Sam Houston State Wins Own Invitational with Wins over Nebraska, Northern Colorado
Sam Houston State 10, Nebraska 9
Sam Houston State 12, Northern Colorado 11
HUNTSVILLE, Texas - Sam Houston State opened Sunday with a 10-9 victory over Nebraska and then beat Northern Colorado 12-11 in the nightcap to go 4-0 in the Bearkat Baseball Invitational at Don Sanders Stadium.
First baseman Chris Andreas went 3-for-4, batted in six runs and hit two home runs including a grand slam to lead Sam Houston to a 10-9 victory over Nebraska on the final day of the tournament.
Bearkat shortstop Braeden Riley doubled and, with two outs, first baseman Daniel Nottebart hit a high fly to left field that the Cornhusker defender lost in the sun. The ball dropped in for a walk-off RBI single.
Riley went 3-for-6 at the plate with an RBI and third baseman Ryan Mooney had a 2-for-3 day as Sam Houston totaled 15 hits in the victory.
Michael Burchett was the winning pitcher for Sam Houston in relief. Burchett struck out five batters pitching the final three innings. Brandon Kimbrel started for Sam Houston, pitching four and two thirds innings. Paul Spinn and Michael Oros saw action in relief.
Then in the second game, the Bearkats went 11 innings to defeat Northern Colorado 12-11 and go 4-0 for the tournament.
Andreas' grand slam put the Bearkats up 9-7 in a five-run sixth inning against Nebraska. But the Cornhuskers knotted the contest 9-9 with a pair of scores in the top of the ninth.
Shortstop Braeden Riley doubled and, with two outs, first baseman Daniel Nottebart hit a high fly to left field that the Cornhusker defender lost in the sun. The ball dropped in for a walk-off RBI single.
Michael Burchett was the winning pitcher for Sam Houston in relief. Burchett struck out five batters pitching the final three innings. Brandon Kimbrel started for Sam Houston, pitching four and two thirds innings. Paul Spinn and Michael Oros saw action in relief.
A second fly ball lost in the sun played a big role in the Bearkats' second victory of the day.
Down five runs in the top of the ninth, the Bearkats scored five to tie the score. Before the rally, Northern Colorado lost a pop fly in the sun that would have been the third out.
Tyler Jones' run-scoring single in the top of the 11th was the game-winning hit
Sam Houston totaled 14 hits in the 12-11 victory over the Bears to end the tournament 4-0 and 6-2 for the season.
Centerfielder Mark Hudson led the Kats in the second game, going 4-for-6 at the plate with three RBI. Catched Doug Oney had a home run.
Caleb Smith was the winning pitcher in relief. Michael Burchett picked up his second save of the season.
Southeastern Louisiana 6, South Alabama 4
MOBILE, Ala. - Brock Hebert broke a 4-4 tie in the eighth inning with an RBI single and Southeastern Louisiana rallied from a pair of three-run deficits to defeat South Alabama 6-4 to claim the 26th annual South Alabama Classic on Sunday at Stanky Field.
Stefan Lopez pitched the final two innings to record his second save in as many days as Southeastern (6-1) won for the fifth straight time and claimed the three-day tournament for the first time since 1998 when it beat Northwestern, Wichita State and South Alabama (5-2).
Southeastern trailed 3-0 after two innings before beginning its rally against the host Jaguars. Hebert, who finished 2-for-4 at the plate, was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning before moving to second on a sacrifice bunt by Trey Martin and a passed ball by South Alabama catcher Brent Tanner.
Cass Hargis, who led Southeastern at the plate going 3-for-5, followed with a single to drive in Hebert and cutting South Alabama's lead to 3-1.
South Alabama took a 4-1 lead in the sixth when Brad Hook drove in Nolan Earley with a sacrifice fly.
The Lions added a run when Martin scored on a double by Jonathan Pace before cutting the lead to 4-3 in the seventh when Hargis led off with a double and scored on an RBI grounder by Justin Boudreaux, who was named the tournament's most valuable player.
