Eagle Baseball Gets Past Kennesaw State, 8-4
STATESBORO, GA. - Georgia Southern Baseball took 14 free bases with 10 walks and four hit batters on the way to besting Kennesaw State, 8-4. Tuesday's game was the first of two this year between the Eagles and Owls with Georgia Southern visiting KSU on May 10th. Georgia Southern improves to 21-12 on the season entering a three game series with Appalachian State which starts on Thursday night.
SCORING PLAYS
Bot 1st - GS 1 - KSU 0 - After a pair of walks to start the game, Ryan Cleveland drove a one out single through the right side to give the Eagles an early 1-0 lead.
Top 2nd - GS 1 - KSU 2 - A bases loaded double down the left field line scored two to give Kennesaw State their first lead of the day in the second inning.
Bot 2nd - GS 4 - KSU 2 - The Eagles loaded the bases in the third with a hit batter, a walk and another hit batter. Sacrifice flies from Mitchell Golden and Jordan Wren plated two runs, while a Tyler Martin single to right gave Georgia Southern a 4-2 lead.
Bot 4th - GS 5 - KSU 2 - Steven Curry opened the fourth inning by scoring on a walk, an error by the first baseman and two wild pitches to push the lead to 5-2. The Eagles added another hit in the frame and left the bases loaded for the second time in the game.
Top 7th - GS 5 - KSU 4 - Kennesaw State got two runs back in the seventh inning with a two-run home run down the left field line.
Bot 8th - GS 8 - KSU 4 - The Owls loaded the bases with no outs in the eighth with three walks, setting the table for Wren. The senior right fielder doubled down the left field line, driving three runs to make it a four run lead heading to the 9th.
GAME NOTES
- Georgia Southern was the recipient of 14 free bases on Tuesday night, working 10 walks. The Eagles were hit by four pitches, matching a season high.
- Jordan Wren went 2-for-4 on the day, driving in four runs including his bases loaded double in the eighth to plate three runs and blow the game open.
- Anthony Paesano earned his first victory of the season, working an inning and a third out of the bullpen.
- On a designated staff day, Georgia Southern sent nine pitchers to the mound, spreading the load over the Georgia Southern bullpen in preparation for the Appalachian State series which starts on Thursday night.
- Freshman Steven Curry scored a career-best four runs on Tuesday, but went 0-for-1 in the game. He worked three walks and was hit by a pitch in the game.
NEXT UP
Georgia Southern Baseball has an off day on Wednesday before returning to the diamond on Thursday for a Sun Belt series against Appalachian State. First pitch on Thursday night is set for 6:30 p.m. All three games can be seen live on ESPN3.
Little Rock Knocks Off SFA for Third Straight Win
LITTLE ROCK – Six runs in the seventh inning catapulted Little Rock baseball to a 10-4 victory over Stephen F. Austin on Tuesday night at Gary Hogan Field.
The Trojans (13-20) notched their third consecutive win, and it was their first against the Lumberjacks (20-15) at home since 2013. Coming into Tuesday night, SFA had won 12 of its last 13 games.
Little Rock tallied at least 10 runs for the fourth time this season. With 12 hits, it was the 13th time this season the Trojans had recorded at least 10 hits in a game. Of Little Rock's 12 hits, nine came from batters six through nine. Little Rock's three stolen bases tied for the most this season while its 10 RBIs were the third most in a game this year.
Four Trojans had multiple hits for the night. Riley Pittman led the way by going 3 for 5 with an RBI and two runs. Ty Gunter went 2 for 4 with two RBIs and two runs while Danny Mitchell Jr. also went 2 for 4 with two RBIs and a run. Christian Reyes went 2 for 3 with an RBI, a walk and a run. Dalton Thomas advanced his hitting streak to eight game with his conference-leading 13th double of the season. Hunter Owens picked up two RBIs for the night with one hit. Nik Gifford walked three times and scored two runs while Zach Baker had two walks and an RBI.
