Eagle Baseball Defeats Savannah State on Wednesday Night
SAVANNAH, GA. - Georgia Southern took an 11 inning, 6-5 win over Savannah State on Wednesday night on Savannah's east side. The Eagles led 5-1 through seven innings, but a three run eighth and a run in the ninth forced extra innings. Jacob Greene drove in the go-ahead run in the 11th with a single to right. Ryan Frederick worked two no-hit innings with five strikeouts to improve to 2-0 on the year. The Eagles visit Coastal Carolina this weekend for the first league series between the programs.
SCORING PLAYS
Top 2nd - GS 4 - SSU 0 - The Eagles got four runs in the second inning with two coming via a Logan Baldwin two RBI double. A single and a double loaded the bases with more runs coming in when Jordan Wren was hit by a pitch and Tyler Martin was issued a walk.
Bot 5th - GS 4 - SSU 1 - A one out triple by Khalyd Cox got the Tigers on the board, cutting the Eagle lead to three. An attempted sacrifice fly backfired for the Tigers when Cox was caught leaving third early.
Top 6th - GS 5 - SSU 1 - Jordan Wren drove in a run in the sixth, driving a ball to left to plate Logan Baldwin for his second RBI of the day.
Bot 8th - GS 5 - SSU 4 - Savannah State got three runs in the eighth to cut the lead to 5-4. The Tigers legged out six hits in the frame and stranded a pair of runners, cutting the Eagle lead to just one.
Bot 9th - GS 5 - SSU 5 - Savannah State got a one out double to left that scored the tying run from first to send the game to extra innings.
Top 11th - GS 6 - SSU 5 - Jacob Greene delivered a one out single to right with runners on the corners to give the Eagles a 6-5 lead.
GAME NOTES
- Seth Shuman had a solid outing and was in line to pick up his fourth win of the season. The four runs off the bullpen scuttled that chance as he earned his first no decision from a start this season. It was the first starting action for the freshman since March 22nd when he went five innings to pick up the win against The Citadel. He worked around five hits and gave up a run on Wednesday with three strikeouts.
- Ryan Frederick worked two innings to win his second game of the year. He didn't allow a hit in the 10th or 11th innings, walking one and striking out five batters to nail down the win.
- Steven Curry posted a three hit game going 3-for-7 while Logan Baldwin went 3-for-6 with two runs and two RBIs to bookend the lineup.
NEXT UP
Georgia Southern travels for a weekend series this weekend against the defending National Champion Coastal Carolina Chanticleers. First pitch on Friday night is set for 6 p.m. with game on Saturday and Sunday set for 2 p.m. and 1 p.m.
Louisiana Surges Past Southeastern La. To Win Fifth Straight
LAFAYETTE, La. – The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns baseball team extended its win streak to five games as the Cajuns defeated Southeastern Louisiana 9-2 on Wednesday night at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field at Russo Park.
The Ragin' Cajuns (23-14-1) outhit the Lions (22-14) 14-7 in the game with Brad Antchak, Steven Sensley and Kennon Fontenot each registering three hits in the contest. Both Antchak and Fontenot had a pair of doubles in the game as seven the Cajuns 14 hits were for extra bases, while five different Cajuns drove in a least one run in the victory.
"I felt that even though we didn't score many runs last night, we would swing the bat better tonight," head coach Tony Robichaux said. "The hitters really swung the bat well with a lot of extra base hits. We also played good defense again tonight. They deserve a lot of credit for giving our pitchers the success that they have had, because our pitchers know they don't have to go out there and strike everyone out."
Senior Ishmael Edwards extended his hit streak to 13 games with a 2-for-5 effort in the game to tie Alex Pinero for the longest hit streak on the season.
Redshirt-freshman Jacob Norman was outstanding in relief to earn his first collegiate victory in the game tossing 4.2 scoreless innings. Norman scattered four hits and two walks while recording six strikeouts.
"I give Jacob a lot of credit for the job he did tonight," Robichaux said. "He knew he was going to bridge the gap for us to get to Wyatt (Marks), but I don't think he knew it was going to be that long. He came in and did a good job for us on short notice."
Junior Wyatt Marks equaled a season-best with seven strikeouts in 2.1 innings of relief to close out the game.
The Cajuns handed SLU starter Derrick Mount (1-1) his first loss of the season after surrendering four runs on eight hits in 2.1 innings pitched.