Cody Gougler led off the eighth inning when he was hit by a pitch by South Alabama starter Dustin Crenshaw and moved to third when Josh Cryer greeted Jaguar reliever Jake LeBlanc (0-1) with a double down the left field line. Pinch-hitter Britt Gautreaux then hit an RBI grounder that scored Gougler and Hebert followed with a single to left to give the Lions their first lead of the game.
Southeastern added an insurance run in the ninth as it capitalized on one of four South Alabama errors. Pace led off the frame with a single to center and scored all the way from first when a one-out single by Jeff Harkensee got past South Alabama center-fielder Taylor White for a three-base error.
Tyler Watkins pitched six innings for Southeastern, scattering 10 hits and striking out three. True freshman Dylan Hills (1-0) earned his first collegiate victory for the Lions after facing one batter in the seventh.
Lopez, who pitched the final 2.2 innings against UCF on Saturday to earn his first save of the year, held the Jaguars hitless over the final two innings while recording a strikeout.
Southeastern will return to action on Tuesday when it visits nationally-ranked LSU in a 6:30 p.m. game at Alex Box Stadium.
Central Arkansas 3, Eastern Illinois 2
CONWAY, Ark. - Junior pitcher Ryan Angus struck out 10 and threw a complete game to lead the Central Arkansas baseball team to a 3-2 victory over Eastern Illinois at Bear Stadium on Sunday afternoon. With series sweep, the Bears moved to 6-0 on the season, one win away from tying the best start in program history (2006, 1927). The Panthers fell to 0-6 on the year.
Senior catcher Michael Pair led off the bottom of the first with a double and scored on a base hit by third baseman Bryan Willson. Eastern Illinois tied it in the second when third baseman Ryan Dineen drew a walk and scored on a single by shortstop Cam Strang.
Jake Samuels led the top of the fourth off with a double and later scored on a ground ball Dineen to give the Panthers a 2-1 lead. In the bottom of the frame, senior left fielder Matt Bauer singled and junior center fielder Jordan Getchell walked. Both runners moved up a base on a balk by Eastern Illinois starter Christian Slazinik. Pair followed with a blooper down the right field line to give the Bears the 3-2 advantage.
Angus (1-0), making his first start at UCA, allowed six hits and three walks to go with his 10 strikeouts. Slazinik (0-2) allowed five hits, five walks and all three runs while fanning two in four innings for the loss.
Pair led the UCA offense with two hits and two RBI. Left fielder Ben Thoma recorded two hits for Eastern Illinois.
The Bears will play their first road games of the season at Southeast Missouri State on Tuesday and Wednesday. Both games will begin at 2 p.m.
Lamar 5, North Dakota State 4 (11 innings)
BEAUMONT, Texas - Lamar's four-game series with North Dakota State came to a rather bizarre end Sunday afternoon when a pitch from Bison reliever Luke Anderson hit home plate and bounded high over the protective screen and landed in the Vincent-Beck Stadium box seats.
The freakish miscue allowed Kevin Roebuck to race in from third base and score the decisive run in the Cardinals' 5-4, 11-inning victory to give them the series sweep and extend their winning streak to five games.
Roebuck led off the Cardinals' half of the 11th inning by grounding a single past Bison third baseman Jay Hartman and into left field. First baseman Wade Mathis sacrificed Roebuck to second base, and he went to third moments later when Jude Vidrine flew out to centerfield.
"I've seen a few games end in similar fashion but only because I've been around a long, long time," Lamar coach Jim Gilligan said. "The ball didn't really need to go into the stands, because Kevin had a good jump on it. When he saw the pitch was going to be in the dirt, he was off to the races."
The Cardinals' third consecutive one-run victory and fourth of the season puts them at 6-3 going into a Tuesday afternoon home game against Texas Southern University. The loss dropped North Dakota State to 0-7 on the season.
