Baseball: March 11 Scoreboard
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 3, Fisher 0
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 11, Fisher 1
Southeastern La. 4, South Alabama 1
UT Arlington 7, Abilene Christian 5
New Mexico 8, Stephen F. Austin 2
Louisiana Tech 9, Northwestern State 7
No. 1 LSU 7, McNeese State 0
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 3, Fisher 0
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 11, Fisher 1
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi baseball team picked up two much-needed wins over Fisher College in a Wednesday night doubleheader at Chapman Field. In the opening game of the day, the Islanders defeated the Falcons, 3-0, before ending game two in dramatic fashion as senior Kyle Danford sent the team home with a three-run walk off homer (3) in the seventh inning as the Islanders picked up the run-rule victory in the nightcap, 11-1.
The Islanders (8-5) jumped on top of the visiting Falcons (0-7) early, scoring single runs in each of the first two innings. The team's bats would fizzle though, as they finished the opener with only three hits.
The bats were not needed though, as junior Devin Skapura was able to go six solid innings, allowing just five hits and striking out four. The Islanders as a staff allowed just six hits on the night and did not surrender a walk.
Danford crossed the plate in the first to give the islanders their first lead. He reached base on a fielders choice before moving to second on a balk. Junior Justin Perales drove a ball to center field that scored Danford from second.
The Islanders scored their second run of the game in the second as Zacarias Hardy scored from third on a wild pitch by Josh Torres. Brandon Guilford added the final run for the islanders in the ninth, scoring on a sac fly by Jordan Lee.
Skapura, Trevor Belicek and Jacob Dorris combined for the shutout. Belicek, a lefty, came into the game in relief for Skapura in the seventh. He picked up four strikeouts in two innings, all of which left batters looking. Dorris picked up his fourth save of the season as he shut down Fisher in the ninth.
Game two was a different story for the home squad, as offense dominated the early innings. The Islanders scored seven runs in the second inning to put Fisher in an early hole. The Falcons finally got on the scoreboard in the fifth inning, but the Islanders scored the next four runs to send the fans home early, picking up the teams second run-rule win of the year.
A&M-Corpus Christi batted around the order in the second inning, as nothing seemed to slow the team down. Senior Frankie Salas started the frame with a leadoff single before Dawson Yates picked up his first double of the year.
Danford picked up a two-run single while Salas, in his second at bat of the inning, reached on a double to left center to score both Danford and Ware.
Ware went a combined 0-for-2 on the day, but reached base an astounding six times in the doubleheader. The Omaha, Neb. native notched five walks on the day to go along with a hit-by-pitch.
The Islanders used a quartet of pitchers in the win. Dalton D'Spain went four complete, allowing just two hits in his outing while striking out four. Senior Thomas Casey picked up the win for the Islanders. The righty struck out two of the three batters he faced.
The Islanders will hit the road this weekend as they open Southland Conference play at Nicholls. The team will play a three-game series before facing off with McNeese State on Monday in non-conference action.
For updates throughout the season be sure to follow the team on Twitter and Instagram (@IslandersBSB) and Facebook (Islanders Baseball). Fans can also receive updates on the team by downloading the Islanders Front Row App at GoIslanders.com/frontrow.
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Southeastern La. 4, South Alabama 1
MOBILE, Ala. – Southeastern Louisiana pitchers Pat Cashman and Mac Sceroler shut down the South Alabama bats Wednesday, and the Lions picked up all the runs they needed in the second inning for a 4-1 win Wednesday at Stanky Field.
Southeastern (13-5) rebounded from a tough loss in the series finale at Incarnate Word this past weekend to take its first meeting against South Alabama (11-6) this season. The two teams will face other again, April 7, in Hammond, Louisiana.
The Jaguars scored an unearned run in the first, taking the initial lead, but Southeastern answered with a pair in the top half of the second to go ahead for good.
Brett Hoffman led off the inning with a single through the left side and advanced to second when Chris Eades was hit by a pitch. Kennon Menard bunted for a hit, loading the bases with no outs.
South Alabama starting pitcher Zach McMullen (0-2) hit Jacob Seward, forcing in Hoffman with the tying run. Julian Service then hit a warning track fly to left, allowing Eades to score easily from third with the go-ahead run.
