Jimmy Heard improved to 5-1-Photo Credit: Gary Hardamon
This is you Southland Conference Recap as all 12 teams were in action tonight.
Northwestern State 5 Nicholls State 2
NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State starter Jimmy Heard allowed just two runs in 8-2/3 innings and gave up nine hits with five strikeouts as he led his Demons to a 5-2 Southland Conference baseball win over Nicholls State in front of a large, noisy crowd on Friday.
Heard, a senior from Bossier City, improved his record to 5-1 on the season. He held the Colonels scoreless until two runs plated in the ninth broke up the shutout.
“What can you say about Jimmy,” said coach J.P. Davis who’s Demons improved to 13-12 overall and 7-5 in the conference. “He’s been doing that for four years. He doesn’t give in. His game was to stick that fastball down and away. And I thought he had a really good breaking ball tonight too.
Northwestern State Recap
Nicholls State Recap
Sam Houston State 7 McNeese State 5
LAKE CHARLES, LA – Braeden Riley hit a bases loaded single in the top of the 10th inning to score the winning run as Sam Houston State rallied from five runs down to defeat McNeese State 7-5 Friday night at Cowboy Diamond.
The victory marked the Bearkats’ fifth extra-inning win this season. Sam Houston (15-11, SLC 7-6) has not lost an extra inning game this year. Friday’s contest was the opener in a three-game weekend Southland Conference series. The two teams will play again at 2 p.m. Saturday.
McNeese jumped out to a 5-0 lead with a pair of runs in both the first and third innings and one run in the fifth. Lee Orr had a two-run homer in the third inning and Lee Orr hit run-scoring singles in the first and fifth.
Sam Houston State Recap
McNeese State Recap
Southeastern Louisiana 8 UT Arlington 6
ARLINGTON, Texas – Senior left fielder Brandon Street had a pair of hits and drove in three runs. Senior second baseman Ty Summerlin tied the school career runs record, and junior right hander Ryan Boudreaux delivered eight solid innings as the Southeastern Louisiana University baseball team (18-9, 9-4 SLC) withstood a late Texas-Arlington (15-13, 8-5 SLC) rally to knock the Mavericks out of a tie for first place and keep pace with the Texas State Bobcats atop the Southland Conference standings with an 8-6 win on Friday night.
The Lions struck first as sophomore center fielder Cass Hargis led off with a sharp single to center on the first pitch of the ballgame. After advancing to second on a groundout, Street notched his first RBI of the game with a single to left center to make it 1-0 after one.
Southeastern extended its lead to 3-0 with a pair of runs in the third as Street picked up his second and third RBI of the contest on a two-run single scoring Hargis and freshman shortstop Justin Boudreaux.
Hargis came through for the Lions in the fourth as he notched a two-run single of his own to score freshman designated hitter Cody Gougler and sophomore first baseman Joe Sparacino to make it 5-0.
That proved to be all Boudreaux needed. The Gonzales native allowed just four hits and no walks while holding UTA scoreless through the first five frames. The Mavericks managed a run on a solo homer off the bat of Matt Otteman with two outs in the sixth to make it 5-1. However, Boudreaux induced an inning-ending groundout on the next pitch to limit the damage.
Lamar 3 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 1
BEAUMONT, Texas – With the Lamar defense committing an uncharacteristic four errors in the first three innings, it was up to freshman right-hander Eric Harrington to keep Texas A&M-Corpus Christi off the bases.
That’s exactly what he did over a 4.1-inning stretch from the end of the third through the seventh as he allowed just one of four base runners to reach second while getting three runs of support in a 3-1 win in the first game of a Southland Conference series at Vincent-Beck Stadium Friday night.
Harrington (5-0) struck out seven and scattered eight hits – but just four over his final five innings – to remain perfect on the season and lower his earned run average to 0.87 on a season-high 103 pitches. He entered the week ranked fifth nationally in ERA.
Texas A&M CC Recap
Lamar Recap
Texas State 5 at Central Arkansas 2
Conway, AK – The Texas State Bobcats scored three runs in the top of the first to pose a threat the Central Arkansas Bears just could not match and the team walked away with a 5-2 victory over the foe Friday night at the refurbished UCA Field.
The Bears dedicated its new stadium in front of a record 732 fans.
With the win, Texas State improves to 18-9 on the season and 9-4 in Southland Conference action, while UCA falls to 14-13 and 6-7, respectively. The Bobcats share the No. 1 spot with Southeastern Louisiana only after the Lions 8-6 win over UT Arlington tonight.
Texas State launched its 3-0 lead in the top of the first on a two-out rally with help from UCA’s mound. Jeremy Cloud hit Paul Goldschmidt on a full count and walked Keith Prestridge in the next at-bat. Spenser Dennis followed the offering with an RBI single through the left side to score Goldschmidt and Kyle Livingstone’s double down the left line scored the two left on for Texas State’s edge.
Texas State Recap
Central Arkansas Recap
UTSA 12 at Stephen F. Austin 8
NACOGDOCHES – UTSA jumped out to a 6-0 lead after three innings and rolled to a 12-8 victory at Stephen F. Austin on Friday afternoon to end a four-game losing streak.
The Roadrunners (16-12, 8-5 SLC) who scored in double figures for the 13th time this spring rapped out 14 hits, drew six walks and were hit by five pitches in addition to taking advantage of five Lumberjacks errors.
“We really needed this win today,” ninth-year head coach Sherman Corbett said. “Not only did we need it get a leg up in the series, but from a confidence standpoint, it allowed us to end our losing streak. We continued to swing it well on offense and I thought Red (Patterson) did a good job setting the tone on the mound early.”
Senior Aaron Powell’s two-run single with two down in the first brought home seniors Marshal Davis and Jose Hernandez with the game’s first runs. Davis’ RBI single to left a frame later pushed freshman Casey Selsor across the plate and the lead grew to three. The advantage swelled to a half dozen in the third when junior Lance Brown blooped a single to right and junior Ryan Rummel’s launched a two-run homer off the scoreboard in right center two hitters later.
UT-San Antonio Recap
Stephen F Austin Recap