Freshman left-hander Cody Laird, the fourth pitcher used by Gilligan in the game, picked up his first collegiate victory. He worked 2.1 innings of hitless relief, striking out one batter and not walking anyone.
Lamar starter Eric Harrington, a junior right-hander from Port Neches-Groves, opened the game in impressive fashion by recording three strikeouts each in the first two innings. He went on to run his strikeout total to a career-high 11 but exited in favor of reliever Jeff Abt after allowing nine hits and three Bison runs over five innings.
The Cardinals took the initial lead with a first-inning run and added two more in the second, but the Bison scratched their way back to tie the score with two third-inning runs and another in the fifth.
Ted Zentek's RBI single to right field enabled the Cardinals to retake the lead at 4-3 in the seventh inning, but the Bison retied it by scoring an unearned run in the top of the ninth when Lamar committed two costly errors.
The Bison outhit the Cardinals 12-8 and had the game's only extrabase hit, a double by left fielder Nick Colwell, who went 3-for-5. Roebuck, shortstop Aaron Buchanan and second baseman Andy Mena had two hits each for the Cardinals.
Stephen F. Austin 16, New Orleans 7
NATCHITOCHES, La. - Stephen F. Austin erupted for 16 runs and set a school record with nine stolen bases in picking up a 16-7 win over New Orleans in the finale of the Northwestern State Invitational on Sunday at Brown-Stroud Field.
Junior Jarid Scarafiotti finished with a homer and four RBI and outfielder Bryson Myles scored four runs and tied a school single-game record with four stolen bases to help out SFA (4-4) starter Justin Braddock, who earned his first win of the season after allowing just two runs - one earned - in five innings of work.
The Lumberjacks were also the beneficiaries of seven Privateer (1-6) errors, the most errors committed by an SFA opponent since the school returned to baseball for the 2006 season, but still accounted for nine of the 16 runs as earned.
Scarafiotti and Myles were not the only Lumberjacks who swung the bats well as six SFA hitters picked up at least one RBI while eight hitters picked up at least one hit. On the mound the Lumberjacks took the opportunity to use its bullpen as four relievers threw an inning apiece over the final four frames, allowing just one earned run to the Privateer offense.
New Orleans starter Garrett Manning took the loss for the Privateers after allowing six runs in just two innings of work.
SFA got three runs in its first at bat, but did not use a single hit to get the job done. Instead, it only took Myles two pitches after drawing a leadoff walk to come around to score, stealing both second and third before coming home on a throwing error on his second steal attempt to put SFA up 1-0. Manning then walked and hit the next two Lumberjack hitters before Jackson Hood delivered an RBI groundout and Justin McAninch hit a sacrifice fly to plate two more.
Myles' legs started another rally with two outs one inning later, bunting for a single and scoring on a Privateer throwing error after a single from Garrett Smith. One batter later, Scarafiotti took Manning over the left-center field fence for his first homer of the year to put the 'Jacks up 6-0.
New Orleans finally pushed across a pair of runs in the top of the fourth, but it didn't take long for the Lumberjacks to answer with two runs of their own on an RBI single from Smith and a run-scoring groundout from Darren Crabtree before McAninch added on his second RBI of the day on a base knock to give the Lumberjacks a 9-2 advantage.
SFA added another run on a New Orleans throwing error in the fifth before exploding in the sixth with the Lumberjacks getting all their runs with two outs. Bryce Cummings delivered the first RBI hit before another Privateer error plated another run. A bases-loaded walk from Smith got another across in front of Scarafiotti who shot a single to center field to plate two. Crabtree followed that up with an RBI single of his own for his second RBI of the day.
The Privateers put up three runs in the final two innings, but the Lumberjacks had plenty of cushion to work with as Cory Ochs, Landon Kozeny, Chase Wier and Colton Eubanks all made their first appearances of the weekend.