Cashman (2-2) settled in, holding the Jaguars hitless over a four-inning span. The junior from Plainfield, Illinois, allowed one unearned run in 6.1 innings pitched. He surrendered five hits and two walks, fanning six.
Sceroler, a freshman right-hander from Denham Springs, Louisiana, entered the game with one out in the seventh and a runner at first base. He worked around an error to strand a pair and hold on to the Lions' 2-1 lead.
Southeastern padded the lead in the ninth with a pair of runs.
Jacob Seward chopped an infield single up the middle to open the inning and advanced to second when reliever Mike Dolloff hit Service with a pitch.
With one out, Seward and Service teamed up for a double steal. South Alabama then elected to intentionally walk Kevin Carr, setting up a force by loading the bases.
With an aggressive move, Southeastern head coach Matt Riser called for a suicide squeeze and shortstop Brooks Morse laid down a perfect bunt in front of the mound. Seward scored easily and Morse reached when Dolloff failed to throw to first. Ryan Byers followed by ripping a line drive at the shortstop, reaching safely when it trickled off his glove, allowing Service to score the final run of the game.
Cashman earned the win, his second straight as a starter, and Sceroler retired the final seven batters of the game for his first career save. McMullen suffered the loss for the Jaguars.
Seward led the Lions at the plate, turning in a 3-for-3 night. Hoffman and Menard each picked up a pair of hits.
Southeastern returns home to host Abilene Christian in a three-game, Southland Conference series Friday through Sunday.
General admission tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for youth (ages 3-12). Children under the age of three are admitted free with a paying adult. Southeastern students are also admitted free with their university ID card.
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UT Arlington 7, Abilene Christian 5
ARLINGTON, Texas
- Abilene Christian baseball jumped out to leads of 3-0 and 5-3 but the UT Arlington Mavericks responded each time they were down and left the diamond as 7-5 victors on a cool and crisp 60-degree Wednesday night at Clay Gould Field.
The win lifted UTA's season record to 7-6 as the Mavs completed a two-game series sweep of the Wildcats who fell to 1-11.
ACU led most of the night and were ahead 5-4 entering the bottom of the seventh with one of their best relievers - junior
Nick Palacios - on the mound. Through a team-high six appearances this spring, Palacios hadn't allowed any runs nor walked any batters - but his fortunes soon turned after a one-out single by Levi Scott was followed by consecutive walks issued to Jackson Morris and Tanner Houston that loaded the bases.
Soon afterward, the Wildcats thought they caught the break they needed as catcher Will Olson grounded to short for a potential inning-ending double play. But
Kyle Carroll bobbled it just long enough to allow the game-tying run to score.
UTA shortstop Travis Sibley quickly broke the deadlock with a rip to left field that gave the Mavs their first and only lead of the game at 7-5.
The loss for Palacios (0-1) was his first of the season, while the win went to UTA's fifth releiver of the night in freshman Reid Petty (1-0) who tossed a scoreless seventh. Petty gave up a leadoff single that frame to
Alex Copeland but saw him erased on a caught stealing.
The Wildcats again went quietly in the eight against Brad Vassar and in the ninth vs. Colin Tornberg who earned his fifth save of the spring and second in as many nights by striking out the side.
ACU grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first thanks to a throwing error by pitcher Jake Wilcox. Marcel Carter led off the game with a single and after
Aaron Draper went to bunt him over with a tapper toward the left side of the mound, Wilcox whipped the ball under the glove of Scott at first base.
The ball got stuck along the bullpen fence line long enough for Carter to score all the way from first. Draper, meanwhile, raced to second base and came home on
Tyler Eager's RBI single to left.
Draper - who reached base four times tonight - scored a second run in third on a
Brayden Gomez grounder to the left side that made it 3-0 in favor of ACU.
UTA didn't trail for long, however, as the home team rapped five-straight two-out hits to tie the score at 3-3. Christian Hollie - the No. 9 batter - crushed a double to left and scored on the first of two hits through the left side. Scott then drilled a shot to the gap in right center to plate Matt McLean and Eric Tate.
The Wildcats finally got out of that inning on a swinging strikeout of the No. 5 batter Jerame Littell by
Brandon Lambright, who retired all four batters he faced.
