@RaginCajunsBSB Defeats No. 15 Coastal Carolina 5-1 To Win Fifth Straight Series
LAFAYETTE, La. – The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns baseball team picked up a 5-1 victory against No. 15 Coastal Carolina on Saturday night at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field at Russo Park to clinch the squad's fifth straight series win.

The win moves the Ragin' Cajuns (28-20, 14-9 SBC) into first place in the West Division as the Cajuns are a half-game ahead of Little Rock.

Junior Hogan Harris notched his fourth straight quality start of the season limiting the Chanticleers (31-16, 17-6 SBC) to one run on four hits with four walks and six strikeouts in 6.0 innings of work. The victory improves Harris to 4-1 on the year.

Coastal starter Jason Bilous was tagged with his second loss of the year after surrendering five runs (three earned) on five hits and a walk in 6.2 innings.

The series loss for the Chants snaps a streak of 11 straight series won by Coastal Carolina.

LEADING THE CAJUNS

Junior Daniel Lahare scored twice in the game going 1-for-3 with a double and a walk. Lahare has a hit safely in nine straight contests to lead the team with the longest active streak. Senior Zach LaFleur also scored two runs on the night going 1-for-2 with a sac bunt.

On the mound, junior Nick Lee and senior Logan Stoelke combined to toss 3.0 perfect innings to close out the game as Stoelke registered three strikeouts.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Coastal Carolina grabbed a 1-0 advantage in the top of the first inning on a sacrifice fly to left field by Zach Biermann.

Louisiana evened the contest at 1-all in the bottom half of the fourth on a sac fly to left field by Gavin Bourgeois.

The Ragin' Cajuns went in front 2-1 in the bottom of the fifth when Kennon Fontenot scored from second base on a throwing error by Bilous. Later in the inning, Jonathan Windham drove in LaFleur on a sac fly to right field to give the Cajuns a 3-1 edge.

Louisiana added a run in the sixth on another Coastal error as Lahare scored from second base to increase the advantage to 4-1.

The Cajuns added an insurance run in the bottom of seventh when Tyler Stover brought home LaFleur from third base on a bunt back to the pitcher to extend the lead to 5-1.

Stoelke came on in the eighth inning and closed out the game retiring all six batters he faced to seal the victory.

UP NEXT

The Ragin' Cajuns go for the sweep of No. 15 Coastal Carolina tomorrow at 1 p.m. at Russo Park. Sophomore right-hander Jack Burk will make the start for Louisiana.

App State Takes 2-0 Series Lead With DH Sweep At UTA
ARLINGTON, Texas — Appalachian State swept a Saturday doubleheader at UTA, winning by scores of 5-0 and 2-1 to clinch its second Sun Belt Conference series victory in the last three weekends.

The series finale in Arlington will begin at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday.

Moving forward from a 2-0 win against North Carolina A&T on Wednesday, the Mountaineers recorded back-to-back shutouts for the first time since the opening week of the 2011 season. With only one run allowed in the nightcap, App State capped the program's stingiest three-game stretch since 1987.

Appalachian, which also took the first two games of a Sun Belt series against ULM in 2015, established a 5-0 lead in Saturday's opener thanks to Bailey Welch's two-run single in the third inning and Kendall McGowan's three-run homer in the fourth.

Colin Schmid scattered seven hits and struck out four batters in six scoreless innings, marking the eighth time in 12 starts this season that he's allowed two earned runs or less. Andrew Papp gave up three hits in three scoreless innings to pick up his first career save.

Three pitchers held the Mavericks in check during the nightcap, as starter Andrew Vaccacio picked up the win by allowing one run and striking out eight batters in five innings. Kaleb Bowman struck out four batters in three scoreless innings, and Luke Watts recorded his eighth save with a 10-pitch ninth.

App State (15-31, 6-17) moved ahead on Riley Smith's leadoff homer in the second inning and took a 2-0 lead on Welch's sacrifice fly in the third. UTA's Noah Vaughan homered in the bottom of the third inning, but the Mavericks (21-26, 11-12) left 14 runners on base in their low-scoring loss.

