SUN BELT GEORGIA STATE 3, UALR 2
Georgia State starter Nathan Bates held UALR scoreless through the first six innings and Georgia State scored single runs in the third, fourth and ninth innings on Saturday at Gary Hogan Field in Little Rock.
UALR, which saw the return of Coach Scott Norwood after he sat out Friday’s game for his role in Wednesday’s brawl at Central Arkansas, had 6 hits through the first 6 innings, but left 6 runners on base, 3 times leaving runners in scoring position.
The Panthers (15-17, 4-7) took a 1-0 lead in the third when Chad Prain was hit by a Sam Thoele pitch, moved to second on a walk, to third on a single and scored on Chase Raffield’s sacrifice fly. They made it 2-0 when Joey Roach led off the fourth with a home run to right field. Thoele (0-1) held Georgia State scoreless the rest of the way, and gave up 2 runs on 4 hits and struck out 9 over seven innings.
The Trojans (12-15, 2-9) couldn’t figure out Bates or reliever Kevin Burgee soon enough. They got within 2-1 in the seventh when Drew Merten walked, advanced to second on a wild pitch, to third on Ben Crumpton’s ground ball and scored on Austin Pfeiffer’s fielder’s choice.
Raffield hit a home run in the ninth to make it 3-1. Crumpton added a sacrifice fly to get the Trojans within 3-2 in the bottom of the ninth, but Pfeiffer grounded out to end the game with the tying run on third base.
WESTERN KENTUCKY 9, ARKANSAS STATE 6
Ryan Church’s grand slam capped a five-run fifth inning and Western Kentucky erased an Arkansas State lead to clinch the Red Wolves’ first Sun Belt series loss of the season Saturday in Bowling Green, Ky.
ASU (16-15, 7-4) took a 3-0 lead when Lucas Feddersen ripped a two run single and Derek Birginske drew a bases-loaded walk in the second inning.
With ASU leading 3-1 in the bottom of the fifth inning Cody Wofford hit an RBI single and Church followed with his fifth home run of the season to end starter Chandler Hawkins’ day. Hawkins (2-4) allowed 6 runs, 5 earned, on 6 hits in 42/3 innings.
The Red Wolves added a run in the seventh and two runs in the eighth, but the Hilltoppers (18-14, 6-5) matched them with a run in the bottom of the seventh and two in the eighth off reliever Cody Woodhouse.
Feddersen went 1 for 5 with 3 RBI for ASU, which has lost three in a row,while Matt Burgess went 2 for 5 and scored 1 run.
Wofford went 2 for 5 with 3 RBI and 1 run, and Anderson Miller went 4 for 5 with 1 RBI and 1 run scored for the Hilltoppers.
SOUTHLAND CENTRAL ARKANSAS 3, SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA 0
Right-hander Chris Caudle pitched a complete-game, one-hit shutout and Carson Dowdle hit his first career home run to help Central Arkansas win on Saturday at Bear Stadium in Conway.
Caudle retired the first seven batters he faced while holding Southeastern Louisiana (19-12, 6-5) to only a Kennon Menard single in the third inning and a fourth-inning walk while striking out five in a game that took 1 hour, 35 minutes.
Southeastern Louisiana’s Tate Scioneaux held Central Arkansas to three hits, but one was Dowdle’s fifth-inning home run that gave the Bears (17-11, 6-5) a 3-0 lead.
UCA took a 2-0 lead in the fourth when Justin Treece drew a walk, moved to second on Chris Townsend’s single, to third when Scott Zimmerle was hit by a pitch and scored on Joey Pinney’s sacrifice fly. Austin White then hit a sacrifice fly to score Townsend to make it 2-0.
Neither team had a hit in the final four innings.
SWAC PRAIRIE VIEW 5, ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF 1
Grant Dougherty hit a game-winning grand slam to beat Arkansas-Pine Bluff, which had 13 hits but was held to a single seventh-inning run in a loss in the series finale in Prairie View, Texas.
Five UAPB players had two hits, but it left at least one runner on in eight different innings and stranded 11 runners for the game, leaving the bases loaded in the second and runners on first and third in the ninth.
The only run for the Golden Lions (10-22, 10-5) came in the seventh, when Jose Hernandez doubled and scored on Tyler Oertle’s single to tie the game at 1-1. Mitch Bruckshaw singled in the ninth, stole second and moved to third on a ground out before Oertle walked, but the inning ended with Andre Davis grounded out.
In the bottom of the ninth, Samuel Olson issued two lead-off walks, then Humberto Zavala walked another before Dougherty’s game-winning home run for the Panthers (13-15, 8-7).
Sports, Pages 23 on 04/06/2014