Lamar 7 at Nicholls State 3
Lamar scored four runs in the first inning and that was all sophomore right-hander Eric Harrington needed to push the Cardinals to a 7-3 win over Nicholls at Ray Didier Field on Sunday to avoid a road sweep.
Lamar (12-4, 1-2 SLC) benefited from a shaky start by Colonel starter Brent Bonvillian. After retiring the first batter, the next six Cardinals reached base with a pair of hit batters, two walks, a single and a 3-run double off the bat of catcher Joey Latulippe that made the score 4-0.
Bonvillian (2-2) was replaced after throwing just 22 pitches and allowing four earned runs.
Nicholls put one run on the board in the bottom of the first on a Keith Kulbeth ground out but that was as close as it would get with the Cardinals adding one run in the fourth and two in the sixth.
Anthony Moore singled home Tyler Theriot in the fourth and then added a 2-run double in the sixth to put the Cardinals ahead 7-1. Moore reached base in all four of his plate appearances, going 2-for-2 and was hit twice as he pushed his team-leading RBI total to 17 with three on Sunday.
Harrington (3-0) meanwhile, remained perfect on the year as he struck out eight while scattering nine hits and three runs in a complete-game victory. He retired 16 of 18 batters from the end of the first through the sixth innings. FULL STORY
Northwestern State 16 McNeese State 6
Northwestern State centerfielder Oscar Garcia came within a single of hitting for the cycle, but despite not getting the hitter’s gem, Garcia helped spark a 10-run eighth inning, breaking a 6-6 tie, and pacing the Demons to a run-ruled, 16-6 win over McNeese State in Southland Conference baseball action on Sunday.
With the win, the Demons (11-3, 2-1 SLC) took the weekend series over the Cowboys (7-7, 1-2).
“That’s one of the craziest things I’ve seen in a game,” said Demon head coach J.P. Davis. “I’m really proud of our guys. We persevered and came through when we needed to.”
Garcia went 3-for-4 at the plate with three runs scored and five runs batted in as Tyler Baisley, Justin Martinez, and Eric DeBlanc each had two hits in the 12-hit attack for the Demons. FULL STORY
Sam Houston State 12 UT Arlington 7
Sam Houston exploded for eight runs in the first inning, then held off a determined UT-Arlington ball club to earn the Bearkats a Southland Conference baseball series victory Sunday afternoon.
Sam Houston (5-11 2-1 Southland) totaled 15 hits as the Bearkats defeated the Mavericks 12-7.
Five Bearkats posted multiple-hit games as Braeden Riley and Taylor Davis each totaled three hits and Chris Andreas, Ryan Mooney and Jared Wondra produced two. Andreas had a solo home run in the second inning.
Texas-Arlington (5-10 1-2 Southland) scored its seven runs on 12 hits. FULL STORY
Stephen F. Austin 17 Central Arkansas 2
The Lumberjacks completed a league-opening sweep of Central Arkansas on Sunday in emphatic fashion, run-ruling the Bears 17-2 in seven innings in the series finale at Bear Stadium.
SFA (11-4, 3-0 SLC) jumped on the Bears (4-11, 0-3 SLC) early with 12 runs in the first three innings, propelled by home runs from Michael Haynes, Darren Crabtree and Ryan Priest.
The sweep makes up for last year’s series in Nacogdoches when UCA came in and swept the `Jacks in the league opener. The `Jacks have now won four in a row and are now 5-1 in their only two series’ in Conway. It was also the first run-rule victory for SFA since doing so against Nicholls in consecutive games last season.
The 37 runs scored over the last two game is the most SFA has ever scored in consecutive outings while the 39 runs over the three-game series is the most ever scored by a Lumberjack team in a conference series.
With all the offense it was easy to overlook starting pitcher Justin Braddock, but the junior finished with a complete-game, three-hitter with three strikeouts and just two unearned runs allowed for his third win of the year. He did, however, issue a walk which stopped his streak at 21.2 innings on the year without giving out a free pass. FULL STORY
Southeastern Louisiana 15 UTSA 8
Freshman Chad Gough-Fortenberry highlighted a seven-run first inning with a two-run single and No. 26 Southeastern Louisiana built an 11-1 lead and held on for a 15-8 win over UTSA to complete a three-game sweep Sunday at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field.
Freshman Brock Hebert went 3-for-3 and drove in four runs while Cass Hargis added three hits and two RBI as Southeastern (15-1, 3-0 SLC) earned its first three-game sweep of UTSA (7-7, 0-3 SLC) since 2000.
Southeastern (No. 26 Collegiate Baseball) sent 12 men to the plate in the first inning as the first 10 batters reached safely. The Lions took a 1-0 lead four batters into the game when Josh Cryer hit a hard liner past UTSA third baseman Ryan Dalton that allowed Hargis to score. Justin Boudreaux scored on a passed ball for a 2-0 lead before Cody Gougler, Chris Franklin and Joe Sparacino each drew walks off UTSA starter D.D. Towler (1-2). FULL STORY
Texas State 5 Penn State 4
Shaun Garcia hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth to plate Kyle Livingstone for the game-winning run in Texas State’s 5-4 victory over the Penn State Nittany Lions Sunday afternoon. The Bobcats complete the three-game sweep with the win, and improve to 8-6 on the season.
Penn State falls to 4-8 overall in the loss, and remains behind in the all-time series with Texas State, 5-0.
A double to right center in the bottom of the third from Bret Atwood started Texas State’s first scoring frame. Kyle Livingstone followed with an infield single and a wild pitch from Steven Hill pushed the senior to second base, but gave Atwood time to score. Livingstone came home one out later on a double to right center from Jason Martinson for a 2-0 Bobcat lead.
Hill returned in the fourth and retired the side in order, and blanked the Bobcats in the fifth and sixth inning as well, allowing the Nittany Lions room to tie the game.
In the top of the third, an RBI single from Jordan Steranka gave PSU its first run, and a sacrifice fly in the fifth allowed them the first tie of the game.
A series of walks and wild pitches gave Texas State’s its next pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh, but Penn State clawed back in the top of the ninth with back-to-back singles to put the tying run on base. A groundout and single sent the Nittany pair home and the Bobcats were forced to rally in the ninth.
Livingstone drew a leadoff walk and Kyle Kubitza laid down a sacrifice bunt to put him in scoring position. Martinson followed with a base hit through the left side, and Garcia’s long sacrifice into right center pushed the go-ahead run home. FULL STORY
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 8 Mississippi State 6
