Coastal's Cunningham Fans 14 in Shutout of App State
CONWAY - For the second time this season, Golden Spikes candidate Alex Cunningham struck out 14 batters to tie a Coastal Carolina single-game record and lead the 24th-anked Chanticleers to a 5-0 victory over Appalachian State Thursday afternoon at Springs Brooks Stadium. Game two between the Chanticleers (35-18-1, 20-7-1 Sun Belt) and Mountaineers (19-34, 8-20 Sun Belt) is set for 6 pm Friday.
Cunningham, who leads the Sun Belt in strikeouts, ran his season total to 115 to move to sixth on the CCU single-season list. Cunningham also stuck out 14 batters in 6.2 innings this past March versus San Francisco. It marked Cunningham's fourth time to reach double digits in strikeouts this season -- fanning 10 and 11 respectively in back-to-back, complete-game shutouts in late March -- and sixth time for his career.
The senior left to a standing ovation in his final game at home after getting a ground out (and throwing his 120th pitch of the game) in the top of the ninth, just missing out on his third complete-game shutout of the season. It marked Coastal's eighth shutout of the season, fourth with Cunningham as the starting pitcher.
Cunningham improves to 7-2 on the season (25-7 for his career to move to 11th on the CCU all-time wins list) as he allowed two hits and three walks to accompany his 14 K's. He retired the first 12 batters he faced, with seven strikeouts, before allowing a leadoff infield single in the fifth. Overall, Cunningham worked five 3-up, 3-down innings, striking out the side in the eighth.
Coastal took advantage of an App State error to take a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning. Kevin Woodall Jr., hit a one-out double and moved to third on a Wood Myers infield single. Kieton Rivers followed with a ground ball to short stop, but an error allowed all runners to be safe and Rivers was credited with an RBI and Woodall scored on the play. Coastal loaded the bases on a Cory Wood walk and Myers scored on a balk to go up 2-0.
In the seventh inning, Coastal manufactured a run to take a 3-0 lead. Wood laid down a bunt single, took second on a ground out, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a throwing error. Then, three consecutive hits -- single by Billy Cooke, double by Jordan Gore and RBI single by Woodall, put the Chants on top 4-0.
The Chants added an insurance run in the eighth to provide the 5-0 final. Seth Lancaster drew a leadoff walk, moved to second on a Wood sacrifice bunt and scored on Matt Beaird's RBI double down the first base line.
After Cunningham left in the ninth, App State managed back-to-back singles off Patrick Orlando. Cole Schaefer was called on from the bullpen and threw a wild pitch on his fist offering to put runners on second and third. However, the senior rallied to record a pair of strikeouts to preserve the shutout.
The Mountaineers only managed four hits, two each from Tyler Stroup and Brian Bauk. Matt Schaeffer (1-2) pitched well, but suffered the loss as he allowed seven hits and four runs (three earned) in 6.2 innings.
BLANTON'S SLAM IN 8TH GIVES GSU 9-7 WIN VS. GA. SOUTHERN
ATLANTA -- Senior Ryan Blanton hit two home runs, including the go-ahead grand slam in the eighth inning, to give Georgia State a 9-7 victory over Georgia Southern in the first game of their Sun Belt Conference series Thursday at the GSU Baseball Complex.
With the win, coupled with a loss by Appalachian State, Georgia State (21-31, 9-19 Sun Belt) stays alive in its bid to earn a spot in the 10-team Sun Belt Tournament. The Panthers must win one more game than App State (8-20 Sun Belt) does in its series at Coastal Carolina.
After Georgia Southern (35-19, 17-11) scored five runs in the seventh to take a 7-5 lead, the Panthers loaded the bases with no outs in the eighth inning as Romero Greer walked, Luke Leonard singled and Jaylen Woullard walked off reliever Connor Simmons (4-1).
Closer Landon Hughes came on and struck out Jack Thompson for the first out. That brought Blanton to the plate, and the left-handed hitter crushed Hughes' 1-0 pitch over the right field wall and into the trees, turning the 7-5 deficit into a 9-7 lead. That is the third career grand slam for Blanton, who also led off the game with a solo homer, and it gives the senior eight homers on the season and 23 for his career. He finished the night 4-for-5 with five RBI and three runs scored.
Jansen Acton (2-0) pitched the eighth and ninth innings, allowing only a bunt single in the eighth, to earn the victory. GSU starter Jordan Lee was outstanding, allowing just one run on two hits over five innings but did not figure in the decision.