Louisiana grabbed an early lead in the bottom of the first on a sacrifice fly to centerfield by Joe Robbins to plate Edwards and make the score 1-0. In the next at bat, Sensley launched an opposite-field, solo homer to left to increase the advantage to 2-0. The home run moves Sensley into the team lead on the season with five.
The Ragin' Cajuns added a run in the second inning on a two-out RBI single to left by Antchak, and a run in the third on an RBI single up the middle by Todd Lott to bring the lead to 4-0.
In the bottom of the sixth, Antchak doubled home a run with two outs and then scored on a Cliff Hurst wild pitch to extend the Cajuns advantage to 6-0.
The Lions got on the board in the top of the eighth when Brennan Breaud drew a one-out, bases-loaded walk from Marks to cut the lead to 6-1. The run snapped a streak of 22 consecutive scoreless innings tossed by the Louisiana pitching staff. Marks settled down and got two strikeouts to get out of the bases loaded jam.
The Ragin' Cajuns put the game out of reach in the bottom half of the eighth plating three runs on four hits to take a 9-1 advantage. The Lions tacked on the final run of the game in the bottom of the ninth on an RBI double by pinch hitter Nate Hunter.
The Cajuns return to action this weekend as the squad heads to Little Rock for a three-game series at Gary Hogan Field starting Friday at 6 p.m.
JAGS DEFEAT HORNETS BEHIND PEREZ
MOBILE, Ala. – Right-hander Tyler Perez tossed a career-high five innings to lead the University of South Alabama baseball team to a 6-4 win over Alabama State Wednesday at Stanky Field.
Perez (1-0) allowed just one run on five hits and struck out a career-high two batters in five innings of relief work to earn his first career win. ASU southpaw Carlos Gonzales (0-1) allowed three runs on two hits with one walk in one inning pitched in the loss.
"Tyler (Perez) came in and was fantastic," USA head coach Mark Calvi said. "You had two freshmen (Perez and Andy Arguelles) go nine innings with just one walk against a pretty solid offense. It was down to the wire, and we needed Perez to be really good and he was."
USA (23-15) jumped out to a two-run lead in the bottom of the first. Dylan Hardy led off the inning with a double to left field, and moved to second when Drew LaBounty reached on a hit by pitch. A wild pitch allowed both runners to move into scoring position with no outs before Brendan Donovan reached on a fielder's choice. Hardy scored on the play on a throwing error by ASU third baseman Ray Hernandez for a 1-0 advantage. Travis Swaggerty then delivered a one-out RBI single to right-center field to plate LaBounty and double the Jaguar lead at 2-0.
The Jags loaded the bases in the bottom of the second on a leadoff walk by Will Luft, and consecutive bunt singles by Wells Davis and Jared Barnes. Hunter Stokes followed with an RBI single to center field to score Luft for a 3-0 USA lead. LaBounty lifted a sacrifice fly to center field later in the inning to score Davis and push the Jaguar lead to 4-0.
Alabama State (18-20) loaded the bases with one out in the top of the fifth on three consecutive singles, and pushed across its first run on a bases-loaded walk by Edgardo Rivera. Joshua Dunson delivered a two-out, two-run single into shallow center field later in the inning to cut the Jaguar lead to 4-3.
The Jaguars added their final runs of the game in the bottom of the eighth on a pair of one-out RBI singles by Jared Barnes and Hunter Stokes, while ASU scored the game's final run in the top of the ninth on a two-out RBI triple to right-center field by Cage Cox.
Swaggerty went 3-for-4 with one RBI to lead the Jaguars at the plate, while Rivera finished 2-for-3 with an RBI to lead the Hornets offensively.
USA will return to action this weekend with a three-game Sun Belt Conference series with Arkansas State in Jonesboro, Ark.
No. 29 Coastal Holds on for 8-5 Win at Charleston
MOUNT PLEASANT - Coastal Carolina scored seven runs in the third inning and held on for an 8-5 victory versus region rival College of Charleston Wednesday night at Patriots Point.
The 29th-ranked Chanticleers improve to 23-13-1 overall and, with four straight wins over the Cougars (17-20), takes a 22-21 lead in the all-time series and win for just the sixth time in 20 tries at Charleston.
Coastal's 1-2-3 hitters in the lineup (Billy Cooke, Wood Myers and Jordan Gore) each had two hits with Wood Myers getting a double and two-run home run. Seth Lancaster added two hits as well. Eight Chants had at least one hit, while nine of CCU's 13 hits came in the third inning.