Nate Cole followed Lambright to the bump holding a 5-3 lead and allowed one run to score on a walk and two singles before rebounding with back-to-back Ks of No. 4 and 5 hitters Morris and Littell.
Wildcat pitching combined for six strikeouts tonight.
Joe Gawrieh started for ACU and had faced the minimum number of batters (8) before getting into trouble with two outs in the third.
Ladgie Zotyka relieved Palacios in the seventh and struck out the only batter he faced. Sophomore Bryce Wellborn then tossed a scoreless eighth.
Scott finished the game 3-of-4 with three RBI to lead the Mavs' offense but was robbed of extra bases in his first place appearance when
Colton Hall made a running catch into the right field wall. Hall saved another run to end the sixth - one that would have tied the score at 5-5 - after he fired a one-hop bullet to
Mason Spracklen to catch RJ Williams who overslid the plate on McLean's two-out single.
At the plate, Hall went 1-for-4 which included a two-out double down the right-field line in the fifth that gave the Wildcats their second lead at 5-3. Draper and Eager scored on the hit.
The Wildcats return to action this weekend for a three-game road trip to Hammond, La. vs. Southeastern Louisiana. Game times are Friday at 6, Saturday at 2 and Sunday at 1; however, those plans may be adjusted due to rain in the forecast.
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New Mexico 8, Stephen F. Austin 2
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.
– Tuesday night, the eighth inning was fortuitous to Stephen F. Austin as the Lumberjacks scored four runs en route to the victory. Wednesday, that script was flipped as host New Mexico crossed the plate six times in the eighth, en route to an 8-2 victory over the Lumberjacks.
With the loss, SFA falls to 5-13 on the season as the ‘Jacks continue to search for those elusive back-to-back wins in 2015.
With the score tied 2-2 heading into the eighth, SFA recorded a pair of quick outs and seemed poised to head to the ninth looking for the go-ahead run. But the Lobos responded with a pair of walks, a hit by pitch, a double and a triple, scoring six times with two outs to secure the series split against the Lumberjacks.
For the fourth-straight game, SFA began playing from behind early, allowing a run in the bottom of the second to fall behind 1-0. The ‘Jacks rallied for a pair of runs in the top of the third, beginnng with an RBI base hit by Nick Ramos to score Matthew Dickey from third. Dan O’Neill then put the ball in play to first base who threw home to try and prevent Conner Fikes from scoring, but the throw was off, allowing Fikes to cross the plate and give SFA the 2-1 lead.
That score stood until the bottom of the seventh inning as starter Patrick Day and reliever Travis Day held the Lobos to just one hit and one run through six innings. UNM led off its half of the seventh with a double, then tied the game on an RBI single to left, leading into the abysmal eighth inning for the Lumberjacks.
SFA scored its pair of runs on just four hits, two of which came off the bat of Anthony Soriano. Nick Ramos and Eric DeJesus had the other two with Ramos credited with the lone RBI of the day for the ‘Jacks. Dickey did pick up a stolen base, making him a perfect 11-for-11 on the season.
On the mound, Patrick Day went 4.2 innings, allowing just one run on one hit and was credited with the no decision. Travis Day lasted 2.0 innings with a run on two hits while Chris Hassold coming on to earn a key strikeout in the seventh in his 0.1 innings pitched. Austin Smith took the loss, allowing six runs on four hits in 0.2 innings of work.
SFA splits the series against New Mexico as the Lobos pull even in the all-time series at 3-3. Today’s win was the first for UNM against SFA in Albuquerque as the ‘Jacks had won the previous three games in the desert.
The ‘Jacks now hit the road for a long 1,200 mile trek back across Texas and into Louisiana, eventually stopping in New Orleans for a three-game SLC series against the Privateers. Game one gets underway Friday at 6:30 p.m. with game two scheduled for Saturday at 2 p.m. and game three throwing out the first pitch Sunday at 1 p.m.
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Louisiana Tech 9, Northwestern State 7
NATCHITOCHES, La. – The Northwestern State baseball team that took the field Wednesday afternoon against Louisiana Tech did not look much different on paper than it had for much of its recent games.