McGowan had three extra-base hits, including two doubles, in the doubleheader. CJ Brown and Joel McDaniel also totaled three hits, as Brown extended his hitting streak to 13 games.

GAME 1 RECAP

In posting its second straight shutout, App State matched the 2011 team that had three shutouts in its first four games, capped by a 9-0 win against Maryland-Eastern Shore and a 7-0 win against Gardner-Webb in a span of three days.

After McDaniel reached with a leadoff single in the third inning and moved to third base when Brown's grounder turned into a two-out, two-base error, Welch singled through the left side for a 2-0 lead.

An inning later, singles from Smith and Drew Beck to open the fourth preceded the three-run homer from McGowan, who went deep for the second time in the last three games. McGowan attempted to bunt early in the at-bat and had home-run distance on a foul ball before drilling a 3-2 pitch over the left-field fence.

UTA had a hit in every inning but the ninth.

Leadoff singles against Schmid in each of the first two innings didn't result in any runs. The first two batters in the fourth and sixth innings reached, but Schmid stranded the bases loaded in the fourth with a foul-out to Brown in right field and recorded an inning-ending strikeout with runners at the corners in the sixth. The Mavericks had back-to-back singles against Papp to open the bottom of the eighth, and runners were at the corners when he ended the threat with a strikeout.

Offensively, Brown went 2-for-4 with a game-opening single and an eighth-inning double. McDaniel also finished 2-for-4.

GAME 2 RECAP

With the 2-1 victory following back-to-back shutouts, App State pitching had its best three-game run since the 1987 team recorded three straight shutouts against Western Carolina (7-0) and Bluefield (5-0 and 9-0).

A tough-luck starter, Vaccacio earned his second win of the season as he allowed three earned runs or less for the seventh time in 10 healthy starts. He stranded 10 baserunners in five innings before Bowman gave up only two hits and retired nine of the 12 batters he faced. Watts finished a game for the league-leading 23rd time and is now tied for fifth place in App State's single-season records with his eight saves as a senior.

An inning after Smith hit his third homer of the season, the Mountaineers loaded the bases with nobody out thanks to Beau Myers' walk, Alex Leshock's single to center and Brown's single to left. Myers scored on Welch's flyball to center.

UTA put runners on base frequently against Vaccacio, but he repeatedly worked out of trouble.

The Mavericks loaded the bases with no one out in the first inning. He threw home for the first out after blindly fielding a comebacker with his back turned away from the plate, then got the final two outs with a swinging strikeout on a 3-2 pitch and a flyout to center.

Runners were stranded at third and second when first baseman Conner Leonard made a fine stretch to secure a throw from McDaniel to end the second inning, and Vaccacio had three strikeouts in UTA's one-run third. A single and double followed the two-out homer, but a swinging strikeout on a 2-2 pitch preserved App State's lead.

The Mavericks put a runner on second with one out in the fourth, and Vaccacio closed that inning with back-to-back strikeouts. Runners were at the corners following a two-out error in the fifth, and Vaccacio responded with another swinging strikeout.

Eagles Power Past Troy 7-4 on Saturday Afternoon
STATESBORO, GA. - Georgia Southern Baseball built upon a great pitching performance on Friday night by bringing the bats out to play on Saturday and taking a 7-4 win over Troy to claim the weekend series over the Trojans. The Eagles posted nine hits, four for extra bases including Matt Anderson's first home run at J.I. Clements Stadium to improve to 24-21 on the year and 14-8 in league play.

Starting pitcher Seth Shuman picked up a quality start, going six innings and allowing one run to improve to 5-5 on the season. He fanned five and allowed six hits to take the win, his first since April 8 against Troy.

The series finale is set for Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. with the Eagles turning to David Johnson. He will make his ninth start of the season on Sunday, his first since a midweek start against Kennesaw State on April 10.

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.