Blanton's leadoff homer--the third time this season and seventh time in his career to lead off a game with a homer--gave Georgia State the early 1-0 lead. Jarrett Hood added a sacrifice fly in the first for a 2-0 advantage after one.
The Panthers scored two more runs in the fifth to take a 4-1 lead on another sacrifice fly, this one by Nick Gatewood, and then a run-scoring double off the wall in left center by Hood.
Both teams scored one in the sixth as Logan Baldwin homered for Georgia Southern, and then Thompson delivered an RBI double off the wall in right to give the Panthers a 5-3 lead.
The series continues with a 6 p.m. game Friday.
Bobcats open UTA series on high note
SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State baseball team defeated UTA 7-6 in the first game of a Sun Belt Conference series Thursday night at Bobcat Ballpark.
The Bobcats (26-28, 12-16 SBC) won a series opener for the first time since April 7 at Little Rock, while the Mavericks (29-23, 19-9 SBC) have now dropped five-straight games overall.
The victory ensures that TXST can now finish anywhere from Nos. 7-9 in the final regular-season standings. The only way the Bobcats can finish No. 7 in the league is if they sweep UTA and the Arkansas State/Little Rock series does not end in a sweep.
UTA is still looking to win the SBC West Division Championship. The Mavericks need just one win over Texas State or one loss from Louisiana (at ULM) in the final two days of the regular season to clinch the West.
The Bobcats jumped on top early and were able to fend off a late charge from the visitors to secure the opener.
Texas State scored a pair of first-inning runs on a two-RBI single up the middle from sophomore Jaylen Hubbard. Fellow sophomore Jonathan Ortega initially singled through the left side, and junior Dylan Paul reached based on an infield single before they were both driven home by Hubbard.
Paul extended his team- and career-best hitting streak to 15 games. He is one shy of recording the longest hitting streak by a Bobcat since 2012 (Jeff McVaney, 19 games).
Both teams added solo tallies in the fourth, and the maroon and gold blew the game open with a four-spot in the fifth thanks to back-to-back home runs from Hubbard and junior Theodore Hoffman.
UTA was able to crawl back with three in the sixth and two in the seventh, but a timely double play in the eighth and a 1-2-3 frame in the ninth sealed the win for TXST.
Hubbard, Ortega and sophomore Felipe Rodriguez all had two hits. Ortega scored twice, Hoffman finished with three RBIs, and Hubbard tallied three runs batted in and two runs scored.
True freshman Nicholas Fraze (5-2) earned the win after allowing just one run on two hits across the first 4.0 innings. He is now tied for the team lead for victories on the mound this season.
Sophomore Brandon Lewis allowed five runs (two earned) on six hits in 2.1 frames, and classmate Connor Reich did not allow a run on one hit in one inning of work. Sophomore Brayden Theriot collected his first career save after tossing a perfect 1.2 innings to close out the triumph.
UTA starter Kadon Simmons (7-4) was tagged with a rare loss after giving up six runs on seven hits in the opening 4.1 frames. Dylan Schneider tossed the final 3.2 innings and allowed one run on two hits.
Omar Salinas had four of UTA's nine hits, and he scored three times. Christian Hollie went 2-for-4 with an RBI, and Noah Vaughan drove in two teammates.
The game was broadcast live on Spectrum Sports. This marked the fifth such game for Texas State this season, and the Bobcats are now 3-2 in those contests with additional victories coming over Rice and Texas.
The two teams will continue the weekend series at 6 p.m. May 19.
Louisiana Surges Past ULM 16-2 To Open Series
MONROE, La. – The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns baseball team exploded offensively on Thursday night defeating ULM 16-2 in the series opener at Warhawk Field to extend the Cajuns win streak to 20 games against the Warhawks.
The win improves the Ragin' Cajuns to 33-20-1 on the year and 17-10-1 in the Sun Belt. With the UT Arlington 7-6 loss to Texas State, Louisiana moves a game and a half out of first place in the west division with two games remaining.
The Cajuns outhit the Warhawks (12-41, 6-22 Sun Belt) 13-9 in the game with Zach LaFleur, Joe Robbins and Todd Lott each posting a pair of hits in victory. Robbins equaled a career high with five RBI in the contest, while Lott also equaled his career high with a three RBI night.
Junior Gunner Leger (10-2) picked up his league-best tenth victory of the year limiting ULM to two runs on seven hits with three walks and four strikeouts in six innings of work. Leger is only the second Ragin' Cajuns pitcher since 2006 to post double-digit wins in a season joining Carson Baranik who had 11 in 2014.
