Army swept by Louisiana and Oral Roberts

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FROM PRESS RELEASES

Louisiana 2 Army 1

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Preseason Sun Belt Conference Pitcher of the Year Danny Farquhar allowed two hits, while striking out nine and walking four across six strong innings and Justin Robichaux came on to strike out the side in the ninth inning as 19th-ranked Louisiana-Lafayette survived a scare from Army, winning 2-1 in the opening game of the UTSA Baseball Classic at Wolff Stadium.

The matchup paired Army and Louisiana-Lafayette for the first time ever and marked the season opener for both teams. Louisiana Lafayette finished last season 45-17 and earned a trip to the NCAA Regionals as Sun Belt champion.

The loss spoiled a strong collegiate pitching debut by Army freshman Joey Henshaw, who permitted five hits and two runs, while striking out five and walking five over 4.2 innings. Junior Tyler Anderegg, freshmen Kevin McKague and Andy Seaman, and sophomore Matt Fouch each followed with scoreless relief stints for the Black Knights (0-1).

The Ragin’ Cajuns (1-0) touched Henshaw early as Josh Logan and Jordan Poirrier slapped consecutive singles to lead off the contest. Two batters later, Scott Hawkins drew a one-out walk, loading the bases. After retiring Nolan Gisclair on an infield popup, Henshaw walked Chance Harst to force in the first run of the game.

Farquhar worked his way out a self-induced jam in the bottom half of the third inning. After Sean Rainbrid fanned to lead off the frame, Tony Capozzi sent a liner to shallow centerfield. Andy Ernesto followed with a hard-hit ball back to Farquhar, who adjusted to make a clean throw to second base, but Greg Fontenot was unable to locate the bag in time to get the lead runner and all runners were safe.

Farquhar then hit left fielder Kyle Fleming with a pitch, loading the bases for Army. However, Chris Simmons grounded out to end Army’s scoring threat.

Louisiana-Lafayette added to its lead on a one-out RBI double to left-center field by Matt Hicks in the fifth.

Army threatened again in the bottom of the inning as Rainbird reached base safely on a Fontenot throwing error and Ernesto drew a one-out walk, placing two runners on base. But, Farquhar struck out Clint Moore and Fleming to escape unscathed.

The Black Knights pushed across their only run in the eighth inning when Simmons reached on a leadoff double to center field and scored on a Fontenot throwing error.

Army placed the potential tying run on base against Robichaux in the bottom of the ninth as Ernesto drew a one-out walk. But he was unable to advance into scoring position as the Cajuns’ closer struck out Moore and Fleming to register the save.

Logan went 3-for-4 with one run scored to lead Louisiana-Lafayette, which outhit Army 7-4.

The Black Knights will take on Oral Roberts later on Friday to close out their first day of action at the UTSA Baseball Classic.

Diamond Notes: In addition to Joey Henshaw, Clint Moore, Mike Greco, Sean Rainbird, Shaun Wixted, Kevin McKague and Andy Seaman made their collegiate debuts … Andy Ernesto, Moore, Chris Simmons and Tony Capozzi accounted for Army’s four base hits … Ernesto was on base four times (three walks).

Oral Roberts 9 Army 1

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Sophomore right-hander Jerry Sullivan allowed one run on six hits across eight solid innings of work and Oral Roberts plated six runs on just three hits in the sixth inning to break open a close contest as the Golden Eagles defeated Army 9-1, Friday afternoon at the UTSA Baseball Classic.

The Black Knights opened their 119th season of intercollegiate play earlier in the day with a hardfought 2-1 loss to 10th-ranked Louisiana-Lafayette.

“It’s obviously not the way we wanted to end the first day, but the biggest thing for us was getting on the field and playing some games,” said Army head coach Joe Sottolano. “We faced two good ball clubs two very good starting pitchers. Certainly, there’s a lot that we learned and a lot that we can take away from these contests. We have a plan to attack some of the things we need to work on.

“This club has a lot of ability. We just need to keep working hard in order to get we here we need to be at year’s end.”

Oral Roberts, the defending Summit League champion, scored single runs in each of the first three innings off Army starter Drew Clothier (0-1). Brendan Duffy singled, advanced to third on a pair of balks and scored on a sacrifice fly, accounting for the Golden Eagles’ first run of the game in the bottom of the first inning.

Oral Roberts (1-0) moved ahead 2-0 in the bottom of the second inning when Ryan Grothe walked, advanced to second on a sacrifice, stole third base and scored on Clothier’s third balk of the contest. A failed pickoff attempt helped the Golden Eagles score their third run in the bottom of the third inning.

Army (0-2), meanwhile, placed a runner in scoring position in three of its first four innings against Sullivan, but could not break through until the sixth when Joey Henshaw singled and scored on a double to right-center field by Chris Simmons.

But the Golden Eagles responded with six runs on three hits in the bottom of the inning. Kelly Minissale’s two-run double to left-center field off reliever Austin Grimes keyed the uprising.

The Black Knights placed two runners on base in both the seventh and ninth innings, but could not draw closer.

Sullivan (1-0) struck out eight and walked one to earn the victory for Oral Roberts. Clothier allowed seven runs (six earned) on five hits over 5.1 innings. He struck out two and walked four.

Diamond Notes: Louisiana-Lafayette and Oral Roberts, Army’s two opponents on Friday, posted a combined record of 85-34 last spring … both teams earned berths in the NCAA Regional … both clubs are forecast to repeat as champion in their respective conferences … after starting the opening game of Friday’s split-doubleheader on the mound against Louisiana-Lafayette, Joey Henshaw played designated hitter and batted third versus Oral Roberts … sophomore left-hander Matt Fouch fired one scoreless inning of relief after tossing a shutout frame out of the bullpen earlier in the day against Louisiana-Lafayette … Mike Greco stroked his first collegiate hit.