Nicholls Riding Longest Win Streak in 24 Years
Nicholls 7, LSU-Alexandria 0
THIBODAUX - Designated hitter Adam Miley launched a pair of two-run homers and four Nicholls pitchers combined for a one-hit shutout of LSU-Alexandria lead the Colonels to a 7-0 win and their ninth consecutive win, its longest winning streak in 24 seasons on Tuesday night.
The Colonels (9-3) sent lefty Ryan Cooper to the mound to start things off. Cooper got Nicholls off on the right foot by locking up the LSU-Alexandria lineup in his five innings of work. Cooper retired 15 of the 17 batters he faced, allowing just one hit and one walk, while keeping the Generals off the board.
Cooper gave way to Cullen Babin in the sixth, and the Nicholls bullpen picked up where Cooper left off. Babin retired all six batters he faced and recorded three strikeouts in his two perfect innings. Brian Arceneaux pitched a perfect eighth while striking out two, and Brad Delatte pitched around a one-out walk to deliver one inning of hitless, scoreless relief to finish things off.
With the Nicholls pitching staff taking care of business on the hill, the Colonel lineup got to work in the third. Left fielder Mike Barba legged out an infield hit to lead things off before advancing to second on a wild pitch. The Colonel outfielder tagged and advanced to third on a fly-out to center by Kasey Culverson, before taking home when LSU-Alexandria center fielder Logan Crow's throw to third went wide, allowing Barba to plate the first run of the game and stake Nicholls to a 1-0 lead after three.
After Blake Bergeron delivered a one-out single in the fourth, Miley delivered his first two-run homer of the game to make it 3-0 after four. Nicholls added one each in the fifth (on an RBI double by Bear Comer) and the sixth (on a Tristan Rogers sacrifice fly) before Miley notched his second two-run shot of the day to make it 7-0 after eight.
With Tuesday's win, the Colonels have won nine straight contests since opening the season with a three-game sweep at the hands of Louisiana-Lafayette. Nicholls nine-game stretch is their longest winning streak since winning 12-in-a-row in 1986.
Nicholls will try for their tenth consecutive win when they open Southland Conference play on Friday against Lamar. Friday's contest at Ray E. Didier Field opens a three-game set against the Cardinals. First pitch for the series opener is set for 6 p.m. Game two is set for a 3 p.m. first pitch on Saturday, and Sunday's finale is set to get underway at 1 p.m.
Stephen F. Austin 7, UALR 3
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - The Stephen F. Austin offense exploded for 12 hits, including six doubles, and the pitching staff struck out 11 and allowed just two hits to UALR as the 'Jacks stopped a two-game skid with a 7-3 win on Tuesday at Gary Hogan Field.
The two hits allowed is the least allowed by the 'Jacks in a game since Lance Luetge tossed a two-hitter at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in 2007
Zack Taylor picked up the win for the 'Jacks (8-4), the first of his career, with 5.1 innings of work. He only allowed two hits and struck out eight, a career high, while walking four. Cory Ochs continued to be a pleasant surprise as well as he retired all eight hitters he faced in 2.2 innings of scoreless relief with three strikeouts.
Ryan Juris was handed his first loss of the season for UALR (10-3) after allowing six runs on 10 hits in just 4.1 innings after entering with a 2-0 record and 3.46 ERA in two starts.
Taylor managed to strike out the side in the first, but not before UALR managed to take advantage of a hit batter and three walks for a pair of runs and an early 2-0 lead on RBI from Tyson Parks and Casey McCollum. But to Taylor's credit, he got both Landis Wilson and Tyler Cameron to strike out with the bases loaded to minimize the damage.
SFA then answered in the second with four runs off of Juris. Bo Coffman started the rally with the first of his two hits on the night, a sure single up the middle, and after moving up on a passed ball he came in to score on an RBI single from Patrick Gratzke. Then following a double from Riley Huble, Michael Haynes delivered the big blow of the inning with a two-run double to left-center field. Tanner Hines added a two-out RBI single two batters later and the 'Jacks made it out of the second with a 4-2 lead.
From there Taylor put it on cruise control, retiring the next 11 Trojans in order before SFA got back on the board again in the top of the fifth on three straight doubles. The first came from Hines with one out and one batter later Crabtree brought him home by just missing his second home run of the season on a shot to right-center. Instead he ended up on second where Bobby Loveless brought him home one pitch later on another two-bagger into the right-field corner.
