App State Completes Sweep Of UTA
ARLINGTON, Texas — Appalachian State completed a Texas-sized sweep on Sunday.
The Mountaineers went ahead for good in the sixth inning of their Sun Belt Conference series finale at UTA and won 6-4 as senior closer Luke Watts recorded a six-out save in relief of victorious starter Will Sprinkle.
App State, which didn't trail during any of the 27 innings contested in Arlington, posted its first three-game sweep in conference play since the highly decorated 2012 team took a three-game set at Wofford.
With two series victories in the last three weekends, Appalachian (16-31, 7-17) matched the Sun Belt win total of East Division foe Georgia State (22-25, 7-16) in advance of their matchup next weekend in Georgia and pulled within one game of West Division member Arkansas State (17-26, 8-16). Ten of the league's 12 teams will participate in the postseason tournament.
After winning by scores of 5-0 and 2-1 in a Saturday doubleheader at UTA (21-27, 11-13), App State had six extra-base hits among its 12 total hits Sunday. The Mountaineers got two hits apiece from No. 6 batter Kendall McGowan (2-for-4, one RBI), No. 7 batter Joel McDaniel (2-for-4, one double), No. 8 batter Beau Myers (2-for-3, two RBIs, double) and No. 9 batter Alex Leshock (2-for-4).
CJ Brown, Bailey Welch and Drew Beck all had doubles, and Riley Smith hit a triple.
On the mound, Sprinkle improved to 2-1 with a 2.68 ERA on the season by pitching seven effective innings. He turned a 5-4 lead over to Watts, who allowed one hit and faced the minimum of six batters over the final two innings. An inning-ending double play erased an infield single that opened the bottom of the eighth.
Watts has six saves in App State's last 12 games and nine saves on the year, moving him into sole possession of fifth place in the school's single-season records. He hasn't allowed an earned run in 18.0 innings over his last 16 appearances, giving him 23 outings with no earned runs in 26 total appearances as a senior.
App State established a 2-0 lead Sunday on second-inning RBI groundouts from Beck (following Smith's leadoff triple) and Myers (sacrifice bunt after back-to-back singles from McGowan and McDaniel). UTA tied the game with an RBI single and RBI double in the bottom half of the third inning, but Sprinkle ended the inning by forcing a foul-out to right field.
Back-to-back doubles from Brown and Welch to begin the sixth inning gave the Mountaineers a 3-2 lead, and they added to it when Welch advanced to third on Smith's foul-out to the UTA first baseman and scored on a throwing error.
The Mavericks cut their deficit in half with a solo homer in the bottom of the sixth inning, and Appalachian moved ahead 5-3 in the seventh on Myers' infield single that brought home McDaniel, who had doubled with one out and advanced to third on a throwing error.
UTA again trimmed its deficit to one run with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh inning, but a two-out RBI single from McGowan in the top of the eighth inning scored Beck, who had doubled in the previous at-bat.
Gutsy Effort Leads Trojans To Series Win Over Jaguars
LITTLE ROCK – Little Rock held off South Alabama Sunday at Gary Hogan Field, taking a 7-4 victory over the Jaguars to claim its sixth Sun Belt Conference series victory of the season and eighth overall.
The Trojans regain the top spot in the Sun Belt West following a Louisiana loss to Coastal Carolina. Little Rock is now 14-9 in conference play and notch its 25th win on the year. South Alabama falls to 14-9 in the Sun Belt and 26-19 overall.
The key moment of the game came in the bottom of the seventh with the score tied 3-3. Chase Coker sat on third with two outs with Marcus Ragan right behind him on second. In a gutsy move, Coker took off to steal home and slid across the plate to give the Trojans the lead. The ball was in the dirt and got past the Jaguar catcher, allowing Ragan to score as well, giving the Trojans the lead for good at 5-3.
"The steal of home by Coker epitomizes how we try to play the game in our program," head coach Chris Curry said. "We want to play the game with aggression and no fear. Chase asked for the green light from coach Sanders and he gave to him and Chase took off. The heads up play was for Coach Sanders to score Marcus from second who took off as soon as Coker did."
Coker led all hitters going 2-for-2 at the plate with two runs, an RBI, a walk and a solo home run. Ragan tallied two RBIs on the day and went 1-for-4 at the plate and scoring once himself.
Little Rock opened up the scoring in the third inning with a Coker solo home run with one out which was his fourth long ball of the year.
