Here is your SLC recap for 03-12-10
Texas State 20 Penn State 6
Texas State scored in all but two innings, rapped out 15 hits and capitalized on as many walks issued by Penn State’s pitching staff, all leading to a 20-6 rout of the Nittany Lions Friday night at Bobcat Field.
Texas State (6-6) is set to take the series with tonight’s win, while Penn State (4-6) falls in their fifth-straight game with the loss.
Michael Russo earned his second win of the season after a six-inning stay on the mound. The senior allowed nine hits, four runs and four walks, while striking out five batters.
Travis Ballew made his Bobcat debut in relief and allowed a pair of runs off five hits in a two-inning stint. Matt Steiner closed out the victory on the hill, throwing a perfect ninth with one strikeout for his first appearance in 2010.
"We did some things early and I was pleased," said head coach Ty Harrington. "but Penn State is just as good as any team we’ve played this year. I think we saw a team that was coming off two games against Texas A&M, and that will wear anyone down." FULL STORY
#16 UCLA 11 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 3
Right-hander Gerrit Cole (4-0) struck out a career-high 15 batters through 7.2 innings, surrendering two runs (one earned) and five hits, to lead the No. 15 UCLA baseball team past Texas A&M Corpus Christi, 11-3, at the Whataburger College Classic on Friday evening.
Cole’s 15-strikeout total was the most by a UCLA pitcher since left-hander David Huff fanned 15 batters at Pacific on Feb. 18, 2006. Cole, a sophomore from Santa Ana, Calif., struck out seven consecutive hitters from the fourth through sixth innings.
UCLA improved to 11-0, the baseball program’s best start to any season in the modern era (dating to 1955). The 11-game win streak is the Bruins’ longest since securing 13 consecutive victories in 1969.
Texas A&M Corpus Christi left-hander Roy Ferdin (1-1) was tagged with the loss, surrendering eight runs and 11 hits in four innings. Islanders’ third baseman Weston Montgomery went 2-for-4 with one double and one RBI. FULL STORY
Nicholls State 9 Lamar 2
The Colonels’ bats came alive on Friday as the Nicholls State University baseball team strung together 14 hits and plated nine runs to propel the Nicholls State University baseball team (10-3, 1-0 Southland Conference) to a 9-2 win over the Lamar Cardinals (11-3, 0-1 Southland) in the Southland Conference opener for both teams on Friday night at Ray E. Didier Field.
Tristan Rogers led the way for the Colonels, going 2-for-4 with a triple and three RBI, and five more Colonels turned in multi-hit performances in Nicholls first conference victory of the season.
The victory gives Nicholls its tenth consecutive win, and continues the program’s longest winning streak since a 12-game stretch in 1986.
The Cardinals struck first with a run in the second off of Nicholls starter Jarret Dunnam. However, the Colonels rallied with three in the bottom half of the inning to take a lead they would not relinquish. FULL STORY
Northwestern State 9 McNeese State 2
Luke Irvine continued his dominance of the opposing teams on Friday after he hurled six scoreless innings and struck out a season-best 12 batters to lead Northwestern State to a 9-2 win over McNeese State in the Southland Conference baseball opener at Brown-Stroud Field.
The win was the 10th straight victory for the Demons as they improve to 10-2 overall. It’s the longest winning streak since the 2003 Demons won 10-in-a-row. McNeese (6-6) saw its brief two-game winning streak halted.
"He was pretty dominant," said NSU head coach J.P. Davis of Irvine. "And he did it the old fashioned way… the old No. 1. He was throwing his fastball all night long."
Irvine (2-0) won his second straight start and has now thrown 12.1 consecutive scoreless innings. He held the Cowboys to just four hits and walked one and was lifted after the sixth inning and 97 pitches.
Relief pitchers Trevor Geist, Mason Melatokis, Andrew Plotkin, and Dustin Northcott pitched the remaining three innings and struck out four batters, giving NSU 16 Ks on the night and just one off of the school record. FULL STORY
UT Arlington 9 Sam Houston State 6
ARLINGTON, Texas – UT Arlington’s Jason Mitchell led the Mavericks to a 9-6 victory over Sam Houston State in both teams Southland Conference opener on Friday evening at Clay Gould Ballpark.
Mitchell allowed six runs – all unearned – and the Mavericks (5-8, 1-0 SLC) committed five errors in the first three innings but also scored six in the first inning in a wild start to the conference season by both teams. Following the first three innings, the Mavericks and Bearkats combined for 13 runs, 11 hits and seven errors.
"I’m proud of Jason, he threw really well," UT Arlington head coach Darin Thomas said. "That is what a Friday-night guy does, he was up against their best pitcher and I thought he pitched really well. We didn’t play well behind him, which is evident by giving up zero earned runs. We couldn’t have asked any more from him and Logan did a great job out of the bullpen as well."
Mitchell battled through the early innings and finished with his second win of the season. He threw 128 pitches in 7.0 innings while allowing nine hits and zero earned runs with nine strikeouts and two walks. Mitchell is now 2-1 this season with a 1.33 ERA and has struck out 37 batters in 27.0 innings pitched. FULL STORY
Stephen F. Austin 2 Central Arkansas 0
The SFA pitching staff allowed just three UCA hits on the day and the offense finally got to Michael Wild late in the game for a pair of runs that proved to be just enough to give SFA a 2-0 win at Bear Stadium in the Southland Conference opener for both teams.
Wild was outstanding for the Bears (4-9, 0-1 SLC), striking out a career-high 10 hitters without a walk and allowing eight hits – all singles – to the SFA (9-4, 1-0 SLC) offense. But he had a costly error in the seventh that led to the eventual deciding run.
Overall, the SFA pitching staff has only allowed five hits over the last two games which is the least amount of hits over a two-game span for the team since the program was reinstated.
Tyler Herriage was far from sharp for the `Jacks, but he battled enough to keep the Bears at bay and make it through six innings to go to 3-0 on the season. He struck out four and walked five and allowed just one infield single, actually no-hitting UCA through five innings.
But he had plenty of help in getting the win as Ryan Priest made a pair of highlight-reel catches in left field and Cory Ochs and Jason West carried the bullpen load to finish it off. West worked around a leadoff single in the ninth to earn his third save of the season. FULL STORY
Southeastern Louisiana 10 UTSA 9
Southeastern Louisiana junior Joe Sparacino hit a pinch hit three-run home run that keyed a six-run Lion seventh inning and allowed No. 26 Southeastern Louisiana to rally from five runs down for a 10-9 win over UTSA in the Southland Conference opener for both teams Friday night at Alumni Field.
The Lions improved to 13-1 overall and 1-0 in league play. UTSA dropped to 7-5 overall and 0-1 in Southland Conference action.
Southeastern senior Chris Franklin was 3-for-4 at the plate and drove in three runs. The All-American from Oneonta, Ala. also struck out three in two innings of shutout relief to earn his fourth save of the season.
Southeastern freshman Stefan Lopez (1-0) earned his first collegiate victory. The New Iberia native struck out five and scattered three hits in 2.2 innings of work after relieving Lion junior Tyler Watkins. Taylor Walton (1-1) took the loss for the Roadrunners, allowing two unearned runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. FULL STORY
