BASEBALL
UALR pounds Appalachian State
The University of Arkansas at Little Rock wrapped up an eight-game road trip by banging out 14 hits en route to a 12-6 victory over Appalachian State on Sunday in Boone, N.C.
The 12 runs on the day are tied for the second most in a game this season for UALR (23-19, 12-8 Sun Belt Conference), one shy of the 13 runs scored in a 15-13 loss against Texas-Arlington on March 24.
Ryan Benavides was 3 for 4 with 2 doubles, a home run, 3 runs and an RBI, and Matt Merino finished 3 for 6 with 2 doubles and 2 RBI.
Christian Reyes and Chase Coker each tallied two hits, and Nick Perez drove in three runs while also pitching a scoreless inning in relief. Kale Emshoff also drove in a pair of runs and scored for UALR.
Aguilar's three hits key UCA victory
The University of Central Arkansas Bears won their fourth Southland Conference series of the season Sunday, beating Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 7-3 at Bear Stadium in Conway.
UCA (25-18, 13-8) got a three-hit day from senior third baseman Rigo Aguilar and a pair of RBI from junior second baseman T.J. Black to take the series 2-1 over the Islanders (21-24, 6-15).
Junior right-hander Cody Davenport went 6⅔ innings, allowing 7 hits and 3 runs while striking out 4 to improve to 4-2. Junior Conner Williams went 2⅓ innings out of the bullpen, allowing no runs and striking out three.
Arkansas State falls to South Alabama
South Alabama broke a 1-1 tie with a two-run fourth inning, then added four runs in the fifth to extend its lead in a 9-6 victory over Arkansas State University on Sunday at Stanky Field in Mobile, Ala.
Arkansas State (15-25, 6-15 Sun Belt) scored five times in the top of the eighth with a two-run home run by Kyle MacDonald starting the rally. Back-to-back doubles by Casey Vaughan and Winston Welch scored another run, and RBI singles from Cullen Ray and Drew Tipton made the score 8-6 before the rally fell short.
MacDonald led Arkansas State with 3 hits and 3 RBI, and Tipton extended his on-base streak to 19 games and hit streak to 15 games. Jeremy Brown saw his 20-game hit streak come to an end, but he walked and was hit by a pitch to extend his on-base streak to 21 games.
Big fourth inning dooms UAPB
Texas Southern scored eight times in the top of the fourth inning to break open a one-run game en route to a 13-3 victory over the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff on Sunday in Pine Bluff.
Sergio Esparza was the only player for UAPB with more than one hit, finishing 2 for 4. Jarficur Parker drove in two runs.
Lyon named top seed for first time
Lyon College is the top seed for the first time in program history as the American Midwest Conference announced the field for the conference tournament to be played Wednesday through Saturday at Joe Becker Stadium in Joplin, Mo.
Lyon will open against No. 8-seed Central Baptist College at 10 a.m. Wednesday.
SOFTBALL
Arkansas tops Mississippi
The No. 16 University of Arkansas, Fayetteville defeated Mississippi 8-3 on Sunday behind home runs from Hannah McEwen and Katie Warrick at Bogle Park in Fayetteville.
The victory secures the fourth SEC series victory of the year for Arkansas (36-11, 11-9 SEC), and its first over Ole Miss since the 2010 season.
-- Democrat-Gazette Press Services
Sports on 04/30/2018