Mavs Clinch Sun Belt West Division, No. 2 Seed in Tournament
SAN MARCOS, Texas -- UTA clinched the Sun Belt Conference Western Division, the No. 2 seed in the league tournament and set a program record with its 20th conference win during a 12-5 series-evening win at Texas State on Friday night at Bobcat Ballpark.
UTA (30-23, 20-9 Sun Belt Conference) bounced back to even the series after suffering a 7-6 loss in the opener on Thursday night to Texas State (26-29, 12-17 Sun Belt).
The Mavs used two homers from Omar Salinas - his third of the weekend - and blasts from Colton Turner and Noah Vaughan to a season-high four homers. UTA also got a strong start from Trae Patterson (7-3) to post the win and set up a rubber match in the regular-season finale on Saturday.
UTA opened the scoring with single runs in the first three innings and after the Bobcats got within a run with two in the sixth inning, UTA answered in its half of the seventh to take a three-run lead. The Cats got two back in the bottom half of the inning to get back within one. After a strong relief outing in the seventh and inning innings from the Mavs, UTA opened it up with two homers and three runs in the ninth.
With the win, the Mavs clinch the Sun Belt West Division outright and the No. 2 seed in the Sun Belt Conference Championships, slated for next week in Statesboro, Ga., on the campus of Georgia Southern. UTA will face off with the winner of a Tuesday play-in game on Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. CT.
UTA now sits 1.5 games behind Coastal Carolina, and out of reach for the overall race for the regular-season title, with the Chants sitting at 21-7-1 after winning the first two games of their series with Appalachian State (8-21). After a loss at Troy (16-12) on Thursday, South Alabama (20-8) is the lone remaining team in reach of the defending national champion Chants.
It marks UTA's first division title in the Sun Belt and its first since claiming the 2013 regular-season title in the Western Athletic Conference.
UTA's 20th conference wins also marked a program best, eclipsing 19 wins from the 2014, 2010 and 2009 teams. The Mavs also extend their school-record marks in road games to 17-7 and league road games to 12-2.
ON THE MOUND
Patterson, a native of Fort Worth, Texas, earned the win in his 14th start of the year. He extended his streak of innings without an earned run to 17.1 innings until allowing a single run in the fourth, later allowing a two-run homer in the sixth.
Patterson ended his outing working 6.1 innings, allowing four earned runs on eight hits, walking just one and striking out five. With the tying run at the plate in the seventh inning of a 6-4 game, UTA turned to senior righty Austin Gardner in relief of Patterson.
Gardner surrendered the inherited runner on a two-out error but retired the next two and the following three in a perfect eighth inning. Daniel James tossed a perfect ninth to end the win.
Texas State junior right-handed starter Cam Baird worked three innings, allowing five hits and three runs, walking one and striking out one. Anthony Pagano worked the next 3.2 innings, before Blake Walden replaced him in the seventh.
AT THE PLATE
The Mavs set a season high with four homers in the game, getting a second straight four-hit game from Salinas, who belted two homers. Vaughan hit his seventh homer of the year and had a career high four hits and four RBI. UTA also got the homer from Turner and two-hit games from Brady Cox, Will Olson and RJ Williams. Christian Hollie, Aaron Funk and Easton Johnson each drove in runs.
HOW THEY SCORED
UTA opened the scoring in the first inning, getting a two-out single from Salinas and a run-scoring double into the left-centerfield gap from Olson.
The Mavs added on in the second inning, as Vaughan singled to rightfield on a 2-2 pitch and Williams pushed him to third base with a single into the gap in left-centerfield. Hollie followed with a sac fly to score Vaughan.
Texas State got on the board in the fourth inning, as Jaylen Hubbard led off with a single and scored on a RBI groundout from Dylan Paul.
Vaughan got the Mavs the run back with a leadoff solo homer in the sixth inning, a no-doubt blast over the centerfield fence.
