CARR LEADS JAGS TO SERIES-OPENING WIN OVER HARTFORD
MOBILE, Ala. – Right-hander Tyler Carr turned in a quality start to help lead the No. 17 University of South Alabama baseball team to a 17-1 win over Hartford Friday at Stanky Field.
Carr (1-0) allowed one unearned run on six hits with four strikeouts against one walk in six innings pitched to earn his first win of the season. South Alabama (5-1) scored 17 runs on 11 hits in the game to earn their second straight win at Stanky Field.
South Alabama will return to action Saturday when it concludes its three-game series against Hartford with a doubleheader, beginning with game two of the series at 2 p.m. at Stanky Field.
GAME FACTS
- Hartford (0-1) put runners at the corners with one out in the top of the first. Ashton Bardzell reached on a two-base fielding error on a grounder to third, and advanced to third on an infield single by Chris Sullivan. A wild pitch by Jaguar right-hander Tyler Carr allowed Bardzell to score from third for a 1-0 Hartford lead.
- USA answered with two outs in the bottom of the first when Travis Swaggerty lifted a 1-1 pitch over the left-center field wall to tie the game at 1-1.
- The Jags loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the second on consecutive singles by Wells Davis and Carter Perkins, and a walk by Hunter Stokes. Andrew Bates followed with an RBI groundout to second that scored Davis for a 2-1 USA lead. Michael Sandle then delivered a two-run single back up the middle of the infield to score Perkins and Stokes for a 4-1 advantage. Hardy followed with a walk, and Sandle advanced to third on the play after a wild pitch to put runners at the corners with one out. Paul Russo then reached on a fielder's choice on a grounder to second that scored Sandle for a 5-1 lead.
- Hartford looked to score its second run of the game in the top of the fourth when Drew Holtgrieve singled to right field with two outs, but Jaguar right fielder Andrew Bates fired to Carter Perkins at the plate to cut down Jackson Olson attempting to score for the final out of the inning.
- Stokes and Bates each reached on a walk to start the bottom of the fourth. Sandle followed with an RBI single through the left side of the infield to score Stokes for a 6-1 Jaguar lead. Sandle then stole second, and Bates scored on the throw down to second for a 7-1 advantage. Dylan Hardy followed with an RBI single to right field to plate Sandle for an 8-1 Jag lead.
- Swaggerty led off the bottom of the seventh with a hit by pitch, and advanced to third on two wild pitches. Wells Davis drew a one-out walk to put runners at the corners. Perkins drew a walk to load the bases for pinch-hitter Will Luft, who delivered a two-run single back up the middle of the infield to plate Swaggerty and Davis for a 10-1 Jaguar lead.
- Hardy added to the Jaguar lead in the bottom of the eighth when he scored on a wild pitch for an 11-1 advantage. USA loaded the bases later in the inning on a double by Russo, and walks by Swaggerty and Deyvid Silva. Davis followed with walk to score Russo for a 12-1 lead. Felix Aberouette then reached on a hit by pitch to score Perez for a 13-1 lead. Will Luft followed with a sacrifice fly to right field to score Silva and extend the lead to 14-1. Bates then drew a walk to load the bases with one out for Sandle, who lifted a sacrifice fly to left field to score Davis for a 15-1 advantage. Hardy followed with an RBI single back up the middle of the infield to score Aberouette for a 16-1 lead. Perez then drew a bases-loaded walk to score Bates with the game's final run.
Bobcats open weekend with big win over McNeese
SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State baseball team defeated McNeese State 12-1 in the first game of a weekend series Friday night at Bobcat Ballpark.
The Bobcats (2-3) utilized two big innings and a dominant effort on the mound to take down the Cowboys (0-5) in the first meeting between the two programs since 2012. TXST plated five runs in both the fifth and seventh frames to pull away from the visitors.
Sophomore Nicholas Fraze (1-1) needed just 84 pitches to tie his career-long outing of 7.0 innings. He collected the win after conceding just one unearned run on two hits. He also struck out six and walked two. The performance was the second time in his career he's allowed no earned runs, and the two hits were the second-fewest he's ever allowed in a game. Redshirt freshman Alex Klitsas came on in relief and tossed the last two innings in his first-collegiate appearance. He did not give up a run and allowed just two hits.
