STATE BASEBALL ROUNDUP

Monday, May 12, 2014

SUN BELT

UALR 3, TEXAS STATE 2

Austin Pfeiffer led off the sixth inning with a home run to break a tie game, UALR added another run in the inning and took the three-game series on Sunday at Bobcat Ballpark in San Marcos, Texas.

UALR starter Cameron Allen (5-5) held Texas State (28-23, 16-11) to 2 runs on 2 hits and struck out 4 in 7 1/3 innings to give the Trojans a chance to win their third Sun Belt series of the season.

He gave up an RBI double to Austin O’Neal in the fifth that tied the game, but Pfeiffer answered with his fifth home run of the season in the sixth that made it 2-1. Tanner Rockwell doubled later in the inning and scored on Bryston Thionnet’s double to make it 3-1.

Texas State got within 3-2 in the eighth when Tyler Pearson was hit with a pitch and later scored on a groundout. Reliever Dyllon Brownmiller got out of the inning and Rockwell pitched a perfect ninth to seal the Trojans’ victory. Thionnet gave UALR (23-28, 9-18) a 1-0 lead in the fifth with his ninth home run and he went 2 for 4 with 2 RBI.

ARKANSAS STATE 8, TROY 5

Joe Schrimpf’s two-run single capped a five-run third inning that gave Arkansas State a lead and it won the series clincher on Sunday at Tomlinson Stadium in Jonesboro.

The Red Wolves (29-22, 17-10) snagged sole possession of second place in the Sun Belt standings with their victory and Texas State’s loss with three regular-season games remaining. ASU won Sunday after it trailed 3-2 entering the bottom of the third inning. Eric Wilcoxson was hit by a pitch to lead off the third and later scored on a balk, while Matt Burgess, Lucas Feddersen each hit RBI singles, before each scored on Schrimpf’s single that made it 7-3. ASU added its final run in the eighth when Wilcoxson was hit by a pitch, stole second base, advanced to third on an error and scored on a groundout. Tanner Gaines (4-0) gave up a run in the fourth and fifth innings but earned the victory, while Colton Kibler, Cody Woodhouse and Tyler Zuber combined to allow 1 hit over 4 shutout innings to preserve the victory. David Hall went 2 for 5 with 2 RBI and 1 run scored for Troy (22-29, 9-17).

SOUTHLAND

CENTRAL ARKANSAS 6, INCARNATE WORD 3

Central Arkansas built a 4-0 lead by the second inning and three pitchers held Incarnate Word to without an earned run while completing a series sweep at Bear Stadium in Conway. Doug Votolato scored on an error and Nate Ferrell hit a sacrifice fly to give the Bears (26-21, 14-13) a 2-0 lead in the first, then Charles Deckard hit an RBI triple and then scored on Carson Dowdle’s single to make it 4-0.

That’s all the Bears’ pitching staff would need. Connor Gilmore (5-3) gave up 3 runs, but none of them were eanred, on 4 hits and struck out 5 in 5 innings pitched. Reliever Connor Mc-Clain then held Incarnate Word (15-32, 6-15) to 1 hit while striking out 5 in three innings and Josh Markel pitched a perfect ninth to earn his first save. Incarnate Word tied the game with a run off an error in the fourth and two runs off an error in the fifth, but Townsend stole home in the fifth to take the lead back. Votolato, who went 3 for 4, then doubled to score Dowdle in the eighth.