Carter Brown (2-1) earned the win for Little Rock as he pitched 5.1 innings, struck out one and allowed three unearned runs on four hits and one walk. The Trojans' bullpen of Cole Townsend, Justin Garcia, Matt McDowell and McKinley Moore allowed just one run on two hits and three walks. SFA starter Erik Nouis (1-2) picked up the loss as he pitched 3.1 innings, struck out four and allowed four runs on four hits and three walks.
"We're obviously very happy," head coach Chris Curry said. "It was a mentally tough day because we started out unsure if we were going to play. The rain held off, and we had to flip a switch and play. I was really excited about the start Carter gave us. He's starting to show what we saw all fall and spring. He held the game tight when we were trying to solve their left-hander. We finally got in their bullpen, and the bottom of our lineup really did the damage, and that was great to see. Those top-half hitters are really good, but they're not going to do it every night."
After three scoreless innings to begin the game, SFA put up two runs in the fourth for its only lead of the game. Once Zac Michener reached on an error, Josh Evans belted a two-run homer to right center.
The Trojans' bats also came alive in the fourth with four runs on three hits. Gifford started with a leadoff walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Cameron Knight then hit an RBI double down the left field line. After Pittman's single put runners on the corners, Gunter hit an RBI double to right field. Baker walked with the bases loaded before an RBI ground out by Hunter Owens put Little Rock up 4-2.
The Lumberjacks came within a run in the top of the sixth. With runners on the corners and two outs, a passed ball allowed Connor Fikes to score.
Little Rock then broke it wide open in the seventh with six runs on six hits and an error as the Trojans had 10 plate appearances for the frame. Little Rock had four consecutive hits with at least one RBI as Pittman, Gunter, Reyes and Mitchell each put up a base knock. Owens finished off the scoring with a two-out RBI double.
The final run of the game came in the top of the ninth on a leadoff homer to left by SFA's Will Foreman, but it was too little, too late for the Lumberjacks as a ground out and two strikeouts ended the game.
"That's a good win that shows consistency coming off our weekend series," Curry said. "We're about to go play UT Arlington, a team that stands at the top of our division, and I'd like to think we're starting to play a better brand of baseball. That's four games in a row where we've been really engaged in the dugout, and that's just who this team is."
Little Rock will now take its three-game winning streak to UT Arlington for a three-game Sun Belt series beginning on Thursday at 6:30 p.m.
Troy Takes Mid-Week Tilt at Alabama State
MONTGOMERY, Alabama – Troy strung together six runs in the last five innings to defeat in-state foe Alabama State, 6-4, at Wheeler-Watkins Baseball Complex Tuesday night.
The Trojans (17-14) were efficient at the plate despite only six hits, as all nine of Troy's starters reached base safely at least once.
Brandon Lockridge led the Trojans - going 2-for-5 with two RBIs in the contest. Lockridge broke the scoreless tie in the fifth inning with a two-RBI single to tie his career-long 16-game hitting streak.
Chase Smartt also turned in a multi-RBI game for Troy after doubling in a run in the seventh and driving in an insurance run on a sacrifice fly in the ninth.
Houston Mabray (2-1) threw four innings of one-hit shutout work to earn his second win of the season. Freshman Jimmy Robbins struck out the side in the eighth inning after entering and working the Trojans out of a jam in the seventh.
Marc Skinner earned his Sun Belt-leading eighth save of the season – scattering only a hit and striking out two in the ninth.
Alabama State (17-16) saw their 10-game winning streak snapped with the loss. Hornet catcher, Chris Biocic, led the squad with a 3-for-3 night, while back-to-back SWAC Hitter of the Week, Gustavo Rios, went 2-for-4 with two doubles.
Terrell McCall (1-4) was saddled with the loss after allowing three runs on two hits and six walks in 4.2 innings of work.
