Chandler Hawkins had been moved in and out of Arkansas State's rotation for much of the season. The senior left-hander moved back into it, and was at his best when ASU needed it most Thursday.
Hawkins held Georgia Southern to one run and struck out 10 over 7 2/3 innings, as ASU beat Georgia Southern 6-1 in an elimination game Thursday at the Sun Belt Tournament in Troy, Ala.
Sun Belt Tournament
at Riddle-Pace Field, Troy, Ala.
Thursday’s results
Arkansas State 6, Georgia Southern 1
Louisiana-Lafayette 12, Troy 8
South Alabama 14, Georgia State 4
Texas State vs. Texas-Arlington (n)
Today’s games
All times Central
Georgia State vs. Arkansas State, 3 p.m.
Texas State-Texas-Arlington winner vs. Louisiana-Lafayette, 6:30 p.m.
"It could have potentially been my last game," Hawkins said. "So I just wanted to leave everything I had out there. And I didn't want these guys to have to get on a bus and get home early. So I did everything in my power to prove that."
Hawkins entered Thursday with a 4.87 ERA in 64 2/3 innings, most of which came in 18 relief appearances, and he hadn't started a game against a Sun Belt team this season. Hawkins looked just fine Thursday, though, retiring the first 11 batters he faced and he only gave up a run in the seventh, when ASU already led 6-0 and Dalton Busby's RBI single didn't do much damage.
"He was in the zone when he wanted to be, out of the zone when he wanted to be," ASU Coach Tommy Raffo said. "He got us back in the dugout, created some tempo on offense for us and were able to score runs early."
Hawkins pitched most of Thursday's game with a lead thanks to Austin Baker's RBI single that scored Zach George to give ASU a 1-0 lead in the first. Lucas Feddersen's RBI double and George's two-run single in the second gave ASU a 4-0 lead, while Joe Schrimpf and Baker each added RBI singles in the fourth to make it 6-0.
George was 2 for 3 with 2 RBI in extending his on-base streak to 72 games, while Baker was 3 for 5 with 2 RBI and Collin Massanelli had two hits and scored a run for the Red Wolves, who had 11 hits. George, Schrimpf and Baker, who hit first, second and third, respectively, combined for seven hits Thursday and were on base nine times.
"Sometimes, if part of a lineup or a couple of young men struggle, that can stop and inning," said Raffo, who got his 200th victory Thursday. "But I thought throughout the lineup today these guys were locked in."
ASU will play at 3 p.m. today in another elimination game against Georgia State, which lost 14-4 to South Alabama on Thursday. If ASU wins that game, it will have to beat South Alabama twice Saturday to advance to the final.
Sports on 05/22/2015