Baseball: Feb. 25 Scoreboard
Baylor 8, Northwestern State 4
Tulane 4, New Orleans 0
Rice 13, Stephen F. Austin 1
Texas A&M 7, UIW 0
Baylor 8, Northwestern State 4
WACO, Texas -- Much like the weather at Baylor Ballpark, the Northwestern State baseball teamed warmed up as Wednesday’s game against Baylor moved along.
However, a late Demons uprising was not enough to subdue the No. 25 team in the nation, as the Bears used two three-run innings to build an eight-run lead and then held on for an 8-4 victory.
Trailing 8-0 entering the seventh inning, Northwestern State (2-6) put together its best offensive stretch of the game against the Baylor (6-2) bullpen.
Garrett Logan entered as a pinch hitter and drew a leadoff walk, which was followed by David Fry being hit by a pitch.
Redshirt freshman Anthony Lucas made his debut as a pinch hitter and chopped an RBI single through the left side of the infield to score Logan. Nick Heath then was hit by a pitch on an 0-2 count to load the bases.
Two batters later, Bret Underwood drew a bases-loaded walk to score a run and Cort Brinson followed with a two-out, two-run single to score the third and fourth runs of the inning.
Before the seventh-inning breakthrough, the Demons were unable to string together much against Baylor starter Theron Kay (2-0), who scattered four hits in five scoreless innings.
With Kay on the mound, the Bears scratched out an unearned run in the first inning off NSU starter Evan Tidwell (0-2). Tidwell settled in, keeping Baylor off the board in the second and third innings before back-to-back doubles to start the Baylor fourth made it 2-0.
The Bears broke the game open with a three-run fifth inning, highlighted by a two-run double by Cameron Miller, whose sinking liner dropped just beyond a diving Nick Heath’s grasp. Miller finished the game 3-for-4 with three doubles and three RBIs.
The three-run inning ended Tidwell’s day, as the sophomore worked five innings, allowing nine hits and five runs (four earned) while striking out a career-high six batters.
Baylor tacked on three more runs in the sixth to push its lead to 8-0.
Fry, Underwood and Heath each had two-hit games for the Demons, who finished with seven hits. In addition to Miller, Logan Brown (4-for-5), Kameron Esthay (2-for-4, 2 RBIs), Aaron Dodson (2-for-4) and Jonathan Ducoff (2-for-4) enjoyed multi-hit games for the Bears.
The Demons return home Friday to start a four-game homestand. Northwestern State will host Sacred Heart in a three-game series starting at 6:30 Friday night.
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Tulane 4, New Orleans 0
NEW ORLEANS, La. – The New Orleans Privateers (4-5) had a tough time getting offense going, collecting just two hits as they were shut out 4-0 by the Tulane Green Wave (8-1) on Wednesday night at Greer Field at Turchin Stadium. With the win, Tulane took the First NBC Cup.
The Privateers got a late threat in the eighth against Tulane starter, Emerson Gibbs. After Mitchell Alexander reached on an error, Jay Robinson squeezed a single through to left to chase Gibbs. The Green Wave went to Dan Rankin who retired the next three batters in order to end the Privateers threat.
In the ninth, Preston Marsh led off by reaching on an error off of reliever, Ian Gibaut. On the next batter, Gibaut recovered to get Sam Carriere to ground into a double play then recorded a strikeout to end the second consecutive shutout for Tulane.
Gibbs was locked in early, keeping the ball on the ground and going the first 6.2 innings without giving up a hit. The no-hitter was broken up by Jonathan Coco on a two-out opposite field single to right. He wound up going 7.0 innings plus two batters, striking out seven and walking two batters.
The Green Wave got their first three runs in similar fashion with RBIs off the bat of Jake Rogers. The first was an RBI sac fly that scored Lex Kaplan in the second. In the fourth, an RBI single drove in Kaplan to make it 2-0. Rogers’ final RBI came on a sacrifice bunt in the sixth.
For the Privateers, starter, Alex Smith pitched into the sixth and allowed four runs (two earned) while striking out five. Seth Laigast pitched 1.2 scoreless innings out of the pen, and Darron McKigney also threw a shutout frame. Jonathan Santana threw out two runners trying to steal on the night.
The Privateers will next start a three-game series against Middle Tennessee. First pitch on Friday is set for 6:30 p.m.
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Rice 13, Stephen F. Austin 1
HOUSTON, Texas – Stephen F. Austin drew first blood, but 10th-ranked Rice dominated over the final five innings, racing past the Lumberjacks for a 13-1 victory at Reckling Park. SFA falls to 2-7 on the season, dropping its fourth-straight against the Owls.
Coming off an 8-7 victory over Louisiana-Monroe Sunday, SFA carried a bit of momentum against the 10th-ranked Owls. The ‘Jacks struck in the top of the second inning as Garrett McMullen ripped a solo homerun to left field, the first round-tripper of the season for SFA, as the Lumberjacks took an early 1-0 lead.
But after that, the SFA bats went silent as Rice retired the next 14 Lumberjack batters, holding SFA to just six hits on the night. McMullen had two of the six hits for the ‘Jacks with Anthony Soriano, Cameron Salvaggio, Conner Fikes and Hunter Holsomback totaling the other four.
Starter Jarred Greene had a productive outing on the hill for SFA, limiting the Owls to no hits through the first four innings. He ended his day with 4.1 innings pitched, giving up three runs (one earned) on two hits with a pair of strikeouts but picked up the loss.
The Lumberjack bullpen struggled the rest of the way against Rice, as six different pitchers allowed 10 runs, all earned, on 11 hits and just two strikeouts as the Owls scored all 13 runs in the fifth through eighth innings. After notching three in the fifth to take the lead, Rice broke free with six in the sixth, one in the seventh and three more in the eighth to preserve the win.
After five-straight road games, SFA returns to Jaycees Field for a three-game series against South Dakota State this weekend. Game one against the Jackrabbits is at 6:30 p.m. Friday evening, followed by a 2 p.m. first pitch Saturday and a 1 p.m. start Sunday.
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Texas A&M 7, UIW 0
COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS – The University of the Incarnate Word baseball team traveled to #23 Texas A&M on Wednesday and were shut out, 7-0 at Blue Bell Park.
The Aggies (9-0) only led the Cardinals (4-6) 2-0 heading into the bottom of the sixth inning. Texas A&M broke the game open in the sixth inning thanks to a pair of errors by the Cardinals. Two of the first three batters of the inning reached base via errors and it eventually led to four unearned runs.
UIW's only serious threat to score came in the fifth inning when Colten Besett walked with one out and then advanced to third on Brice Kahle's double. Aggies starting pitcher Brigham Hill was able to get out of the jam with a pair of strikeouts.
Cody Richey was tagged with the loss for the Cardinals to fall to 0-3 on the season. He allowed two runs and struck out two in 4.1 innings of work.
Tyler Miller and
Austin Hoffman each had scoreless relief outings for the team while
Mark Whitehead (San Antonio/Johnson HS) had two hits and stole a base from his leadoff spot in the lineup.
The Aggies finished with 10 hits in the game, including three by catcher Mitchell Nau. Ronnie Gideon slugged a solo home run in the seventh inning to cap off the scoring. Hill went 5.1 innings allowing three hits and two walks while striking out nine. Five total pitchers combined for the shutout.
The Cardinals are in action this weekend for a three-game series at New Mexico State starting on Friday at 6:05 p.m. They will play games on Saturday and Sunday each scheduled to start at 1:05 p.m.
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