Louisiana Powers Past Red Wolves To Clinch Series, 13-2
LAFAYETTE, La. – The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns baseball team scored in all but two innings on Friday night to defeat Arkansas State 13-2 and claim the series at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field at Russo Park. The series victory is the seventh of the year for the Ragin' Cajuns who are unbeaten in 17 straight series.
Junior Steven Sensley had a career day at the plate going 2-for-2 with a pair of home runs and reached base in all five plate appearances. Sensley notched career highs for both runs (4) and RBI (5) in the contest.
"Tonight we had a good approach, a sound approach from all nine guys," head coach Tony Robichaux said. "Now we need to not vacillate after one win or when we score in one inning. Steve has a great approach right now, and because of that he is becoming a good hitter with power instead of a power hitter. He took his walks tonight when he had to take them. The hitters did a good yesterday and then again tonight. We have to come back tomorrow with the same approach that we had the last two nights."
The victory gives Robichaux 1,100 career victories in 32 seasons including 837 while at the helm of the Ragin' Cajuns.
Louisiana improves to 20-14-1 on the season and 9-4-1 in league play to take over first place in the Sun Belt Conference West Division.
The Cajuns outhit the Red Wolves (19-16, 7-7 Sun Belt) 13-2 in the contest. Senior Ishmael Edwards extended his hit streak to 10 games in the victory going 1-for-3 with a triple, two runs and an RBI. Edwards is the third Louisiana player to reach a double-digit hit streak this season joining Alex Pinero and Todd Lott.
Junior Evan Guillory (2-2) picked up the victory tossing 4.1 scoreless innings of relief to close out the ballgame. Guillory limited A-State to two hits and one walk with four strikeouts. Starter Nick Lee allowed two runs on six hits in 4.2 innings with five walks and five strikeouts.
Arkansas State starter Peyton Culbertson (3-4) was handed the loss after surrendering nine runs on ten hits in 4.1 innings of work.
The Ragin' Cajuns jumped out to an early lead in the bottom of the first as shortstop Brad Antchak brought home Edwards on an RBI groundout to shortstop to make the score 1-0. Later in the inning, left fielder Kennon Fontenot doubled home Sensley to give the Cajuns a 2-0 edge.
The Red Wolves scored their first run of the series in the top of the second on an RBI groundout to shortstop by Grant Hawkins to cut the advantage to 2-1.
Louisiana got the run back and more plating three runs on three hits and two walks to extend the lead to 5-1. After Edwards brought a run home on a sacrifice fly to right field, Antchak singled home catcher Handsome Monica to make the score 4-1. Third baseman Joe Robbins plated the final run of the inning scoring Antchak on a double to left center.
Sensley provided the first of his two homers on the night in the bottom of the fourth sending a two-run blast over the fence in right to give the Ragin' Cajuns a 7-1 edge.
Arkansas State picked up a run in the fifth on an RBI single by Jake Bakamus, but the Cajuns put the game out of reach in the bottom half of the inning on a Monica sac fly and a Zach LaFleur RBI single to make the score 9-2.
Louisiana scored the final four runs of the game on an Alex Pinero sac fly in the sixth and a Sensley three-run homer in the seventh.
The Ragin' Cajuns go for their second sweep of the season tomorrow with a 1 p.m. first pitch at Russo Park. Louisiana will start sophomore left-hander Hogan Harris (3-0, 2.51) in the series finale. The Cajuns are unbeaten this season in games started by Harris. A-State will counter with junior right-hander Tyler Mitzel (1-2, 6.00 ERA).
No. 26 Coastal Clinches Series at South Alabama With 11-9 Win
MOBILE, Ala. - Kieton Rivers had the big hit in the eighth, but Billy Cooke delivered all game to lead #26 Coastal Carolina to an 11-9 victory at South Alabama Friday night to clinch the series victory at Stanky Field.
The Chanticleers (22-11-1, 10-3-1) and Jaguars (20-15, 9-5) will conclude the series on Saturday at 1 pm (CT)/2 pm (ET).
The back-and-forth game saw South Alabama leading 8-7 after the Jaguars scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh. However, Rivers came through with a two-run triple and scored on a Cooke RBI single as part of a four-run eighth inning.
Cooke was 3-for-3 with three RBI and a run scored. He also made a highlight reel catch in the sixth inning. With bases loaded, the junior laid out for a diving catch in right-center field to save at least two runs. Rivers was 2-for-4 with two RBI, while Wood Myers and Peyton Isaacson each had two hits.
Andrew Beckwith (5-1) pitched six innings in relief to earn the win. He scattered eight hits for four runs (two earned) with three walks and five strikeouts. Austin Kitchen worked a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his third save of the season.
Coastal Carolina took advantage of a South Alabama error to take a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. Cooke hit a leadoff double, moved to third on a Myers sacrifice bunt and scored when Woodall reached on a throwing error.