QUOTABLE
"It was a really good ballgame," Troy head coach Mark Smartt said. "Jimmy Robbins and Marc Skinner were lights out and our offense battled their tails off. Our team just fights hard, we always have a chance to win and we pulled out a hard-fought one tonight."
SOUND "SMARTT" WITH YOUR FRIENDS
• Steven Whitaker stole second and third base consecutively in the third inning to push his season total to 13 – the team-high last season was nine from Trevor Davis.
• Brandon Lockridge drove in two with a single in the fifth to extend his hitting streak to 16 games. He has also reached base in all 31 games this season – hitting safely in 29 of the 31.
• Chase Smartt delivered two RBIs on a double and a sac fly for his third multi-RBI game of the season and 11th of his career – tied for second on the team in career multi-RBI games.
• Marc Skinner made his 98th career appearance to tie Thomas Austin for the second most appearances in Troy history – four short of the all-time record.
• Skinner also earned his league-leading eighth save of the season and 16th save of his career – one shy of second in school history.
• The Trojans are now 13-0 when leading after the eighth inning and 4-0 in Tuesday night games this season.
WHAT'S UP NEXT?
The Trojans will jump back into conference play with a series at Georgia State starting Thursday, with the first pitch from Atlanta scheduled for 5 p.m.
Schrimpf and Felix Power @AStateBaseball Past Memphis
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (4/11/17) – Joe Schrimpf had two home runs and three RBI and Justin Felix added a home run and three RBI as the Arkansas State baseball team slugged past Memphis 11-4 Tuesday night at FedExPark.
With the win, the Red Wolves have won six of the last seven games to improve to 19-14 on the year. The loss drops Memphis to 20-13 on the season.
A-State wasted little time in getting on the board as the Red Wolves saw the first three batters reach on base knocks. After Grant Hawkins singled on the second pitch, Schrimpf launched his fourth home run of the season to make it 2-0. Garrett Rucker followed with a single and two walks later loaded the bases. Alex Howard added to the lead with a sacrifice fly, but A-State left runners on second and third to end the frame with a 3-0 advantage.
A RBI single by Rucker gave the Red Wolves a 4-0 lead in the second inning. A-State starter Brandon Stuckenschneider breezed through the first inning on seven pitches, but he faced a major jam in the second. With the bases loaded and nobody out, Stuckenschneider induced an infield fly and followed it up with two strikeouts to keep the Tigers off the scoreboard.
Hawkins drove in two more runs with a bases-loaded single through the left side and the A-State lead grew to 6-0. Memphis refused to go away quietly, answering with one run in the third and three runs in the fifth. Chris Carrier hit an RBI single for the Tigers in the third, but it was free bases that hurt the Red Wolves in the fifth. A dropped fly ball, two walks and a hit batter brought in the first run and Memphis added on with a RBI single and groundout to make it 6-4.
A-State regained the six run advantage by way of two runs scored in the sixth and seventh innings. Felix blasted a solo home run to lead off the sixth and a two-out RBI double by Derek Birginske made it 8-4 in the sixth. Felix drove in two more with a single in the seventh to make it 10-4. Schrimpf added his second home run of the night in the eighth, a solo shot to score the 11th run for A-State.
Stuckenschneider allowed three runs, two earned, on four hits in 4.1 innings and was credited with the win, the first of his career. The freshman lefty struck out four and walked four on 88 pitches. Tanner Kirby allowed one run, unearned, on one hit in two-thirds of an inning in relief. Bo Ritter continued his strong outings with three innings of relief in which he allowed just two hits and struck out two against one walk.
The Red Wolves continue the four-game road swing with a three-game Sun Belt Conference series at Louisiana April 13-15. First pitch for Thursday’s contest against the Ragin’ Cajuns is set for 6 p.m. at M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field at Russo Park in Lafayette.
JAGS RALLY IN NINTH TO DEFEAT UNO
NEW ORLEANS – The University of South Alabama baseball team rallied for five runs in the top of the ninth inning, highlighted by a grand slam from Jared Barnes, to defeat New Orleans 9-6 Tuesday at Maestri Field.
