@RaginCajunsBSB Defeats ULM 9-6 To Clinch Sun Belt West Division Title
LAFAYETTE, La. – The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns baseball team defeated ULM 9-6 on Friday night at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field at Russo Park to clinch the 2018 Sun Belt Conference West Division Championship. The title is the third divisional and ninth overall for Louisiana in Sun Belt play.
With the victory, the Ragin' Cajuns (32-23, 17-12 SBC) extend their win streak in the series against the Warhawks (23-30, 10-19 SBC) to 24 games.
Junior left-hander Hogan Harris earned the win for Louisiana holding ULM to three runs (one earned) on six hits in 7.0 innings of work with two walks and five strikeouts. Senior Logan Stoelke notched his tenth save of the year in the outing coming on in the ninth to get the final out of the game.
Chase Beal took the loss for the Warhawks after surrendering six runs (five earned) on four hits and a walk in 3.0 innings.
LEADING THE CAJUNS
Sophomore Todd Lott was perfect at the plate in the game going 3-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored. Junior Hunter Kasuls also had three hits on the night and scored twice, while Hayden Cantrelle and Zach LaFleur each drove in a pair of runs.
Junior Daniel Lahare extended his streak to 15 games going 1-for-5 with an RBI.
HOW IT HAPPENED
For the second straight game, ULM got out to an early 2-0 lead scoring a pair of runs on an RBI groundout by Gino Marucci and an RBI single by Joey Jordan.
The Ragin' Cajuns got going offensively in the bottom of the third on a Cantrelle RBI single to right center to cut the Warhawks lead to 2-1. In the next at bat, Gavin Bourgeois brought home Jonathan Windham on a ball hit to shortstop to even the game at 2-all.
Louisiana added four more runs in the bottom of the fourth to jump out to a 6-2 advantage. After the Cajuns scored two runs on ball hit to shortstop by LaFleur, both Lott and Windham singled home runs to give the squad a 4-run edge.
The Warhawks and Ragin' Cajuns traded runs in the fifth inning to make the score 7-3.
Louisiana put the game out of reach after plating a run in the sixth on a Lahare single and a run in the eighth on an inside-the-park homer by Cantrelle to take a 9-3 lead. The home run is the third of the season for Cantrelle who has two home runs in the series.
ULM tacked on three runs in the ninth inning to make the final 9-6.
UP NEXT
Louisiana will look to complete the sweep of ULM tomorrow at 3 p.m. at Russo Park. The Ragin' Cajuns will hold a special on-field graduation ceremony prior to the game to recognize players from the program that have graduated in the last year.
Junior right-hander Nick Lee will make the start for the Cajuns, while the Warhawks will close out the series with junior right-hander Justin Olaughlin on the mound.
Smartt Earns 100th Win; Troy Wins Series Over South Alabama
TROY, Alabama – Head coach Mark Smartt recorded his 100th win as Troy's head coach with a shutout and a blow out, 3-0 and 11-1, of South Alabama to take the final regular season series of the 2018 campaign Saturday afternoon at Riddle-Pace Field.
The Trojans (38-17, 19-10) took a commanding doubleheader over the Jags (29-23, 17-11); behind the arm of Andrew Crane in game one and with the help of their powerful offense in the second leg of the day.
Game One
Andrew Crane's final start at Riddle-Pace Field was nothing short of stellar as the senior pitched 8.2 innings to lead Troy's 3-0 shutout of South Alabama in game one of the three-game series.
Crane (6-4) was an out away from a two-hit shutout when he walked his fifth batter and was pulled for CJ Carter. Carter (8) threw three pitches and recorded the strikeout to complete the victory.
Matt Sanders drove in the Trojans' first two runs on an RBI single and a sacrifice fly in the third and fifth innings – Sanders finished 2-for-3 in the opener. Drew Frederic brought home the other of Troy's three runs on a two-out single in that fifth inning, as well.
South Alabama starter Tyler Carr (8-3) pitched the full game on the mound for the Jags, but suffered the hard-luck loss after giving up three runs on seven hits.
Game Two
The weather rolled in and Troy started raining runs all over South Alabama, winning 11-1 to sweep the doubleheader and to take the series in game two of the series.
The Trojans scored all 11 of their runs in their final four at-bats – three in the fifth and sixth, one in the seventh and four in the eighth.
Drew Frederic and Matt Sanders picked up where they left off in game one and had monster games in the second leg of the twin bill. Frederic finished 4-for-5 with two RBIs and two runs scored, while Sanders was 3-for-6 with two runs driven in and two runs scored, as well.
Troy broke a scoreless tie with a three-run shot off the bat of Brandon Lockridge in the fifth inning; followed by three runs on three hits in the bottom of the sixth.
The flood gates then opened and Troy scored four runs on three consecutive extra-base hits to lead off the eighth – Matt Sanders doubled, Drew Frederic tripled and Joey Denison homered to blow the game wide open.
Senior Jackson Cofer (1-0) picked up his first collegiate win in his last regular season series with four scoreless innings of relief – fanning five batters around two hits. Meanwhile, Zack Lightsey (1) earned the first save of his young career with three innings of one-hit, three-strikeout work.