Senior Dylan Paul and junior Jaylen Hubbard both finished 3-for-5 at the plate. Hubbard tied his career-high with three runs scored, and he also drove in a run. Paul had two RBIs and scored once. Senior Derek Scheible and junior Jonathan Ortega both had two hits, and Scheible scored three times and drove in a pair of teammates.
Aidan Anderson (0-2) started on the mound for McNeese and gave up six runs on eight hits in 4.0 innings. Tyler Wesley was first out of the bullpen, and he conceded one run on one hit in an inning of work. Gavin Sonnier threw the next 1.2 frames and allowed five unearned runs on three hits.
The four hits by the Cowboys were chopped up between Shane Selman, Joe Provenzano, Carson Maxwell and Reid Bourque. Selman scored the lone run.
TXST outhit MCN 14-4 and finished with season highs in both hits and runs. The maroon and gold have outhit their opponents in all five games this season.
The series is slated to continue at 4 p.m. Feb. 24.
Eagle Baseball Takes Series Opener Over Fairfield
STATESBORO, GA. – Georgia Southern Baseball took a 4-3 win over Fairfield in the series opener on Friday night. The Eagles scored three of their four runs off sacrifice flies. In the seventh inning, Mason McWhorter and Noah Searcy each delivered sacrifice flies to tie and give the Eagles the lead on back-to-back at bats. Game two is set for 3 p.m. on Saturday with Sunday's finale set for 11:30 a.m.
QUOTABLES
Head Coach Rodney Hennon
"It was big to bounce back after two losses and get the win tonight. It didn't start the way you would draw it up, but we did enough to get the win. I thought it was big for (Brian) Eichhorn to get through the six inning. His pitch count was getting up there, but Matt Anderson helped him out by picking off a runner and he got out of the inning."
SCORING PLAYS
Top 1st - Fairfield struck first with a pair of runs in the first inning off two hits and a walk. Boselli's single through the left side did the damage to five the northerners a quick 2-0 advantage.
Bottom 4th - Mason McWhorter kick started the fourth inning with a leadoff double, advancing to third on a ground ball to short. Matt Anderson lifted a sacrifice fly to center which allowed McWhorter to scamper home.
Bottom 5th - Steven Curry reached with a one out single in the fifth. The sophomore moved up with a wild pitch as Mitchell Golden struck out. Jason Swan promptly doubled through the left side allowing Curry to score easily and tie the game at 2-2.
Top 7th - A leadoff walk to start the seventh by Zach Strickland was punished by the Stags who played small ball after a wild pitch to get the runner to third. A sacrifice fly plated the go-ahead run as Fairfield took the lead for the second time in the game.
Bottom 7th - The Eagles were quickly in business in the seventh with Curry reaching first the painful way, followed by a single and a wild pitch to put runners on second and third. A walk to Swan loaded the bases, but McWhorter did his job, flying out to left, allowing Curry to score for the second time and tie the game. Golden advanced to third on the play, and scored two pitches later on Noah Searcy's sacrifice fly, staking the Eagles to a 4-3 lead.
Late Heroics Give CCU Baseball 6-4 Win Over Illinois
CONWAY - With the game tied 4-4 in the bottom of the eighth, preseason All-American Kevin Woodall Jr., delivered a two-run home run to give Coastal Carolina a 6-4 victory over Illinois Friday night in the Brittan Resorts Invitational played at Springs Brooks Stadium.
Woodall is coming off a two-home run game in CCU's 13-0 win at College of Charleston on Wednesday and he entered Friday night's game ranked second in the NCAA in home runs (now with four) and third in RBI (now with 13).
Prior to the Woodall home run, Cory Wood drew a walk and, with him scoring the fifth run of the game, the sophomore has scored or driven in the game winner three times this season while Woodall has driven in the game winner twice this season -- an extra-innings single versus Kansas State and tonight's eighth-inning home run.