USA (20-13) trailed 6-4 entering the final inning after UNO designated hitter Hezekiah Randolph hit his second home run of the game, a two-run shot that broke a 4-4 tie, in the bottom of the eighth.
Travis Swaggerty doubled to left-center with one out in the top of the ninth, and Eddie Paparella followed with a walk. Carter Perkins then delivered an RBI double down the left field line to score Swaggerty and cut the UNO lead to 6-5. Will Luft followed with an infield single to shortstop to load the bases with one out. Barnes then delivered a grand slam to left field on a 1-0 pitch from UNO right-hander Reeves Martin to cap a five-run Jaguar ninth inning.
"It was just guys not willing to quit," USA head coach Mark Calvi said of the come-from-behind win. "They know they get 27 outs and the game's not over until it's over. Weird things happen in baseball, but when your kids keep playing hard then you make your own breaks. You don't want to be in that situation very often, but we've been in some tough situations; we've been in some dogfights and that's why you play a good schedule – situations like this don't really shock you. If you get punched in the mouth, you get back up off the mat and that's what our kids did.
"Jared Barnes' first three at-bats were strikeouts, and if he sits there and feels sorry for himself then that (grand slam) never happens. He is an older guy who understands that when you play the game the right way and do things the right way both on and off the field, the game and life come back around to you. That's what I preach to these guys, and they believe it and know it because they know it's true. Tonight, it was just refusing to stop competing and it worked out well for us."
UNO (19-15) broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the second on one-out RBI double to right-center field by Hezekiah Randolph, following a single back up the middle by Owen Magee, for 1-0 advantage.
USA answered in the top of the third when Hunter Stokes lifted a 2-1 pitch from UNO right-hander Riley Hodge off the left field foul pole for a solo home run to lead off the inning and tie the game 1-1.
South Alabama broke the tie in the top of the sixth inning. Swaggerty drew a four-pitch leadoff walk, moved to second with no outs on a wild pitch from UNO right-hander Rafael Martinez and advanced to third with one out following a flyout to right field by Paparella. Perkins drew a one-out walk to put runners at the corners. Luft followed with an RBI bunt single to first base to score Swaggerty for a 2-1 Jaguar lead.
New Orleans responded with three runs in the bottom of the sixth to take a two-run lead. Tristan Clarke led off the inning with a single back up the middle, and scored one batter later on an RBI double down the right field line by John Cable to knot the score 2-2. Randolph followed with a two-run home run to left field to double the Privateer lead at 4-2.
USA loaded the bases with one out in the top of the seventh on a single by Brendan Donovan, fielder's choice on a grounder to second by Drew LaBounty, in which Donovan beat the throw to second, and a hit by pitch to Swaggerty. Paparella followed with a sacrifice fly to right-center field to score Donovan and cut the UNO lead to 4-3. Perkins then delivered a two-out RBI single to left field to plate LaBounty and tie the game 4-4.
Jaguar left-hander Zach Melton (2-1) allowed two runs on four hits with one strikeout in two relief innings to earn his second win of the season. Right-hander Matt Peacock tossed one perfect ninth inning and struck out all three batters he faced to earn his fourth save of the year. UNO right-hander Reeves Martin (2-3) allowed two runs on two hits with one strikeout in one-third of an inning in the loss.
Perkins went 3-for-4 with a double and two RBI to lead the Jaguars at the plate. Stokes added a home run, one RBI and one run scored, and Luft finished with two hits, one RBI and one run scored.
USA will return to action when it hosts Coastal Carolina in a three-game Sun Belt Conference series at Stanky Field, beginning with game one Thu., April 13, at 6:30 p.m.
