SUN BELT
ORAL ROBERTS 5, UALR 3
Oral Roberts (28-11) scored four runs in the first inning Tuesday, and that was all the Golden Eagles needed as they defeated UALR (14-23) in a nonconference game at J.L. Johnson Stadium in Tulsa. Eight Oral Roberts pitchers held the Trojans to 3 runs, only 1 earned, on 6 hits while striking out 9 and walking 4. Hayden Holley (3-0), the Golden Eagles’ third pitcher of the night, picked up the victory after working one hitless and scoreless inning.
UALR starter Reed Willenborg (1-3) took the loss after lasting only one inning. Willenborg gave up five hits and four runs, all earned, before giving way to Stephen Chandler. Chandler didn’t allow a run while giving up only one hit over four innings before turning it over to Brent Mason, who allowed Oral Roberts’ final run in the eighth inning. Leadoff batter Matt Whatley started Oral Roberts’ big first inning with a single to left field. With one out, Whatley advanced to second on a wild pitch by Willenborg and moved to third on a pop-up. Anthony Sequeira followed with a single to right field to drive in Whatley, then advanced to third on Audie Afenir’s double down the left-field line.
Noah Cummings capped the first-inning scoring with a three-run home run to right field for a 4-0 lead.
UALR answered with three runs in the second inning.
Justin Steelmon tripled to right field to open the inning and scored on Jason Prevatt’s single to right field. Mitchell Scheuler struck out and Sam Vogel flied out. Prevatt stole second base and moved to third when James Gillean reached base on a throwing error by the shortstop, and Petr Sila followed with a single to right field to drive in both runners and cut the lead to 4-3.
Oral Roberts added an insurance run in the eighth on Cummings’ single to left field that drove in Sequeira.
Cummings went 2 for 4 with 4 RBI and 1 run scored to lead Oral Roberts, which outhit UALR 8-6.
Sila was 1 for 4 with 2 RBI to lead UALR, and Prevatt finished the day 1 for 2 with 1 RBI and 1 run scored.
ARKANSAS STATE 11, MURRAY STATE 5
Arkansas State (16-22) banged out 14 hits Tuesday in a nonconference victory over Murray State (14-28) at Tomlinson Stadium in Jonesboro.
ASU took a 4-1 lead with two runs in each of the second and third innings and blew open the game late with six runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. Ty White was 3 for 4 with 3 RBI and scored 1 run to pace the Red Wolves offense, while Zach George was 2 for 5 with 2 RBI and Matt Burgess was 2 for 5 with 1 RBI and 1 run scored. Tanner Ring, Jeremy Brown and Collin Massanelli drove in ASU’s other three runs. ASU starter Derek Birginske (1-0) worked 4 innings for the victory, allowing 1 earned run on 2 hits with 5 strikeouts and 3 walks.
John Lollar (1-6) took the loss for Murray State, allowing 4 runs — all earned — on 7 hits in 3 innings.
Anthony Bayus led the Racers’ offense, going 1 for 3 with 3 RBI. No Murray State batter had more than one hit in the game.
Brown had an RBI double and White had an RBI single in the second inning as ASU took a 2-0 lead. Austin Baker and Ring added RBI singles in the bottom of the third to give ASU a 4-1 lead. George’s single up the middle made it 5-1 in the fourth.
Massanelli had an RBI single, White added a two-run single, George had an RBI double, Burgess’ groundout drove in a run and another scored on an error as ASU extended its lead to 11-1 in the eighth.
SOUTHLAND
OLE MISS 18, CENTRAL ARKANSAS 4
Ole Miss (21-20) pounded out 21 hits Tuesday night in an easy victory over Central Arkansas (19-15) in a nonconference game at Swayze Field in Oxford, Miss.
The 18 runs were the most allowed by UCA since an 18-14 loss to Texas-Arlington in 2011.
Ole Miss didn’t waste any time offensively, scoring eight runs in the first inning and six more in the second inning as it built a 14-2 lead.
UCA starter Corey Herndon (0-2) didn’t record an out as Ole Miss put together six runs, all earned, off five hits before he was relieved by Bo Stitch. Stitch didn’t fare much better, giving up two runs on three hits in one-third of an inning before giving way to Chris Durham.
Durham gave up 6 runs on 5 hits in 11/3 innings before handing it over in the second inning to Andrew Kemmerer, who allowed two runs on two hits. Derek Beier relieved Kemmerer in the fifth inning and gave up two runs on five hits, and Ty Tice finished up for the Bears with two innings of scoreless baseball. Brad Dillenberger went 2 for 5 with 2 RBI to lead UCA’s offense. Matt Anderson went 3 for 5 with 1 RBI and 2 runs scored and Tyler Langley drove in a run for the Bears, who finished with 12 hits but stranded 13 runners.
Connor Cloyd went 4 for 5 with 3 RBI and 3 runs scored to lead the Rebels. J.B. Woodman was 4 for 6 with 2 RBI and 4 runs scored.
Starter Mitchel Babb (2-0) allowed 3 runs, 1 earned, on 7 hits with 1 strikeout and 2 walks over 4 innings.