The Lumberjacks next return home to open up a stretch of eight of its next 10 games at home, beginning Tuesday against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
UTSA 5, Saint Joseph's 1
SAN ANTONIO, Texas - Freshman left-handed pitcher Michael Kraft kept Saint Joseph's in check for 6.2 innings, allowing one unearned run, as UTSA won the series finale Sunday with a 5-1 decision at Wolff Stadium.
Senior Tyler Carpenter and sophomore Jake Wood each recorded 2-for-4 games with a pair of RBI.
Kraft allowed his lone run in the first inning. Brett Tiagwad led off the game for the Hawks (4-4) with a single to right field. Kraft attempted a pick-off throw which sailed down the right field line, allowing Tiagwad to move to second. After advancing on a wild pitch, Tiagwad scored on a sacrifice fly.
From there, the San Antonio native settled in on the mound. He scattered three hits during the contest and struck out four to move to 1-0 on the season.
After sophomore Daniel Rockett led off the fourth inning by drawing a walk, the Roadrunners (4-4) tied together three consecutive hits which turned into a pair of runs.
UTSA added three insurance runs in the eighth, including a two-run triple by Carpenter. Wood also recorded an RBI single in the frame.
The Roadrunners received stellar relief pitching in the late innings.
Freshman Blake Denman came on in relief of Kraft in the seventh. He needed just one pitch to get out of the inning, forcing a ground ball and stranded a runner. The Bellaire native logged 1.1 innings without allowing a hit or a run and fanning a batter. Senior Zach Calhoon closed out the game by pitching a perfect ninth inning.
UTSA will continue its home stand at Wolff Stadium Monday at noon against Oregon State (3-3).
Texas State 12, Akron 2
SAN MARCOS, Texas - A grand slam and four hits led to a seven-run seventh inning for the Bobcats to give them a series sweep against Akron, 12-2, Sunday at Bobcat Ballpark.
Lee Colon (1-0) led the Bobcats to victory while Zach Yike (0-2) took the loss.
Akron's James Sheltrown began the game for the Zips hitting a line drive to deep right field for a double. One batter later, Sheltrown was unable to advance with Isaac Nuti throwing to Kyle Kubitza at third for the fielder's choice. Colon followed with two strikeouts to end the first half of the inning.
Through two innings of play, a pitcher's duel occurred between Colon and Yike. Both pitchers had four strikeouts after being on the mound twice with Colon allowing two hits and Yike one.
In his fourth at bat of the season, catcher Andrew Lacombe sent the ball down the left field line for a double, landing on second base for his first hit of the season. Lacombe advanced to third after Clint Vest grounded out to first base for a fielder's choice. Lacombe scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the third when Joey Fuda flied out to right field for his third RBI of the young season.
Akron began the fourth inning putting a runner in scoring position when shortstop Sam Watkins sent a line drive to the left field wall for a stand-up double. Watkins scored when a grounder to third took an odd bounce to get past Kubitza to tie the game, 1-1. The Bobcats ended the top of the fourth inning with a 5-4-3 double play to escape the inning.
The Bobcats regained the lead in the bottom half of the inning when Jeff McVaney hit a lead-off double to deep center field. Casey Kalenkosky followed McVaney's double with his third homerun of the season past the center field wall to give Texas State a 3-1 advantage.
In the bottom of the fifth, Akron changed pitchers with Jon Pusateri getting the call to replace Yike after he pitched four innings allowing seven hits, three runs and striking out six.
Kalenkosky began the bottom of the sixth with a stand-up double to the right field wall for his second hit of the game. Kalenkosky advanced to third on Andrew Stumph's grounder to second base and scored when Nuti hit a sacrifice fly to center field to give the Bobcats a 4-1 lead.
A wild pitch gave the Bobcats another run in the sixth, scoring Lacombe and advancing Vest to third.
Junior pitcher Dylan Adamek made his Bobcat debut in the top of the seventh after Colon gave up six hits, one run and two walks in addition to five strikeouts.