South Alabama answered with a run of its own in the bottom of the first. Drew LaBounty hit a leadoff single, stole second, moved to third on a ground out and scored on a sacrifice fly by Travis Swaggerty.
The Chants got that run back plus one in the second. Seth Lancaster walked and moved to second on a Rivers single. Cory Wood (1-for-2 with two runs, two walks and RBI) reached on a fielder's choice, putting runners on the corners. After Wood stole second, Cooke singled to centerfield to bring home Lancaster and put Wood on third. Cooke then was intentionally caught in a rundown on a steal attempt, which was allowed Wood to score.
The Jaguars bounced back with four runs in the bottom of the second to take a 5-3 lead. With two outs, Will Luft doubled off the left field fence and scored on an RBI single by Carter Perkins. South Alabama then got a single from Hunter Stokes and LaBounty walked to load the bases. Brendan Donovan cleared the bases with three-run double down the right field line.
The pitchers settled in the next three innings. Then, in the sixth, Coastal's offense got back in the game, scoring four runs to regain the lead (7-5). Jordan Gore hit a leadoff single to his counterpoint at shortstop. Woodall launched the first pitch he saw to straight away centerfield, just to the right of the 400-foot sign. The two-run shot was his league-leading 14th home run of the season. Isaacson kept the rally going with a single and, after a Kyle Skeels sacrifice bunt, South Alabama walked Lancaster, Rivers and Wood, the last resulting in a run scored. For the third, Cooke figured in a CCU run as his sacrifice fly scored Lancaster.
South Alabama threatened in the bottom of the sixth but came up empty. First, with runners on second and third, Beckwith fielded a ground ball and threw out the Jaguars runner at the plate. Later, with bases loaded and two outs, Cooke saved at least two runs as he made an impressive diving catch in right-center field to end the inning.
However, South Alabama scored three in the seventh. Dylan Hardy had a one-out single and a CCU error put runners on first and second. Perkins found the hole in the right side of the infield to score Hardy. After a walk loaded the bases, LaBounty lined an RBI single through the left side of the infield to knot the game at 7-7. With bases still loaded, Donovan grounded out but still pushed across the leading run.
Coastal regained the lead, 11-8, with three runs in the top of the eighth. Isaacson hit a leadoff single and moved to second on a Matt Beaird bunt. Lancaster followed with a walk. Rivers then smacked a ball to deep right-center that fell just between the two USA outfielders for a two-run triple. After a walk to Wood, Cooke beat the drawn-in infield with a single to score Rivers. Gore fisted a ball to right field than plated Wood and give CCU a three-run cushion.
The Jags cut their deficit to one in the bottom of the eighth. With one out, Jared Barnes hit a solo home run to left field, his seventh round-tripper of the season to provide the 11-9 final score.
Big Hits Allow Trojans to Even Series at UTA
ARLINGTON, Texas – Little Rock baseball (14-21, 6-8 Sun Belt) showed off its offensive muscle as it evened the series against UT Arlington (18-17, 9-5) with a 9-4 victory on Friday night at Clay Gould Ballpark.
The Trojans' win was their first in Arlington since 2004 and was just their second-ever victory on the road at UT Arlington. The victory was also Little Rock's fourth in its last five games.
"This team is growing up," head coach Chris Curry said. "The first half of the season, this club had to get a lot of hard coaching and hard truths. Now, they're taking good coaching and executing instead of being an individual player. They're being part of an offense and part of a pitching staff. These guys are becoming unselfish and are playing team baseball. I think that's why some things are starting to go their way."
Hunter Owens earned his 16th multiple-hit game of the season as the senior went 3 for 5 with two doubles, a home run, an RBI and two runs. Ty Gunter went 3 for 4 with an RBI and a run while Riley Pittman had a home run with two RBIs in one at-bat. Cameron Knight was 1 for 3 with two runs and a walk as he upped his reached-base streak to 10 games. Nik Gifford advanced his reached-base streak to 12 games with a single, an RBI and a run. Dalton Thomas moved his reached-base streak to 11 games as he tallied an RBI, a run and a walk.
Trojan reliever Justin Garcia (1-0) earned his first win as a Trojan and third Division I win with 2.2 innings of relief work. Garcia struck out two and allowed one run on one hit and a walk. Trojan starter Ryan LeMoine took the no-decision as he threw 4.1 innings, struck out one and allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits, a walk and two hit-by-pitches. Reliever Dylan Slayton threw two innings, struck out one and allowed one unearned run on two hits.
UTA starter Trae Patterson (3-3) picked up the loss as he threw four innings, struck out two and allowed five runs on eight hits and a walk.
After a scoreless first inning, UTA put up the game's first run in the bottom of the second. After Will Olson was hit by a pitch to begin the bottom frame, Quintin Rohrbaugh singled to left. A passed ball allowed both runners to move into scoring position before an RBI single by Phil Berthiaume plated Olson.
