STATE BASEBALL ROUNDUP

SUN BELT UALR 17, GEORGIA SOUTHERN 8

Nik Gifford went 4 for 5 with a home run and 4 RBI to lead UALR (20-18, 13-8 Sun Belt) past Georgia Southern (24-17, 10-11) on Sunday at J.I. Clements Stadium in Statesboro, Ga.

Dalton Thomas finished 2 for 6 with a home run, 5 RBI and 2 runs. Ryan Scott, the nation’s leading hitter, went 2 for 4 with a home run, 3 RBI, 2 runs and 2 walks. Scott is batting .444 with 9 home runs and 47 RBI.

The Trojans led 2-1 entering the second inning when they broke the game open with 5 runs on 3 hits and 3 walks. Thomas had a bases-clearing double and Gifford hit an RBI single to highlight the inning.

Preston Oberling (1-0) earned the victory in relief for UALR, going 3 2/3 innings and striking out 2 while waking 2.

ARKANSAS STATE 5,

LOUISIANA-MONROE 4

Neil Lambert’s fielder’s choice in the bottom of the ninth inning gave Arkansas State (18-21, 8-13) a victory over Louisiana-Monroe (15-25, 6-12) at Tomlinson Stadium in Jonesboro.

Joe Schrimpf led off the inning with a triple to left center off Warhawks closer Anthony Herrera to put the winning run 90 feet away. Two intentional walks loaded the bases, and Lambert was called upon to pinch-hit and hit a bouncing ball that chopped over Herrera’s head and Schrimpf scored to send the Red Wolves to the first series sweep since May of 2015.

Schrimpf had two hits for the Red Wolves. Tanner Ring (2-1) pitched 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief to earn the victory. He allowed three hits.

SOUTHLAND

NW (LA.) STATE 7,

CENTRAL ARKANSAS 5 (10)

Northwestern (La.) State (20-18, 11-10 Southland) scored two runs in the top of the 10th inning and held on for a victory over Central Arkansas (16-22, 7-11) in the three-game series finale at Bear Stadium in Conway.

The Demons took two out of three in the series.

Kelsey Richard and Matthew Alford had consecutive RBI singles to make it 7-5 in the top of the 10th. UCA had runners on first and second with two outs in the bottom of the 10th, but Brooks Balisterri was forced out at second base on Chris Townsend’s grounder to end the game.

Balisterri and Chris Townsend each had three hits for the Bears.

SEC

TEXAS A&M 2, ALABAMA 1

Jonathan Moroney hit a game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth inning to help Texas A&M (32-8, 12-8 SEC) beat Alabama (24-17, 9-9) at Blue Bell Park in College Station, Texas.

Moroney lined a 1-1 pitch from Alabama reliever Matt Foster to center fielder as Ryne Birk, who led off the inning with a walk, scored from second base. The Aggies extended their lead in the SEC West to two games.

J.B. Moss had an RBI single in the third inning for the Aggies. Andrew Vinson (1-1) pitched four innings of scoreless relief.

In other SEC games Sunday, Gene Cone went 5 for 5 and was a home run shy of the cycle, and drove in three runs as South Carolina (33-8, 14-4) defeated Missouri (20-21, 4-14) 9-2 in Columbia, S.C. The Gamecocks swept the threegame series. Adam Hill (6-0) pitched 6 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing 4 hits, 1 walk and struck out 8. … Kramer Roberton went 2 for 5 with a home run and 3 RBI and LSU (27-13, 10-8) beat Mississippi State (27-13-1, 10-8) 11-8 in Baton Rouge. … Tennessee (23-17, 6-12) took two of three from Vanderbilt (30-10, 10-8) with a 5-3 victory in Knoxville, Tenn. Tyler Schultz led the Volunteers, going 2 for 3 with an RBI. … Mississippi (31-10, 10-8) scored four runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to earn a come-frombehind 6-5 victory over Auburn (18-22, 5-13) in Oxford, Miss. Ryan Olenek tied the game at 5-5 in the ninth with a threerun home run and three batters later, Henri Lartigue hit a game-winning single.

— Democrat-Gazette

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