The game started an hour late due to rain threat, but the wait did not affect the Chants. Myers hit a fly ball to deep centerfield, which looked like CofC's Bradley Dixon made a leaping catch. However, the ball came out and was lost in the fence padding to serve as a ground rule double. Gore followed with a double to left-center field to score Myers for the early 1-0 lead.
Myers came through again in his second at bat. Cooke hit a leadoff single to start to third inning and Myers followed with a blast to right-center field for his fifth home run of the season and 3-0 lead. Coastal kept the pedal down getting hits from Gore and Kevin Woodall Jr., before Peyton Isaacson laid down a sacrifice bunt. However, a throwing error on the play allowed Gore to score while putting Woodall and Isaacson on third and second, respectively. CCU then got consecutive hits from Cory Wood, Kieton Rivers, Lancaster and Matt Beaird to make the score 8-0. Overall, Coastal sent 13 men to the plate and had nine hits en route to its seven runs in the frame.
The Cougars responded with three runs in the bottom of the third. With one out, Ari Sechopoulos and Luke Morgan walked before Dupree Hart reached on a fielder's choice, putting runners on first and third. A third walk loaded the bases before Sechopoulos scored on a passed ball. With two outs, Logan McRae collected the Cougars' first hit, a two-run double down the left field line.
Charleston trimmed its deficit to three, 8-5, with two runs in the bottom of the seventh. Pinch hitter Joey Mundy walked and moved to second on a single by Luke Morgan. Dupree Hat followed with an RBI single while Tommy Richter delivered a sacrifice fly.
Anthony Veneziano started and struck out four over 3.0 innings. He only allowed one hit, but gave up three runs (two earned) and three walks. Will Latcham (1-0) picked up the win as he stuck out three and retired all five batters he faced in 1.2 scoreless innings. Andrew Beckwith worked the ninth and struck out two to record his first save of the season.
Coastal Carolina will return to action this weekend, hosting Georgia Southern in a key Sun Belt matchup. Game times at 6 pm Friday, 2 pm Saturday and 1 pm Sunday.
Troy Blows Past Jacksonville State
OXFORD, Alabama – Troy's offense exploded for 15 hits to push past Jacksonville State, 10-5, Wednesday night at Choccolocco Park.
The Trojans (19-16) set a new season high with 15 hits – six of which came from Matt Sanders and Justin Friend. Sanders finished the game 3-for-5 with two RBIs and added his third triple of the season, while Friend went 3-for-4 with a double and drove in two. Troy had five extra-base hits – four doubles and a triple.
Brandon Lockridge, Mason Rogers, and Hunter Mercer each turned in multi-hit games for Troy, as well. Overall, eight different Trojans hit safely to aid the season-best effort.
Max Newton (1-0) made his first collegiate start for Troy and earned his first career win. Newton allowed four runs – two earned – on five hits, while not walking anyone and striking out four in five innings of work.
Corey Childress, Cory Gill and Will Carnley combined to shut the Gamecocks down in the final three innings – not allowing a run or a hit with four total strikeouts.
Jacksonville State (18-16) struck for four in the first inning to take a 4-1 lead before being outscored 9-1 to close out the game. A.J. Reynolds led the Gamecocks at the plate – going 2-for-4 with two RBIs.
Freshman Cody Dodd (2-1) was saddled with the loss after allowing seven earned runs on eight hits in 2.1 innings on the mound.
QUOTABLE
"It starts with Max Newton," Troy head coach Mark Smartt said. "(Newton) got in trouble early but we bounced right back. It allowed our team to think that good things can happen for us. We finally caught some breaks and we did what we had to do to win tonight"
SOUND "SMARTT" WITH YOUR FRIENDS
• Trevor Davis ripped his team-leading 12th double of the season down the left field line in the first inning.
• Hunter Mercer made only his second career start and came just short of a homer in his first at-bat. Mercer finished 2-for-5 with a double and two RBIs.
• Matt Sanders drove in a run on a triple in the third inning. He has hit three of Troy's four triples this season.
• Steven Whitaker stole his team-leading 15th base of the season – he ranked 44th nationally in stolen bases coming into the game.
WHAT'S UP NEXT?
The Trojans will return home to Riddle-Pace Field for a three-game Sun Belt series with Texas State. First pitch Friday is set for 6 p.m.; Saturday at 3 and Sunday at noon.