SUN BELT
ARKANSAS STATE 8, LOUISIANA-MONROE 1
Leadoff hitter Ty White went 4 for 5 with 3 runs scored and 2 RBI on Friday as Arkansas State (16-21, 6-13 Sun Belt) took control of Friday's game at Tomlinson Stadium in Jonesboro against Louisiana-Monroe (15-23, 6-10) with a four-run third inning.
White hit a home run on a 2-0 pitch in the bottom of the first inning to give the Red Wolves a 1-0 lead. He also singled in the third inning, which followed a Tony Ortiz double to put runners at the corners with no outs. Ortiz scored on Joe Schrimpf's single up the middle for a 2-0 lead. Garrett Rucker followed with a bunt single to load the bases. Tanner Ring hit a sacrifice fly to center field, which scored White. After Austin Baker flied out for the second out of the inning, Matt Burgess reached on a throwing error by Warhawks shortstop Nathan Reynolds, which allowed Rucker and Schrimpf to score to give ASU a 5-0 lead.
Louisiana-Monroe got an RBI single from Jacob Stockton in the top of the fourth inning, but Arkansas State answered with White's RBI single in the bottom of the inning to lead 6-1. The Red Wolves added two more runs in the sixth inning when Schrimpf reached on an error by ULM third baseman Josh Faciane, which scored White and Ortiz.
Schrimpf finished 2 for 5 for the Red Wolves, while Ortiz was 1 for 3 and Rucker was 1 for 4. Danny Springer was 3 for 3 to lead Louisiana-Monroe offensively. Cody Jackson (1-2) threw a complete-game five hitter to earn his first victory of the season. He gave up 2 walks and had 2 strikeouts on 98 pitches. Chris Hunt (3-4) took the loss after allowing all 8 ASU runs, but only 4 were earned, on 8 hits. He had 7 strikeouts and 1 walk in 7 innings.
GEORGIA SOUTHERN 3, UALR 2
UALR scored two runs in the top of the sixth inning to take a 2-1 lead, but Georgia Southern responded with a run in the seventh and a run in the ninth to take Friday's game at J.I Clements Stadium in Statesboro, Ga.
The Eagles (24-15, 10-9) took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning on an RBI single from Jordan Wren. The Trojans responded with a two-run double from Cameron Knight with two outs in the sixth inning to take a 2-1 lead. Georgia Southern's Evan McDonald tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the seventh with a sacrifice bunt.
Pinch hitter Will Hudgins walked to lead off the bottom of the ninth for Georgia Southern, which chased UALR (18-18, 11-8) reliever Cody Daylor, who allowed one hit and had two groundouts in two-thirds of an inning. Kent Rollins hit a sacrifice bunt to advance Hudgins to second. He advanced to third on C.J. Brazil's groundout, then scored on CJ Ballard's single.
UALR managed four hits, coming from Knight, Dalton Thomas, Kyle Kirk and Hayden Martin, while leaving four runners on base. Wren was 2 for 3 to lead Georgia Southern offensively, while Ryan Cleveland was 2 for 4. Reliever Landon Hughes (1-1) got the victory for the Eagles. He had 4 strikeouts to go with 3 flyouts and 3 groundouts on the 10 batters he faced over 31/3 innings. Trojans reliever Jarrid Garcia (1-2) took the loss after giving up the game-winning run in the ninth.
SOUTHLAND
NW (LA.) STATE 3, CENTRAL ARKANSAS 2
Central Arkansas scored single runs in the second and third innings to take a 2-1 lead, but Northwestern (La.) State answered with a run in the fifth and a run in the eighth to claim Friday's series opener at Bear Stadium in Conway.
The Demons took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a sacrifice fly from David Fry. The Bears tied the game in the second inning on Logan Preston's first home run of the season, then took a 2-1 lead in the third on an RBI single by Brandon Montalvo.
Bret Underwood hit a one-out home run for Northwestern State to tie the game at 2-2 in the fifth inning. He doubled to left-center field to start the eighth inning and advanced to third on an error by Montalvo. After Nick Heath struck out swinging and Cort Brinson grounded out to first base, Daniel Garner singled to left field and scored Underwood for the game winner.
Underwood was 2 for 5 with 2 runs scored and 1 RBI for the Demons, who managed 7 hits as a team. He was the only Demons player with multiple hits. UCA managed 8 hits, with Montalvo, Chris Townsend and Hunter Strong each going 2 for 4. Adam Oller (5-0) remained undefeated for Northwestern State after allowing both UCA runs with 7 strikeouts and 1 walk in 8 innings. Connor Gilmore (2-7) took the loss for UCA. He allowed all 3 Northwestern State runs on 7 hits with 4 strikeouts and 3 walks in 8 innings.
SWAC
UAPB 11, PRAIRIE VIEW 7
Designated hitter Joshua Williams was 3 for 5 with 3 runs scored and 1 RBI as UAPB (16-19, 12-4 SWAC) took Friday's series opener from Prairie View (10-22, 4-14) at Tankersley Field in Prairie View, Texas.
Julian Jones, Dontrell Brown and Roberto Colon were all 2 for 5 for the Golden Lions. Kevin Macias was 2 for 2 with 2 runs scored and 3 walks for Prairie View, which managed 9 hits as a team, while Josh Wells was 2 for 5.
UAPB got RBI singles from Jordan Knox in the first inning and from Jaqueese Moore in the second to take a 2-0 lead, which doubled in the third inning. Knox stole second base and Tommy Haas stole third on a double steal, then scored on a throwing error by Prairie View catcher Thi Mai. A single through the right side from Aderly Perez scored Knox for a 4-0 lead.
The Golden Lions got two runs in the fifth inning on an RBI double from Williams and an RBI triple from Brown to take a 6-0 lead. The Panthers answered with two runs in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI single from Cody Den Beste and a sacrifice fly from Angel Avalos. Prairie View added two more runs in the bottom of the sixth on a home run from Brashad Jones down the left field line and an RBI single from Darrien Williams, cutting the lead to 6-4.
UAPB began to pull away in the seventh inning. A three-run home run from Brown gave the Golden Lions a 9-4 lead, then Haas and Moore scored on Jordan Knox's sacrifice fly in the eighth for an 11-4 lead. Prairie View answered with three runs in the bottom of the eighth, two coming on a Den Beste sacrifice fly. Macias also scored on a wild pitch to complete the scoring for the Panthers.
Starter Blake Estep (3-3) earned the victory for UAPB after allowing 4 earned runs on 7 hits with 4 strikeouts and 3 walks in 51/3 innings. Edgar Sanchez (2-4) took the loss. The Prairie View starter gave up 9 runs -- 6 earned -- on 14 hits with 6 strikeouts and 1 walk in 7 innings.
Sports on 04/23/2016