The Chanticleers (5-1) and Illini (1-2) will square off again tomorrow (Sat., Feb. 24) at 2:30. Sandwiched around the CCU-Illinois game on day two of the Brittain Resorts Invitational, West Virginia and Illinois will play at 11 am while West Virginia will play VCU at 6 pm.
The Fightin' Illini grabbed an early 2-0 lead on the top of the second off a two-run, home run by Jack Yalowitz.
In the home half of the second, the Chants answered with four runs. Kyle Skeels had a leadoff single while Matt Beaird and Cameron Pearcey followed with infield singles to load the bases. Parker Chavers brought home Skeels with an RBI ground out. A walk to Kieton Rivers loaded the bases again and Keaton Weisz cleared the pads with a two-out, three-run double.
Illinois got one of those runs back in the top of the fourth. Doran Turchin drew a leadoff walk, moved to second on an error and scored on an RBI single by Bren Spillane.
In the sixth, Illinois tied the game, 4-4. Spillane had a leadoff triple and scored on an RBI ground out by Jeff Korte.
Coastal scored its two runs in the eighth thanks to Woodall's blast that left the confines of Springs Brooks Stadium
Matt Eardensohn (2-0) worked the final 4.1 innings to get the win. The junior allowed three hits and one run with a walk and five strikeouts. Jason Bilous started and lasted 4.2 innings. He allowed three hits, three runs (two earned) seven walks and struck out four.
Spillane led the Illini, going 3-for-4, while Sean Leland (1-1) suffered the loss.
THOMPSON, KILGORE LEAD PANTHERS TO 6-2 WIN OVER JU
ATLANTA -- Jack Thompson homered, Will Kilgore drove in three runs and the Panthers turned four double plays as Georgia State downed Jacksonville 6-2 in their Friday series opener at the GSU Baseball Complex.
Sophomore Hunter Gaddis earned his second win of the season with another strong start, and relievers Brandon Baker and Brandon Bell combined for 2.2 innings of scoreless relief to help the Panthers improve to 3-2 on the season.
Gaddis (2-0), the 6-5 right-hander, pitched 6.1 innings, allowing two runs but only one earned on six hits with four strikeouts and two walks.
"We beat a good pitcher, but our No. 1 guy pitched pretty dang good tonight," head coach Greg Frady said. "Hunter Gaddis pitched us into the seventh inning. When you're on Friday night and your starter pitches into the seventh inning, you know you've got a good guy."
In a 2-2 game, Thompson, the Panthers' senior first baseman, hit an opposite-field, solo home run, his first of the season, with two outs in the fourth inning to give GSU a lead it would not surrender.
"The hero was Will Kilgore; he had a 3-for-3 day with three RBI," Frady said. "But Jack Thompson's was really huge for us. It gave us the lead and really energized the team. That was a ver decisive, physical play, and that's what we expect from our seniors."
Thompson described the at bat. "I got a fastball [on the] outer half," he said. "I've been working hard on working away with power and trusting my hands late. I talked to the ball a little bit when I was rounding the bases, asking it to stretch a little bit because 'oppo' home runs don't happen very often. It felt good!"
With GSU still holding that one-run lead, Nick Gatewood led off the sixth inning with a single, and then Ryan Glass doubled to put runners at second and third. After Thompson was intentionally walked to load the bases with one out, Luke Leonard brought home one run with a sacrifice fly, and then Kilgore ripped a double inside the bag at third to score two more for a 6-2 lead.
Kilgore also delivered an RBI-single in the second inning, and Gatewood drove in the Panthers first run with a first-inning groundout.
Jacksonville (3-2) mounted threats by putting the first two runners on in both the eighth and ninth innings, but the Panthers slammed the door both time with inning-ending double plays. In the eighth, Baker rolled a 6-4-3 ground ball, and in the ninth, freshman Andrew Keene, who was inserted into left field for defense, caught a medium-deep fly ball and doubled off the runner at second base to end the game.
