Ayers, Zuber Combine to Shutout Ole Miss in Front of Record Crowd
JONESBORO, Ark. (5/16/17) – Bryan Ayers and Tyler Zuber combined for a five-hit shutout as Arkansas State defeated Ole Miss 5-0 in front of a record crowd of 1,188 at Tomlinson Stadium Tuesday evening.
Ayers (3-5) scattered four hits across seven innings for his second quality start of the season. He struck out four and walked one. He gave up just one extra base hit and threw 58 of his 91 pitches for strikes. Zuber pitched the final two innings to close out the game.
The shutout was the third of the season for Arkansas State and it's second over its last three games.
The Red Wolves wasted no time in building an early lead and scored three runs in the first inning. Jeremy Brown drove in the first run of the game with a single down the right field line that plated Garrett Rucker. Alex Horward followed with a double to that scored Justin Felix and Jake Bakamus closed out the inning with a sacrifice fly to score Brown.
Howard, who was 3-for-4 with RBIs, also drove in a run in the third inning with and a single up the middle to score Felix. The A-State catcher reached base twice and scored twice on the night.
A-State scored the night's final run in the eighth inning when Drew Tipton flew out to left field to score Brown, who reached base twice and scored twice. Brown also made an outstanding terrific play in the top of the eighth inning when he picked up a ball that ricocheted off the glove of Zuber and threw to first to get Colby Bortles by a step to preserve the shutout.
The record crowd of 1,188 also broke the previous Tomlinson Stadium record of 1,143, which was set on May 13th of 2014. It also marked the fifth time that a crowd of over 1,000 has seen a game at Kell Field.
For the latest on A-State baseball follow the team by logging onto the Arkansas State Baseball Facebook page or by following the team on Twitter (@AStateBaseball) and Instagram (arkansasstatebaseball).
Eagles Drop Midweek Tilt at Georgia Tech
ATLANTA, GA. - Georgia Southern dropped Tuesday's midweek game at Georgia Tech, 12-3 to open the final week of the regular season. The Eagles scored the game's first run, but the Yellow Jackets answered with 10-straight runs to take the win. The Eagles will stay in Atlanta to prepare for the regular season's final series against Georgia State which starts on Thursday at 6 p.m.
SCORING PLAYS
Top 2nd - GS 1 - GT 0 - A leadoff walk to Mitchell Golden followed by a Logan Baldwin double set Eagles up to take an early lead. C.J. Brazil brought a run in with a safety squeeze to the first base side, plating Golden for the game's first run.
Bot 2nd - GS 1 - GT 4 - Georgia Tech struck back in the fourth, lashing a double and a triple in a four run, five hit frame that put the home side up 4-1.
Bot 3rd - GS 1 - GT 5 - A leadoff double in the third ended Brian Eichhorn's start on the mound, A ground ball to short drove in the run to make it a 5-1 game.
Bot 5th - GS 1 - GT 7 - Relief pitcher Ryan Frederick threw up a blank in the fourth, but Tech added two more in the fifth with a two run home run by Brandt Stallings.
Bot 6th - GS 1 - GT 10 - A three-run Coleman Poje home run in the sixth tacked on more runs to make the score 10-1 heading to the seventh.
Top 7th - GS 2 - GT 10 - A single and a walk with one out put two runner aboard for the Eagles in the seventh. A wild throw on a double play attempt allowed Logan Baldwin to scamper home on the play and make it 10-2.
Bot 7th - GS 2 - GT 12 - A solo home run and three singles resulted in two more Georgia Tech runs, pushing the advantage to 12-2.
Top 8th - GS 3 - GT 12 - Sophomore Tyler Martin squared up a pitch with two outs to hit his eighth home run of the season to the gap in right.
GAME NOTES
- Tyler Martin and Logan Baldwin each had two hit games on Tuesday night. Martin was 2-for-4 with the solo home run while Baldwin went 2-for-3 with a double.
- Brian Eichhorn took the loss to fall to 2-5 on the year. He was tagged with five runs, all earned, off seven hits and two walks.
NEXT UP
Georgia Southern wraps the 2017 regular season with three games against Georgia State at the Georgia State Sports Complex in Decatur. First pitch on Thursday and Friday is set for 6 p.m. with the Saturday regular season finale scheduled for 2 p.m.
