
The Eagles threatened in the bottom of the first, but did not push across a run. Steven Curry drew a leadoff walk, and advanced to third on a one-out single through the right side of the infield by Ryan Cleveland to put runners at the corners. But Carr induced a 6-3 inning-ending double play off the bat of Mason McWhorter to escape the frame and preserve a scoreless tie.
South Alabama (11-9, 2-1 SBC) took a two-run lead in the top of the second inning. Carter Perkins drew a two-out walk and scored one batter later on a two-run home run to left field by Jared Barnes, his third of the season and second of the series, for a 2-0 Jaguar lead.
The Jaguars threatened in the top of the third, but did not come away with a run. Brendan Donovan singled down the first base line with one out in the inning, and moved to second on a walk by Travis Swaggerty. A double steal put both runners into scoring position with two outs, but Cohen recorded an inning-ending strikeout of Eddie Paparella to escape the jam and keep the Eagle deficit at two runs.
South Alabama added to its lead in the top of the fifth. Donovan doubled down the right field line with one out, and advanced to third with two outs on a wild pitch from Eagle left-hander Connor Simmons. Donovan scored two pitches later on a second wild pitch from Simmons for a 3-0 USA lead.
The Jaguars added an insurance run in the top of the seventh. Hunter Stokes led off the inning with a single to left-center field, and advanced to second on a bunt single down the first base line by Dylan Hardy. A sacrifice bunt by Donovan moved both runners into scoring position with one out. Swaggerty drew a one-out walk to load the bases for Wells Davis, who followed with a sacrifice fly to left field to score Stokes and extend the USA lead to 4-0.
Georgia Southern threatened in the bottom of the seventh, but did not produce a run. Jordan Wren doubled to right field to lead off the inning, and advanced to third on a two-out pinch-hit single by Cameron Hankins. Evan McDonald followed with a walk to load the bases for Curry, but Peacock, who entered in relief of Carr to face Curry, recorded an inning-ending strikeout to escape the jam and preserve a four-run USA lead.
South Alabama added the game's final run in the top of the eighth inning. Barnes reached on a one-out infield single to third, and moved to second on a groundout to third by Will Luft. Adam Wolfe drew a two-out walk to load the bases for Donovan, who drew a four-pitch walk to plate Barnes.
Barnes went 2-for-3 with a home run, two RBI and two runs scored to lead the Jaguars offensively. Donovan added two hits and one run scored, and Davis drove in one run. Hankins finished 2-for-2 to lead the Eagles at the plate.
USA will return to action Tue., March 21, when it travels to Montgomery, Ala., for a 6 p.m. contest with Alabama State.
Hernandez Pitches Mavs Past GSU
ATLANTA, Ga. -- Jakob Hernandez pitched his third quality start of the year, holding Georgia State to just two hits, helping lead UTA to a 7-1 series-clinching win over GSU, on a sunny Sunday afternoon at the GSU Baseball Complex.
UTA (11-10, 2-1 Sun Belt Conference) rode the strong start from Hernandez to the win. The Mavs fell behind to Georgia State (10-10, 1-2 SBC) after an unearned run in the third inning but bounced back to plate seven unanswered runs, including a three spot in the fourth and two runs in the sixth and seventh innings.
The series served as the opener of the league schedule in 2017, with UTA posting a 11-7 win on Friday, before falling in a pitching duel, 2-1 on Saturday, despite a heroic pitching effort from starter Trae Patterson. Over its last two games, UTA held Georgia State to just six combined hits.
ON THE MOUND
A 6-foot-4, 260-pound southpaw, Hernandez (2-0) started for the fifth consecutive Sunday. A native of Parker, Colo., he surrendered only two hits and one unearned run over 6.1 innings, allowing three walks and striking out eight. Hernandez allowed only a single in the third inning and a leadoff infield single down the first-base line in the sixth inning, with walks in the second, fifth and seventh innings.
With one out and a runner on first in the seventh, UTA turned to lefty Adam Meyer in relief of Hernandez. Meyer got three outs, allowing just a hit and striking out one. Daniel James replaced him with a runner on and one out in the eighth inning. James finished the game with the final five outs.