The Panthers ended the first inning with a double play on a ball back to the pitcher, and in the fifth, Gaddis and Gatewood combined for a strike out-throw out. That gives GSU 11 double plays in the first five games after entering the weekend tied for second nationally, behind Oregon State, which entered the day with nine.
Mountaineer Pitchers Shine In 2-0 Loss At UNCW
WILMINGTON, N.C. — Left-handed starter Andrew Vaccacio had another strong outing on the mound for Appalachian State, but UNCW limited the Mountaineers to two hits in a 2-0 win Friday at Brooks Field.
The Seahawks scored an unearned run on a two-out error in the third inning and added another run in the fourth to gain some separation from App State, which recorded its first hit on Joel McDaniel's sixth-inning single. He opened the ninth inning with another single, but UNCW reliever Clark Cota retired the next three batters for the Mountaineers (1-3).
Helped by a few solid plays at shortstop from McDaniel, App State allowed only four hits against an offense that was averaging 8.3 per game. The Seahawks, picked as the preseason favorite in the CAA, were only three days removed from a 5-4 upset of No. 6 North Carolina.
Vaccacio struck out seven batters and allowed the one earned run on four hits through six innings before giving way to reliever Reed Howell, who struck out the first four batters he faced and finished with five strikeouts in two scoreless innings.
"They were fantastic," App State head coach Kermit Smith said. "I thought we had some really good defensive plays, specifically at shortstop, and we just faced a couple of good arms. The ball didn't bounce our way tonight."
App State's starting pitchers had a 2.93 ERA in the season-opening series at UNCG, which was moving forward from an NCAA Regional appearance in 2017. Vaccacio allowed three earned runs and pitched into the seventh inning with a 3-2 lead in his season-opening start against the Spartans.
He was sharp again Friday, but UNCW (4-1) took advantage of a defensive miscue to claim a 1-0 lead in the third inning. Runners were on second and first when Vaccacio induced a two-out grounder, and the Mountaineers misplayed the exchange to get the force out at second base, allowing Ryan Jeffers to race home.
The Seahawks increased their lead with a single, sacrifice bunt and Noah Bridges' run-scoring single to right field in the fourth inning.
App State left six runners on base in the game, as it put together a fifth-inning threat when Beau Myers was hit by a pitch with one out, CJ Brown stole second after reaching on a fielder's choice and Calev Grubbs drew a two-out walk. UNCW starter Alex Royalty induced a flyout, ending his day with five strikeouts, three walks and no hits allowed in five innings. Austin Easter relieved Royalty and posted six strikeouts in three innings.
"Their pitching deserves a lot of credit," Smith said. "Their pitchers did a very good job tonight, and so did ours. It was a good baseball game."
The Mountaineers and Seahawks are scheduled to resume their series Saturday at 2 p.m., and Colin Schmid is App State's probable starter on the mound.
Troy Drops Series Opener with No. 3 Florida State
TALLAHASSEE, Florida – Troy saw a late rally fall short as No. 3 Florida State took game one of the series, 7-3, Friday afternoon at Dick Howser Stadium.
Troy (4-2) was held scoreless until a three-run ninth inning but it was to no avail. The Trojans were held to four hits, all singles by Matt Sanders, Manning Early, Hunter Kamplain and Drew Frederic. Frederic drove in a run with single as a part of the ninth-inning rally – Rigsby Mosley recorded an RBI on a sacrifice fly, as well.
Andrew Crane (1-1) saw the first blemish on his 2018 record after allowing six runs – five earned – on six hits around three strikeouts in six innings of work. Crane's regular season scoreless inning streak of 46.1 innings ended with a sacrifice fly in the third inning.
Jackson Cofer was a bright spot for the Trojans in the loss. He threw 2.1 innings of two-hit, scoreless work to close the game out on the mound – Cofer also drove in a run in the ninth.
Starter Cole Sands (2-0) was lights out on the mound for third-ranked Florida State (5-0), working six solid innings of scoreless work while scattering just two hits around five strikeouts.
The Seminoles were aided by a four-run sixth inning that proved to be the difference in the game. The biggest blow came on a three-run homer by Jonathan Foster that glanced off the foul pole in left field – it was Foster's first career at-bat.
