Cantrelle Provides Walk-off Winner For @RaginCajunsBSB In Extra Innings Against ULM
LAFAYETTE, La. – Freshman Hayden Cantrelle came up with the late-game heroics on Thursday night as his walk-off homer in the tenth inning lifted the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns baseball team to a 4-3 victory over ULM in the series opener at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field at Russo Park.

The victory extended the Ragin' Cajuns (31-23, 16-12 SBC) win streak versus the Warhawks (23-29, 10-18 SBC) to 23 games and also increased the squad's lead in the Sun Belt West Division to a game and a half over Little Rock.

Senior Dylan Moore claimed the victory for Louisiana with two scoreless innings in relief to improve to 4-3 on the year. Moore worked around two hits and a walk and had three strikeouts in the outing.

Reliever Keegan Curtis took the loss for ULM giving up one run on one hit with a walk and two strikeouts in 1.1 innings of work.

The Cajuns outhit the Warhawks 10-9 in the game as the club has posted double-digit hits in six of the last eight games.

LEADING THE CAJUNS

Cantrelle posted three hits on the night coming a single away from hitting for the cycle, while junior Daniel Lahare extended his hit streak to 15 games. Junior Kole McKinnon had a pair of hits in the game with a home run and two RBI.

Starter Colten Schmidt notched his tenth quality start of the season holding the Warhawks to three runs on seven hits with nine strikeouts in 8.0 innings. Schmidt didn't allow a free pass for the eighth time this season and retired the last 10 batters he faced in the contest.

HOW IT HAPPENED

ULM jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning on a two-out, two run single to centerfield by Brendan Jordan.

The Ragin' Cajuns got on the board in the bottom half of the second when Zach Fleur stole third base and then came home to score on a throwing error by catcher Spencer Hemphill to cut the lead to 2-1. Later in the inning, McKinnon doubled up the middle to plate Jonathan Windham and tie the game at 2-all.

McKinnon put Louisiana in front 3-2 on his third home run of the year as he hammered a solo blast to left field off of starter Trey Jeans.

The lead would be short lived though as the Warhawks evened the game at 3-all in the top of the fifth on a two-out RBI single to left field by Will Daniels.

After four scoreless innings, ULM threatened in the top of the tenth loading the bases with one out, but Moore bore down and got struck out Daniels and Jordan to get out of the jam.

In the bottom half of the ninth, Cantrelle drove a 2-1 pitch from Curtis over the fence in left field for the game-winner to make the final 4-3. The home run was just the second of the year for Cantrelle.

UP NEXT

Louisiana will look to clinch the series against ULM tomorrow at 6 p.m. at Russo Park. The Ragin' Cajuns will honor the 2018 senior class prior to the game with a special Senior Day presentation on the field. Fans unable to be in attendance can watch the pregame festivities on the free video stream provided on RaginCajuns.com starting at 5:40 p.m.

Junior left-hander Hogan Harris will make the start for the Cajuns in game two, while the Warhawks will counter with right-hander Chase Beal.

Eagles Thunder Past Georgia State, 19-5
STATESBORO - Georgia Southern Baseball put a pounding on Georgia State, 19-5 on Thursday night to open the three game series. The Eagles posted 19 hits with eight going for extra bases including a season-high four home runs. The Eagles delivered back-to-back home runs in the sixth inning as the home side scored in all but one inning.

Game two between the Eagles and Panthers is set for Friday night at 6:30 p.m. Seth Shuman will get the ball for the Eagles who look to win the series. Watch Friday night's game live on ESPN3 at WatchESPN.com.

Single game tickets are available at GSEagles.com/Tickets, giving fans the opportunity to beat the lines on gameday. Tickets can also be purchased at the J.I. Clements Stadium Box Office, located directly behind home plate at the stadium's main entrance.