The Bobcats answered with a two-run homer from Theodore Hoffman, his 16th of the year, in the sixth inning, scoring Hubbard, who reached on a fielder's choice.
Texas State kept the rally hot in the seventh inning, chasing Patterson with a pair of runs to cut the lead to 6-5. Travon Benton led off with a walk and after an out, scored on Jacob Almendarez's double into the gap. After an error moved Almendarez to third, an error allowed him to score with two outs.
In the ninth inning, UTA broke the game open with six runs. Turner hit his first homer of the year to leadoff and Cox followed him with a ringing double into the gap, one-hopping over the wall. Salinas then greeted the reliever with his second homer of the game, a blast over the left-centerfield fence for a 9-5 lead. Olson singled and Rohrbaugh walked, with Vaughan scoring the pair with a triple down the rightfield line. Johnson then hung his first career sac fly to score Vaughan from third.
NEXT
The series will conclude on Saturday at 1 p.m. CT at Bobcat Ballpark.
A-State Bats Come Alive in 19-2 Victory Over Little Rock
JONESBORO, Ark. (5/19/17) – Arkansas State scored in every inning but one as the Red Wolves defeated Little Rock 19-2 to clinch the series Friday evening at Tomlinson Stadium.
Game three of this series will now begin at 1:00 p.m. Saturday at Kell Field.
With the win, A-State improved to 26-26 on the season and 13-16 in league play while the Trojans fall to 21-33 overall and 11-18 in Sun Belt action. The win along with a Texas State loss clinches the No. 7 seed in the conference tournament for the Red Wolves and means A-State will take on No. 10 seed Georgia State after the Panthers won two games in their series versus Georgia Southern and App State lost the first two games of its series to Coastal Carolina.
A-State scored 19 runs on 18 eights and tied the school record after being hit by a pitch eight times at the plate. The squad also drew nine walks and had six players with two or more RBI on the night. The 19 runs also marked the most in a game for A-State since it scored 27 against Murray State in 2014.
The game was also delayed for 2:35 with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning when rain and lightning moved through the area. The game resumed 7:43 p.m. as the Red Wolves proceeded to score two runs after having already scored one prior to the delay to push their lead to 15-0.
The hitting continued in seventh inning after Joe Schrimpf doubled to right-center field to score Garrett Rucker. Schrimpf finished 1-for-3 with two RBIs, while Rucker went 4-for-5 with two RBIs and scored three times.
Justin Felix, who had two hits and three RBI, doubled to score Winston Welch, while Jeremy Brown and Drew Tipton each had RBI hits in the inning.
A-State scored two runs in the first inning and added another in the second before breaking the game open with seven runs in the third. The Red Wolves took advantage of a rough outing by the Trojans' pitching staff, who hit four batters in the third inning and issued two walks and allowed just one hit. J.D. Rainwater drove in the first run of the inning when he reached on a fielding error to plate Alex Howard.
Brown and Tipton scored on a wild pitch and passed ball, while Schrimpf drove in a run after being hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Felix was also hit in the next at-bat to plate the fifth run of the inning, while Howard drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. Schrimpf rounded out the frame by scoring on a passed ball to make the score 10-0 after three innings.
Brown went 2-for-4 on the night and drove in three runs, while Tipton had three hits and two RBIs.
On the mound, Peyton Culbertson tossed six scoreless shutout innings and gave up just three hits while striking out five. Brandon Stuckenschneider relieved Culbertson after the weather delay and went two innings, while Derek Birginske tossed the final inning of the night for A-State.
7-6 WIN OVER GA SOUTHERN CLINCHES SERIES, SUN BELT TOURNEY SPOT
ATLANTA -- Georgia State clinched its series with Georgia Southern and its spot in next week's Sun Belt Conference Championship with a 7-6, come-from-behind win Friday at the GSU Baseball Complex.
Romero Greer drove in three runs for the Panthers (23-31, 10-19 Sun Belt), including the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly in the seventh inning.