Trojans Fall to Fort Wayne in Home Opener
LITTLE ROCK — Mistakes plague the Trojans as they drop their home opener to Fort Wayne 2-3 at Gary Hogan Field Friday evening.
Starter Carter Brown had a solid outing on the mound throwing six innings and striking out six. He allowed two earned-runs off of two hits and gave up one home run in the fifth.
Justin Garcia kept his zero earned-run streak alive as he came in for relief in the eighth inning. He tallied on three more strikeouts putting his season total to 15 while facing seven batters and giving up one hit.
The leading batters on the night were catcher Kale Emshoff and second baseman Chase Coker. Emshoff went 2-for-3 with two singles and a walk while Coker also went 2-for-3 with two singles. The team batted 8-for-31 as a whole.
Fort Wayne (2-2) put a run on the board in the first inning after a couple wild pitches brought the runner home. It was enough for the Mastodons to hold a lead which they never game up.
The Trojans were held scoreless until the sixth inning when they began to show a little life. Riley Pittman singled to right with no outs followed by a Matt Merino double to the left-center wall scoring Pittman from first and brining the hot hitter Troy Alexander to the plate. Alexander would hit a towering fly to center that Merino would tag up to and try to take third. Merino beat the throw but slid through the bag due to the wet turf and was tagged out, squashing further damage done by the Trojans that inning.
After both teams scored a run each in the seventh, momentum felt like it had swung towards the Trojans brought on from Garcia's pitching in the eighth and top of the ninth. The bottom of the ninth began with an Emshoff walk. Head coach Chris Curry made the decision to bring Justin Cooper in to pinch-run and also Danny Mitchell Jr. in to pinch hit for Ryan Benavidez. Mitchell Jr. would strike out looking followed by Cooper getting a bad jump on the ball in the dirt and getting thrown out at second to end the momentum. Eldrige Figueroa would go down on swings to end the game for the Trojans.
The Trojans are set to play a doubleheader tomorrow against Fort Wayne with the beginning at 1 p.m., but that could change with storms looming in. Updates will be made on social media for those games.
Cajuns Baseball Can’t Overcome Early Wright State Surge In Home Opener
LAFAYETTE, La. – The 20th-ranked Louisiana baseball team couldn't overcome a four-run first inning by Wright State as the Cajuns fell 8-2 in the 2018 home opener at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field.
The Ragin' Cajuns (1-4) were outhit 7-4 in the contest by the Raiders (1-3) in front of a crowd of 5,196, the sixth largest crowd in program history.
Starter Jack Burk was handed his second loss of the season despite posting a quality start going 7.0 innings with five runs (three earned) on five hits, a walk and four strikeouts. Burk retired 14 of the last 15 hitters he faced in the game.
Wright State starter Ryan Weiss earned his first victory of the year holding the Cajuns to two runs on three hits with a walk and six strikeouts.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Raiders jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first scoring four runs on two hits and an error. A two-run triple by Gabe Snyder highlighted the scoring in the inning.
Wright State increased its lead to 5-0 in the third on an RBI double to right center by Seth Gray.
Louisiana got on the board in the bottom half of the third as Gavin Bourgeois brought home Kennon Fontenot on an RBI groundout to shortstop with the bases loaded. In the next at bat, freshman Hayden Cantrelle plated Kole McKinnon on a sacrifice fly to right field to cut the lead to 5-2.
The Raiders put the game out of reach in the top of the eighth scoring three runs on two hits and four free passes to make the final 8-2.
UP NEXT
Louisiana and Wright State return to action tomorrow at 2 p.m. with game two of the series at Russo Park. Junior right-hander Nick Lee (0-0) will make the start for the Cajuns, while junior left-hander Zane Collins (0-0) will take the mound for the Raiders.
For the latest updates on Ragin' Cajuns baseball, follow Ragin' Cajuns baseball on Facebook (RaginCajunsBaseball), Twitter (@RaginCajunsBSB) and Instagram (@RaginCajunsBSB) or check RaginCajuns.com.