BRACKET | CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Southern Miss and Coastal Carolina stayed unbeaten, while App State and Texas State staved off elimination, with victories in Day Three action at the 2023 Guardian Credit Union Sun Belt Conference Baseball Championship presented by Troy University in Montgomery, Ala.
A pair of elimination games will be contested on Friday—No. 3-seeded Troy vs. No. 6-seeded App State at 3:00 p.m. CT and No. 4-seeded Louisiana vs. No. 5-seeded Texas State at 6:30 p.m. CT.
GAME 7 – No. 6 seed App State def. No. 7 seed James Madison, 8-7
They got there in different fashions—App State strung hits together and James Madison primarily used the longball—but the Mountaineers and Dukes entered the eighth inning knotted at 5-5 in Thursday’s first elimination game.
App State plated the go-ahead run when a grounder from senior second baseman Luke Drumheller took a high bounce off the first base bag for a double down the right field line. Senior catcher Hayden Cross followed that up with a first-pitch, two-run stroke over the right field wall to make it 8-5.
The Mountaineers walked the bases loaded, before a single through the left side by Dukes freshman second baseman Mike Mancini brought home a pair. Consecutive fly outs, the second on a jumping catch by sophomore outfielder CJ Boyd against the wall in the left field corner, secured the 8-7 win for App State.
App State opened the scoring in the bottom half of the third on a two-out double down the right field line by Drumheller—who then came around to score on a Cross RBI single to make it 2-0 Mountaineers.
James Madison scored three in the top half of the fourth, headlined by a two-run home run that left Riverwalk Stadium off the bat of sophomore catcher Jason Schiavone, to take their first lead of the contest, 3-2. The Mountaineers retook the lead 4-3 by plating a pair in their half of the inning—the second on a perfectly executed push bunt to first base by Boyd.
App State tacked on another in the bottom of the fifth, before Dukes junior shortstop Mason Dunaway’s two-run bomb tied it up at 5-5.
Drumheller was 4-for-5 with two doubles, two RBI and three runs scored in the second-straight 15-hit tournament performance for the Mountaineers.
GAME 8 – No. 5 seed Texas State def. No. 8 seed Georgia State, 6-5
Georgia State jumped out to an early 1-0 advantage in the day's second elimination game when senior outfielder Max Ryerson sent a 1-2 pitch for a ride over the left field wall in the first inning. Two Panther throwing errors allowed four unearned runs to cross the plate for Texas State in the bottom half of the first and senior outfielder Jose Gonzalez tacked on a fifth in the bottom of the second via a two-out RBI single up the middle.
Ryerson drove in two more—one in the fifth and one in the seventh—both on two-out singles. In the seventh, Boynton added a two-RBI single to center to draw the Panthers even, 5-5.
After scoreless frames in the eighth, ninth, 10th and 11th, Texas State sophomore first baseman Daylan Pena ended a nine-inning scoring drought for the Bobcats with a 12th-inning homer that sailed over the left field wall and cued the walk-off celebration at home plate. The 12-inning affair was the longest postseason game in Texas State program history.
Senior right-handed pitcher Triston Dixon, who allowed just one hit in 4.0 innings of relief, earned the victory on the hill—his sixth of the season.
GAME 9 – No. 2 seed Southern Miss def. No. 3 seed Troy, 7-6
A back-and-forth game between Southern Miss and Troy came down to the bottom of the ninth inning, where Southern Miss senior third baseman Danny Lynch delivered a walk-off single to right center to keep the Golden Eagles unbeaten in Montgomery.
Troy scored first in the top of the second inning, but Southern Miss answered back in the bottom half of the third with a pair of runners crossing the plate on a single up the middle by junior outfielder Matthew Etzel.
Junior first baseman William Sullivan lifted a two-out triple off the right field wall and scored on a wild pitch to equalize the game for the Trojans, 2-2, in the top of the fourth. Back-to-back doubles by Etzel and junior shortstop Dustin Dickerson in the bottom of the fifth put the Golden Eagles back on top, 3-2.
Troy knotted the game at 3-3 with a run in the top half of the sixth, before Southern Miss strung together four-straight hits—punctuated by a two-RBI double from senior catcher Blake Johnson—to take a 6-3 advantage in the bottom half.
For the second time in as many games for the Trojans, junior shortstop Tremayne Cobb Jr. delivered the big hit in the big moment, this time a two-RBI single to left as part of a three-run top of the eighth to make it 3-3.
Southern Miss junior outfielder Slade Wilks led off the bottom of the ninth with a single through the right side and senior first baseman Christopher Sargent walked on four-straight pitches to set up Lynch’s walk-off.
GAME 10 – No. 1 seed Coastal Carolina def. No. 4 seed Louisiana, 6-3
Regular-season champion Coastal Carolina scored the first six runs en route to a 6-3 victory over Louisiana.
The Chanticleers plated three runs in the third inning, with senior outfielder Graham Brown driving in the first via a double to left and sophomore designated hitter Derek Bender adding a two-RBI double of his own two batters later to run his season RBI tally to 80.
Coastal Carolina tacked on two more in the top of the fourth on a two-run moonshot by freshman third baseman Blake Barthol to extend the lead to 5-0. A solo shot to right field off the bat of sophomore shortstop Ty Dooley in the top of the sixth made it 6-0 Chanticleers.
Louisiana got on the board in the bottom half of the sixth with sophomore shortstop Kyle DeBarge—who reached on a four-pitch walk—and junior outfielder Carson Roccaforte—who delivered a double to left center—each coming around to score.
Ragin’ Cajuns senior designated hitter Will Veillon got on the basepaths via a one-out double to center field, advanced on a wild pitch and scored on a groundout to the shortstop for Louisiana’s third run in the bottom of the seventh.
With two outs in the bottom of the ninth and the tying run on deck, Coastal Carolina turned to junior right-handed pitcher Teddy Sharkey to get the final out. He struck out Veillon to end the Louisiana threat and secure his 10th save of the season.
CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
Friday, May 26
Game 11 – No. 3 Seed Troy vs. No. 6 Seed App State, 3:00 p.m. CT
Game 12 – No. 4 Seed Louisiana vs. No. 5 Seed Texas State, 6:30 p.m. CT
Saturday, May 27
Game 13 – No. 2 Seed Southern Miss vs. Winner Game 11, 9:00 a.m. CT
Game 14 – No. 1 Seed Coastal Carolina vs. Winner Game 12, 12:30 p.m. CT
If Necessary – 4:00 p.m. CT
If Necessary – 7:30 p.m. CT
Sunday, May 28
Championship Game – 1:00 p.m. CT