SOUTHLAND
CENTRAL ARKANSAS 6, SAM HOUSTON STATE 4
Nick Rougeau hit a two-run single in the second and Scott Zimmerle hit a two-run double in the fifth to spark Central Arkansas to a series sweep of No. 16 Sam Houston State on Sunday at Bear Stadium in Conway.
Rougeau’s single scored Justin Treece and Nate Ferrell and sparked a three-run inning, while Zimmerle’s double in the fifth sparked another three-run inning to give the Bears a 6-0 lead.
Sam Houston State (16-8, 3-3) scored three in the seventh and one in the eighth to make it 6-4, but Zimmerle finished the eighth and threw a shutout ninth to earn the save for Central Arkansas (13-8, 4-2).
Ferrell went 2 for 3 with 2 runs scored while Treece went 2 for 5 with 2 runs scored. Charles Deckard also scored a run.
SUN BELT UALR 10, SOUTH ALABAMA 0
Bryson Thionnet and Drew Merten each hit home runs and Cameron Allen threw a two-hit shutout as the Trojans won their first Sun Belt game of the season on Sunday.
UALR, which was swept at Arkansas State last weekend and lost the first two games of this series, scored two runs in the second, one in the fourth, five in the fifth and one each in the sixth and the eighth at Gary Hogan Field in Little Rock.
Merten’s first home run of the season also drove in Austin Pfeiffer to give UALR (11-10, 1-5) a 2-0 lead and Thionnet’s third home run of the season made it 3-0 in the fourth inning.
Joseph Paulino hit a two-run double in the five-run fifth that made it 8-0 and Mitchell Scheuler’s run on an error in the eighth inning ended the game via mercy rule.
Allen gave up singles in the fourth and sixth innings and never let a runner get to second base. He struck out three and didn’t allow any walks while earning his second victory.
South Alabama fell to 12-10 overall and 3-2 in the Sun Belt.
ARKANSAS STATE 14, TEXAS-ARLINGTON 10
Dustin Jones hit an RBI triple to spark a five-run seventh-inning that helped Arkansas State to a come-from-behind victory in the series finale on Sunday in Arlington, Texas.
The Red Wolves (13-10, 5-1) were trailing 10-8 entering the eighth when Kevin Fitzpatrick drew a one-out walk, and Jones drove him in with a triple to make it 10-9. Then, Collin Massanelli scored Jones with an infield single that tied the game at 10-10, and Texas-Arlington’s T.J. Whidby was called for a balk with the bases loaded that scored a run and gave ASU an 11-10 lead, and then issued bases-loaded walks to Matt Burgess and Stuart Levy that made it 13-10.
Austin Baker then hit a triple and scored on a sacrifice fly by Lucas Feddersen in the ninth to set the final score.
Jones went 3 for 5 with 3 RBI and 2 runs scored for ASU, while Baker went 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored and Feddersen drove in three runs.
The Mavericks (8-16, 1-5) scored in five of the first six innings to take a 10-8 lead, but Morgan Croft allowed 1 hit over the final three innings to earn his third save. Cody Woodhouse, who gave up 4 runs on 8 hits in 3 2/3 innings, earned the victory.
Sports, Pages 17 on 03/24/2014