The Trojan lead rose to three in the fifth inning after Perez and Benavidez were on base from a walk and getting hit by the pitch. Christian Reyes than successfully advanced both runners with a bunt back to the pitcher.
Coker walked to load the bases for Ragan who then lined a single through the left side to score Benavidez and Perez.
Starter Cole Townsend was grooving in his first start back since the UT Arlington series. He threw five and two thirds innings giving up only two hits, striking out five.
South Alabama cut the lead to one in the sixth when Townsend allowed a walk with two outs before giving up a home run to Swaggerty. Before the walk and home run, he had retired 15 straight batters to holding them to just one hit through five innings.
Donavin Buck relieved Townsend and gained the win on the day pushing him to 6-0 on the year. He ended the day throwing an inning and a third striking out one and gave up two hits including a solo home run.
The Jags tied it up in the seventh when Buck gave up a leadoff home run to Carter Perkins.
Justin Garcia entered the game in the top of the eighth to go for the two inning save. South Alabama cut the lead back to one though after Garcia gave up a two-out solo shot to Travis Swaggerty for his second of the game.
In an attempt to give Garcia some breathing room in the ninth, Matt Merino began the bottom of the eight with a double left field. Kale Emshoff moved Merino to third with a fly out to center and then Riley Pittman struck out making it two outs.
Nick Perez stepped into the box and battled to a full count before delivering a towering home run barely eclipsing over the right field wall and putting the Trojans up 7-4. Perez's home run was his fourth on the year and gave him two RBIs on the day while going 1-for-3 and scoring twice.
Garcia then retired South Alabama in the top of the ninth with two groundouts and fly out to end the game, moving to double digits in the save column with his 10th on the year.
"This weekend is snapshot of the heart and grit this team has played with all season," Curry said. "It's a fun ride right now."
Little Rock will close out its four-game home stand at Gary Hogan Field on Tuesday as it hosts the Golden Lions of UAPB at 6:00 p.m.
@AStateBaseball Takes Series with 2-1 Win Against Texas State
JONESBORO, Ark. (5/6/18) – The Arkansas State baseball team received a strong pitching performance from Carter Holt, Tanner Kirby, and Bo Ritter, while Kyle MacDonald provided the offense with a two-run homer to send the Red Wolves to a 2-1 series-clinching win over Texas State Sunday afternoon in the series finale at Tomlinson Stadium.
Holt, a true freshman, started the contest and went 4.1 innings before A-State (17-26, 8-16 SBC) turned to Kirby out of the bullpen. A native of Maumelle, Ark., Kirby tossed 2.2 hitless innings with a walk and two strikeouts to pick up his first win of the season. Ritter entered to begin the eighth and allowed a run, but nothing else to pick up his team-best fourth save.
MacDonald's two-run blast came in the bottom of the fourth after Jeremy Brown reached on a walk to begin the frame. A native of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, MacDonald lined the first pitch he saw in his at-bat off Texas State (23-24-1, 11-13 SBC) starter Wes Engle over the fence and under the scoreboard in right field to put the Red Wolves ahead 2-0.
The score remained 2-0 until the eighth when Jonathan Ortega doubled to begin the inning for the Bobcats. Jaylen Hubbard tripled with one out to score Ortega and the game looked destined to be tied, but Ritter struck out the next batter and induced a pop up to get out of the threat. A native of Hot Springs, Ark., Ritter then only needed four pitches to get the Bobcats out in the ninth to preserve the 2-1 victory.
MacDonald was the only A-State player with two hits, while Blake Wynn picked up his first career hit in second start of the season. Ortega led the visitors with two hits as both teams each had five hits apiece. Engle took the loss for Texas State on the mound despite allowing just two runs on three hits with four strikeouts against two walks.
Arkansas State is back in action on Tuesday, May 8 when the team travels to Conway, Ark., to face UCA. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.
No. 15 Coastal Carolina Salvages Game Three; Beats Louisiana 10-3
LAFAYETTE, La. - Zach Biermann drove in four, including a three-run home run, to lead #15 Coastal Carolina to a 10-3 victory at Louisiana Sunday afternoon at Russo Park.
Cory Wood (2-for-4) scored three times and Kieton Rivers was 3-for-5 to also lead the Chanticleers (32-16, 18-6 Sun Belt). The Ragin' Cajuns fall to 28-21, 14-10.
Coastal once again scored first, putting two runs on the scoreboard in the first inning. Seth Lancaster drew a leadoff walk and Kevin Woodall Jr., doubled. Lee Sponseller then delivered a two-run single to right field.