Georgia State entered the final regular-season series needing to win one more game than Appalachian State in its series at Coastal Carolina. On Thursday, the Panthers won 9-7 and App State lost, and then tonight, shortly after GSU finished its 7-6 victory, the Mountaineers fell 4-2. The conference tournament begins Tuesday in Statesboro, Ga.
The Panthers jumped in front with two runs in the second inning. Cam Sperry led off with a single and Jaylen Woullard drew a one-out walk to put runners at first and second, Greer ripped a double inside the bag at first base and into the right field corner to bring home both runners.
Georgia Southern (35-20, 17-12) tied the game with two runs in the third and then took a 3-2 lead on a wild pitch in the fourth. But Georgia State answered immediately with a three-run fourth. After Woullard drew a leadoff walk and Greer singled, Will Kilgore laid down a bunt. Georgia Southern reliever Anthony Paesano threw to third, but Woullard was safe, loading the bases with no outs.
That brought Friday's hero, Ryan Blanton, to the plate, and he delivered a two-run single to right field to put the Panthers ahead. The senior center fielder now has seven RBI in his final home series after hitting a grand slam and a solo homer in Thursday's win.
Justin Jones followed with a fielder's choice ground ball to score Kilgore and give GSU a 5-3 lead.
Georgia Southern's Jordan Wren hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning to tie the game again at 5-5, and the Eagles took a 6-5 lead on Logan Baldwin's sacrifice fly in the sixth.
That was the score when Jarrett Hood led off the seventh inning with a walk. After one out, Luke Leonard doubled on ball just out of the reach of left fielder Mason McWhorter to put runners at second and third.
Woullard singled sharply to left field to tie the game, and then Greer's fly ball to right center put the Panthers up 7-6.
Logan Barnette pitched the final four innings to earn the win in relief, improving to 5-0 on the season. The sophomore right-hander allowed one run on one hit, and he got plenty of help from the Panther defense. Greer made two nice plays at third base in the eighth inning, and in the ninth, Leonard made a diving catch on a shallow fly ball in right field for the first out, and Jack Thompson snagged a sharp line drive at first base for out No. 2.
The series concludes with a 2 p.m. game Saturday, and six Georgia State seniors will be honored before their final home game, which will air on 1340 The Fan 3 and 103.7 FM.
No.24 Coastal Carolina Takes 4-2 Win vs Appalachian State
CONWAY - Andrew Beckwith improved to 8-1 for the season -- 8-0 in Sun Belt games -- but it was a two-run home run by his battery mate, Kyle Skeels, that proved to be the difference as #24 Coastal Carolina defeated Appalachian State 4-2 Friday night at Springs Brooks Stadium.
With the win, Coastal improves to 36-18-1 overall, 21-7-1 in the Sun Belt, and, with a win in the regular-season finale Saturday, can secure the top seed to next week's Sun Belt Championship. Prior to Saturday's game (1 pm start), Coastal will honor seniors Alex Cunningham, Cole Schaefer and Beckwith as well as this year's CCU baseball graduates.
Beckwith, playing in his final game at Springs Brooks Stadium, left to a standing ovation with a 3-0 lead after pitching 5.1 scoreless innings. He scattered six hits and walked just one while striking out six, his most since fanning the same number at Georgia State in early April. In his 101st career pitching appearance as a Chanticleer, Beckwith improved to 32-8, tying All-American Anthony Meo for fifth on the CCU all-time wins list.
Cory Wood, who scored twice, and Billy Cooke each had two hits for the Chants and Skeels had two RBI while Kevin Woodall Jr., and Wood Myers each drove in one.
In the bottom of the third, Wood lined a leadoff double to left-center field. Cooke followed with a bunt single to move Wood to third. Two batters later, Woodall came through with a single to score Wood for an early 1-0 lead.