Starter Trey Auger (0-4) took the loss for the Warhawks after giving up five runs on four hits with four walks and four strikeouts in 4.1 innings.
The Cajuns jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on a two-out single back up the middle by Kennon Fontenot plating Brenn Conrad from second base.
Handsome Monica added to the advantage in the top of the second with a solo homer to left field to make the score 2-0. The home run was the second of the season for Monica.
ULM got on the board in the bottom half of the second on an RBI groundout to second base by Nathan Reynolds to cut the lead to 2-1.
After two scoreless innings, Robbins broke the game open in the top of the fifth driving his second grand slam of the season down the left field line to increase the Louisiana lead to 6-1.
The Cajuns added five more runs in the fifth on a hit, six walks and a hit batter to take a commanding 11-1 advantage. A two-out, two-run single by Lott highlighted the scoring in the inning.
The Warhawks plated their final run of the game in the bottom half of the six on a Cade Harper RBI ground out to first base to make the score 11-2.
Louisiana went on to tack on five more runs scoring once in the seventh and twice in the eighth and ninth innings to make the final 16-2.
The Ragin' Cajuns and Warhawks return to action tomorrow at 6 p.m. at Warhawk Field. Junior left-hander Colten Schmidt (1-1, 3.21 ERA) will make the start for the Cajuns, while ULM will send out senior right-hander Josh Leone (2-5, 5.35 ERA).
Smartt’s 10th-Inning Homer Pushes Troy Past South Alabama
MOBILE, Alabama – Chase Smartt homered in the top of the 10th inning to lift Troy past South Alabama, 5-4, in game one of the Sun Belt set Thursday night at Stanky Field.
Tied 4-4 with two outs in the 10th, Smartt jumped on a first pitch fastball and deposited it into the trees in left-center.
Troy (31-22, 16-12) jumped out to a four-run lead in the sixth inning behind the bat of Brody Binder – who finished the game 3-for-4 with a career-high four RBIs. Binder's big blow came in the fourth when he sent an 0-2 pitch deep to left-center for a two-run blast to put the Trojans up 3-0.
Trailing 4-0 in the eighth, the Jaguars (34-20, 20-8) mounted a rally that tied the game after a string of base hits and a close call on a ball that rolled out of play.
Corey Childress (4-3) came in and shut the door on the rally on his way to winning his fourth game of the season – not allowing a run on one hit and fanning one in 1.1 innings of work.
Marc Skinner earned his 12th save of the season to tie Troy's single-season save record after working a perfect 10th inning that included two strikeouts.
Mason Rogers went 3-for-5 and Brandon Lockridge went 2-for-4 to help spark the Trojan bats to a 13-hit night – Rogers has had multiple hits in seven of the last nine games.
In limited work, Andrew Crane pitched three shutout innings to extend his consecutive scoreless inning streak to 39.2 IP. He holds the Troy and Sun Belt records for the streak – he's 7.1 innings from the most in NCAA since the transition to aluminum bats.
Hunter Stokes led South Alabama driving in two runs on his way to a 2-for-5 game at the plate.
QUOTABLE
"It was a great game one win," Troy head coach Mark Smartt said. "We executed when we needed to in order to win the game. Really proud of Brody; he had a big night at the plate. Chase came in clutch with the big homer in the 10th."
"Our guys were getting on base," Brody Binder said about his four-RBI performance. "It does something for your confidence to get an RBI and then everything falls into place. He left a two-strike pitch up and I had to shorten my swing but it got out of here."
"I trust my teammates to do their job," catcher Chase Smartt said about the go-ahead homer. "I wasn't seeing the ball well at the beginning. I told myself the next fastball I saw I'd hit it hard and it left the ballpark."
SOUND "SMARTT" WITH YOUR FRIENDS
• Andrew Crane added three more innings to his now 39.2 consecutive scoreless innings streak – he currently holds the Troy and Sun Belt record and is 7.1 innings from the most in the NCAA since wooden bats stopped being used.
• Brandon Lockridge picked up his 80th and 81st hits of the season with a double in the third and a single in the fifth - five shy of cracking the top 10 in school history for most hits in a single season. He also extended his hitting streak to 11 consecutive games.
• Lockridge's multi-hit performance was his 28th of the season and 43rd in his career.
• Mason Rogers doubled in the second, singled in the fourth and doubled again in the sixth to post multiple hits for the seventh time in the last nine games for the Trojans.
• Brody Binder's two-run home run in the fourth was his first round-tripper since February 24 – game one of the New Orleans series – and his four RBIs are a career high.
• Chase Smartt's 10th-inning homer was his fourth of the season and second in the last four games.