UALR then finally cracked the scoring column again in the sixth to make it 6-3, but not without the aid of SFA. Taylor hit a pair in the inning allowed just one hit in loading the bases before Cory Ochs came in to get a pair of grounders to get out of the inning, including an RBI fielder's choice by pinch hitter Tim Emmons.
Coffman got the run back for SFA in the eighth with his first homer of the season, a solo shot off of reliever Travis Henke that pushed the margin back to four runs as 7-3.
The pitching staff then carried the rest of the load with Ochs making it through the eighth and Jason West pitching a scoreless ninth to close it out.
SFA next opens up conference play on Friday when it travels to Central Arkansas for a 6 p.m. start.
Southeastern Louisiana 12, Southern 1
BATON ROUGE, La. - No. 26 Southeastern Louisiana got out to an early 5-0 advantage and never surrendered the lead, winning 8-5 win over Southern at Lee-Hines Field. The win moves the Lions to 12-1 on the season entering this weekend's conference opener.
Pitcher Jordan Hymel (2-0) earned the win in his first collegiate start. He pitched five innings, allowing three runs on seven hits and striking out two Jaguars. Josh Janway picked up his third save, striking out one while holding Southern hitless and scoreless in the final frame.
Southeastern scored three runs in the top of the first. With one out, Jeff Harkensee delivered a double to bring home Justin Boudreaux, who had been hit by a Chase Richard pitch. Three batters later, working with two gone, Philip Freeman smacked a single to left, scoring Harkensee and Cody Gougler.
The visitors extended their lead in the top of the third. Cass Hargis started the frame with a single to center. Boudreaux followed that with a home run to left, his second of the season, which made the score 5-0 Southeastern.
Southern was able to shrink the deficit over the next couple of innings. David Nolting delivered a two-run homer in the bottom of the fourth, and then Demario Ellis provided a solo long ball in the fifth.
Josh Cryer put the Lions on the scoreboard again in the top of sixth with a solo home run over the wall in left center, his first of the year.
The Jaguars countered with two runs in the bottom of the sixth. With reliever Justin Schneider on the bump, Frazier Hall singled and Curtis Wilson doubled to begin the inning. Both came home on consecutive wild pitches, pulling the Jaguars within one, 6-5. Southern had a chance pull even, but Southeastern was able to pull an unconventional double play. Diomedes Gonzales grounded to third baseman Chris Franklin, who threw home to retire David Nolting, then catcher Chad Gough-Fortenberry rifled one to second baseman Brock Hebert, who applied a tag on Gregory Whitfield. Demario Ellis proceeded to pop out to end the threat.
Southeastern added two insurance runs in the top of the ninth, both coming with two men out. Boudreaux completed a fantastic night at the plate with a double to left center, scoring Hargis. Harkensee followed that up with a two bagger of his own, allowing Boudreaux to come around.
The Lions open Southland Conference action Friday, playing the first of three home games against UTSA.
Lamar 16, Prairie View 1
BEAUMONT, Texas - Anthony Moore and Aaron Buchanan, the Nos. 1 and 2 hitters in Lamar lineup, rapped out three hits each Tuesday night in leading the Cardinals to a 16-1 romp over Prairie View.
Moore led off the game with a triple down the right field, and he later added a single to the Cardinals' seven-run, seven-hit inning. The senior centerfielder from Cedar Hill also drove a two-run triple into the gap in right centerfield to highlight the Cardinals' five-run second inning.
Buchanan, a junior second baseman from Houston Klein Forest High School, also had two hits - a double and a single -- in the first inning. He added another single in the second inning, and he finished his night's work with a game-high four runs batted in.
In improving to 10-2 on the season, the Cardinals enjoyed a season high for runs scored, and they collected 14 hits, including seven that went for extra bases.
Starting pitcher Garrett Steward, who worked the first three innings, picked up his first victory of the season. He yielded four hits, struck out two batters and walked two.
Relief pitchers Miller Aldrich and Taylor McGinnis held the Panthers hitless over the final four innings, combining for seven strikeouts without issuing a base on balls.
Prairie View starter Robert Ponce, who failed to record an out, absorbed his first loss of the season. The Panthers, who scored their lone run in the sixth inning, fell to 2-7 on the season.
