Baseball: May 12 Scoreboard
Central Arkansas 2, UALR 1
Nicholls 5, Louisiana-Lafayette 4
TCU 8, Abilene Christian 2
Louisiana Tech 13, Northwestern State 5
LSU 9, New Orleans 1
CONWAY, Ark. _ Junior shortstop Logan Preston hit a solo home run on his birthday Tuesday night to lead the University of Central Arkansas Bears to a 2-1 victory over the UALR Trojans at Gary Hogan Field.
Preston’s ninth home run of the season and put him atop the Southland Conference and tied the game at 1-1 in the fifth inning. UCA (25-21) added an insurance run in the eighth to earn the season sweep over the Trojans.
The Trojans (15-31) took a 1-0 lead in the second inning off UCA starter Riley Echols, who went three innings and struck out 4 and allowed just 3 hits. Junior Derek Beier (3-1) got the victory out of the bullpen, tossing two innings of hitless ball, striking out four.
In the fifth inning, Preston launched a one-out home run over the left field fence to tie the game. UCA, which left nine runners on base, threatened again in the sixth but left two on. In the eighth, the Bears loaded the bases against UALR reliever Brandon Mason and a wild pitch to Preston allowed Chris Townsend to score the go-ahead run. UCA left the bases loaded in that inning.
Freshman Chris Durham of Collierville, Tenn., came on in the eighth and faced just seven batters over the final two innings to earn his first save.
Senior left fielder Wesley Hoover finished 2 for 4 for the Bears, while junior catcher Travis Hull and junior first baseman Matt Anderson were also 2 for 4. UCA’s combination of four pitchers, Echols, Bo Stitch, Beier and Durham, held the Trojans to just five hits, including two from Hayden Martin.
UCA returns to SLC play this weekend, hosting McNeese State in the final series of the regular season. The series begins at 6 p.m. Thursday at Bear Stadium. Senior Day is set for 1 p.m. Saturday.
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Nicholls 5, Louisiana -Lafayette 4
THIBODAUX, La. – With one out in the bottom of the ninth inning, Seth Stevens swung at the first pitch he saw and launched a monster walk-off home run over the right field wall to lift the Nicholls State University baseball team past a tough Louisiana-Lafayette squad, 5-4, on Tuesday night.
The win marks the first time since 1996 that the Colonels (33-16-1) have swept their season series against the Ragin’ Cajuns (31-20), and increases the Dirty Red’s current winning streak to nine games.
The anything-but-ordinary night began with the Nicholls seniors wearing caps and gowns for a pregame graduation ceremony with University President Dr. Bruce Murphy. Only minutes after the conclusion of the event, thunderstorms and strong lightning forced a postponement of the contest. The Louisiana-Lafayette squad retreated to their dry bus, while the Colonels were forced to act quickly and cover the field with a tarp, battling torrential downpours in the process. Nicholls would change into new, dry uniforms, and after a 90-minute weather delay, the game began with lighting still flashing ominously from a safe distance over the centerfield wall.
The Ragin’ Cajuns took advantage of a two-out error by the Colonels in the first inning to open the scoring with a run. Stefan Trosclair notched a double off the wall in left center, advanced when Tyler Girouard reached on an error and came home on a wild pitch.
Louisiana-Lafayette added to its advantage with a solo home run from Greg Davis in the second.
Nicholls cut the Ragin’ Cajun lead in half with a run in the third. Justin Holt doubled down the leftfield line, took third on a Darius Knight sacrifice bunt and scored on a Kyle Reese single that sailed over the head of the Louisiana-Lafayette Shortstop.
The Colonels threatened in the fourth, putting runners on second and third with no outs, but the Ragin’ Cajuns clamped down on defense, recording consecutive outs to escape the inning unscathed.
Louisiana-Lafayette pushed its advantage to 4-1 in the fifth when Dylan Butler launched a solo shot over the leftfield wall and Kyle Clement homered to right.
Nicholls threatened again in the bottom of the frame, putting runners at the corners with one out, but for a second straight inning the Ragin’ Cajuns shut down the Colonels’ attempt at a rally.
The third time was the charm for Nicholls as the team scored three runs in the sixth to tie the ballgame. Christian Correa walked and advanced to third on a monster double from David Zorn off the wall in right center. After a pitching change, Joey Morales singled to right center, scoring the pair, and advanced to second on the throw home. A Holt ground out allowed Morales to take third before a Knight ground out sent him in.
After a scoreless seventh and eighth innings, Stevens stepped to the plate in the ninth and absolutely crushed the game-winner.
It was a chess-match affair as Louisiana-Lafayette tossed six pitchers and the Colonels countered with five.
Marc Frazier started for Nicholls, allowing four runs (three earned) on five hits with five strikeouts through five innings on the mound. In relief, Zach Thiac, Cole Stapler and Jason McDonald combined for scoreless innings and allowed just one hit. Robbie Petty (4-1) earned the win, throwing the final two frames and fanning three batters without giving up a hit.
Dylan Moore (3-2) took the loss, tossing 2/3 of an inning and surrendering Steven’s walk-off homer.