SCORING PLAYS
Bottom 1st - Mitchell Golden ran into the 1-1 pitch for a solo home run to the gap in right. It was his second home run of the season and first on Jack Stallings Field at J.I. Clements Stadium.
Bottom 2nd - The Eagles played small ball after a Christian Avant leadoff single to get him in scoring position. Nolan Tressler split the gap in right to make the lead 2-0.
Bottom 4th - The eagles punished Georgia State for an error to start the fourth inning and moved Avant up on Matt Anderson's second-straight sacrifice bunt. Steven Curry drove in Avant with a single to left. Jason Swan then hit a towering two-run home run to plate Curry and make the lead 5-0. Swan's home run was his first career bomb and cleared the scoreboard in left.
Bottom 5th - Two walks and a hit batter loaded the bases for Curry. The sophomore second baseman cleared the bases with a double to left that scored three, pushing the lead to 8-0.
Top 6th - Will Kilgore put Georgia State on the board with a two run home run to the deepest part of the park, clearing the centerfield wall to cut the lead to 8-2. A pair of bases loaded walks plated two more to make it an 8-4 game.
Bottom 6th - The Eagles responded by hanging five runs in the sixth inning to blow the game open. RBI singles from Austin Thompson and Tyler Martin drove in runs before McWhorter clubbed a two-run home run over the scoreboard. The next batter, Avant, followed that with a home run of his own to produce back-to-back home runs for the first time this year for the Eagles.
Bottom 7th - Two more runs crossed in the seventh thanks to heads-up baserunning by Mitchell Golden and an RBI single from Avant to make it a 15-4 game.
Top 8th - Luke Leonard cut the lead to 15-5 with a solo home run that cleared the wall in right center.
Bottom 8th - Georgia Southern finished off its scoring in the eighth inning with another crooked number, plating four runs. Two runs scored on Roury Glanton's two RBI single up the middle, while another scored when Jeddediah Fagg singled to third. A wild pitch allowed Glanton to score the game's final run as the Eagles scored a season-high 19 runs.

NOTES
- First pitch on Thursday was delayed by 53 minutes due to lightning in the area that stopped pregame warmups.
- The 19 runs for Georgia Southern was their highest total since hanging 20 on Wofford on April 27, 2014.
- Georgia Southern clattered eight extra base hits, their most since April 15, 2015 at Little Rock.
- Austin Thompson and Christian Avant each had three hits in the game. Each scored three times in the game.
- Steven Curry went 2-for-4 with a career-high four RBIs.
- Brian Eichhorn started the game, but exited after two and two thirds innings. He struck out four and did not allow a hit in his shortest outing of the year.
- Chase Cohen earned the win to improve to 5-4, tossing two and two thirds innings in relief.
- Georgia Southern pitching struck out 17 Georgia State batters, one off a season high.
- Matt Geiger pitched a perfect ninth inning in his final home series in the Blue and White. He struck out all three batters, his highest total since fanning four on March 21, 2015 against Arkansas State.

UP NEXT
The Eagles and Panthers will play game two of the weekend series on Friday night at 6:30 p.m. The game can be seen live on ESPN3.

Brown's Ninth-Inning Double Lifts A-State to Win at LR
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (5/17/18) – The Arkansas State baseball team was tied with Little Rock 6-6 entering the ninth inning, but a one-out double from Jeremy Brown scored Drew Tipton from second to send the Red Wolves to a 7-6 victory in the series opener against Little Rock Thursday night at Gary Hogan Field.

Justin Garcia entered the game for the Trojans (26-25, 14-13 SBC) to begin the ninth and struck out Tipton on a ball in the dirt, but it skipped away a bit from catcher Kale Emshoff and his throw was wide of the bag at first to allow Tipton to reach. Grant Hawkins bunted Tipton to second and Brown lined a 2-2 pitch over the left fielder’s head to plate the winning run.

Peyton Culbertson, who had entered in the eighth inning, allowed a two-out infield hit in the ninth, but struck out Danny Mitchell, Jr., swinging to end the game and earn the win.

