Eagles Slide Past Louisiana to Take Series Win
STATESBORO, GA. – Blake Simmons went 3-for-4 with two RBIs, while Cole Whitney dealt for five and a third innings as Georgia Southern took a 5-4 win over Louisiana to win the weekend series. The Eagles trailed early, but scored four in the sixth inning to take the win on get away day. The Eagles visit Bethune-Cookman on Tuesday afternoon at Jackie Robinson Ballpark in Daytona Beach, Florida.
QUOTABLES
Head Coach Rodney Hennon
"Getting the win in the first conference series is huge. We've been fighting things coming into the weekend, we lost four in a row coming in to the series, but we were able to get the first one Friday night. We didn't play very well on Saturday, and in today's game things didn't start out going very well for us. But, the guys hung in there today and we got the series win."
SCORING PLAYS
Top 1st - An early base hit and an error set the table for Louisiana to grab a quick 2-0 lead. Hayden Cantrelle drove in the runs with a single up the middle.
Bottom 2nd - Georgia Southern got a run back in the second when Blake Simmons singled up the middle to plate Christian Avant from third. It was Simmons' first career hit and the first RBI for the redshirt freshman.
Top 3rd - The Ragin' Cajuns continued to rough up starting pitcher David Johnson by posting a pair of runs in the third as the freshman left the game after two and two thirds innings of work.
Bottom 6th - The Eagles tied and took the lead by batting around in the sixth, scoring four runs off two hits. Georgia Southern walked four times and were hit by a pitch in the inning as relief pitcher Hayden Harris struggled with his control. A Chandler Corley ground rule double down the right field line found the dirt in the warning track and jumped over the wall out of play to score a run. Blake Simmons drove in a run with two outs with a slow roller to second base. The redshirt freshman slid into first ahead of the tag to tally the RBI. Steven Curry drove in a run when he was hit by a pitch, while a bases loaded walk to Jason Swan plated the go-ahead run as the Eagles went ahead for good.
NOTES
- Junior Cole Whitney was stellar in his longest outing at the Division I level. The native of Campbell Hall, New York went five and a third shutout innings to improve to 1-1 on the season. He struck out six and allowed just two hits, retiring the final 12 batters he faced in order.
- Chase Cohen hit a batter in the ninth, but got the final out with a strikeout to seal his fourth save of the year and the second of the weekend for the junior.
- Blake Simmons entered Sunday's game without a hit in his four previous at bats for the Eagles. The starting third baseman went 3-for-4 with two RBIs.
Bobcats wrap up sweep over Mountaineers
SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State baseball team polished off a three-game Sun Belt Conference sweep over Appalachian State with a 7-2 victory in Sunday's finale from Bobcat Ballpark.
The Bobcats (13-4-1, 3-0 SBC) extended their unbeaten streak to 11 games, while the Mountaineers (5-12, 0-3 SBC) have now dropped eight of their last nine games overall.
TXST also improved to 12-0 all-time against Appalachian State, and the maroon and gold has outscored App 42-8 in six all-time meetings in San Marcos.
The Bobcats quickly put the visitors away in Sunday's contest, plating three runs in each of the first two frames. They tacked on a seventh marker in the third on true freshman John Wuthrich's first-collegiate home run, and the Mountaineers could only counter with two responses in the top of the eighth.
For the second time in the series, seniors Derek Scheible and Luke Sherley both hit home runs in the same game. Scheible's two-run blast came in the bottom of the first, while Sherley hit a three-run bomb in the second.
The dynamic duo combined for five RBIs and three runs scored. Junior Jonathan Ortega went 2-for-4 and also scored twice.
Sophomore Zachary Leigh (1-0) easily surpassed his career highs for innings pitched (7.2) and strikeouts (8) to earn his first-career victory on the mound. He gave up just two runs on three hits, while walking two. Junior Kyle Bradford recorded the final out of the eighth, and classmate Brayden Theriot cleaned up the ninth.
Appalachian State starter Travis Holden (2-2) failed to escape the second inning. He conceded six runs on six hits, while walking one and recording zero strikeouts. Cameron Kepley only gave up one run across the next 3.2 frames, but the visitors needed three additional relievers to get through the remainder of the game.