Akron's Drew Turocy homered with two outs to left field in the seventh, shrinking the lead to three at 5-2. Brandon White and Sam Trecaso kept the Zips going each with singles but a grounder to Nuti ended the inning for Akron with a force out at second.
Kubitza got the Bobcats going in the bottom of the seventh with a walk followed by McVaney's high bouncer through the hole into left field. Kalenkosky then offered the sacrifice bunt to advance both runners into scoring position. An intentional walk to pinch hitter Cody Gambill gave the Bobcats bases loaded with Isaac Nuti coming to the plate.
After Nuti was hit in the elbow with the first pitch, he was called back to the plate after the umpire ruled he did not attempt to avoid the throw. Nuti sent the next pitch he saw deep past the left field wall for a grand slam and a 9-2 score.
The seventh-inning rally continued with a walk for Lacombe followed by Vest reaching on an error by Akron's third baseman Jason Corzine. A double by Fuda gave the Bobcats a 10-2 lead. The Bobcats run ruled the Zips when Corey Falvey singled home two runs, scoring Vest and Fuda for a 12-2 win.
The Bobcats (5-2) will travel to Waco on Tuesday, March 1 for their first away game of the season to take on Baylor (3-3) with a 4 p.m. start.
Connecticut 7, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 0
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - Three pitchers combined for a five-hit shutout as No. 14 Connecticut knocked off the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi baseball team 7-0 on Sunday in the finale of the Kleberg Bank College Classic at Whataburger Field. Trey Hernandez had two hits, including his third double of the tournament, in a losing effort.
Justin Meza collected the loss for the Islanders despite a strong performance on the mound. The freshman went five innings, allowing five hits and two walks with eight punchouts. Two of the three runs he surrendered were earned. He was out-dueled by Connecticut's Greg Nappo, who scattered three hits and two walks to go with seven punch outs in six innings.
George Springer hit a three-run homer and drove in four in the contest, while Mike Friel and Nick Ahmed each added two hits for the Huskies. The Islanders got solo base knocks from Drew Vest, Matt Holland and Santiago Ruiz. Ian Campbell pitched 1.2 shutout innings out of the pen, while Adam Hoelscher allowed just one unearned run in two innings.
Early on, both teams put zeroes on the board, with Meza and Nappo each posting impressive performances out of the gate. The Huskies cracked the scoreboard first, scraping across a run in the top of the third. With the bases loaded and two down, Springer drew a walk to force in the opening tally of the game to make it 1-0.
Then in the fourth, UConn pushed another two across. The leadoff man drew a walk and stole second, and after two Meza punchouts, John Andreoli rapped a single to center to make it 2-0. Friel then struck out, but reached on a passed ball, and Ahmed singled home Andreoli for a 3-0 Husky lead.
Then Springer delivered the biggest blow of the game against reliever Roy Ferdin. With two on and one-out, the preseason All-American ripped a pitch just over the wall in left center to make it 6-0 in favor of the visitors.
Meanwhile, Nappo continued to cruise, retiring 10 straight batters at one point. In both the fifth and sixth, the Islanders got a pair of base runners aboard with two down, but in both cases, the Husky hurler was able to dance his way out of danger after well hit balls found their way into the gloves of opposing fielders. UConn tacked on an insurance run in the top of the ninth to make it 7-0.
The Islanders placed two players on the All-Tournament Team, as Sean Washington (outfield) and Holland (DH) were both honored by members of the media. Oregon State's Parker Berberet was named the Tournament MVP.
A&M-Corpus Christi returns to action on Tuesday, with a doubleheader at Houston Baptist. First pitch of the double dip is scheduled for noon.
Louisiana Tech 11, McNeese State 10
LAKE CHARLES, La. - McNeese State and Louisiana Tech played their third consecutive one-run game with the Bulldogs taking an 11-10 victory on Sunday.
