State college report

Bears get back in the swing

After being held to six runs in a sweep at Oral Roberts on March 22-24, Central Arkansas’ offense got back on track - and back on base - last week.

The Bears left 29 men on base in three games at Oral Roberts, but they returned to form last week to the delight of Coach Allen Gum. UCA (21-7, 2-4 Southland Conference) went 3-1 last week, winning 11-3 at Oklahoma State on Tuesday before taking 2 of 3 against Lamar - a 10-0 shutout Thursday and a 12-7 victory Friday.

“We concentrated on talking about having a quality at-bat,” Gum said. “We had that, especially at OSU. We didn’t sustain that through Saturday, but on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday we did.”

UCA’s success can be traced to getting on base early and often. It leads the nation in on-base percentage (.431) and walks (186) and is second in hit-by-pitches (67), one behind Delaware State.

“It’s part of our philosophy,” said Gum, whose Bears begin a three-game series today at Northwestern (La.) State. “Hitting is just one part of our offense.”

Senior second baseman Blake Marchal had a career high five RBI at Oklahoma State and three RBI on Thursday against Lamar. Marchal, the conference’s hitter of the week, also hit his first two career home runs in the series and finished with 2 doubles, 1 triple, 10 RBI and scored 6 runs.

“He’s hard-nosed” Gum said of Marchal, who leads UCA with 26 RBI. “He worked real hard on his swing in the cage. It’s showing.”

ARKANSAS STATE Change at the top

Ryan Emery went 2 for 3 with 2 RBI in Arkansas State’s 9-8 victory over Southeast Missouri State on Tuesday night. The performance helped the Red Wolves end a six-game losing streak and provided Coach Tommy Raffo with another option at the top of the order.

Emery, a senior outfielder, isn’t a prototypical lead off hitter - he’s mostly hit in the middle of the order and had never done it at ASU before Tuesday -but he leads the Red Wolves (17-13, 4-5) with a .323 batting average and a .489 on-base percentage heading into a three-game Sun Belt series against Western Kentucky (16-13, 7-2) that begins tonight in Jonesboro.

Raffo said Thursday he wasn’t sure if Emery will lead off this weekend but he at least has options now after what he saw from the Franklin, Tenn., native.

Emery was hit by a pitch and later scored in the first inning of Tuesday’s victory, had an RBI single with two outs in the third and an RBI single in the seventh.

“I don’t think he’s ever done it,” Raffo said, “but he’s an experienced player and that’s a factor in the process for us in the lineup.”

Experience is something freshmen Austin Baker and Kevin Fitzpatrick don’t have just yet. Baker and Fitzpatrick, who largely have been sharing left field, were among the players to hit in the lead off spot when ASU was swept at Florida International last weekend, and the four went a combined 3 for 14.

Injuries have forced Raffo to tinker with his lineup, too. Second baseman Zach Maggio had season-ending labrum surgery last fall and first baseman Zach George tore his anterior cruciate ligament in the season’s ninth game.

“There are two or three new guys in the lineup,” Raffo said. “It just adds a different dynamic, and I think every coach knows that. It’s just different.”

UALR Fresh arms

Chance Cleveland pitched a complete game and struck out nine in UALR’s victory over Louisiana-Monroe last Friday night. Blake Huffman went eight innings the next night in an 11-3 victory, and UALR completed the series sweep Sunday.

The victories extended UALR’s winning streak to four games and unearthed a dependable formula: starting pitchers who can go deep into games and save the bullpen.

Coach Scott Norwood used only one relief pitcher in the series. Jesse Harbin pitched a perfect ninth in Saturday’s victory, then gave up one hit and hit a batter but allowed no runs in the seventh inning of Sunday’s 13-3 mercy-rule victory.

Cleveland and Huffman both rank among the conference’s top seven in innings pitched.

“When [Cleveland and Huffman] pitch like that it gives us a chance,” Norwood said. “It helps you for the whole weekend, but also helps you for the year. Sometimes those bullpen guys can get tired, so it’s good to save a few bullets.”

Norwood hopes this weekend, when UALR (14-14, 3-6) travels to Middle Tennessee (16-15, 3-6) for a series that begins tonight, that his bullpen’s problem is boredom instead of tired arms.

“I hope they do [get bored], Norwood said. “You see pro teams sometimes get to the playoffs and they’re worn out. It gave us a great opportunity to save some guys, and we hope it continues.”

Sports, Pages 19 on 04/05/2013

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