Brandon Baker (0-3) started for GSU, working 3.2 innings, allowing three hits and three runs, walking four and striking out four. In relief of Baker, GSU used Devin Vainer, Liam Henry, Rhett Harper, Tyler Koch and Jansen Acton.
AT THE DISH
The Mavs collected seven hits in the game, also drawing nine walks and getting plunked by three pitches. UTA got two hits from each Christian Hollie – making his first start of the year – and Quintin Rohrbaugh. The Mavs also got hits from Will Olson, Noah Vaughan and Zac Cook, with Omar Salinas, Brady Cox and Easton Johnson each scoring runs with walks.
HOW THEY SCORED
The Panthers opened the scoring in the bottom of the third inning, taking a 1-0 lead on a hit and an error. Jack Thompson reached on a one-out throwing error on a slow roller up the middle, taking second on a sacrifice bunt and scoring on Ryan Blanton's RBI single up the middle.
UTA immediately answered in the top of the fourth inning as Rohrbaugh led off with a ringing double off the base of the wall in right-centerfield. After a pair of outs, Cook ripped a 3-2 offering from Baker up the middle for a RBI single. Johnson followed with a single to put a pair on for Hollie. Hollie drilled a ball up the middle, plunking second base umpire Mark Humphreys, who because he was in the infield, immediately called timeout. That loaded the bases for Salinas, who was plunked by a two-strike pitch to force home Cook. Cox followed with a four-pitch walk to score Johnson and bring in a third pitcher in the frame.
The Mavs rallied in the top of the sixth inning to stretch their lead to 5-1. Salinas drew a one-out walk and Cox was plunked by a pitch to stage a rally. After the second out, Rohrbaugh greeted Harper with a RBI single to leftfield, scoring Salinas from second. Vaughan followed with a two-out, run-scoring single of his own, pulled through the right side, with Cox sliding in feet first ahead of the tag.
In the top of the seventh inning, Johnson drew a leadoff walk and Hollie dropped a single into shallow rightfield. After Salinas advanced the pair with a unique spin grounder on the left side, Cox scored Johnson with a sacrifice fly to centerfield. Olson ripped a double into the gap off the new reliever, Koch, to score Hollie and give UTA a six-run lead.
NEXT
The Mavs continue a four-game road swing, traveling to Sam Houston State on Tuesday for a 6:30 p.m. CT matchup in Huntsville.
Rucker's Key Hit Lifts A-State Baseball to Series-Clinching Win Over ULM
JONESBORO, Ark. (3/19/17) – A two-run single by Garrett Rucker in the bottom of the seventh inning broke a 3-3 tie and proved to be winning runs in a 8-3 victory for the Arkansas State baseball team over ULM as the Red Wolves were able to win two of three games against the Warhawks in the conference-opening series for both teams at Tomlinson Stadium.
A-State (11-8, 2-1 SBC) was able to load the bases against ULM (5-16, 1-2 SBC) starter Chase Beal with one out in the bottom of the seventh on a walk and two singles trailing 3-2. Grant Hawkins was able to drive in the tying run on a fielder’s choice before a four-pitch walk to Joe Schrimpf loaded the bases to set the scene for Rucker’s hit. Rucker hit a hard ground ball through the right side to score Hawkins and Alex Howard and give A-State a 5-3 lead it wouldn’t relinquish.
The Red Woulves added three runs in the bottom of the eighth on a RBI single, balk, and error on a failed pickoff attempt to put the score at 8-3. Tyler Zuber worked around a couple of one-out walks and struck out the final two hitters of the game to preserve the win.
Tanner Kirby improved to 5-1 on the season as the Maumelle, Ark., native earned the win with three scoreless innings out of the bullpen in relief of Tyler Mitzel, who lasted five innings and gave up three runs on eight hits.
Rucker finished the day 2-for-4 with three RBI to lead the team. The Arkadelphia, Ark., native began the scoring for A-State in the bottom of the fourth when he hit a triple, his team-best fourth of the season, to score Schrimpf to cut the ULM edge to 3-1. He later came around on a RBI single by Jeremy Brown to make the score 3-2. Howard and Brown also added two hits apiece, while Howard scored two runs.
Beal took the loss for the Warhawks after giving up five runs (all earned) on seven hits with three walks and seven strikeouts in 6.2 innings. Cade Stone, Chad Bell, and Spencer Hemphill led the visitors with two hits each.
