State Division I college baseball roundup

SUN BELT

UALR 3, TROY 1

A two-run single by Troy Alexander in the top of the sixth inning proved to be the difference Friday as the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (10-8, 1-0) beat Troy University (12-5, 0-1) in the Sun Belt Conference opener for both schools at Riddle-Pace Field in Troy, Ala.

UALR took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning on a Chase Coker home run, but Troy tied the game in the bottom of the inning on a Matt Sanders sacrifice fly. Marcus Ragan reached on a throwing error to start the sixth inning for UALR. He moved to second when Matt Merino hit a one-out single and both runners moved up on a wild pitch to set up Alexander's single.

Merino and Coker both had two hits for UALR. Chandler Fidel (2-2) got the victory after allowing Troy's lone run on 5 hits with 3 walks and 8 strikeouts in 7 innings. Justin Garcia earned his third save after pitching a hitless final two innings with four strikeouts.

COASTAL CAROLINA 3, ARKANSAS STATE 1

A three-run third inning was all Coastal Carolina (13-7, 1-0) needed Friday to beat Arkansas State University (8-6, 0-1) as the schools opened Sun Belt Conference play at Tomlinson Stadium in Jonesboro.

The Chanticleers took advantage of mistakes made by the Red Wolves to score their three runs. Matt Beaird scored when Cory Wood reached on a fielding error for the Coastal Carolina run. A passed ball and a wild pitch accounted for the other two runs. ASU got a run back in the bottom of the third when Kyle MacDonald drew a bases-loaded walk to score Drew Tipton.

The Red Wolves managed just three hits -- two from MacDonald and the other from Tipton. Bradey Welsh (1-2) took the loss after allowing all 3 Coastal Carolina runs -- 1 was earned -- on 5 hits with 2 walks, 2 wild pitches and 2 strikeouts over 5 innings.

SOUTHLAND

CENTRAL ARKANSAS 4, INCARNATE WORD 3 (10)

An RBI single from Dusty Wright scored Will Hancock in the bottom of the 10th inning Friday to give the University of Central Arkansas to hand Incarnate Word its first conference loss this season at Bear Stadium in Conway.

The Bears (10-8, 2-2 Southland Conference) took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning on an RBI groundout by Hunter Strong, but the Cardinals (13-7, 3-1 Southland) took a 3-1 lead in the top of the fifth on an RBI single from Ryan Flores and a sacrifice fly by Tyler Petit. UCA got a run back in the bottom of the fifth when Rigo Aguilar scored on Josh Somdecerff's RBI single through the left side, cutting the lead to 3-2. Colby LeBlanc hit and RBI single up the middle in the bottom of the sixth inning to tie the game at 3-3.

LeBlanc and Aguilar both finished 3 for 4 to lead the Bears, while William Hancock was 2 for 3 and Somdecerff was 2 for 4.

SWAC

VALPARAISO 14, ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF 7

Valparaiso (5-11) racked up 13 hits Friday and used a five-run seventh inning to easily take the opening game of the weekend series over the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff (5-8) at the Torii Hunter Complex in Pine Bluff.

The Crusaders took a 2-0 lead in the second inning on a sacrifice fly and an RBI triple before Nick Kreutzer's three-run home run in the fourth gave the Golden Lions a 3-2 lead. That would be their only lead as Valparaiso answered with eight consecutive runs, including the five-run seventh inning. UAPB did respond, however, with a run in the bottom of the seventh on an RBI double by Kacy Higgins and three run in the eighth on an error by Valparaiso shortstop Sam Shaikin, as well as consecutive RBI doubles from Kreutzer and Ricardo Sanchez.

Kreutzer and Ryan Mallison had three hits each for UAPB, which finished with 10 hits, while Sanchez had two more. Starter Peyton Burks (0-2) took the loss on the mound after allowing 5 earned runs on 7 hits with 3 walks and 3 strikeouts over 5 1/3 innings.

Sports on 03/17/2018

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