Weather permitting, the teams will complete their two-game series with a 3 p.m. game Wednesday in Vincent-Beck Stadium.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 14, Texas-Brownsville 5
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - Texas A&M-Corpus Christi trailed for the first three and a half innings before the bats came alive against Texas-Brownsville on Tuesday at Chapman Field. In the bottom of the fourth inning after the first two hitters reached Omar Garcia laced a single that put the Islanders on top to stay.
Starter Jake Liedka allowed three first inning runs after allowing the first two runners to reach. Matt Ginn put the Scorpions on top early on a two-run double. In the bottom half of the first, Cory Ege connected for a home run for a second consecutive Tuesday. Chris Vergne with one out in the first cut the deficit to 3-2 with a homer to right field.
Liedka, settled down during his next four innings keeping the UT-Brownsville bats salient striking out five in five innings of work. TAMUCC broke open the game in the bottom of the sixth innings when they put six on the score board to extend the advantage to 9-3.
The first three hitters in the sixth reached base, Ege added to the lead with a single through the left side of the infield. Garcia cleaned off the bases with a three-run triple putting the Islanders up 7-3. A&M-Corpus Christi added two more in the frame to go up 9-3.
Highlighting the scoring in the bottom of the seventh was a long three-run home run by Vergne that extended the lead to 12-3, which gave the starting left fielder a game-high five RBI.
In the bottom of the eighth, two more runs crossed the plate for the Islanders to close the scoring for the team. The top of the line-up went a 7-for-14 with three home runs and driving in 12 runs.
Brandon Orr, Trenton Irwin and Weston Montgomery in relief combined to hold Brownsville to two runs over four innings of work.
"I am glad to see Liedka bounce back after the first inning. It took us a while to get going offensively but once we did we did a good job of spreading it out in the line-up," said head coach Scott Malone. "Our bullpen helped up out until we really got going and the top of the line-up continues to stay hot which they'll have to continue to do this weekend for us also."
Eight batters recorded at least one hit for A&M-Corpus Christi in the 14-5 victory.
Next up for the Islanders will be the Whataburger College Classic against UCLA of the Pacific 10 conference. First pitch is schedule for 6 p.m. at Whataburger Field on Friday night.
No. 3 Texas 4, Texas State 3
AUSTIN, Texas - Carson Smith held his own Tuesday night on the big stage of UFCU Disch-Falk Field, and threw for seven innings holding the third-ranked Texas Longhorns to a single run and recording a career-high eight strikeouts. However, the all-around effort from Texas State was just short of a win at the park, and the team dropped a 4-3 decision to Texas.
"Carson wanted the ball tonight and he wanted to be on this stage taking care of the game," Texas State coach Ty Harrington said. "He did that. He performed, very well if I might add, for 27 outs."
The Longhorns made it a very hard game to win in the bottom of the eighth inning when back-to-back singles off Bobcat reliever Pitts put the tying run on base. A fielder's choice bunt dappled to the mound gave the sophomore a chance a third to catch the lead runner, and Kyle Kubitza was there for the tag to erase the early threat.
But Texas State got in a bind when a walk issued to Kevin Keyes loaded the bases and an RBI fielder's choice trimmed the lead 3-2. Texas freshman Paul Montalbano proved to be the end all for the Bobcats, as he laced a single to shallow centerfield to score two runs, and eventually the win for Texas, 4-3.
"When you play here, it seems like the whole world is watching," Harrington said. "I admire (Smith) for everything he did, Mitchell (Pitts), Garret (Carruth) and (Jeff) McVaney on the mound." "It is extremely hard to win on this field, and Texas played a great game."
Texas State held its 2-0 edge through three innings after breaking through in the top of the fourth inning. Bret Atwood led off with a base hit to left field and stole second base when the Longhorns were occupied after striking out Kubitza. Livingstone came behind and laced a single through the left side to push Atwood home, and the senior came home shortly thereafter, stealing second base and rounding the diamond on towering double to the left-center warning track from Jason Martinson.
Texas scored its first run after a six-inning silence on an RBI double from Kevin Lusson. The Longhorns tried match the Bobcats tally in the bottom of the seventh when Lusson was on the scoring corner and an attempted sacrifice bunt was pushed down the first base line with just enough speed for Livingstone to go home and end the threat.
The Bobcat went ahead 3-1 in the top of the eighth on a double from freshman Daniel Neumann. A groundout shifted him to third base, and the freshman scored on a passed ball.
Carruth was handed the loss, going 1/3 of an inning and allowing a single run and two walks.