Cajuns Come Up Short Against No. 8 LSU At Wally Pontiff Jr. Classic
METAIRIE, La. – A three-run fourth inning for LSU was the difference on Tuesday night as the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns baseball team came up short 3-2 against the eighth-ranked Tigers in front of a record crowd of 9,963 at the annual Wally Pontiff Jr. Classic at the Shrine on Airline.
"Jack (Burk) threw a great ballgame and we played good defense behind him," head coach Tony Robichaux said. "We just couldn't get the critical hit at the critical time. We had a couple strikeouts with runners in scoring position where we needed to put the ball into play. They put the ball into play when it mattered, and that's the difference in this game."
Freshman Jack Burk (2-4) was handed his four loss of the year despite limiting the Tigers (23-11) to three runs on eight hits with two walks and five strikeouts in six innings of work.
"I give Jack a lot of credit because he gave us a chance to win. That's what we ask all of our starters to do. We don't care about losses as long as you go out and give us a chance to win. For a freshman to come into this environment and do that, it speaks a lot to what kind of competitor that he is."
Todd Peterson (2-1) picked up the victory for LSU tossing two scoreless innings in relief, while Hunter Newman added his fourth save of the year with a perfect ninth inning.
The Ragin' Cajuns (18-14-1) and Tigers each had eight hits in the game with shortstop Brad Antchak going 2-for-3 with a triple and an RBI. Third baseman Joe Robbins also had a pair of hits and centerfielder Ishmael Edwards extended his hit streak to eight game with his single in the fifth inning.
Both Greg Deichmann and Nick Coomes had two hits on the night for the Tigers.
LSU threatened in the bottom of the first loading the bases with two outs, but Burk made an outstanding barehanded play on a ball hit back up the middle by third baseman Josh Smith to get out of the inning.
The Tigers broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the fourth plating three runs on four singles to take a 3-0 edge. A two-out, two-run single back up the middle by shortstop Kramer Robertson highlighted the scoring in the inning.
The Cajuns didn't take long to answer though bringing home two runs in the top half of the fifth to cut the LSU lead to 3-2. Catcher Handsome Monica doubled home the first run of the inning sending a ball off of the wall in left field to score first baseman Tyler Stover. In the next at bat, Antchak singled up the middle to plate designated hitter Todd Lott, but Robertson made a tremendous stop on the Antchak single and then gunned down Monica at the plate to keep the Tigers in the lead.
Burk flirted with danger in the bottom half of the fifth as Deichmann doubled off of the wall in right field to leadoff the inning and then moved to third on a Jordan Romero fly ball to right. Antchak came up big defensive as he cut down Deichmann at the plate on ball hit to shortstop with the infield drawn in by Zach Watson to keep the score 3-2.
The Cajuns had scoring chances in both the sixth and seventh innings putting a runner on third base with less than two outs, but both times LSU got a key strikeout to keep the one-run lead. Louisiana saw just one runner reach base in the final two frames as Monica flew out to right field to end the contest.
The Ragin' Cajuns return to action on Thursday at 6 p.m. as they host Arkansas State in a three-game conference series at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field at Russo Park.
No. 26 Coastal Out-Slugged, 19-9, at No. 20 Wake Forest
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Coastal Carolina raced out to a 5-0 advantage and was up 7-5 after the top of the sixth inning but a 10-run bottom of the sixth by #20 Wake Forest led the Demon Deacons to 19-9 slugfest over the 26th-ranked Chanticleers Tuesday night at Couch Ballpark.
Coastal scored in six of its nine innings but could not offset six walks, four hit batters and four home runs. Stuart Fairchild hit two of those, including a three-run homer and a grand slam. Johnny Aiello sealed CCU's fate with a three-run home run in the eighth.
North Carolina native Cory Wood gave Coastal a 3-0 lead in the third inning with a three-run home run, scoring Seth Lancaster and Billy Cooke. The last time Wood visited his home state (Mar. 28), he also hit a three-run home run at the University of North Carolina.
