Trojans Topple Cowboys in Stillwater, 12-6
STILLWATER, Okla. – Little Rock's bats came to life in game two of its series against Oklahoma State, defeating the defending Big-12 champions 12-6 at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium Wednesday evening. The win improves the Trojans to 5-4 on the year as Little Rock earns its first win over the Cowboys since 1987.
Seven different Trojans had multiple hits in the game and six different players scored as the Trojans tallied 17 hits on the evening.
Troy Alexander led the team in RBIs with four, which included a three-run homerun in the fifth. Nick Perez was right behind him with three RBIs of his own.
Eldrige Figueroa led the team in hits going 4-for-5 at the plate and getting one run.
Justin Garcia picked up the win for the Trojans after throwing three innings with six strikeouts, upping his strikeout total to 23 on the year.
Little Rock opened the scoring in the top of the first when Marcus Ragan scored off a wild pitch, scoring in similar fashion in the third when Troy Alexander plated a run off Cowboy wild pitch to give the Trojans the 2-0 lead.
The middle innings is where Little Rock did most of their damage scoring seven runs in the fourth and fifth innings. The Trojans jumped to a 5-0 nothing lead going into the bottom of the fourth off an Alexander double and a Nick Perez single, plating Matt Merino and Alexander.
Oklahoma State closed the gap to 5-4 in the bottom of the fourth, thanks largely to a three-run home run. But the Trojans answered immediately with four runs of their own in the top of the fifth and never looked back. Riley Pittman began the scoring with a sacrifice fly, leading into a three-run blast from Alexander to put the game out of reach.
Little Rock added some insurance runs late, scoring one in the eighth and two more in the ninth off a Perez two-RBI double.
Donavin Buck started the game for the Trojans and had a no-hitter through three innings before giving up the four-run fourth. He ended his outing with two strikeouts, two walks and gave up three hits.
Perez entered the game in the eighth inning to close out the game for the Trojans with a 10-4 lead. He gave up a two-run homerun in the eighth but recovered with his two-RBI double in the top of the ninth before striking out the Cowboy side in the bottom of the ninth to end the game.
The victory for Little Rock marks its third victory all-time against Oklahoma State, earning a victory in Stillwater in 1983 and one in Little Rock in 1987 when the Cowboys were ranked number one nationally.
Little Rock returns home this weekend to face Northwestern State for a three-game series beginning on Friday at 3 p.m. at Gary Hogan Field. They will continue on Saturday at 2 p.m. and then finish the series off on Sunday at 1 p.m.
CCU Baseball Takes 10-5 Decision From UNC Wilmington
CONWAY - Cory Wood had three hits and two RBI while Lee Sponseller and Zach Biermann each added two RBI to lead Coastal Carolina to a 10-5 victory over UNC Wilmington Wednesday night at Springs Brooks Stadium.
The win improves Coastal to 8-2 on the season and marks the Chanticleers' seventh straight win in the series with region rival UNCW (5-3).
Anthony Simonelli, the reigning Sun Belt Pitcher of the Week, improved to 2-0 in his second career start. He allowed five hits and four runs with two walks and five strikeouts over five complete innings. Zack McCambley got Coastal out of a bases loaded jam in the sixth with CCU leading 8-5 at the time. The freshman finished with five strikeouts and one walk in 2.1 scoreless innings.
UNCW raced out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Jackson Meadows was hit by the first pitch of the game and he later came around to score on a double by Ryan Jeffers.
Coastal answered with two runs in the home half. Wood had a leadoff single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Kieton Rivers. After Seth Lancaster walked, CCU executed a double steal. On the play, a throwing error by the catcher allowed Wood to score. With two outs, Coastal took advantage of a second Seahawk error that allowed Lancaster to score.
In the second, Coastal extended its lead to 3-1. Keaton Weisz had a bunt single, took second on a ground out and scored on an RBI single back up the middle by Parker Chavers.
The Seahawks tied the game, 3-3, in the top of the third. Noah Bridges hit a leadoff double and Jeffers was hit by a pitch. With two outs, Mason Berne lined a two-run double to the left-center field gap.
However, the Chants once again answered UNCW's scoring. Lancaster drew a one-out walk in the bottom of the third and Kevin Woodall Jr., was hit by a pitch. Sponseller followed with a two-run double into the right field corner to plate both Lancaster and Woodall.
UNCW scored one in the fourth to make it a one-run game, 5-4, but it could have been worse for Coastal. Kep Brown hit a leadoff single. He moved to third on an error and later scored on an error. The Seahawks would load the bases with one out, but Anthony Simonelli got a double play and strikeout to limit the damage.
Coastal put up a three spot in the fifth to double-up the Seahawks, 8-4. Kieton Rivers drew a leadoff walk and Lancaster reached on catcher's interference. The pair stole third and second, respectively, and Rivers came home on Woodall RBI ground out. Two batters later, Biermann deposited a two-run home run into the UNCW bullpen for his second home run of the year.
In the top of the sixth, UNCW loaded the bases thanks to two walks and a single. Jeffers then worked the count full, fouled off a couple of pitches and walked to force home Cole Weiss from third to make the score 8-5. McCambley then struck out Berne to end the threat.
The Chants were able to answer for a third time, scoring twice in the bottom of the sixth. Matt Beaird singled and Chavers walked. An error on a pickoff attempt moved to the two runner up 90 feet and Cory Wood followed with a two-run double to the left-center field gap.
Coastal will return to action this weekend by hosting the Johnny Gardner Law Group Tournament Mar. 2-4. The Chants will host Ball State Friday (3 pm), Maryland Saturday (3 pm) and Radford Sunday (3 pm).
