Red Wolves rally, get tourney berth

UALR pitcher Cory Malcom allowed 2 runs on 8 hits while striking out 7 over 5 innings, but Arkansas State scored six runs in the top of the ninth inning to beat the Trojans 12-10 on Friday night.
UALR pitcher Cory Malcom allowed 2 runs on 8 hits while striking out 7 over 5 innings, but Arkansas State scored six runs in the top of the ninth inning to beat the Trojans 12-10 on Friday night.

The pinched sciatic nerve doesn’t cause so much pain in Austin Baker’s back that he can’t swing a bat. But it does hinder him in far more basic movements, such as walking and running.

So the senior wasn’t available to play in all of Arkansas State’s game Friday night at UALR. But when Coach Tommy Raffo asked, Baker said he could give the Red Wolves one good at-bat if they really needed it.

The situation presented itself in the ninth inning, after ASU erased a five-run deficit to tie the game at 8-8 with runners on the corners. Baker, whose injured back has kept him out of 18 games this season, then punched a 1-2 pitch from Jarrid Garcia into left field to drive in a run, giving ASU a lead it would ride to a 12-10 victory at Gary Hogan Field in Little Rock.

The at-bat, Baker’s first since Sunday, came after he tried to test his back to see if he could play before games Thursday and Friday. Both times he decided he couldn’t.

ASU 12, UALR 10

“I came into today thinking maybe DH,” Baker said. “But I wasn’t able to run very well. So [Raffo] told me, basically, that I was going to pinch-hit if that situation happened. And it happened.”

Raffo said the absence of Baker, who is hitting .246 this season, has affected his lineup all season. Before Friday night, ASU was 8-7 in Sun Belt Conference games in which Baker played and 3-10 when he didn’t. That’s part of why Raffo asked Baker before the game if he’d be available for a few late-game swings.

“It’s a difference, and that’s what killed us in the middle of the year,” Raffo said. “It’s a great storybook ending for him. It’s something he can always go back on. Kind of a Kirk Gibson type of thing.”

For ASU (26-27, 12-17 Sun Belt), which trailed 8-3 entering the eighth inning, the victory ensured it would qualify as the No. 8 seed in next week’s Sun Belt Tournament. The loss ended up not mattering for UALR’s tournament seeding. The Trojans would have been locked into the No. 3 seed even if they had won and will be no matter what happens in today’s 1 p.m. series finale.

But that didn’t soften UALR Coach Chris Curry’s reaction to his team giving up nine runs on 10 hits, nine of which were singles, in the final two innings.

“I thought there was a mental letdown on the mound, that’s where it was,” Curry said. “We were very careless in the strike zone. I thought our two-strike pitching was atrocious.”

Cory Malcom held ASU to 2 runs on 8 hits and struck out 7, but he needed 98 pitches to get through 5 innings. Keenan Wingfield gave up a run in the sixth and pitched a perfect seventh, but then the Red Wolves started chipping away at the 8-3 deficit in the eighth — eventually scoring three runs in the eighth and six in the ninth.

Jeremy Brown, Jake Bakamus and Daltan Lovell hit consecutive one-out singles, the last of which scored Brown to make it 8-4. Ty White drove in two more runs with a single to make it 8-6.

The rally in the ninth was started when UALR’s Cody Daylor hit Garrett Rucker to lead off the inning. After Tanner Ring then singled and Matt Burgess grounded out, Brown singled in two runs to tie the game at 8-8. Bakamus then singled to put runners on the corners for Baker.

“With two strikes, I’m just looking for something I can fight off, or put anywhere,” Baker said.

He put it into left field to score the go-ahead run. After a two-run double by White with two outs, the Red Wolves scored a final run on a sacrifice fly by Rucker, who led of the inning, making it 12-8.

UALR (26-25, 17-12) tried to rally in the bottom of the ninth. Zach Baker doubled and Kyle Kirk drew a one-out walk off Ring, who moved to the mound for the ninth inning. Hayden Martin’s twoout single scored Baker and Kirk to bring up Ryan Scott, who earlier had gotten his 87th and 88th hits to break the single-season school record, which prompted a visit to the mound from Raffo.

“Throw your best stuff,” Raffo said he told Ring.

Ring then got Scott to pop out to end a game.

SOUTHLAND

CENTRAL ARKANSAS 3,

SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA 2

Matt Anderson hit a two-run double with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to give Central Arkansas (27-25, 15-14) its second victory over Southeastern Louisiana (36-17, 22-7) on Friday at Bear Stadium in Conway.

The Lions scored single runs in the third and sixth innings. Brennan Breaud singled up the middle to start the third inning and scored when Jameson Fisher grounded into a double play. Carson Crites was hit by a pitch in the sixth inning and scored on Jacob Seward’s RBI single to give SLU a 2-0 lead.

UCA rallied in the bottom of the ninth inning. Michael Haun singled up the middle to start the inning, then Tyler Langley struck out swinging and Brooks Balisterri flied out for two quick outs. Chris Townsend singled, putting runners at first and second. Haun scored on Brandon Montalvo’s RBI single to cut the lead to 2-1, setting the stage for Anderson’s game winner.

SWAC

JACKSON STATE 4,

ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF 2

Arkansas-Pine Bluff entered the Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament as one of two No. 1 seeds, but saw its season end Friday morning before reaching the finals.

Miguel Yrigoyen held UAPB to two unearned runs in a complete game victory for Jackson State, and UAPB’s season ended with its second consecutive loss at the SWAC Tournament in New Orleans.

The Golden Lions (22-25), who won the West Division for a third year in a row, lost on Thursday to Texas Southern, 10-0, to set up Friday morning’s elimination game.

Aderly Perez went 2 for 4 with 1 RBI while Michael Bradley and Jaqueese Moore scored runs for the Golden Lions. C.J. Lewington pitched 6 1/3 innings, giving up 4 runs, 3 earned, on 7 hits.

UAPB took a 1-0 lead in the first when Bradley singled and later scored on an error. Jackson State (34-25) then took control with two runs in the second on Sam Campbell’s two-run home run and two in the fifth, both coming off errors.

Upcoming Events