A-State (19-30, 10-18 SBC) began the scoring with Tobias Johnson hitting his sixth homer of the season, a two-run shot, in the top of the second. Kyle MacDonald followed with a two-run round-tripper of his own in the fifth inning to put the Red Wolves ahead 4-0. Little Rock was able to get on the board in the bottom half with a sacrifice fly that scored Ryan Benevidez, who led off the inning with a double, which was the Trojans’ first hit.

MacDonald stayed hot and hit a solo bomb in the seventh to give him 15 homers on the year and four in the last two games. The Mississauga, Ont., native has tied Michael Clay (1998) and Bobby Pickett (1991) for the second most homers in a single season in school history. However, Little Rock chased Bradey Welsh from the game in the bottom half with two, two-out singles.

Bo Ritter entered for Welsh, but gave up a two-run triple and another RBI single on an infield hit as the home team climbed back within 5-4. Cullen Ray smashed a solo home run to left field in the eighth as it proved to be an important insurance run as Emshoff homered for Little Rock to lead off the bottom of the frame and Marcus Ragan drove home his second run in as many innings on another infield single to tie the game at 6-6.

Little Rock had the bases loaded with two outs, but Culbertson was able to blow a fastball by Chase Coker to keep the score tied 6-6 and set up Brown’s heroics.

Welsh delivered his team-high ninth quality start of the season after he allowed three runs on four hits with three strikeouts against two walks in 6.2 innings pitched. Garcia took the loss for the Trojans as starter Chandler Fidel tossed six innings with four runs allowed (three earned) on eight hits.

Brown’s three hits led A-State’s offense, while MacDonald, Johnson, and Ray each had two apiece. Hawkins added a hit as well, but played excellent defense at shortstop to help the cause. Benevidez had three hits and two runs scored to pace Little Rock’s offense.

The two teams return to action in a pivotal game two of the series Friday evening. First pitch from Gary Hogan Field is set for 6 p.m.

Bobcats open final weekend with 5-2 win over UTA
ARLINGTON, Texas – The Texas State baseball team kicked off the final weekend of the regular season with a 5-2 victory over UT Arlington Thursday night at Clay Gould Ballpark.

The Bobcats (26-26-1, 14-14 SBC) moved back to .500 both overall and in Sun Belt Conference action, while the Mavericks (21-31, 11-17 SBC) dropped their eight-consecutive game. The triumph also guaranteed that the maroon and gold can finish no lower than No. 7 in the final SBC standings.

TXST scored first with a pair of RBI singles in the top of the third from senior Luke Sherley and true freshman Wesley Faison. The Bobcats added two additional tallies an inning later off the bat of true freshman Dalton Shuffield. He ripped a bases-loaded double down the right-field line that drove home seniors Dylan Paul and Derek Scheible.

Sherley scored again in the ninth for some added insurance, and the home side was only able to retort with lone runs in the seventh and ninth innings.

Texas State outhit UTA 13-5 led by a 3-for-5 effort from Shuffield. Sherley, Scheible and junior Jaylen Hubbard also had two hits each, while Shuffield scored twice.

Sophomore Nicholas Fraze (6-4) recorded his career-high sixth win on the mound after tossing 6.0 shutout innings. He gave up just hits, while striking out two and walking one. Junior Anthony Pagano landed just one out shy of picking up his first save of the year. He conceded two runs on three hits across 2.2 frames. He struck out two and walked three. Sherley picked up his second save in as many SBC games by recording the final out on the mound.

The five UTA hits were scattered throughout the lineup. The two runs came via Phillip Childs and Noah Vaughan. Brad Vassar (2-7) suffered the loss after allowing four runs on six hits in 3.1 innings. He did not issue a strikeout and allowed one walk. Andrew Gross was solid in 4.2 innings of relief, giving up no runs on five hits, while striking out four and allowing no walks. Dylan Schneider pitched the ninth and conceded one run on two hits.

The two rivals will continue their season-ending series at 6:30 p.m. May 18.