Louisiana Baseball Closes Out Homestand With Victory Over Nicholls
LAFAYETTE, La. – The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns baseball team wrapped up its four-game homestand with a 2-1 victory over in-state foe Nicholls on Wednesday night at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field at Russo Park.
With the win, the Ragin' Cajuns improve to 3-5 on the season, while the Colonels fall to 1-7 overall.
Senior Colten Schmidt had a strong outing on the mound claiming his first victory of the year. Schmidt tossed seven scoreless innings scattering five hits with no walks and a career-high six strikeouts. Nicholls starter Jacob Bedevian was handed the loss despite limiting the Cajuns to two runs (one earned) on three hits in 6.2 innings of work.
LEADING THE CAJUNS
Junior Daniel Lahare led Louisiana offensively going 2-for-3 with a double, walk and scored a run, while junior Gavin Bourgeois reached base three times in the game and drove in the winning run.
On the mound, senior Logan Stoelke has yet to give up a hit in four appearances as he picked up his third save on the year. Stoelke went 1.2 scoreless innings with a walk and a strikeout.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Ragin' Cajuns broke into the scoring column in the bottom of the fourth when Kennon Fontenot plated Lahare on a sacrifice fly to right center field to make the score 1-0.
After two scoreless innings, Louisiana added two its lead in the bottom of the seventh on a two-out RBI single to left field by Bourgeois to take a 2-0 edge.
Nicholls pulled within a run, 2-1, in the top of the eight on an RBI groundout to first base by Joey Morales, but Stoelke came on in the inning and retired five of the six batters he faced to close out the contest.
UP NEXT
Louisiana heads to the Shriner's College Classic this weekend at Minute Maid Park in Houston for three contests against opponents from the SEC. The Cajuns open the tournament on Friday with a 7 p.m. game against No. 21 Mississippi State. The Ragin' Cajuns then will face No. 12 Vanderbilt on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. before closing out the weekend on Sunday at 11 a.m. against No. 7 Kentucky.
Troy Downs In-State Rival UAB
TROY, Alabama – A late-inning spurt and solid performances on the mound led Troy past in-state rival UAB, 3-2, in midweek action Wednesday night at Riddle-Pace Field.
The Trojans (5-4) snapped a brief four-game skid by scoring the tying and game-winning runs with two outs in the seventh inning – the victory was the 16th one-run win for Troy in the Mark Smartt era.
Trailing by one in the bottom of the seventh, Matt Sanders legged out a triple and was driven in by Joey Denison on an RBI single to tie the game. Sanders is in the midst of a career-long 17-game hitting streak and the RBI was Denison's team-leading ninth of the season.
The eventual game-winning run came across the plate when Cole Prestegard brought Denison home on an RBI single of his own – Prestegard led the Trojan bats with a 2-for-3 night at the plate.
CJ Carter (2-0) and Lance Johnson were lights out in relief, combining for four innings of hitless, scoreless work. Carter earned the win after striking out three batters in 2.1 perfect innings to close the game on the mound. In his third start of the young season, Rush Hixon went five solid innings allowing only two runs – one earned – and fanning three.
Troy got on the board in the third on a no-doubter from Brandon Lockridge over Doubles Alley for his first homer of the 2018 campaign. Lockridge tied for the team-lead with six home runs last season.
UAB (4-3) scored in the second and third innings but were held to only one hit from that point on. Troy Cordrey (1-1) was saddled with the loss after giving up two earned runs on three hits in that pivotal seventh inning.
Quotable – Troy head coach Mark Smartt
Rush (Hixon) was effective in his start and I'm proud of the way he competed. Man, CJ (Carter) has a ton of tools and he put them all to work tonight. I was comfortable with him on the mound and he just looked even more comfortable. I'm proud of the way our guys strung together those runs in the seventh. That all happened because Matt Sanders stretched what was seemingly a double into a triple and that was the turning point of that inning.
Sound "Smartt" With Your Friends
Troy has won 10 consecutive games at Riddle-Pace Field for the fourth-longest active home winning streak in the country. Oregon State holds the top spot with 17 in a row, followed by Florida State at 13 and Bryant at 11.
Eagles Blanked at College of Charleston, 3-0
MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. – Georgia Southern Baseball dropped a 3-0 decision to College of Charleston on Wednesday afternoon to snap a four-game winning streak as the Eagles closed out a two-day tour of the Low Country. The Eagle offense produced five hits, but nine strikeouts hurt the cause. Next up for Georgia Southern is a three game weekend series against Elon on Jack Stallings Field at J.I. Clements Stadium.
SCORING PLAYS
Bottom 2nd - Danny Wondrack led off the second inning with a solo home run over the high wall in left field to put the Cougars on top, 1-0.
Bottom 7th - Wondrack struck again in the seventh, hitting a leadoff home run down the left field line for the second time in the game. A walk later in the inning came around to score via small ball and an Eagle error as Charleston pushed the lead to 3-0.
NOTES
- The loss snapped Georgia Southern's four game win streak which includes a series sweep over Fairfield. It also snapped a four game winning streak over the Cougars which includes season sweeps in 2016 and 2017.
- Zach Strickland went a career-long five innings and scattered four hits while allowing the home run in the second. He walked just one, but did not strike out a batter and was saddled with the loss.
- Sophomore Seth Shuman made his debut as a batter for the Eagles, hitting fourth as the designated hitter. He went 1-for-3, dumping a ball into the gap in the seventh inning.
- Mitchell Golden's 13-game hit streak came to an end. He reached base when he was hit by a pitch in the first, but two strikeouts and a fly out snapped his streak.
- Georgia Southern will have two more chances this season against Charleston, hosting the Cougars in Statesboro on April 17 and returning to Patriots Point on April 24.