QUOTABLES
Head Coach Rodney Hennon
"It was a good team effort again today. Seth Shuman did a nice job for us. It felt like we were playing with fire today, they had a lot of runners on base, especially in the early innings, but Seth did a nice job of making pitches when he had to. We got some big two out hits and that was the difference. They fought right back in it late, but we were able to shut the door and get the win."

SCORING PLAYS
Bottom 4th - After Troy stranded a runner in each of the first four innings, Georgia Southern got the first runs of the game in the fourth. A Steven Curry double down the first base line put the Eagles in position, while an Austin Thompson single moved runners to the corners with no outs. An attempted pickoff by the catcher trying to throw behind Thompson hit the Eagle shortstop and bounced in to foul territory, allowing Curry to score and put the Eagles up 1-0. A Mason McWhorter double split the gap in right to make it 2-0.
Bottom 5th - A leadoff walk to Mitchell Golden came good after he moved up two bases on a Christian Avant single. Jason Swan sent the sophomore third baseman home with a sacrifice fly, pushing the lead to 3-0.
Top 6th - After leaving a small village on the bases in the early innings, Troy was able to get a run off Shuman in the sixth, stringing together a single and a double to plate the visitor's first run of the game and make it a 3-1 contest.
Bottom 6th - The Eagles bottled some two out lightning in the sixth inning to plate four runs and blow the game open. Matt Anderson drove in two with his second career home run and his first at home, turning on a pitch and driving it to right. A double by Golden, followed by RBI singles from Avant and Swan made it 7-1 after six innings.
Top 7th - Relief pitcher Cole Whitney got two quick outs, but a hit batter, followed by a single and a double plated two runs as Troy narrowed the lead to 7-3.
Top 8th - Chase Cohen came in for the eighth inning, but allowed a leadoff double to right. Back-to-back infield ground outs moved the runner up and in to cut the lead to 7-4.

NOTES
- Seth Shuman improved to 5-5 on the year as he delivered his second-straight quality start and eighth of the season.
- After going 0-for-3 in the series opener, Mitchell Golden bounced back on Saturday, going 2-for-3 with two runs scored and a double. Golden also delivered a video lesson on the video board on the history of Cinco de Mayo in Spanish.
- Saturday was Graduation Day in Statesboro with two current and one former Eagles receiving their degrees. Former Eagle Cal Baker walked across the stage, while Tyler Martin and Matt Geiger also walked in the commencement ceremony at Allen E. Paulson Stadium.
- Christian Avant went 2-for-3 on Saturday to post his fourth-straight multi-hit game. He is hitting 9-for-14 over the last four games.

UP NEXT
The series finale between the Trojans and Eagles is set for 1 p.m. on Sunday afternoon. The Eagles will go for the sweep with David Johnson getting the ball for his first start since April 10.

JAGS EVEN SERIES WITH LITTLE ROCK IN GAME TWO
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The University of South Alabama baseball team drew a season-high 17 walks in a 10-7 win over Little Rock Saturday at Gary Hogan Field.

USA (26-18, 14-8 SBC) fell one walk shy of tying the program's single-season record for walks in the win, which evened the series at one game apiece.

South Alabama will return to action Sunday when it faces Little Rock at 1 p.m. in the rubber match at Gary Hogan Field.

