SUN BELT
ARKANSAS STATE 21, GEORGIA STATE 4 (7)
Drew* Tipton was 2 for 2 -- including a fifth inning grand slam -- with 2 runs scored and 5 RBI on Thursday, and Jeremy Brown was 2 for 2 with 3 runs scored and 2 RBI as Arkansas State University (27-26) scored 11 runs in the fifth inning alone to score the second-most runs ever in a Sun Belt Conference Tournament game in a victory over Georgia State (22-33) at J.J. Clements Stadium in Statesboro, Ga.
The 21 runs are the second most by the Red Wolves since a 27-7 victory over Murray State in 2014. The 11-run fifth inning tied for the most since an 11-run inning in ASU's 19-12 victory over Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville in 2009.
The Red Wolves scored on two bases-loaded walks, a wild pitch, a two-run single from Joe Schrimpf, an RBI single from Alex Howard and Tipton's grand slam, his fourth home run of the season. ASU built a 3-0 lead in the second inning when Derek Birginske reached on one of two Georgia State errors, which scored Howard and Brown. Birginske scored on Tipton's RBI double down the left-field line.
Georgia State scored on a sacrifice fly before Howard added a three-run home run, his fourth of the season, in the third inning to give the Red Wolves a 6-1 lead. Garrett Rucker had an RBI double in the fourth and scored on another RBI double from Schrimpf to take an 8-1 lead.
Howard finished 2 for 4 with 3 runs scored and 4 RBI for ASU, which advances to face the University of Texas at Arlington at 11:30 a.m. today. Schrimpf was 2 for 5 with 3 RBI. Reliever Tyler Zuber (5-1) earned the victory after replacing Tyler Mitzel, who began the fifth inning with consecutive walks. Zuber went 11/3 innings and had 1 strikeout. Starter Brady Welsh gave up all four Georgia State runs on 3 hits with 3 walks and 5 strikeouts over the first 4 innings.
TEXAS STATE 3, UALR 2
Cameron Knight went 3 for 3 and Kale Emshoff was 2 for 3 for the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (21-34), which built a 2-1 lead before giving up single runs in the seventh and eighth innings Thursday to fall to Texas State (28-29).
The Bobcats took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first on an RBI single from Dylan Paul. It remained that way until the fourth inning, when Knight's RBI single scored Nik Gifford to tie the game at 1-1. Gifford scored on a wild pitch in the sixth inning to give the Trojans a 2-1 lead.
Texas State tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the seventh on an RBI single from Jacob Almendarez, then took the lead for good in the bottom of the eighth when Luke Sherley singled and advanced to second on a throwing error by Zach Baker, which allowed Theodore Hoffman to score.
Hoffman finished 2 for 4 to lead the Bobcats, who advance to face top-seeded Coastal Carolina. Reliever Brayden Theriot (6-1) got the victory for Texas State after allowing 1 hit with 1 walk and 2 strikeouts over the final 3 innings. Justin Garcia (2-1) took the loss for UALR after allowing 2 hits with 1 walk and 1 wild pitch in just two-thirds of an inning.
SOUTHLAND TOURNAMENT
CENTRAL ARKANSAS 5,
MCNEESE STATE 3
The University of Central Arkansas (33-24) had four players with two hits each Thursday as the Bears defeated regular-season champion and Southland Conference Tournament top seed McNeese State University (37-19) at Constellation Field in Sugar Land, Texas. All five UCA runs came in the bottom of the fifth inning. Dusty Wright, who finished 2 for 4, singled to start the inning and moved to second on Eddie Sanchez’s sacrifice bunt. Michael Haun drew a walk to load the bases and Keaton Presley fouled out for the inning’s first out.
Jansen McCurdy then hit an RBI single for one of his two hits to score Wright, and Haun scored on a balk. Hunter Strong hit another RBI single to score McCurdy to push the lead to 3-0. Rigo Aguilar singled for one of his two hits and advanced to second on a throwing error by Cowboys center fielder Robbie Podorsky, which put runners on the corners with two outs.
A four-pitch walk to Justin McCarty scored Strong for a 4-0 lead. Brooks Balisterri, who finished 2 for 3, then singled and McCarty was caught in a rundown between first and second base. That allowed Aguilar to score, giving UCA a 5-0 lead.
Sports on 05/26/2017
*CORRECTION: Arkansas State University’s Drew Tipton hit a grand slam in the Red Wolves’ 21-4 victory over Georgia State on Thursday in the Sun Belt Tournament. His name was incorrect in a previous version of this story.