The result, however, did.
Northwestern State committed a season-high four errors, and Louisiana Tech turned those into four unearned runs, allowing the Bulldogs to walk away with a 9-7 win at Brown-Stroud Field.
The Demons (9-8) committed a pair of errors in the fifth inning that allowed the Bulldogs (8-6) to craft a three-run frame and snap a 2-all tie. Taylor Love had the lone Tech hit in the inning, an RBI double off Brandon Stane (1-1) to close the scoring.
After Joel Atkinson highlighted a career-best 4-for-5, three-RBI night with the first home run of his career in the fifth inning, the Bulldogs answered with three runs in the sixth, aided by another Demons error.
The Demons battled back with a three-run sixth inning capped by Atkinson’s two-run single to cut the lead to 8-6. Atkinson added a leadoff double in the eighth inning for his first career four-hit game.
“He had some good at-bats,” Burroughs said. “He hit the ball hard. He made a good play over here (in shallow right field) when the guy was running so there was no one here and made a diving catch to save a run. He did have a good game.”
The Demons could not convert the momentum of Atkinson’s long-running, sliding catch in shallow right to end the seventh, however.
Northwestern State loaded the bases in the seventh with one out but did not score a run, allowing Tech to maintain a two-run lead. That lead became three when Colby Johnson led off the eighth inning with a home run.
A Cort Brinson sacrifice fly got the lead back down to 9-7 entering the ninth, and NSU put the first two runners on before a pickoff at second base altered the final inning.
After the pickoff, Braden Bristo retired the next two batters to record his first career save and seal the victory for Kelby Blalock (1-0), one of five Tech relievers.
In addition to Atkinson, Nick Heath and C.J. Webster each had two hits for the Demons, who outhit the Bulldogs 11-7. Brinson added two RBIs on a pair of sacrifice flies for Northwestern State.
The Demons will remain at home for the weekend, as they welcome Sam Houston State for the first Southland Conference series of the season at Brown-Stroud Field. First pitch Friday is set for 6:30 p.m., while Saturday (2 p.m.) and Sunday (1 p.m.) are afternoon starts.
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No. 1 LSU 7, McNeese State 0
BATON ROUGE, La. – A collective effort on the mound by the number one ranked team in the country proved to be too much for the McNeese State baseball team, who was blanked by LSU in a 7-0 affair on a rainy Wednesday at Alex Box Stadium.
The Tigers were able to use 11 different pitchers that prevented McNeese from coring and allowed only five hits in the ballgame. The shutout was the fourth this season for the Cowboys.
McNeese’s loss dropped the Pokes to 11-6 on the season and snapped a two-game midweek winning streak while the Tigers extended their overall win streak to 13 consecutive games while improving to 16-1 on the year.
Despite the shutout, the Cowboys recorded five hits with seniors Andrew Guillotte and James Cantu leading the way with two hits apiece. Guillotte extended his hitting streak to a current team high 10 games.
Junior Ethan Stremmel (2-1) took the loss for McNeese after scattering five hits and four runs through three innings of work. He allowed no walks and struck out four batters in the process.
In total, the Cowboys used six pitchers out of the bullpen who combined for six innings and gave up three runs on three hits.
The Tigers took a quick lead in the bottom of the first frame following a two out RBI-single from Chris Chinea that put LSU up on the board with a 1-0 lead.
Cantu collected the only extra base hit for McNeese in the top of the second inning but was stranded after the next two batters were retired in the frame.
LSU took control in the third frame as Alex Bregman belted a three-run bomb over the left field wall that drove in Brad Laird and Danny Zardon to cross the plate and extend the Tigers’ lead to a 4-0 score.
In the sixth inning, freshman Joe Provenzano entered into scoring position after a walk and advance on a single from Guillotte but either were able to plate a run for the Pokes.
The last threat posed by McNeese came in the next frame as the Cowboys advanced runners into scoring position at second and third but were unable to avoid a shutout.
The Tigers scraped across three more runs over a span of four innings with a run in the fourth, fifth and seventh innings.
McNeese returns to league action this weekend as the Cowboys welcome Incarnate Word to Lake Charles for a three game series. The first game is set for Friday, March 13 at 6 o’clock.
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