GAME FACTS
- Marcus Ragan led off the bottom of the first for Little Rock with a walk, and advanced to second with no outs following a hit by pitch from Jaguar left-hander Zach Melton to Chase Coker. Melton rolled a 4-6-3 double play off the bat of Matt Merino for the first two outs of the frame before Kale Emshoff delivered an RBI single to center field to plate Ragan with the game's first run.
- Hunter Stokes reached on a one-out walk in the top of the second inning, and advanced to third on a one-out double down the left field line by Felix Aberouette. Deyvid Silva followed with a sacrifice fly to center field to allow Stokes to score and tie the game at 1-1.
- Brendan Donovan, Carter Perkins and Wells Davis drew three consecutive walks to load the bases with no outs in the top of the third inning. Michael Sandle followed with an RBI single through the right side of the infield to score Donovan for a 2-1 Jaguar lead. Stokes then delivered an RBI single to right field to plate Perkins for a 3-1 USA advantage. Travis Swaggerty reached on a two-out walk later in the inning to score Davis and extend the Jaguar lead to 4-1.
- Merino and Emshoff each reached on a hit by pitch with one out from Melton in the bottom of the third inning. A wild pitch allowed both runners to move into scoring position with one out. Melton struck out Riley Pittman for the second out of the frame, and ended the threat with an inning-ending groundout to shortstop off the bat of Nick Perez to preserve a three-run Jaguar lead.
- Davis doubled to right field with two outs in the top of the fourth inning, and scored one batter later on an RBI single through the left side of the infield by Sandle to push the USA lead to 5-1.
- Ryan Benevidez led off the bottom of the fourth inning with a double to the left-center field gap, and moved to third on a bunt single by Christian Reyes to put runners at the corners with one out. Ragan reached on an RBI fielder's choice on a grounder to shortstop that scored Benevidez and cut the USA lead to 5-2.
- Silva reached on a fielding error by Nick Perez on a grounder to third to lead off the top of the fifth, and advanced to third with no outs on a double off the left field wall by Swaggerty. Donovan delivered a sacrifice fly to right field later in the inning to plate Silva for a 6-2 Jag advantage. Perkins drew a two-out walk before Davis tripled off the right field wall to score Swaggerty and Perkins for an 8-2 USA lead.
- Pittman and Perez each reached on consecutive two-out walks from Melton in the bottom of the fifth inning. A wild pitch allowed Pittman to move to third to put runners at the corners with two outs. But Melton induced an inning-ending flyout to center field off the bat of Benevidez to escape the jam and preserve a six-run Jaguar lead.
- Stokes drew a leadoff walk in the top of the sixth inning, and advanced to second with one out on a wild pitch from Trojan right-hander McKinley Moore. Silva reached on a one-out walk, and Dylan Hardy drew a two-out walk later in the inning to load the bases. But McKinley ended the threat with an inning-ending lineout to center field off the bat of Donovan.
- Little Rock loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth on a hit by pitch to Reyes, and consecutive walks by Ragan and Coker. Merino then reached on a hit by pitch to score Reyes and cut the Jaguar lead to 8-3.
- Perkins and Davis drew consecutive walks to start the top of the seventh inning. Paul Russo delivered a two-out pinch-hit RBI single into left-center field later in the inning that scored Perkins for a 9-3 USA advantage. Silva drew a two-out walk to load the bases for Swaggerty, who drew a walk to score Davis and extend the Jaguar lead to 10-3.
- The Trojans loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the eighth on a leadoff walk by Reyes, a single by Ragan and walk by Coker. Merino followed with an RBI single to left field to score Reyes and cut the Jaguar lead to 10-4. Emshoff then reached on a hit by pitch to plate Ragan and cut the USA lead in half at 10-5. Pittman then delivered a two-run single to right field to plate Coker and Merino with the game's final runs.

NOTES
- Donovan extended his on-base streak to 14 games with a one-out walk in the top of the first inning; however, his 11-game hitting streak was snapped after he finished 0-for-2 in the contest.
- Swaggerty extended his on-base streak to 26 games when he reached on a two-out walk in the top of the second inning.
- Aberouette recorded his first career extra-base hit at South Alabama with a one-out double in the top of the second inning.
- Davis recorded his 100th career hit and 100th career RBI on his two-run triple in the top of the fifth inning.
- The Jags drew a season-high 17 walks in the game, bettering their previous high of 15 which came on April 6 at Coastal Carolina. It also fell one walk shy of tying the program's single-game record, which came on April 8, 1979, when the Jags drew 18 walks against Alabama.
- South Alabama pitchers combined for a season-high seven hit batsmen, the most since the Jags hit five batters against Southeastern Louisiana on March 11, 2015.
- The Jaguars stranded a season-high 18 batters in the game.
- Melton (2-3) allowed three runs on three hits with four strikeouts against five walks in 5 1/3 innings pitched to earn the win.
- Jaguar right-hander JoJo Booker tossed two scoreless relief innings, and struck out two while issuing one walk to record his first career save at South Alabama.
- Little Rock left-hander Ethan Daily (0-2) allowed four runs on two hits with three strikeouts and six walks in two innings pitched in the loss.
- Sandle went 3-for-6 with a double and two RBIs to lead the Jaguars at the plate. Davis finished 2-for-4 with a double, a triple, two RBIs and three runs scored, and Stokes went 2-for-3 with one RBI and one run scored. Swaggerty added a double, two RBIs and one run.
- Merino, Emshoff and Pittman each had one hit and two RBIs to lead the Trojans offensively.