Troy Falls Late at No. 8 Mississippi State
STARKVILLE, Mississippi – No. 8 Mississippi State scored seven unanswered runs to battle back and defeat Troy, 10-8, Tuesday night at Dudy Noble Field.
Troy (30-22) led 8-3 heading to the bottom of the fourth inning but failed to score again to fall in the last mid-week contest of the season.
The game turned in the bottom of the sixth inning when Cory Gill faced Bulldog star Brent Rooker with two on, two outs and an 8-5 lead; Gill got Rooker to hit a high fly-ball to center field. However, the Trojan outfield was playing too deep and the ball fell in front of Steven Whitaker for a two-RBI double – Mississippi State (34-19) tied the game at 8-8 with an RBI single in the next at-bat.
The Bulldogs struck for two more runs to take the 10-8 lead in the bottom of the eighth where the score would stand. Troy's Marc Skinner (4-6) allowed the two runs on three hits in an inning of work to suffer the loss on the mound.
Trevor Davis finished 2-for-3 with a double and four RBIs to lead the Trojans offensively in the matchup.
The Trojans struck for five runs in a third inning rally that consisted of only two hits – Davis and Jackson Cofer each delivered two-out, two-RBI singles up the middle. Davis added two more RBIs on a double down the line in left as a part of a three-run Trojan fourth.
Brandon Lockridge also turned in a multi-hit performance, going 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored.
Reliever Trey Jolly (3-1) worked 2.1 shutdown innings on the mound to win the game for the Bulldogs. Riley Self struck out two in a perfect ninth on his way to earning his fourth save of the season.
QUOTABLE
"It was a disappointing loss," Troy head coach Mark Smartt said. "They're a good offensive team, but when you have a lead in the sixth inning you have to win. We had plenty of chances and there's plenty to build on headed to South this weekend."
SOUND "SMARTT" WITH YOUR FRIENDS
• Steven Whitaker stole his 20th and 21st bases of the season with swipes of second in the third and fourth innings. Coming into the game, Whitaker ranked 41st nationally in stolen bases.
• Brandon Lockridge drove in a run with a single in the fourth inning to extend his hitting streak to 11 games. Lockridge has hit safely in 48 of Troy's 52 games this season.
• Trevor Davis drove in at least four runs for the second time in his career – he had five RBIs in Troy's victory over Alabama earlier this season.
• With the loss, the Trojans fall to 0-4 all-time against Mississippi State – 0-3 in Starkville.
WHAT'S UP NEXT?
Troy will close out its regular season with a three-game set against rival South Alabama. First pitch in Mobile is set for 6:30 p.m. Thursday.
No.24 Coastal Suffers Tough 11-8 Loss at No.12 Clemson
CLEMSON - In a game that featured seven home runs (four by Clemson and three by Coastal Carolina) it was the last one, a grand slam by Tiger sophomore Seth Beer in the eighth, that proved to be the difference as #12 Clemson (38-15) rallied to beat #24 Coastal (34-19-1) 11-8 Tuesday night at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.
Coastal trailed 7-1 through five innings before coming back taking an 8-7 in the top of the eighth. Then in the home half of the eighth, Robert Jolly drew a leadoff walk and Matt Byrd reached on an error on a sacrifice bunt. A sac bunt moved the runners to third and second. Coastal intentionally walked Reed Rohlman to set the stage for Beer's grand slam.
Coastal got multiple hits from each of its first five batters, including three from Billy Cooke and two each from Jordan Gore, Kevin Woodall Jr., Wood Myers and Kieton Rivers.
Woodall doubled and hit a home run, which moves him to eighth on the CCU single-season list, tying G.K. Young, David Sappelt and Jeremy Santanas. Woodall also extended his Sun Belt lead in both home runs (18) and RBI (55). Cooke also doubled and hit a home run, giving him a team-best 15 doubles and his 10 home runs rank second on the team. It was Cooke's third home run in his last four games.
Coastal had some bad luck in the first inning on a great play made on a CCU hit-and-run. Then, in the bottom of the first, Logan Davidson hit a leadoff home run for the 1-0 lead. The Tigers pushed their lead to 2-0 after two singles and RBI double by Weston Jackson. Josh Crump saved two runs as he made a diving catch in left-center field for the third out.
Clemson made it a 3-0 game in the second. Grayson Byrd singled, moved to second when Rohlman was hit by a pitch and scored on a Beer single to left.
The Chanticleers got on the board with a tally in the fourth. Woodall hit a leadoff double, took third on Myers ground out and scored on a Rivers RBI ground out.