The Ragin' Cajuns answered in the home half of the first. Hayden Cantrelle had a one-out single and Gavin Bourgeois was hit by a pitch. Hunter Kasuls singled to left to bring home Cantrelle. The Cajuns would load the bases but Zach McCambley recorded a pair of strikeouts to limit the damage.
The Chanticleers bounced back with two runs in the second to lead 4-1. Matt Beaird singled and Wood hit a ground-rule double. Lancaster followed with a two-run double to right field.
Coastal pushed its lead to six, 7-1, in the fourth inning. Wood singled with one out and Woodall drew a two-out walk to set the stage for Biermann's three-run home. Biermann had two home runs this weekend and has 10 for the season.
The Chants scored for the fourth time in in five innings, taking an 8-1 lead, as Beaird delivered a sacrifice fly to score Parker Chavers, who had reached on a bunt single and moved to third on a fielder's choice.
Louisiana threatened in the fifth. Loading the bases with one out, but Matt Eardensohn, in relief of McCambley, got a pop out and strikeout to end the inning.
Eardensohn improved to 5-0 on the season as he pitched 3.2 scoreless innings in relief. He allowed one hit and one walk with two strikeouts.
McCambley could not figure in the decision as he did not get through the requisite five innings, but he tied a career high with six strikeouts in 4.1 innings. He scattered six hits -- three in the first inning -- and one run -- also in the first.
Coastal used two walks to take a 10-1 lead in the eighth. Beaird and Wood started the frame with walks and two pair moved up 90 feet. Woodall's deep fly ball to centerfield scored Beaird and Biermann followed with an RBI single to bring home Wood.
With two outs in the ninth, Louisiana strung together three straight hits to score two runs and provide the 10-3 final score.
Coastal Carolina will return home for four games starting with a national top-25 matchup with North Carolina Wednesday (May 9). First pitch is set for 6 pm.
Thomas, Carter Combine for Shutout in Finale
STATESBORO – Levi Thomas and CJ Carter combined for a five-hit shutout and Troy pulled out of J.I. Clements Stadium with a 7-0 conference win over Georgia Southern in game three Sunday afternoon.
Carter (6-3) was exceptional on the mound in five innings of relief – striking out nine batters without a walk and allowing just three hits. Thomas started the game and struck out seven batters with just two hits allowed in four innings.
The Trojan (32-16, 14-10) bats came alive in the finale, scoring seven runs on 13 hits - Troy had just 10 hits in the first two games of the series. Four of the first five batters in the order came away with multiple hits – Matt Sanders, Joey Denison, Brandon Lockridge and Rigsby Mosley.
Sanders hit a leadoff bomb on just the second pitch of the game – the first leadoff homer for Troy since Sanders did it on April 30, 2017, at Coastal. It was his first home run since he hit four in the first seven games of the season.
The freshman Mosley followed up his three-hit game yesterday by driving in four runs on two hits in the game today – tying a career-high for RBIs set last weekend against UTA. Lockridge led the Trojans' offensive attack with three hits and an RBI in five at-bats.
Troy got off to a hot start with three in the first off David Johnson (2-2), who took the loss for the Eagles (24-22, 14-9) on the mound. Johnson finished with three runs allowed on six hits in just 2.1 innings of work.
Quotable – Troy head coach Mark Smartt
"We got off to a great start, with Matt (Sanders) launching that leadoff homer. We really needed our leadoff guy to be a catalyst for us and he did. Thomas and Carter were outstanding, their stuff was lights out; very strong game for us on the mound. Any time you throw a shutout in this league it's big and we get to leave here with some momentum."
Noteworthy
• Matt Sanders' homer was the first leadoff round-tripper for the Trojans since Sanders did it on April 30, 2017, at Coastal Carolina. Sanders also scored two runs in the game to pass Steven Felix for the third on the career runs scored list with 166 – two behind second place.
• After Sunday, Troy has three players – Drew Frederic (24), Matt Sanders (20) and Brandon Lockridge (20) – above the 20-steal threshold. Entering the weekend, just one other team in the country had three over 20.
• Of late, Rigsby Mosley has been on fire at the plate. The freshman has at least one hit in 17 of the last 20 games – with 10 multi-hit and six multi-RBI games over that span.
On Deck
The stretch away from Riddle-Pace Field continues as Troy heads to the 2nd Annual Hoover Classic against Mississippi State Wednesday night at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium. Tickets are just $5 and can be purchased at hoovermetcomplex.com.