Alex Leshock was the lone Mountaineer with multiple hits, finishing 2-for-4 with an RBI. Riley Smith and CJ Brown scored the two runs.
Appalachian State was held to just six runs total in the three-game series. The last time TXST held a Sun Belt opponent to six runs or fewer in a weekend series was when the Mountaineers scored just twice all weekend the last time they traveled to San Marcos on March 18-20, 2016.
Texas State will now have a pair of midweek tilts before heading east to face Coastal Carolina March 23-25. The Bobcats will first travel to San Antonio for a 6 p.m. game March 20 at UTSA before playing host to Incarnate Word at 6 p.m. March 21.
Vaughan's Walk-Off Homer Lifts Mavs To Sweep
ARLINGTON, Texas -- Noah Vaughan belted a two-run, walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth inning - UTA's second consecutive game won via a walk-off homer - to lift the Mavericks to a 6-5 comeback win over Georgia State, on Sunday afternoon at Clay Gould Ballpark.
UTA (9-9, 3-0 Sun Belt Conference) swept its first weekend of conference play with consecutive walk-off homers. On Friday, UTA posted a 6-4 win to open the series, getting a key homer from Will Olson in a four-run sixth inning.
With UTA trailing by four runs and the game suspended in the eighth inning on Saturday, the teams resumed the contest on Sunday morning. UTA rallied from behind to take a one-run lead into the ninth inning after a five-run eighth but a run in the top of the ninth evened up the game heading to the bottom half. After a pair of outs, Will Olson cranked his second homer of the game ad third of the weekend over the rightfield fence for his second walk-off homer of the year.
The series finale came after the walk-off homer from Olson, with the Mavs falling behind 4-2 entering the bottom of the eighth inning. The Mavs rallied to cut the lead to 4-3 and after allowing a run in the top of the ninth inning faced a two-run hole entering the bottom of the frame. After a leadoff single opened the inning, Vaughan pulled his fifth homer of the year, a no-doubt blast over the rightfield fence.
It marked UTA's third walk-off homer and fourth walk-off win of the year in 12 games at Clay Gould Ballpark. The Mavs swept their opening weekend series in league play for the first time since 2006 while in the Southland Conference.
The win marked a historic week for the Mavs, who earned five wins in six days. The Mavs opened the week with an 18-inning win at No. 6 Texas A&M in the longest game played in TAMU history, then pasted Minnesota on Wednesday despite arriving home after 4 a.m.
LEADING THE MAVS
Vaughan's fifth homer and 2-for-5 game with three RBI highlighted the outing for the Mavs at the plate. RJ Williams added a pair of hits with all nine starters collecting knocks. Olson, Zac Cook, Christian Hollie, Omar Salinas, Josh Minjarez, David Renning and Aaron Funk each had hits.
ON THE MOUND
UTA starter Ka'ikpeono Anderson worked five-plus innings, allowing eight hits and three runs, walking one and striking out a career-high eight. After a leadoff double in the sixth, UTA turned to Andrew Gross in relief. Gross got and pair of outs and Ryan Buss came on to get the final out of the seventh inning and worked two innings, allowing three hits and a run, walking one and striking out two.
Freshman Carlos Tavera came on with two outs in the eighth inning to escape the jam but was relieved after a leadoff walk in the ninth inning. With the go-ahead runner at first and no outs in the ninth, David Moffat took over for Tavera. Moffat (3-4) won his second game of the day - also working 1.1 shutout in relief in the first game - with a shutout ninth inning.
Georgia State starter Jordan Lee worked 6.1 innings, allowing seven hits and two runs - one earned - walking three and striking out two. Troy Horton worked in relief in the seventh inning, before giving way to Liam Henry and Tyler Koch in the eighth. Koch (0-2) suffered the loss, allowing two runs on three hits.
NEXT
The Mavs will return to action on Tuesday, hosting Abilene Christian at 6:30 p.m. CT at Clay Gould Ballpark.
Coastal Baseball Sweeps Arkansas State With 8-3 Win Sunday
JONESBORO, Ark. - Parker Chavers was 3-for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored while Seth Lancaster drove in three to lead #30 Coastal Carolina to an 8-3 win over Arkansas State Sunday afternoon and a sweep in the season-opening Sun Belt series at Tomlinson Stadium/Kell Field.
