SUN BELT
GEORGIA SOUTHERN 3, UALR 2 (10)
A sacrifice fly by Mitchell Golden with two outs in the top of the 10th inning scored Nolan Tressler on Saturday to give Georgia Southern University (15-15, 7-3 Sun Belt Conference) a series-opening victory over the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (17-12, 6-4 Sun Belt) at Gary Hogan Field.
Tressler was pinch running for Matt Anderson, who drew a full-count walk to start the top of the 10th inning. Steven Curry singled to center field with one out, moving Tressler to second, and Jason Swan drew a four-pitch walk to load the bases before Golden's sacrifice fly.
The Trojans took a 2-0 lead in the sixth inning on a sacrifice fly from Troy Alexander and an RBI double down the left-field line by Kale Emshoff that scored Matt Merino, who had hit his own double earlier in the inning. The Eagles tied the game at 2-2 in the eighth inning on an RBI single by Swan, and Curry scored on a wild pitch by UALR pitcher Justin Garcia.
Merino was 3 for 5 with 1 run scored to lead UALR, which finished with 10 hits, while Marcus Ragan was 2 for 5. Garcia took the loss after allowing Georgia Southern's run in the 10 inning on 1 hit with 2 walks and 1 strikeout over 2 2/3 innings.
The teams were scheduled to play a doubleheader Saturday, but cold conditions led to a single game being played. Friday's rained out game has been officially canceled and the series will conclude with a single game today beginning at 11 a.m.
GEORGIA STATE 16, ARKANSAS STATE 7
Georgia State jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead after two innings Saturday, and after Arkansas State University cut the lead to 6-4 in the third, the Panthers (15-15, 4-6 Sun Belt) blew the game open with a six-run fourth inning to claim a series victory over the Red Wolves (11-15, 3-8 Sun Belt) at the GSU Baseball Complex in Atlanta.
Georgia State scored on a wild pitch, a sacrifice fly and an RBI double to take a 3-0 lead in the first inning, then got a three-run double from Nick Gatewood in the second inning for a 6-0 lead. Arkansas State cut into the lead with a one-out rally in the third inning. A double by Winston Welch, a hit batter and a walk loaded the bases for Kyle MacDonald, who hit a grand slam on a 2-0 pitch that cut the lead to 6-4.
The Panthers broke the game open in the fourth inning with an RBI single from Brandon Bell, a sacrifice fly from Jack Thompson and a grand slam of their own from Luke Leonard to take a 12-4 lead. The Red Wolves scored on a hit batter and a walk in the sixth, and got an RBI single from Drew Tipton in the ninth.
MacDonald was 2 for 4 to lead ASU, which finished with 7 hits, while Caleb Squire was 2 for 5. Nate Alberius (4-2) took the loss for the Red Wolves after allowing the Panthers' six runs in the first 2 innings on 6 hits with 3 walks and 2 strikeouts over 3 total innings.
SOUTHLAND
HOUSTON BAPTIST 5, CENTRAL ARKANSAS 3
Houston Baptist University (13-17, 6-4 Southland Conference) scored two runs in the top of the ninth inning Saturday to beat the University of Central Arkansas (17-12, 9-4 Southland) in the series opener at Bear Stadium in Conway.
Jonathan Ducoff hit a one-out single in the top of the ninth, but a throwing error by UCA shortstop Josh Somdecerff allowed Tyler Depreta-John to score and gave the Huskies a 4-3 lead. After two wild pitches and a walk, Ducoff scored on Derek Reilly's bunt single for a 5-3 lead.
The Bears scored their runs on RBI singles from Rigo Aguilar in the fourth inning, Will Hancock in the sixth and Colby LeBlanc in the seventh to tie the game at 3-3.
LeBlanc and T.J. Black were both 2 for 4 for UCA, which finished with eight hits. Mark Moyer took the loss after allowing 2 earned runs on 5 hits with 2 walks and 1 strikeout in 3 innings of work.
The two teams will finish the series today with a doubleheader beginning at 11 a.m.
-- Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Sports on 04/08/2018