• Marc Skinner earned his 12th save of the season and 20th career save in his 109th career appearance for Troy – he now owns a share of Troy's records in all three of those statistical categories.
• With the victory, Troy has defeated every team that it has faced from the state of Alabama this season – Alabama, Alabama State, Auburn, Jacksonville State, Samford, South Alabama and UAB.
WHAT'S UP NEXT?
The Trojans will go for the series victory over the Jags on Friday with first pitch set for 6:30 p.m. Junior righty Daren Osby (5-4, 4.66) will get the call to the mound to start for Troy.
@AStateBaseball Wins 18-Inning Marathon in Series Opener Against Little Rock
JONESBORO, Ark. (5/19/17) – In the longest Sun Belt game in program history, Justin Felix hit a walk off single with the bases loaded and one out to end the 18-inning series opener against rival Little Rock in a 9-8 A-State victory that started Thursday night at Tomlinson Stadium-Kell Field.
Game two of this series will now begin at 3:00 p.m. Friday at Tomlinson Stadium with the regular season finale to follow. A-State's Senior Day will take place between the two games.
With the win, A-State improved to 25-26 on the season and 12-16 in league play while the Trojans fall to 21-32 overall and 11-17 in Sun Belt action.
After the two teams combined for five runs in the eighth inning to send the game to the ninth tied at six, A-State and Little Rock matched zeroes for seven innings sending the game to the 16th inning. Three doubles brought in two runs for the Trojans in the 16th inning, but the Red Wolves refused to go away.
Jake Bakamus reached on a one-out single, but it was three-straight two-out knocks that tied the game. Drew Tipton started it off with a double down the right-field line and an infield single by Grant Hawkins, the fifth of the night for A-State, brought in a run and put runners on the corners with two outs. Garrett Rucker ripped a single up the middle to knot the score at 8-8, but the Trojans got out of trouble to send the game further into extra innings.
The Red Wolves and Trojans were both scoreless in the 17th, but A-State got the winning rally in the 18th to end the marathon. Tipton worked a leadoff walk and Hawkins followed with a single to put runners on first and second with no outs. After a strikeout, Joe Schrimpf was hit by a pitch to load the bases and bring Felix to the plate with the winning run just 90 feet away. Felix belted a two-strike pitch through the left side with the infield drawn in that ended the second-longest game in program history.
Bradey Welsh picked up the decision for A-State to improve to 4-2 on the year. He pitched five innings in relief allowing two runs, both earned, on four hits while walking none and striking out six. Tyler Zuber logged 5.1 innings in relief and allowed just one hit while walking two and striking out eight.
Hawkins finished with a game-high four hits going 4-for-9 with a RBI and run scored. Schrimpf was 3-for-7 with two walks, hit by pitch and run scored while Howard was 3-for-9 with three RBI and a run scored. Rucker, Felix and Bakamus each finished with two hits on the night.
A-State grabbed a 3-0 lead in the first inning without the ball leaving the infield. Four infield singles and a pair of fielder's choices resulted in the three runs. The Red Wolves opened the inning with three-straight infield singles and a fielder's choice off the bat of Felix plated the first run. After a walk loaded the bases once again, Alex Howard hit the fourth infield single to make it 2-0 and Bakamus plated the third tally with a fielder's choice.
Tyler Mitzel allowed just one hit in the first, but it took 30 pitches to get the first three outs. After a two-out single in the first, Mitzel sat down the next nine batters he faced. A four pitch walk in the fourth ended the streak, but Mitzel induced a double play to end the frame.
Little Rock got on the board in the fifth with a two-out rally off of Mitzel, but he limited the damage and exited in line for the win. Mitzel ended his outing having allowed the one run on three hits while striking out five and walking one.
Following a one-out single by Hawkins in the second, the Trojans retired 13-straight batters for the Red Wolves. Howard broke the streak with a two-out single in the sixth and moved to scoring position on a balk. Bakamus picked up his second RBI on the night with a single through the right side to increase the A-State lead to 4-1.
The Trojans scored two runs in the seventh and three in the eighth to take a 6-4 lead, but the Red Wolves answered to knot the score. Three walks in the bottom of the eighth loaded the bases and Howard registered his third hit and second and third RBI of the night to tie the score. A fourth walk in the inning loaded the bases with one out, but the Trojans escaped further trouble.
A-State and Little Rock are scheduled to conclude the regular season Friday with a doubleheader beginning at 3:00 p.m. A-State's “Senior Day” activities will take place after the first game of tomorrow's doubleheader and before the second game begins.