Coastal pushed its lead to 3-0 in the fourth. Kieton Rivers started the home half with a sharp single to center. After a sacrifice bunt, Skeels hit a two-run home run over the right-center field wall. Skeels now has 12 hits for the season (53 at bats) with eight extra-base hits, including five home runs.
With bases loaded in the seventh, Wood scored on a Myers sacrifice fly. Wood reached on a leadoff walk and Cooke had his second bunt single of the game. After a sac bunt by Jordan Gore, the Mountaineers intentionally walked Woodall -- his team-best fourth intentional walk of the season. Myers lifted a fly ball down the left field line that easily allowed Wood to score for the 4-0 lead.
Appalachian State did not go down without a fight. After a leadoff walk in the ninth, Jackson Avery (2-for-4) lined a two-run, home run that just stayed fair down the left field line to cut the deficit in half. Pinch hitter Conner Leaonard nearly made it a one-run game, but his long fly ball hooked foul. Austin Kitchen rallied to get a pop out and two fly outs to close the game.
The two-run home run snapped a streak of 28.2 consecutive scoreless innings in league play by the CCU staff going back to the seventh inning in game two at UTA last Saturday. Coastal shutout UTA, 5-0, on Sunday and won 4-0 versus App State on Thursday before going eight innings without a run against the Mountaineers on Friday.
Kitchen earned his sixth save of the season as he worked the final 3.2 innings. He allowed two hits and three walks.
NO. 25 JAGS EVEN SERIES WITH TROY IN GAME TWO
MOBILE, Ala. – Eight Jaguar starters hit safely in No. 25 University of South Alabama baseball's 10-6 win over Troy Friday at Stanky Field.
Four Jags recorded multiple hits in the game, led by Brendan Donovan who went 2-for-4 with two doubles, one RBI and two runs scored. Colton Thomas added two hits, including a double, and three runs scored, while Dylan Hardy finished with two hits and two runs scored.
South Alabama (35-19, 21-8 SBC) jumped out to a three-run lead in the bottom of the first. Hardy singled to left-center field to lead off the inning, and Thomas followed with a walk. A flyout to left-center field by Donovan allowed Hardy to tag from second and put runners at the corners with one out. Travis Swaggerty followed with a three-run home run to left field on a 3-2 pitch from Trojan right-hander Daren Osby for a 3-0 Jaguar lead.
"We put three runs on the board in the first inning, and after that I thought their (Troy) guy (Osby) settled in nicely," USA head coach Mark Calvi said. "He did a really nice job and kind of handcuffed us. We had a few guys on base, but not many. He did a really good job of mixing up his pitches well and kept us off balance. But I thought our guys did a nice job. We capitalized early and late as well; our guys had some good at-bats late and got to the bullpen."
Troy (31-23, 16-13 SBC) answered with a pair of runs in the top of the second, highlighted by an RBI single by Brody Binder, to cut the USA lead to 3-2. The Trojans tied the game 3-3 in the top of the fifth on a leadoff solo home run to left field by Matt Sanders.
The Jags took a five-run after scoring five runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Hardy drew a leadoff walk, and advanced to third on a throwing error by Trojan catcher Chase Smartt following a bunt attempt by Thomas that put runners at the corners with no outs. A wild pitch from Osby allowed Hardy to score from third for a 4-3 Jaguar lead. Brendan Donovan then reached on a hit by pitch before a sacrifice bunt by Swaggerty moved both runners into scoring position with one out. Wells Davis followed with a three-run home run to center field to extend the USA lead to 7-3. A single to right-center by Carter Perkins put runners at the corners with two outs before Will Luft singled to right field to score Stokes for an 8-3 advantage.
The Trojans loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the sixth, and cut the Jaguar lead in half at 8-4 on a passed ball.
But the Jaguars responded with their final runs of the game in the bottom-half of the sixth. Thomas led off the inning with a single through the right side of the infield, and advanced to third with no outs on consecutive wild pitches. Donovan followed with an RBI double down the right field line to score Thomas and push the USA lead to 9-4. An RBI groundout to second from Davis later in the inning scored Donovan for a 10-4 lead.
