This is your SLC recap for April 16th.
#23 Southeastern Louisiana 10 Texas State 1
Junior right-hander Brandon Efferson pitched his first complete game of the season, scattering nine hits with one strikeout, and No. 23-ranked Southeastern Louisiana used a five-run eighth inning to pull away and defeat Texas State, 10-1, in a Southland Conference game Friday at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field.
Joe Sparacino went 3-for-4 with a double while Josh Cryer and Cass Hargis each hit two-run doubles as Southeastern (28-8, 11-5 SLC) moved to within one game of Texas State (20-12, 12-4 SLC) for the Southland Conference lead.
The series resumes on Saturday in a 2 p.m. contest. The game can be heard in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM (90.9) and on the internet at www.LionSports.net.
Southeastern (No. 23 USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll, No. 29 Collegiate Baseball), sent nine men to the plate in the eighth inning to pull away from a 5-1 lead. Cody Gougler drew a one-out walk off Texas State starter Carson Smith (4-3) and moved to third when Sparacino greeted Covey Morrow with a single through the right side.
Brock Hebert then hit an RBI single to left field off reliever Mitchell Pitts before Chris Franklin reached on an error by Kyle Kubitza. Pitts then fanned Trey Martin before Cryer hit a double to left field and Hargis followed with a double down the left-field line that gave the Lions a 10-1 lead. FULL STORY
Central Arkansas 7 Nicholls State 4
A strong pitching performance from senior Bobby Pritchett and a two-run home run by Michael Pair carried the University of Central Arkansas Bears to a 7-4 victory over the Nicholls Colonels on Friday night at Bear Stadium.
Pritchett, a senior from Garland, Texas, pitched six strong innings, allowing just one earned run to move into a tie for third with his 17th career victory. He struck out three to become only the second UCA pitcher to surpass the 200 strikeout mark (202).
The Bears scored single runs in both the first and second innings. Sophomore second baseman Jordan Getchell started the first with a walk and moved to second on a balk by Nicholls starter Jarret Dunnam. Michael Pair grounded out to move Getchell to third and he scored on Clay Washington’s ground out. <FULL STORY
Lamar 5 Sam Houston State 2
Matison Smith pitched a complete-game six hitter, and Andy Mena drove in three runs Friday night as Lamar University defeated Sam Houston State 5-2 in Southland Conference action.
Smith, a senior right-hander, limited the Bearkats to one hit over the first six innings in earning his sixth victory in seven decisions this season. The complete game was his third, and he struck out five while walking only one.
Biggest key to the 115-pitch outing for Smith was his ability to pitch his way of a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the seventh inning. He did so by striking out Jessie Plumlee and Daniel Nottebart in succession and then enticing Jared Wondra into a groundout to end the inning.
Mena, who is batting .411 on the season, contributed a two-run triple to the Cardinals’ three-run third inning, and he had an RBI single in the fourth, helping the lead bulge to 5-0. Leadoff hitter Anthony Moore added two hits to the Cardinals’ 10-hit attack.
Second baseman Braeden Riley of Woodville drove in the Bearkats’ first run with a single to right field in the seventh inning, and centerfielder Greg Olson accounted for the other in the next frame with a solo home run, his first of the season. FULL STORY
Stephen F. Austin 4 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 3
Tyler Herriage allowed just three runs in eight innings on the mound and Tanner Hines’ RBI single in the fifth proved to be just enough for Stephen F. Austin to edge Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 4-3, in the series opener on Friday at Jaycees Field.
Herriage tied his career-long outing with the eight frames, running his record to 6-2 for the `Jacks (22-10, 10-5 Southland) who picked up their first win at home over the Islanders (13-22, 5-11 Southland) since 2006. The junior worked around some difficult bounces in the first four innings before retiring 13 of the final 14 hitters he faced to end his afternoon with the only runner reaching base doing so on an error in the eighth inning.
Jason West threw a perfect ninth inning that included a pair of punch outs to earn his seventh save of the year.
SFA hit the ball hard all afternoon off of Islander starter Jake Liedka, who managed to only scatter nine hits in tossing only the second complete game of the season for TAMUCC in falling to 2-1 on the year.
Hines and Ryan Priest each finished with a pair of hits, with Hines’ first-inning single extending his hit streak to 21 games, which ties him with McNeese State’s Jace Peterson for the longest streak by an SLC player this season. FULL STORY
McNeese State 9 UT Arlington 4
McNeese State starting pitcher Dustin Lloyd struck out 10 UT Arlington batters to give the Cowboys a 9-4 Southland Conference win Friday night here at Cowboy Diamond.
Lloyd hurled 7.2 innings while allowing just seven hits and three earned runs in setting a season high for strikeouts for the Cowboys.
McNeese, now 20-13 and 10-6 in league pay got off to a hot start, scoring three runs in the first two innings of play, capitalizing on three Maverick errors.
“There’s no question about it that this was one of our better games all around this season,” said McNeese head coach Terry Burrows. “We got a good start from Dustin Lloyd and a great relief appearance from Jaden Dillon. We beat a great starter and we stayed with our game plan and scored runs early.”
UTA (15-20, 8-8) kept the game tight, tying the contest at three heading into the fourth inning before McNeese shortstop Jace Peterson doubled in Blake Ellender and scored a run himself. Steven Irvine singled to left field and was driven in by Seth Granger to give the Cowboys a 6-3 advantage. FULL STORY
Northwestern State 10 UTSA 0
Luke Irvine pitched seven scoreless innings and Northwestern State tacked on 18 hits as the Demons blanked Texas-San Antonio 10-0 in 8-innings on Friday night in the opening game of a Southland Conference baseball series.
The mercy-rule win was the first for the Demons (23-10, 10-5 SLC) over the Roadrunners (13-19, 4-12) since the two teams started competing against each other as conference rivals. The win also moved the Demons to within 1.5 games of first place Texas State after the Bobcats lost 10-1 to Southeastern Louisiana on Friday.
“We played a complete game tonight,” said Demon head coach J.P. Davis. “You can’t ask for anything more offensively with 18 hits and 10 runs.”
Seven players in the Demon lineup had multiple hits while putting up two runs in five innings in the game.
Eric DeBlanc, Oscar Garcia, and Adam Roy each had three hits with Roy leading the team with four RBIs. He belted his second home run of the season, a two-run homer, in the third inning to put the Demons up 4-0.
Aside from the offensive attack, Irvine settled in nicely to run his record to 4-2 after he allowed just two hits with nine strikeouts and throwing 105 pitches. He lowered his ERA to 2.05 for the season. He gave up a lead-off double to start the game, then didn’t allow another hit until there was one out in the sixth. FULL STORY