Little Rock's huge offensive inning occurred in the top of the fourth with five runs on six hits and a UTA error. After a one-out double by Owens and a walk by Thomas, Gifford hit an RBI single through the left side to score Owens. Knight then hit an infield single to third and advanced to second on a throwing error while Thomas scored. A sacrifice fly by Cale Ridling to left allowed Gifford to trot home for the Trojans' third run of the inning. Gunter and Kale Emshoff then tallied a couple of back-to-back RBI singles to give Little Rock a 5-1 lead.
UTA cut the deficit to three in the bottom of the fifth. With runners on the corners, Aaron Funk scored from third on a sacrifice fly to left by Brady Cox.
The Trojans went up by four runs once again in the top of the seventh inning as Owens belted his team-leading sixth home run of the season to right.
In the bottom of the inning, UT Arlington cut the deficit to three as Berthiaume scored from third on a fielder's choice.
After Knight walked to begin the eighth inning, Pittman came on to pinch-hit for Ridling. Pittman drilled the first pitch he saw over the right field wall for his third homer of the season and put Little Rock up 8-3.
The Mavericks cut the Trojans' lead to four runs once again in the bottom of the eighth. With a runner on first and one out, Rohrbaugh hit an RBI double down the left field line.
Little Rock plated the game's final run in the top of the ninth. Zach Baker hit a leadoff double down the left field line before advancing to third on a wild pitch. Thomas then hit a one-out sacrifice fly to right to bring Baker home.
"It's a huge win for our program," Curry said. "It's very tough to come down here and win a game. I'm really proud of the guys for picking themselves up off the mat after a hard-fought loss on Thursday night."
Little Rock will look to score its second consecutive Sun Belt series win on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Bobcats use 9-5 effort to pull even in weekend series
SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State baseball team led wire-to-wire and collected a 9-5 triumph over ULM in a Sun Belt Conference showdown Friday night at Bobcat Ballpark.
The Bobcats (21-15, 8-6 SBC) snapped a four-game losing skid, while dropping the Warhawks to 10-26 overall and 5-9 in the league. The victory also evened the weekend series at one game each.
TXST plated a trio of first-inning runs and never looked back, tacking on two more in the fourth, one in the fifth and three final tallies in the seventh. The maroon and gold has now scored in the first inning (and was also the first team to score) in each of the team's last nine Sun Belt games.
Leading the way on the mound was senior Joe Powell (1-0), who tossed a career-high 5.2 innings of relief to earn the third victory of his career and first since his sophomore year. He conceded three runs (two earned) on six hits, while striking out three and walking two. Sophomore Wes Engle started on the mound and left after allowing two runs on three hits in 3.1 frames. He also struck out five and walked five.
Junior Theodore Hoffman was responsible for three of Texas State's 12 hits. He belted his team-leading 12th home run of the season to leadoff the fifth inning and finished a triple shy of the cycle. He tallied two RBIs and scored three times, while extending his hitting streak to a career-best 10 games. He has now hit safely in 30 of 36 games played in 2017.
Sophomore Jaylen Hubbard entered the weekend series with one career home run – coming last season – and he has now hit round-trippers in back-to-back games after registering an inside-the-park homer in the seventh.
Sophomore Felipe Rodriguez went 2-for-4, and classmate Jonathan Ortega scored twice.
ULM finished with just nine hits and committed six errors.
Tyler Cox and Anthony Herrera both went 2-for-4. Cox posted two RBIs, and Nathan Reynolds scored twice.
Starter Chase Beal (3-4) was tagged with the loss after conceding six runs on seven hits across the first 4.0 frames. The Warhawks burned through four more pitchers, who combined to allow three additional runs on five hits.
The two teams will jockey for the series victory beginning at 1 p.m. April 15.
TEXAS STATE COACH TY HARRINGTON
Opening Statement…
"I was proud of the efforts of Joe Powell tonight. He gutted his way through that last inning. Emotionally he wanted to finish the game, and he did. He was hard to elevate. Everything he threw was down the whole time. In the ninth it got a little goofy for us, but the reality was he was probably out of gas. He pitched four innings last week (against Little Rock), but going (5.2 innings) is not something we've historically done with him. I'm not sure the last time he's thrown that long. Probably in high school or his freshman year in college."
On Theodore Hoffman…
"He's been really good this season. The key to Teddy is when he doesn't chase outside the strike zone. If he's not chasing and he slows down a bit, then he has a good chance to do what he did tonight. He can get himself out, but he can do some good things when he's locked into the strike zone."
On offensive production from the catchers…
"It's unbelievable for us. Both of our catchers have had opportunities offensively where they've been really good for us. Felipe (Rodriguez) jumped in there again tonight and did well. It's not the first time that he's done that. My hats off to him. He worked hard back there behind the plate the first three innings. He went to his knees often to block balls and keep runners from advancing. He stayed fresh through the game and his at-bats were good."