South was able to score its lone run of the day with a solo shot from Wells Davis in the top of the sixth inning. Jag starter Jared Proctor (4-1) took the loss after giving up six runs on nine hits in six innings.
Quotable – Troy head coach Mark Smartt
"What a day. One run in 18 innings? Wow. Just a solo homer. It started with Andrew Crane and man, did he come through with a big game in his last one at Riddle-Pace. Jackson Cofer was terrific in game two, then Lightsey got the three-inning save. To hold that offensive team to one run is the sign of a good day on the mound. Our offense finally showed up when Lockridge hit the three-run homer and that woke our guys up."
Notable
• Senior Andrew Crane finished his pitching career at Riddle-Pace Field with an impressive 8-1 record. Crane was an out away from his second complete game of the season and first career shutout.
• Drew Frederic was 6-for-9 in the doubleheader with three RBIs, two runs scored and two stolen bases. Frederic leads the team and the conference with 28 stolen bases this season.
• Troy allowed just one South Alabama run in the two games – the fewest in any two consecutive games in the history of the rivalry.
TXST uses extra innings to clinch series over Mavericks
ARLINGTON, Texas – The Texas State baseball team came from behind to defeat UTA 5-1 in 10 innings Friday night at Clay Gould Ballpark.
The Bobcats (27-26-1, 15-14 SBC) collected their fourth-straight Sun Belt Conference triumph and earned their second series win in a row. The Mavericks (21-32, 11-18 SBC) extended their current losing streak to nine games and have now lost four consecutive series to TXST.
With the triumph, the maroon and gold moved into sixth place in the current SBC standings by a half game over Little Rock with one day left in the regular season. If the Bobcats hold on to that position, they will earn a coveted bye past the opening-round, single-elimination portion of next week's Sun Belt Conference Championship. If they lose and the Trojans win Saturday, then TXST will be the tournament's No. 7 seed and will face the No. 10 seed on May 22.
Friday's victory did not come easy for Texas State, as the home team kept the Bobcats off the scoreboard for 25 of a necessary 27 outs. The lone run for the Mavericks came in the sixth, when three-straight one-out singles brought around Christian Hollie.
Junior Ryan Newman began the ninth with a one-out single. He advanced to second thanks to an error on the play and moved over to third on a passed ball. Senior Jared Huber laid down a perfect suicide squeeze bunt that allowed Newman to score and tie the game. UTA advanced the game-winning run to third base in the bottom of the ninth, but Hollie struck out to end the threat.
Texas State then erupted for four runs in the top of the 10th to seal the come-from-behind victory.
Newman finished the evening with three hits, while Huber and juniors Jaylen Hubbard and Jonathan Ortega all had two hits.
Junior Braden Pearson (3-2) tossed 2.0 scoreless innings of relief to earn the win on the mound. He allowed two hits, while striking out two and walking one. Junior starter Connor Reich picked up a no-decision after giving up just one run on eight hits across 5.1 frames. Junior Kyle Bradford and sophomore Broc Bosse bridged the gap between Reich and Pearson by not conceding any runs on just two hits in 2.2 combined innings.
Omar Salinas paced the home side with a 3-for-5 effort at the dish. R.J. Williams, Noah Vaughan and Easton Johnson all had two hits. UTA starting pitcher Ka'ikepono Anderson did not allow a run on four hits in 5.2 innings. He struck out five and walked just one. Logan Austin tossed the next 2.2 innings and left after conceding one run on three hits, while striking out three and walking one. Usually reliable closer Daniel James (1-5) suffered the loss after giving up four runs on three hits in 0.2 innings.
UTA outhit Texas State 12-10 but also led in errors, 3-0. The Bobcats improved to 2-2 in extra innings this year.
The regular-season finale for both clubs is slated for a 2 p.m. start May 19. Texas State will throw sophomore Zachary Leigh, while the Mavericks will counter with Reid Petty.
Alberius's Complete Game Sends A-State to 4-1 Win at Little Rock
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (5/18/18) – The Arkansas State baseball team used a complete-game effort from Nate Alberius and got a three-hit, two-RBI performance from Winston Welch to clinch a series victory at Little Rock with a 4-1 win Saturday night at Gary Hogan Field.
Alberius went the distance to improve to 6-4 as he allowed just one run, a solo homer in the eighth, on two hits with five strikeouts against one walk. The complete game was his second of the season and he is the first A-State pitcher with multiple complete games in a season since Daniel Wright in 2013 when he had three. The Little Rock, Ark., native allowed a double in the first inning, but retired 21 of the next 23 batters before the solo shot.
Welch got the scoring started for A-State (20-30, 11-18 SBC) with a RBI double in the top of the second and then singled home another to start a three-run sixth inning for the Red Wolves. Cullen Ray brought home the other two runs with a bad-hop single past the shortstop. Little Rock’s Troy Alexander hit a solo homer just inside the right-field foul pole in the eighth for the Trojans (26-26, 14-14 SBC) only run of the contest.
Welch led the Red Wolves at the plate with three hits and two RBI, while Jeremy Brown had two hits, including his 20th double of the season. That double tied Brown for the third most in school history with five other occurrences, the last being Matt Burgess in 2015. Ray drove home A-State’s other two runs.
The series finale between Arkansas State and Little Rock is set for Saturday afternoon at 1 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).