Louisiana Baseball Wraps Up Road Trip With 5-2 Win At McNeese
LAKE CHARLES, La. – The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns baseball team wrapped up its five-game road trip with a 5-2 victory over McNeese in a non-conference game on Wednesday night at Joe Miller Ballpark.
Freshman left-hander Austin Perrin picked up his first career victory for the Ragin' Cajuns (9-11) going 5.2 innings while limiting the Cowboys (8-12) to two runs on five hits with three walks and two strikeouts. Senior Logan Stoelke recorded his fifth save of the year in the contest tossing 1.1 scoreless innings with three strikeouts.
Starter Adam Goree took the loss for McNeese after surrendering four runs on five hits in 1.2 innings of work.
LEADING THE CAJUNS
Juniors Gavin Bourgeois and Daniel Lahare each had a pair of hits and drove in a run as the Cajuns outhit the Cowboys 8-6. Louisiana has outhit its opponent in the last six games. Bourgeois reached base three times in the game, while Lahare posted his first career triple.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Louisiana jumped out to an early lead in the top of the first when Hunter Kasuls brought home Bourgeois on a ground ball hit to second base. Later in the inning, Lahare scored on a Goree wild pitch to give the Cajuns a 2-0 advantage.
The Ragin' Cajuns added two more runs in the top of the second on a pair of infield singles from Kole McKinnon and Bourgeois to take a 4-0 edge.
McNeese got on the board in the bottom of the fourth on a solo home run down the right field line by Reid Bourque to cut the lead to 4-1.
Lahare got the run back in the top of the sixth sending a two-out triple into the gap in left centerfield to plate McKinnon and make the score 5-1.
The Cowboys scored the final run of the game in the bottom half of the sixth on a two-out RBI single to centerfield by Jake Cochran.
Brock Batty and Stoelke combined to throw 3.2 scoreless innings to close out the game limiting McNeese to just one hit.
UP NEXT
The Cajuns return home to M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field at Russo Park for a three-game conference series against Troy starting Friday at 6 p.m. Game two of the series is set for Saturday at 2 p.m., while the two teams close out the weekend with a 2 p.m. contest on Sunday.
Texas State walks off Cardinals, 6-5
SAN MARCOS, Texas – The No. 30-ranked Texas State baseball team earned a 6-5 walkoff victory over Incarnate Word Wednesday night at Bobcat Ballpark.
The Bobcats (14-5-1) plated all six runs in the final three frames, which included three runs in the bottom of the ninth to earn the come-from-behind victory over the Cardinals (13-10).
TXST initially fell behind 2-0 when UIW plated a pair of runs in the top of the third. The maroon and gold had no answer for Incarnate Word starting pitcher Jake Zatopek, but once he left the game Texas State was able to go to work.
Junior Ryan Newman got the scoring started with his first home run of the season in the bottom of the seventh and, after the Cardinals posted a solo shot of their own in the next frame, the Bobcats were able to tie the game at 3-3 with two runs in the bottom of the eighth.
Incarnate Word scored twice in the top of the ninth and appeared to be on its way to victory, but Texas State had other ideas. Senior Jared Huber led off the comeback with a one-out single followed by classmate Mickey Scott being hit by a pitch. Junior Jonathan Ortega loaded the bases on an infield single, and senior Derek Scheible flew out to right field for an RBI sacrifice fly to bring the deficit to just one run.
Senior Luke Sherley filled the bags right back up by drawing a four-pitch walk, and junior Jaylen Hubbard ripped a double to left center that scored Scott and Ortega and lifted Texas State to victory.
The triumph marked TXST's third walkoff win in March and the second in four days for Hubbard. The Bobcats also earned walkoff victories over Stephen F. Austin (March 4) and Appalachian State (March 17).
Ortega belted a season-high four hits and scored twice in Wednesday's game. Sherley and Hubbard both had two hits, and Hubbard and Scheible both finished with two RBIs.
Junior Braden Pearson (1-0) recorded the final out of the ninth to earn the second win of his career and first since his true freshman year (2015). Junior Wes Engle took the ball first and tossed a quality start of two runs on seven hits in 6.0 innings. He struck out two and walked two.
Ridge Rogers led UIW with a 4-for-5, two-run effort at the dish. Kyle Bergeron, David Anaya and Lee Thomas also tallied a pair of hits in the losing effort, and Anaya drove in three runs.
Zatopek conceded no runs on two hits across the first 4.1 innings to pick up the no-decision. He struck out four and walked one. Bernie Martinez (2-2) was the last pitcher to throw, and he allowed five runs on seven hits in 1.2 innings to suffer the loss.
Texas State upped its win streak to seven-straight games over Incarnate Word dating back to the last loss to the Cardinals on Feb. 8, 2000.
The Bobcats will now hit the road for a three-game Sun Belt Conference series against No. 27 Coastal Carolina March 23-25 in Conway, S.C.
A-State Baseball Suffers Midweek Sweep at Mizzou
COLUMBIA, Mo. (3/21/18) – The Arkansas State baseball team had 12 hits and scored nine runs, but was undone by 12 walks and three errors in a 14-9 loss against No. 25 Missouri at Taylor Stadium in Columbia, Mo., as the Tigers completed a two-game midweek sweep.
The Red Wolves (8-10) were able to get on the board in the top of the first with back-to-back RBI doubles by Kyle MacDonald and Logan Andersen. Zachary Patterson kept the Tigers (17-5) off the scoreboard in the bottom of the first, but allowed three runs in the bottom of the second. A-State responded with two runs in the top of the third with the first coming on a run-scoring single by Andersen before Caleb Squire ripped a RBI double to right field to put the team on top 4-3.
Missouri didn’t waste any time retaking the advantage with a two-spot in the bottom of the third after a throwing error and RBI single from Connor Brumfield. The Tigers added one in the bottom of the fourth before a seven-run fifth inning put the game out of reach for the Red Wolves at 13-4. Mizzou was able to score the seven runs with the help of five hits and four walks.
Arkansas State didn’t quit and was able to push five runs across the plate in the game’s final three innings. Squire singled home two runs in the seventh before Andrew Lannon grounded into a fielder’s choice to score another as the score moved to 13-7 in favor of Mizzou. The home team added a run in the bottom of the seventh before the Red Wolves tallied runs on a sacrifice fly from Cullen Ray and RBI single from Grant Hawkins in the ninth to set the final of 14-7.
MacDonald led the Red Wolves with a 4-for-5 effort at the plate with three runs scored and a RBI, while Squire posted three hits and drove in three. Kameron Misner led Missouri with two hits and four RBI at the dish.
Arkansas State returns to action March 23-25 in Sun Belt Conference play at ULM. First pitch from Monroe, La., Friday night is set for 6 p.m.
For the latest on A-State baseball follow the team by logging onto the Arkansas State Baseball Facebook page or by following the team on Twitter (@AStateBaseball) and Instagram (arkansasstatebaseball).