Troy answered with the game's final runs in the top of the seventh on a one-out, two-run home run to left field by Trevor Davis to cut the Jaguar lead to 10-6.
Jaguar right-hander Tyler Carr (6-1) allowed five earned runs on nine hits with five strikeouts and three walks in seven innings pitched to earn his sixth win of the season. Osby (5-5) allowed six runs on four hits with five strikeouts and three walks in four innings in the loss.
"We have a lot of respect for Troy and their offense, pitching staff and team," Calvi said. "They are probably one of the top three pitching staffs in the league and they have some older, experienced hitters. But I thought Tyler (Carr) hung in there and competed. He came back on short rest, and that's what the end of the year is all about. We take care of them during the year, then you have to push it a little bit late. But Tyler was really good. I was proud of his effort, and Will Eiland was good for us again."
The series will conclude with the rubber match on Sunday with first pitch, originally scheduled for 1 p.m., now set for noon.
Cajuns Baseball Defeats ULM 5-3 To Claim Series
MONROE, La. – The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns baseball team used a four-run first inning to defeat ULM 5-3 on Friday night at Warhawk Field as the Cajuns extended their win streak against the Warhawks to 21 games.
The win improves the Ragin' Cajuns to 34-20-1 on the season and 18-10-1 in the Sun Belt. With the Georgia Southern loss Friday night at Georgia State along with a UT Arlington victory at Texas State, Louisiana has clinched the fourth seed in the Sun Belt Conference tournament and will face the Eagles in its opening game of the tournament.
"When you score big like we did the night before, you know the next day that runs will be at a premium," head coach Tony Robichaux said. "When we got the four runs in early I felt good, but we needed to do a better job of building on the lead throughout the game. When the score comes down, those one or two runs can be big, but our pitching staff did a good job of holding them down late in the game. We were able to get the game turned over to D-Mo (Dylan Moore) with the lead late in the game and he did a good job of closing it out."
Junior Colten Schmidt (2-1) notched his second victory of the season limiting ULM (12-42, 6-23 Sun Belt) to one run in 5.1 innings scattering seven hits and four walks.
Dylan Moore picked up his 11th save of the year and 38th of his career in the contest tossing two scoreless innings to close out the game. Moore struck out three in the outing and has converted on his last four save opportunities this season.
ULM starter Josh Leone (2-2) took the loss after giving up five runs on eight hits with two walks and four strikeouts.
The Ragin' Cajuns outhit the Warhawks 13-10 in the game with Brenn Conrad posting a game-high three hits with a double, a walk and scored a run. Joe Robbins, Kennon Fontenot and Handsome Monica each had a pair of hits in the victory, while Steven Sensley increased his on base streak to 24 games going 1-for-3 with a home run, two walks, and drove in two runs.
For the second straight game the Ragin' Cajuns grabbed an early lead in the top of the first as Sensley sent a two-run homer to right center field for his 11th home run of the year. After Robbins doubled to centerfield, Fontenot added to the lead with an RBI single through the right side of the infield to make the score 3-0. In the next at bat, Todd Lott drove a double off of the wall in right center to plate Fontenot and give Louisiana a 4-0 advantage.
ULM cut the lead to 4-1 in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI double to center by Tyler Cox.
The Cajuns got the run back in the top of the fifth on a solo home run to left by Fontenot for his sixth homer of the year.
The Warhawks pulled within two runs in the bottom of the seventh on a pair of two-out RBI hits by Chad Bell and Cox to make the score 5-3.
ULM had a runner reach on a walk in both the eighth and ninth innings, but Moore settled down in both times and kept the Warhawks scoreless getting Cox to strikeout to end the contest.
The Cajuns go for their fourth sweep of the season tomorrow with a 2 p.m. first pitch at Warhawk Field. Sophomore left-hander Hogan Harris (4-2, 2.80) will make the start for Louisiana.