QUOTES
Head Coach Mark Calvi
- On Zach Melton's performance:
"All things considered, he hit five and walked four, Zach (Melton) hung in there; they had three hits off of him. Zach is hard to hit. Most of his wounds are self-induced, but I'm really proud of him hanging in there and making some pitches. He did what he had to do. He went over 100 pitches, and we needed him to – we're thin and we needed him to get some distance and get us late into the ballgame. I give Zach a lot of credit – it was bend but don't break. He bent and that was their (Little Rock) only chance really, by giving them some free passes. I was proud of the way he competed. He didn't let the strike zone bother him, competed hard and gave us a chance to win. That's all you can ask."

- On the offense:
"Wells (Davis) and (Michael) Sandle were big with two RBIs each, Travis (Swaggerty) took some walks with some RBIs and Paul Russo was big coming off the bench. We didn't give many at-bats away, and I thought we earned what we got. Our guys played hard coming off of a tough loss last night, and I give them a lot of credit. They competed and we will have to go just as hard and be better tomorrow."

UP NEXT
South Alabama will return to action Sunday when it faces Little Rock at 1 p.m. in the rubber match at Gary Hogan Field.

Almendarez tallies career high in 10-3 triumph over A-State
JONESBORO, Ark. – The Texas State baseball team evened up a weekend Sun Belt Conference series with a 10-3 triumph over Arkansas State Saturday night at Tomlinson Stadium.

The Bobcats (23-23-1, 11-12 SBC) elevated back to .500 on the year, while the Red Wolves dropped to 16-26 overall and 7-16 in league action.

TXST scored early and often, plating runs in each of the first five frames. The maroon and gold added a 10th tally in the eighth to complete the scoring. A-State scored three in the bottom of the first but was held scoreless the rest of the way.

Senior Luke Sherley and juniors Ryan Newman and Jacob Almendarez all left the diamond with two hits each. Newman scored twice, and Almendarez set a new career-high with three RBIs. Senior Jared Huber was just 1-for-1, but he drew three walks and tallied two RBIs and three runs scored. Junior Jonathan Ortega drove in two teammates on sacrifice flies and also scored twice.

Sophomore starting pitcher Nicholas Fraze (5-3) picked up his first win since March 16 after tossing a quality start that included three runs on 10 hits across 6.0 innings. He tied his career high with eight strikeouts, while walking just three. Junior Braden Pearson was hitless and scoreless through the final 3.0 frames to earn the second save of his career. The save was also his first since March 12 of his freshman year, and, like Fraze, he also tied his career high with four punchouts.

The Red Wolves ended proceedings with 10 hits, led by three from Casey Vaughan. Kyle MacDonald and Jacob Jablonski both finished with two hits, and Winston Welch tallied two RBIs. Nate Alberius (5-3), the reigning Sun Belt Pitcher of the Week, suffered the loss and was tagged for eight runs on seven hits in just 4.0 innings of work. He only issued one strikeout and walked three Bobcats. Coulton Lee pitched the final 5.0 frames and conceded two runs on two hits, while striking out four and walking two.

Texas State and Arkansas State will compete in the rubber game at 1 p.m. May 6 in Jonesboro.