However, Clemson responded in the bottom of the fourth on a two-run home run by Rohlman to make the score 5-1. The Tigers used another two-run home run in the fifth, this time by Jackson, to go up 7-1.
Woodall accounted for runs 2, 3 and 4 with a three-run home run in the sixth. The inning started with a Billy Cooke double and Jordan Gore singled. Woodall sat on a 3-1 fastball and launched it over the 360 marker in left-center field for a three-run home run. On the next pitch (by new Clemson pitcher Jacob Hennessy), Myers cranked a solo shot to right field for his sixth round-tripper of the year. It marked the second time CCU has hit back-to-back home runs this season and Woodall hit the first of two both times.
Cooke cut the CCU deficit to one, 7-6, when he hit a 2-out, solo home run in the seventh.
In the bottom of the seventh, Coastal picked off a Tiger runner at third base for the final out. The Chants rode that momentum into the top of the eighth. Myers and Rivers had back-to-back, one-out singles. Seth Lancaster lined a double to the right-center field gap to score both Chants for an 8-7 lead.
However, Beer's hit a grand slam in the bottom of the eighth to give his squad an 11-8 lead.
Jason Bilous (3-2) was the tough luck loser in relief. He pitched the final three innings and seven of his nine outs came by strikeout. He allowed four hits, four runs (three earned) and three walks. Anthony Veneziano started and worked the first five innings, allowing nine hits and seven runs.
Coastal Carolina will close the 2017 regular season with a three-game series with Appalachian State at Springs Brooks Stadium. Games are set for 2 pm Thursday, 6 pm Friday and 1 pm Sunday.
Trojans Fall to Bears in Home Finale
LITTLE ROCK – In its home finale at Gary Hogan Field, Little Rock baseball took a 5-1 loss to Central Arkansas in the finale game of this year's Rock 'n' Roar Rivalry on Tuesday night.
The Trojans (21-31) tallied seven hits for the night, but they left eight runners on base. The Bears (29-23) racked up 11 hits and walked six times.
Hunter Owens, Riley Pittman, Cameron Knight, Nik Gifford, Christian Reyes, Kale Emshoff and Ty Gunter each tallied a hit while Zach Baker earned the Trojans' lone RBI on a sacrifice fly. Pittman extended his hitting streak to 13 games — the longest by a Trojan this season. Owens and Reyes each extended their hitting streaks to eight games, and Nik Gifford moved his reached-base streak to 11 games.
William Hancock went 2 for 5 with two RBIs for the Bears while Brooks Balisterri also went 2 for 5 with an RBI. Keaton Presley and Rigo Aguilar each went 2 for 4 with two runs and a walk.
UCA starter Will Brand (4-1) earned the win as he threw eight innings, struck out two and allowed one run on seven hits and a walk. Little Rock starter Carter Brown (3-2) took the loss as he went 3.1 innings, struck out three and allowed four runs (three earned) on six hits and four walks.
The scoring began right out of the gate as the Bears put up two runs on two hits and an error in the very first inning. After Presley began the game with a leadoff triple to left, Hunter Strong hit a one-out RBI single through the left side. Back-to-back walks loaded the bases for Balisterri as he picked up an RBI on a fielder's choice.
After a scoreless second inning, UCA struck again in the third and fourth innings by scoring a run in each. An RBI single by Hancock in the third and an RBI single by Jansen McCurdy in the fourth put the Bears up 4-0.
It was the Trojans' turn to score in the bottom of the fifth. Reyes got on base with a leadoff bunt single before advancing to second on a single by Emshoff. Gunter then laid down a sacrifice bunt to move both runners into scoring position. Reyes scored from third on a sacrifice fly to center by Baker and cut Little Rock's deficit to 4-1.
The Bears scored the game's final run in the bottom of the seventh. With the bases loaded and one out, Hancock reached on an RBI fielder's choice to put UCA up 5-1.
The Trojans let a big opportunity pass them by in the bottom of the seventh. Little Rock loaded the bases with two outs after a single by Gunter and back-to-back fielding errors by UCA's third baseman. However, the big inning didn't come to fruition as a ground out ended the inning. From that point, Little Rock went hitless the rest of the game.
"We weren't competitive at all in all three phases of the game in the first three to four innings," Little Rock head coach Chris Curry said. "We mentally weren't ready to play, and by the time we woke up and got after it, it was too little, too late."
