CONWAY -- Arkansas State had the hitter it wanted at the plate with a chance to take control one more time Tuesday night.
Zach George's RBI single in the top of the 13th inning broke a 6-6 tie, his run on Joe Schrimpf's single added insurance and Bo Ritter pitched a perfect bottom of the inning as ASU finally put away Central Arkansas for an 8-6 victory in front of an announced crowd of 565 at Bear Stadium.
"I was definitely ready for the opportunity," George said. "They had the base open and all, so I was looking for that offspeed pitch."
George's RBI came four innings after he reached on an error and scored in the ninth to force extra innings.
It came as no surprise from the coach of either team that George was so involved, considering he's the Sun Belt Conference's leading hitter and has now reached base safely in 63 consecutive games.
"He's composed," ASU Coach Tommy Raffo said of the senior from Paragould. "You see him at the plate. It's the same routine, the same approach. He has an idea. He's what I call a little bit of a professional-type hitter.
"I was just glad he was at the plate."
ASU (20-26) snagged a victory in a game during which it led 5-3 after the top of the seventh inning, but trailed 6-5 heading into the top of the ninth.
George, who raised his batting average to .382 by going 2 for 5 with 4 runs scored, walked in the first, reached on a fielder's choice and scored in the third, doubled and scored in the fifth and walked in the seventh before reaching base on with an error in the ninth.
George then scored on Austin's Baker's single to tie the game at 6-6 in the ninth. He came to the plate again in the 13th with two outs and Stuart Levy on second base. UCA Coach Allen Gum said right-hander Tyler Gray was trying to pitch around George. But with two strikes, George got enough of a curveball to send it into left field.
"Just left one too close," Gum said. "He's a tough out, a tough player, a good player. He's been a good player for a long time. Hated to see him beat us tonight, but it was good to see him play."
ASU needed George's quality at bats, but also seven innings from starter Derek Birginske and three innings of shutout relief from Ritter.
Birginske gave up 5 runs, 3 earned, on 6 hits over 7 innings, and exited with the game tied 5-5. Tanner Kirby gave up an eighth-inning single to Charles Deckard, who scored on Tyler Langley's fielder's choice to give the Bears a 6-5 lead, their first of the game.
But George tied it in the ninth, and Chandler Hawkins and Bo Ritter combined to shut out the Bears the rest of the way. Ritter earned his first victory of the season after holding UCA to a hit and and no walks over three innings.
"When he's in the strike zone and he's able to locate his pitches, we found in our games that he can be difficult," Raffo said. "When he's not in the strike zone, he's behind in the counts and struggles. Tonight he was in the strike zone."
It helped shut down a UCA offense that made several rallies, the most threatening of which came in the seventh inning.
ASU led 5-3 when Wesley Hoover was hit by a Birginske pitch, and Townsend singled. Then Travis Hull hit a single up the middle that scored both runs to tie the game at 5-5 before Deckard's run in the ninth gave the Bears a momentary lead.
"It just came down to not getting timely hits," Gum said. "You know how baseball is, it's based off timely hits. We had guys on. We were missing one double tonight in the game, that's what was missing."
Sports on 05/06/2015