In the fourth inning, the Chanticleers pushed their lead to 5-0. With bases loaded, Lancaster reached on a fielder's choice, scoring Peyton Isaacson. Matt Beaird followed with a safety squeeze bunt to bring home Wood Myers.
Wake Forest got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth. Ben Breazeale was hit by a pitch and moved to third on a Logan Harvey single. Bruce Steel brought the pair home with a double down the left field line.
Coastal got one of those runs back in the fifth, which proved key as the Demon Deacons put three on the board in the bottom half to make the score 6-5.
For the Chants in the fifth, Jordan Gore hit a leadoff double and, after a walk to Kevin Woodall Jr., Isaacson laid down a sacrifice bunt before Myers plated Gore with an RBI ground out. In the home half, Jonathan Pryor had a leadoff single and Jake Mueller walked. Stuart Fairchild cleared the bases and cut his team's deficit to one with a three-run shot to right field.
The Chanticleers responded with a tally in the top of the sixth. Lancaster walked, stole second and moved to third on the play thanks to a wild pitch. Cooke, who leads the team in sacrifice flies, added to his total as his fly out to right field was deep enough to score Lancaster.
Wake put the game out of reach by sending 14 men to the plate and scoring 10 runs in the bottom of the sixth to take a 15-7 lead. Fairchild, who hit a 3-run HR earlier, provided the big hit with a grand slam to put the Deacons up 10-7. Gavin Sheets made it back-to-back home runs with a solo line drive down the right field line. The Deacons added four more runs for the eight-run lead. It is believed this was the first time (and perhaps one of just two times) Coastal has allowed doubles digit runs in an inning as CCU surrendered 12 in the fifth inning to then #1 Clemson on Mar. 26, 2002 in a 19-1 loss.
However, Coastal did not give in as Gore hit the first pitch of the seventh over the left field wall to make the score 15-8. Then in the eighth and with bases loaded, Woodall walked to force home Kyle Skeels, who hit a double earlier in the inning. Woodall drew three walks Tuesday and had walked seven times in his last two games.
Wake Forest capped it scoring with four runs in the eighth. Mueller was hit by a pitch and scored after consecutive singles by Fairchild and Sheets. Johnny Aiello then hit the Deacons' fourth home run of the game -- third of at least the three-run variety -- for a 19-9 lead.
Coastal Carolina, a half game out of first place in the Sun Belt East Division, will stay on the road to face division leader South Alabama this Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
PANTHERS FALL 11-4 TO MERCER
ATLANTA -- Georgia State fell to Mercer 11-4 Tuesday at the GSU Baseball Complex.
Nick Gatewood had two hits, and Cam Sperry, Terrell Frazier and Jack Thompson had RBI-singles, but the Panthers (11-21) dropped their 11th straight game.
After Mercer scored three runs in the top of the first off GSU starter Jordan Lee (1-1), the Panthers answered with two in the bottom of the inning. Ryan Blanton, Justin Jones and Nick Gatewood delivered consecutive singles to load the bases. After one run scored on a double play, Cam Sperry knocked a double to left center to pull GSU within 3-2.
Mercer, which won its eighth straight game to improve to 29-6, scored two runs in the second and then added single runs in the fourth, seventh and eighth.
The Panthers strung together four hits in the eighth inning, including run-scoring singles by Terrell Frazier and Jack Thompson, before Mercer scored three unearned runs in the ninth.
GSU had nine hits in the game but left nine men on base.
"We got the bats going a little bit," head coach Greg Frady said. "We had more hits and more baserunners, we worked the counts better and had more discipline. It was good to score some runs, even though we left some runners on. Nick Gatewood is doing a great job for us offensively.
"The only way we're going to come out of this is to keep improving and keep playing the game."
Georgia State hosts Troy for a Sun Belt Conference series this weekend that will be played Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Thursday's 6 p.m. game and Saturday's 2 p.m. contest will air on PantherVision, while Friday's 6 p.m. game will be broadcast on 1340 The Fan 3.