On Jaylen Hubbard…
"He's been good this past week. When we were playing at a high level offensively about two or three weeks ago, Jaylen was critical for us because he had so many two-out hits. He went through a small curve in the road where he was not holding onto the plan like he normally does. When Jaylen's locked in, he's a very dangerous and exciting hitter."
WALK-OFF! HOOD'S HIT IN 12TH DELIVERS 3-2 WIN OVER TROY
ATLANTA -- Jarrett Hood's two-out single in the bottom of the 12th gave Georgia State a 3-2 walk-off win over Troy Friday at the GSU Baseball Complex to clinch the Sun Belt Conference series for the Panthers, who won for the second straight night.
With one out in the 12th inning, Luke Leonard and Darius Sewell hit back-to-back singles to put runners at first and third. Troy closer Marc Skinner (2-3), in his sixth inning of work, struck out Terrell Frazier for the second out, but Hood hit a sharp line drive back up the middle to bring home the winning run.
Hood delivered the third walk-off hit of his career, all in extra innings. The senior had game-winning hits last season against Savannah State and Arkansas State.
GSU improved to 3-0 this season in extra-inning games.
Georgia State (13-21, 3-11 Sun Belt) trailed 2-0 when Ryan Blanton and Justin Jones led off the seventh inning with walks off Troy starter Daren Osby, who allowed just one hit and faced the minimum through six innings. Skinner relieved Osby to face Nick Gatewood, who bunted. Skinner fielded the ball and threw wildly to first base, allowing both runners to score and tie the game.
Five GSU pitchers combined for a season-high 14 strikeouts and stranded 19 Troy (17-16, 5-9 Sun Belt ) runners on base.
Tanner Thomson (2-3) pitched the final three innings, allowing two hits and three walks while striking out three to earn the victory.
GSU starter Bryce Conley threw 5.2 innings and allowed two runs on three hits with seven strikeouts but walked seven. Brandon Baker followed with one scoreless inning, and then Jansen Acton came on with bases loaded and two outs in the seventh inning and struck out Mason Rogers looking to end the threat.
Tyler Koch shut out the Trojans in the eighth and ninth innings before Thomson finished the game.
The series concludes Saturday at 2 p.m. in a game that will air on PantherVision.
Schmid Fans 13 as Baseball Downs the Eagles, 7-3
STATESBORO, Ga. – Sophomore left-handed pitcher Colin Schmid put on a pitching clinic on Friday night against Georgia Southern as he was able to strike out 13 batters, the most by any Appalachian State University baseball pitcher since at least 2003.
Schmid carved up the third-best offensive in the Sun Belt, holding the Eagles (22-13, 8-6 Sun Belt) to a 6-for-32 day, only allowing four batters to connect all game and issuing just one walk. The New Bern native threw 76 of his 113 total pitches on the night for strikes and struck out five of the nine batters in Georgia Southern’s lineup at least once. His 13 strikeouts topped the previous career high of nine that he threw against South Alabama on March 17, 2016.
The Mountaineers (13-22, 4-10 Sun Belt) would strike out 18 of the Eagles’ batters overall, as Reed Howell punched out five of six batters faced to close the final 2.0 innings of the game and secure the 7-3 victory and Howell’s fifth save on the year to even up the series.
As if the prowess on the mound wasn’t enough in Game Two, Appalachian’s bats caught fire in the third inning when they launched back-to-back-to-back home runs in the inning to get the seven runs needed for the win. It’s the second time this season that the Black and Gold have hit four jacks in a single game, the last time coming against then-No. 14 Louisiana en route to a 12-4 win – also in Game Two.
After Georgia Southern was able to put up one run in the second, App State began the enormous third inning with a screamer by Matt Vernon to left field before Drake Zupcic shot one back to the pitcher at full speed to be a base hit and force a throwing error by the pitcher that allowed Vernon to reached third.
With the baserunners on the corners, Tyler Stroup launched his seventh home run of the season, bringing everyone home and retaking the lead. In the next at-bat, Matt Brill went yard in a solo shot before Avery Jackson dropped a solo tank in left field in the very next at-bat.
Chandler Seagle was then able to single through the middle to keep the streak alive before Conner Leonard cranked one out of the stadium – his fourth of the season.
While Schmid mowed down the Eagles’ lineup, Vernon, Zupcic and Leonard held down the fort at the plate, each finishing with two hits on the day, while Stroup, Brill, Jackson, Seagle, and Brian Bauk were able to all get singles during the game.
The Mountaineers will try to carry their momentum into Saturday and the deciding Game Three in Statesboro. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. and is broadcast live on ESPN3 with App State radio streamed at appstatesports.com.