Little Rock will wrap up the regular season with an important three-game series at rival Arkansas State beginning on Thursday night in Jonesboro.
Sixth Inning Sinks Mavs At No. 6 TCU
FORT WORTH, Texas -- All-American catcher Evan Skoug's grand slam in the bottom of the sixth inning broke open a scoreless game, leading No. 6 TCU to a 6-1 win over UTA in the final nonconference game of the regular season for the Mavs on Tuesday night at Lupton Stadium.
UTA (29-22) got a strong start out of Brad Vassar (3-2), who took a shutout into the sixth inning but surrendered the grand slam to suffer the loss in his first start of the year. Vassar and the Mavs entered the bottom of the frame in a 0-0 game before Skoug's blast. It marked Skoug's second game-winning, late-inning homer in the three-game series with UTA, as he cranked a three-run, eighth-inning blast on Feb. 22 in UTA's home opener.
UTA rallied in the ninth inning to load the bases with one out, getting a run across.
TCU (37-13) finished its home schedule with a 23-4 record at Lupton Stadium. The Horned Frogs earned a three-game sweep in its 2017 series with UTA, posting a 7-2 win and a 4-3 win in the first two meetings in Arlington.
ON THE MOUND
Vassar was saddled with the loss, working a season-long five innings, allowing five hits and five runs, walking two and striking out three. After the grand slam and a walk in the sixth, UTA turned to lefty Jake Wilcox in relief. Wilcox surrendered the inherited runner and allowed a hit batter to score, working the inning. Jordon West pitched the bottom of the seventh inning and Matt Michalski worked a shutout eighth.
TCU starter Haylen Green worked four shutout innings, allowing two hits and striking out three. Trey Morris opened the fifth and worked four-shutout, one-hit innings, striking out two. Dalton Brown tossed the ninth.
LEADING THE MAVS
UTA was held to five hits in the game, with Christian Hollie belting a double and Zac Cook, Brady Cox, RJ Williams and Phil Berthiaume reaching on singles.
HOW THEY SCORED
Skoug gave TCU the lead with the first four runs of the game in the bottom of the sixth inning, belting his 15th homer of the year as a grand slam on a 1-1 offering from Vassar. Michael Landestoy led off the inning by reaching on a dropped third strike and Austen Wade singled through the right side. Connor Wanahen loaded the bases with a perfectly placed bunt single down the third-base line to bring up Skoug. Cam Warner then drew a walk to end Vassar's day and Wilcox hit Nolan Brown with the first pitch he threw out of the bullpen. After Wilcox got a pair of outs, Josh Watson singled home Warner and Brown with a chopping single up the middle.
UTA loaded the bases in the ninth inning, getting leadoff single from Cox and after a one-out HBP and a walk, Noah Vaughan hung a sac fly to right to score Cox.
NEXT
The Mavs return to action on Thursday, opening a three-game series at Texas State to conclude the regular season. First pitch is slated for 6 p.m. CT and the game will be broadcast on Spectrum Sports and ESPN3.com.
Owls avoid season sweep to Bobcats
HOUSTON – The Texas State baseball team fell 10-1 to Rice in a non-conference midweek tilt Tuesday night at Reckling Park.
Both teams now stand at 25-28 on the season. The contest also evened the season series after TXST defeated Rice 13-4 in San Marcos on March 15.
Rice initially took an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first but added six in the third to gain an 8-1 advantage. The Bobcats were unable to mount a comeback.
Junior Dylan Paul finished 2-for-4 to extend his team- and career-best hitting streak to 14 games. The other two hits from Texas State came from junior Theodore Hoffman and sophomore Jaylen Hubbard.
Senior Brandon Courville (2-4) tossed the first two innings and allowed seven runs on five hits to suffer the loss. The Bobcats used five relievers across the final 6.0 frames, and both junior Blake Walden and sophomore Anthony Pagano did not give up any hits or runs in their appearances on the mound.
Dane Myers was the lone member of the home team with multiple hits, and he finished 2-for-5 with two RBIs and two runs scored. Ryan Chandler and Ford Proctor also scored twice, while Tristan Gray drove in three runs and Sheppard added two RBIs.
Evan Kravetz (3-1) pitched 5.0 innings and allowed just one run on four hits to earn the win. He struck out four and walked one.
The Bobcats will next host UTA in the last three games of the regular season May 18-20 at Bobcat Ballpark.