Andrew McKirahan was credited with the win for Texas after a perfect 1/3 of an inning. Chance Ruffin was credited with the save.
The Bobcats return to the field this Friday night when they play host to Penn State in a three-game series. First pitch against the Nittany Lions is set for 6:30 p.m. on opening night. Saturday's game is set for 2 p.m. and the series will close Sunday at 11 a.m.
No. 7 TCU 15, UT Arlington 2
ARLINGTON, Texas - UT Arlington All-American Michael Choice launched his fifth home run of the season in a 15-2 losing effort on Tuesday against No. 7 TCU at Clay Gould Ballpark. The Mavericks (4-7) trailed 5-2 going into the seventh inning before the Horned Frogs (9-2) scored eight runs and sent 13 batters to the plate in the inning.
UT Arlington starter Mark Picca (0-1) took the loss despite striking out a career-high eight batters in 5.2 innings pitched. TCU junior Greg Holle (1-0) won his first game of the season pitching 5.0 innings and striking out a career-high seven batters.
The Mavericks bullpen allowed 10 runs (nine earned) and six base hits with four walks in 3.1 innings while the TCU bullpen used four pitchers in the final four frames who combined allowed four hits and two walks without giving up a run.
Choice finished the game going 1-for-4 with two RBI, which includes his two-run, towering home run in the bottom of the first inning. Choice moved into fifth place on the Mavericks all-time career home run list with his 23rd career home run.
Cody Dyvig, who entered the game as a pinch hitter in the seventh, went 2-for-2 with a single up the middle and an infield hit to lead UTA at the plate. Daniel Jordan (1-for-4) and Jordan Vaughn (1-for-3) also tallied hits for the Mavs.
In addition, Steffan Guest went 1-for-4 with a single up the middle in the sixth inning to extend his career-high hit streak to 12 games.
No. 9 Rice 8, Sam Houston State 1
HOUSTON, Texas - Designated hitter Chris Andreas went 2-for-3 and produced the Bearkats' only run with a single in the sixth inning as No. 9 Rice defeated Sam Houston 8-1 in a non-conference baseball game Tuesday night.
The contest was played before 2,668 fans at Reckling Park where the two teams met in last year's NCAA Regional first round.
Catcher Craig Manuel and center fielder Steven Sultzbaugh each went 2-of-3 with run-scoring doubles to lead Rice (8-4). Manuel's two-run double followed by Sultzbaugh's run-scoring two bagger sparked a five run second inning for the Owls.
Sam Houston (3-10) totaled seven hits while Rice produced nine. Anthony Fazio (2-1) was the winning pitcher, limiting Sam Houston to three hits in five and two thirds innings. He struck out four Bearkats.
Andrew Massey (1-2) was the losing pitcher for Sam Houston as the Bearkats' starter. Justin Jackson, Jacob McMurtry, Will Murray and Michael Burchett each pitched in relief.
Sam Houston begins Southland Conference play Friday as the Kats take on UT-Arlington in a three-game road series.
The Bearkats return home one week later to host a league series with Texas State at Don Sanders Stadium.
No. 21 Wichita State 14, Central Arkansas 1
WICHITA, Kan. - No. 21 Wichita State hit two home runs in the first three innings and rolled to a 14-2 victory over Central Arkansas in non-conference baseball action on Tuesday at Eck Stadium.
The Shockers (8-1) scored three runs in the first inning, five more in the third and made it 11-0 after four innings. UCA (4-7) finally got on the board with a single run in the sixth when junior second baseman Kyle Prevett doubled down the left-field line and scored on Ethan Harris' ground out. They added another run in the top of the ninth on Clay Washington's RBI single that scored Harris.
UCA starter Reece Cross, who beat the Shockers in the only other meeting between the teams back in 2008, allowed seven hits and six earned runs in lasting only two innings. Freshman Tyler Hardin replaced him and went 1 1/3 innings, allowing five earned runs. Senior Jeremy Brewer went the final 4.2 innings and struck out a career-high eight while walking four.
The Bears were held to three hits, two by Prevett and another by sophomore left fielder Jordan Getchell. The Shockers had 17 hits, with right fielder Ryan Jones going 3-for-3 with five RBI. Jones, Tyler Grimes and Eric Harbutz all had home runs for Wichita State. Grimes and Harbutz both had three RBI.
Shockers' starter Josh Smith struck out seven and allowed one earned run in six innings for the win.