Texas State 7, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 4
The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders rallied for three runs in the bottom of the ninth and had the tying run at the plate but came up short 7-4 in their Southland Conference opener versus Texas State at Whataburger Field on Friday night.
The Islanders drop to 1-5 overall and 0-1 in the Southland Conference with the loss, while Texas State is now 4-2 and 1-0.
Trailing 7-1 entering the bottom of the ninth, Jeramie Marek reached with his fourth single of the game to start the inning. Marek advanced to second on wild pitch by reliever Tim Heath before Brycen Bell walked. With one out, Martin Parra singled to load the bases for Trey Hernandez.
Columbia 0 at Lamar 3
Senior Tyler Link led off the game with a solo home run to left field and Lamar University never looked back en route to a 3-0 win over Columbia University in non-conference baseball action Friday night at Vincent-Beck Stadium.
Lamar improved to 7-0 on the season while Columbia, making its season debut, dropped to 0-1. The Cardinals and Lions will continue the four-game series Saturday with a doubleheader starting at 11:30 a.m. The series concludes Sunday with a single game at 12 noon.
After Link’s home run, Steven Tucker singled but was erased when Joey Latulippe reached on a fielder’s choice. Latulippe scored when left fielder Alex Aurrichio dropped a fly ball hit by Quentin Luquette to put the Cardinals up 2-0.
Houston Baptist 0 at Northwestern State 16
Northwestern State senior starting pitcher Jimmy Heard tossed perhaps the best game of his career on Friday, striking out 14 Houston Baptist batters in eight innings of work in a 16-0 rout.
Heard, a Bossier City native and Airline High product, threw eight scoreless innings and walked just one and was just one strikeout short of tying the school record for most strikeouts in a game.
“First and foremost, he had a dominant fastball and had great velocity and command,” Northwestern coach J.P. Davis said. “He competes hard and that’s vintage Heard.”
Sacred Heart 9 at Southeastern Louisiana 10
Southeastern Louisiana got down early to Sacred Heart, but the Lions rallied for their third comeback win of the season, coming out on top in a 10-9 slugfest in Friday’s series opener against the Pioneers at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field.
The Pioneers (0-1) struck early and often against Southeastern pitching. Sacred Heart tallied four home runs in the first four frames. The Pioneers scored three in the first, one in the second, two in the third and two in the fourth.
Fortunately, for Southeastern, the Lions (3-2) rallied for one run in each of the first three frames and senior right hander Ryan Collins kept Sacred Heart off the board in the fifth and sixth.
South Dakota State 3 at Central Arkansas 14
A 10-run second inning carried Central Arkansas to a 14-3 victory over South Dakota State on Friday at Bear Stadium.
The Bears (3-3) scored all 14 runs in two innings, picking up four more in the sixth. UCA finished with 19 hits, with senior third baseman Jonathan Yerby getting a career-high four hits, including a pair of doubles. Junior Tye Throneberry knocked in a team-high four runs and scored twice, while Zack Dickson, Graham Martin and Bobby Pritchett all had two hits and two RBI each.
After the Bears wasted two hits in the first inning, including one of Yerby’s doubles, they pounded out 11 hits in the second inning, chasing Jackrabbits’ starter Caleb Thielbar midway through the inning.
St. Mary’s 14 at Sam Houston State 6
Saint Mary’s right-handed pitcher Brian Justice shut down Sam Houston State’s bats and right fielder Kyle Jensen hit a pair of home runs to lead the Gaels to a 14-5 victory over the Bearkats in the second game of the Hillcrest Ford /SHSU Baseball Classic Friday night at Don Sanders Stadium.
The loss was the first for the Kats who were off to a 5-0 season start for only the third time in school history. Saint Mary’s stands 4-1 for the year.
Justice shut out Sam Houston for six innings, allowing only four hits before third baseman Seth Hammock led off the bottom of the seventh with a solo home run to left field. The Kats added a second run on a pair of Gael errors and a single by Daniel Nottebart. Justice ended giving up six hits and striking out two Kats as he upped his season record to 1-1.
UT Arlington 6 vs Stephen F. Austin 12
Eight of the nine Stephen F. Austin starters registered at least one hit and Erik Gregersen threw six strong innings for the Lumberjacks on Friday as they went wire-to-wire for a 12-6 win over UT Arlington in a non-conference game at the Al Ogletree Classic.
The top of the lineup was on point for SFA (2-3), with the top four hitters for the ‘Jacks going a combined 8-for-17 with six runs scored and six RBI. SFA also showed some prowess on the base paths, swiping five bags on six tries. Tanner Hines led the way offensively, going 3-for-5 with two runs scored, two stolen bases and an RBI.
Gregersen was able to pick up his first ever win against UTA, only allowing two runs – one earned – in his six innings. He fanned six, while walking only three and needed only 88 pitches before giving way to the bullpen.
UTSA 5 at Oral Roberts 9
Oral Roberts exploded for five runs on just an infield hit in the seventh inning and the Golden Eagles opened this weekend’s three-game series at J.L. Johnson Stadium with a 9-5 come-from-behind win against UTSA on Friday.
The Roadrunners saw their three-game winning streak come to an end with the loss, while Oral Roberts won its fourth consecutive game to open the year and extended the nation’s longest active home winning streak to 24 (dating back to March 21, 2008).
“This was a very disappointing loss,” UTSA coach Sherman Corbett said after the game. “We fell behind early but did a great job of getting the momentum in our favor in the middle innings. We had some great at-bats and Red (Patterson) really got on a roll. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to execute defensively or on the mound in the seventh and it cost us the ballgame. We need to put this loss behind us and come out tomorrow ready to even the series up.”