The Chanticleers improve to 15-7 overall, 3-0 in the Sun Belt, and the Red Wolves fall to 8-8, 0-3.
In a weekend riddled with walks (teams combined 38 in the first two games of the series), Zack Hopeck (1-2) only walked one over his six innings while striking out a season-high eight -- one off his career high. He earned his first win of the season as he scattered five hits and allowed one run.
Coastal grabbed a 2-0 lead in the second inning. Lee Sponseller walked and moved to third on a Kieton Rivers double. Parker Chavers placed a single down the left field line to drive in both Chanticleers.
The Red Wolves got one of those runs back in the bottom of the second. Kyle MacDonald hit a leadoff double and scored on a blooper single to right by Logan Andersen.
The Chants converted another walk into a run in the third. Cory Wood walked, stole second and took third on the play thanks to a throwing error. Zach Biermann followed with an RBI ground out to give CCU a 3-1 lead. The Red Wolves threatened in the bottom half, but Zack Hopeck stranded the bases loaded by getting an inning-ending pop out.
Coastal took then advantage of three A-State errors in the fourth inning to extend its lead to 5-1. Chavers drew a one-out walk and Keaton Weisz singled. An error on the play put runners on the corners. On wild play, Weisz stole second, but a passed ball allowed Chavers to score from third. Also on the play, a throwing error on the play allowed Weisz to take third. Seth Lancaster plated Weisz with a sacrifice fly.
For the third time in the game -- second time for Sponseller, a Chanticleer drew a leadoff walk that resulted in a CCU run. After Sponseller's walk, Chavers singled and Weisz was hit by a pitch to load the bases and set the stage for Lancaster's RBI ground out to give the Chants a 6-1 advantage.
In the ninth, Biermann singled and scored on a Sponseller double to deep centerfield to cap the scoring for CCU.
A-State took advantage of a CCU error to tack on two runs in the ninth to provide the 8-3 final. Pinch hitter Andrew Lannon reached on an error and pinch hitter Winston Welch walked. After a pair of strikeouts, Grant Hawkins hit a two-run triple to the right-center field gap.
Coastal will return home to host Clemson on Tuesday (Mar. 20)) with first pitch set for 6 pm.
Little Rock Takes Series From Troy With 3-1 Victory
TROY, Ala. – Little Rock used a three-run fifth inning and another solid pitching performance to take its Sun Belt opening series, downing Troy 3-1 Sunday afternoon. Little Rock improves to 11-9 on the year and 2-1 in conference play.
Little Rock's pitching and defense once again game up big once again, holding Troy to just one run on eight hits. Starter Ethan Dailey limited Troy to three hits in 2.1 innings pitched, relieved by Donavin Buck allowing just one run on four hits in 3.1 innings with three strikeouts, earning the win and improving to 3-0 on the year.
Justin Garcia then picked up his fourth save on the year, working 3.1 innings to do so. Garcia shut down Troy's bats, holding the Alabama Trojans to just one hit and striking out three, earning his fourth save of the season.
Troy got on the board in the bottom of the fourth off an RBI triple, the lone blemish on Buck's performance.
But Little Rock responded quickly, scoring three in the top of the fifth, beginning with an RBI bunt from Matt Merino that scored Ryan Benavides. Kale Emshoff then rocketed a two-out double to the wall, scoring both Merino and Riley Pittman and giving both Buck and Garcia the two-run lead they would need.
Merino and Nick Perez both finished 2-for-4 on the day with Pittman, Emshoff and Marcus Ragan accounting for Little Rock's eight hits on the day.
The win marked Little Rock's second-straight road series victory and its first series victory over Troy since sweeping the Trojans in 2016. Little Rock has now held its opponents to two runs or fewer in its last five games, going 4-1 during that span.
Little Rock will forego its midweek games this week before continuing conference play with its first Sun Belt home series of the year against UT Arlington. Game one of the series is scheduled for Friday, March 23 at 6 p.m. at Gary Hogan Field, followed by game two at 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 24. The series wraps up with a 1 p.m. first pitch on Sunday, March 25.