McNeese had won the opener of the series by a 7-6 score on Friday and Tech had come back on Saturday for a 7-6 win in 11 innings.
In Sunday's finale, the Bulldogs, now 6-1 on the season, scored single runs in the first and third innings and three in the fourth for a 5-2 lead. They held the edge and were up 11-6 when the Cowboys, now 3-5, came to bat in the bottom of the ninth.
In that frame after two were out, Matt Williams singled and scored when Andrew Lalumandier's fly to right field was dropped. Trey Richrode reached on an error by the third baseman and then Blake Ellender doubled both in.
Jace Peterson walked and Lee Orr's single loaded the bases.
However, Seth Granger struck out to end the rally.
The Cowboys now hit the road for a two game series with Arkansas in Fayetteville, playing Tuesday and Wednesday. They return home for a three game series with Houston Baptist beginning Friday.
Jeb Stefan went only three innings for Louisiana Tech but was given the win due to a pre-determined pitch count as he had come off shoulder surgery. He gave up only one hit and struck out two batters.
Jaden Dillon, the first of five McNeese hurlers, was tagged with the loss. He pitched four innings of six-hit, five-run ball and struck out four.
McNeese collected 14 hits in the game, Orr leading the way with a 4-for-5 effort as he extended his hitting streak to seven games. Peterson had three hits and Lalumandier two.
Orr drove in three runs while Ellender plated two.
Tech's top hitters were Kyle Roliard with four hits and Joey Ford with three.
Cowboy extra base hits were a triple by Peterson and doubles by Ellender, Orr, Renny Weber and Lalulmandier.
Louisiana-Monroe 15, Northwestern State 5
NATCHITOCHES - Louisiana-Monroe's Corben Green went 5-for-5 with seven runs batted in, including hitting for the cycle, and ULM scored nine runs in the first four innings to help lead it to a 15-5 win over Northwestern State in the final game of the 2011 NSU/Sharplin Hospitality Tournament.
The Demons didn't help their cause as they committed five errors which led to five runs - two runs in the first, one in the third, one in the fourth and one in the seventh.
The loss dropped the Demons to 4-3 on the season while UL-Monroe improved to 4-4. Stephen F. Austin defeated the University of New Orleans 16-4 in the day's first game.
Northwestern starter Mason Melotakis (0-2) took the loss after he gave up five runs, two earned, on six hits with a walk and strikeout. He was the first of seven Demons hurlers to see the mound.
James Jones (1-1) picked up his first win of the season after he relieved starter Kendall Thamm in the fourth inning and threw 4.1 innings and allowing just one run on four hits while striking out nine.
The Demons put 12 hits up on the board as three players, Ray Frias, Drew Helenihi, and Stephen Gandy each had two-hit games.
UL-Monroe scored two runs in both the first and second innings, a single run in the third, then got a 3-run home run by Corben Green in the top of the fourth inning that put the Warhawks up 9-0.
Northwestern stormed back in the bottom of the inning with four runs of its own, and it could've been more.
The first three batters - Gandy, Nick Hinojos, and Justin Martinez - all singled to load the bases. Ryan Westbrook then hit into a 1-2-3 double play when UL-Monroe starting pitcher Kendall Thamm stole a run-scoring single from Westbrook. Chris Hebert followed with a two-run single to put the Demons on the board, and after Aaron Munoz and Frias reached to load the bases once again, Helenihi and Ryan Keele both walked to send runners home and make it 9-4.
Gandy was then punched out on a 3-2 count for the final out of the inning, a strikeout that brought ire from head coach J.P. Davis that eventually led to his ejection for arguing the call.
The Demons left two runners stranded on the bags in the fifth inning, but then got a run in the sixth when Gandy hit a RBI single to left field that scored Frias to cut the deficit to 9-5.
UL-Monroe came back with a run in the seventh and three more in the eighth off of Green's bases clearing triple to put the game away.
The Demons return to action next Tuesday when they visit Tulane to start a two-game series.