ULM scored on a RBI double by Stone and sacrifice fly off the bat of Nathan Reynolds to go in front 2-0 in the second frame before adding a run on a single by Cade Harper in the top of the third to take a 3-0 advantage before A-State began its comeback.
The win for the Red Wolves clinched its first SBC-opening series win since 2014 when A-State swept UALR in Jonesboro.
Arkansas State returns to action Tuesday, March 21 in the first contest of a two-game, midweek set at Austin Peay. First pitch on Tuesday’s game is set for 6 p.m. from Raymond C. Hand Park in Clarksville, Tenn.
Little Rock Puts on Hit Parade in Victory Over Troy
LITTLE ROCK – Looking to avoid the series sweep, Little Rock baseball was successful as it picked up its first Sun Belt Conference win with a 10-3 victory over Troy on Sunday afternoon at Gary Hogan Field.
Little Rock (8-12, 1-2 Sun Belt) put on a hit parade with 15 for the day — its third most in a game this season. Troy (11-7, 2-1) tallied nine hits, but it left 12 runners on base.
"Today's win was huge because every Sun Belt victory is crucial," head coach Chris Curry said. "It was a great team effort, and that's what we're capable of. Troy has a very good club and is going to win a lot of games in the league, and we're just as capable. We need to get going from here and understand that this is what it takes to play nine innings during conference play."
Hunter Owens went 2 for 5 with three RBIs, two runs and tallied his third home run of the season. Riley Pittman earned his first career home run as he went 1 for 2 with two RBIs. Getting his second home run of the season was Nik Gifford as he went 1 for 5 with two RBIs. Danny Mitchell Jr. tallied three hits in four at-bats while Bryce Dimitroff went 2 for 4 with two RBIs. Zach Baker and Cale Ridling each tallied two hits for the afternoon and scored a run. Dalton Thomas scored three runs as he advanced his reached-base streak to 20 games and his hitting streak to 12 games while going 1 for 4.
On the mound, freshman lefty Chandler Fidel (2-2) picked up the win as he went 5.1 innings, struck out three and allowed two runs on six hits, a walk and a hit-by-pitch. Troy starter Houston Mabray (1-1) took the loss after he threw just one inning and allowed four runs on five hits.
Troy began the afternoon with a run in the very first inning. With bases loaded, Chase Smartt hit an RBI ground out to second to score Matt Sanders.
Little Rock's bats were locked and loaded in the bottom of the first as it batted through the order. After Baker put up a leadoff single, Pittman hit a two-run jack to right to give Little Rock the lead. With runners on the corners, an RBI ground out by Nik Gifford brought home Thomas. Dimitroff then put an RBI single into right as Jonathan Davis came around to put Little Rock up 4-1.
With one out in the bottom of the third, Gifford launched a solo shot to left center to give Little Rock a four-run lead.
Little Rock kept the runs coming in the bottom of the fourth with three runs on two hits and an error. With runners in scoring position, Owens hit an RBI single to right center to score Ridling from third. As Davis laid down a bunt to advance the runners, an errant throw to third by Troy's Corey Childress allowed Thomas to score from second. With two outs, Dimitroff gave Little Rock an 8-1 lead as he hit an RBI ground out to score Owens.
Troy finally responded in the top of the sixth with a two runs on a couple of hits. With one out and a runner on, Corbin Osburn made his way into the game for Little Rock. After Troy hit a double and a struck out, Drew Frederic picked up two RBIs on a single to center.
Up 8-3, Little Rock kept its foot on the gas and added a couple of insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth. Owens delivered a fatal blow to Troy as he hit a two-run bomb to left to put Little Rock up 10-3.
After Carter Brown and Justin Garcia got out of the seventh with bases loaded, Matt McDowell came on in the top of the eighth. McDowell was fantastic in two innings of relief as he allowed just one hit-by-pitch and earned six ground outs to finish off Troy and prevent the sweep.
Done with its first weekend of Sun Belt action, Little Rock will now travel to Columbia, Missouri, to battle No. 23 Missouri on Tuesday night. The midweek matchup against the Tigers will air live on SEC Network Plus with first pitch set for 6:32 p.m., at Taylor Stadium.