Morales led the Colonels offensively with a 1-for-3 night, two RBIs and a run scored. Zorn finished 3-for-4 with a run in one of his most productive offensive outings of the season. After being named both Southland Conference and LSWA Hitter of the Week, Reese turned in a 2-for-4 outing with an RBI, extending his current hitting streak to 16 games. Knight hit 2-for-3 at the plate and Stevens finished 1-for-5, but came up big when his team needed it most.
Six Ragin’ Cajun batter registered a hit on the night, but none turned in a multi-hit outing. Clement, Davis and Butler each notched a solo home run.
The wind typically blows in towards home plate at Ray E. Didier Field, but was uncharacteristically gusting out at a high rate of speed nearly the entire night, playing a significant role in the number of long-distance hits in the contest.
Nicholls will conclude its regular season with a three-game conference series on the road against Northwestern State over the weekend. The Colonels can finish as high as number two in the conference standings with a sweep of the Demons. All three matchups will be broadcast live on KTIB 640 AM.
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TCU 8, Abilene Christian 2
FORT WORTH, Texas – Once again, the Abilene Christian Wildcats had their chances against a top-25 team, but again the better team made the plays and pitches it needed to make to pull out a win over the Wildcats.
Tuesday night at Lupton Stadium it was No. 3 TCU that jumped on top of ACU with two solo home runs in the first inning, got out of a couple jams in the late innings and pulled away for an 8-2 win over the Wildcats. The win improves the Horned Frogs to 40-9 on the season as they push for a Big 12 championship and a return to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.
The Wildcats, meanwhile, were once again wondering “what if?” as they fell to 0-8 this season against top-25 opposition. ACU left the bases loaded in the sixth inning and had runners at first and second with one out in the eighth inning before the Horned Frogs got out of the inning with a double play to keep its lead at 6-2.
The loss drops ACU to 13-35 on the season as the Wildcats head into the final seven games of the season, the program’s second at the NCAA Division I level as it transitions from NCAA Division II affiliation. The Wildcats will return home this weekend for the season’s final three home games with a three-game Southland Conference set against Incarnate Word (Thursday-Saturday) before hitting the road to Arizona next week to play Arizona State (next Tuesday), Arizona (next Thursday and Friday) and Hawaii (next Saturday in the season finale in Tucson, Ariz.).
ACU freshman right-hander Drew Hanson took the loss for the Wildcats, but he was fairly effective, despite giving up a pair of solo home runs to Deek Odell and Evan Skoug in the first inning. After the second home run, he retired the next eight straight Horned Frogs before giving up a single to Skough in the fourth inning. But he got the final two batters in the fourth to keep the Frogs’ lead at 2-0.
The Wildcat offense, couldn’t muster very much against the nation’s top pitching staff. TCU entered the game with a 2.14 team ERA and the Frogs showed off every aspect of that staff as only three Wildcats reached base in the first five innings.
TCU added three more runs in the fifth against reliever Aaron Mason as one run came home on a a throwing error by Russell Crippen and two more scored on a single by Cody Jones to push the lead to 5-2. ACU finally dented the scoreboard in the sixth when Aaron Draper reached when he was hit by a pitch and went to second on a groundout by Jeff Clarke. Tyler Eager then reached on an infield single and Draper scored on an error by pitcher Mitchell Traver to make it 5-1.
Traver then walked the next three men with the final walk to Alex Copeland driving in Eager to cut the Frogs’ lead to 5-2. That was all for Traver, who gave way to Travis Evans, who came in to get Colton Hall to pop out with the bases loaded to end the inning.
TCU answered with a run in the bottom of the sixth to make it 6-2 before ACU threatened again in the eighth inning. With one out, Eager singled and went to second on a wild pitch. After a Heath Beasley walk, reliever Brian Trieglaff came in and got Crippen to ground into a 5-4-3 double play to end the inning and the final Wildcats’ threat of the night.
Eager had two of the Wildcats’ three hits on the night and Draper had the other, a single to lead off the game.
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Louisiana Tech 13, Northwestern State 5
RUSTON, La. – Northwestern State nearly dug out from the deficit produced by one Louisiana Tech grand slam Tuesday night.
A second Bulldogs grand slam, however, left the Demons unable to fully battle back, as Louisiana Tech completed a season sweep of Northwestern State with a 13-8 victory at J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park.
The outcome snapped a five-game Demons' win streak heading into their final homefield appearances of the season, beginning Thursday, with a Southland Conference series against Nicholls to wrap up the regular season. A 10-game road trip ended with the visit to Ruston.
Northwestern State (29-20) took a 2-0 lead in the second inning on a Nick Heath RBI groundout and a run-scoring Louisiana Tech error before the Bulldogs (24-25) struck for eight two-out runs in the bottom of the second.
Zac Burger’s grand slam highlighted the inning, driving home the final four runs of the frame.
The Demons clawed back into the game, scoring two runs in both the fourth and fifth innings, including Nick Heath’s first home run of his career in the 4th inning and Cort Brinson’s team-leading eighth home run of the season in the fifth.
David Fry’s two-out RBI single in the fifth cut the Bulldogs lead to 8-6 before Louisiana Tech responded with its second big inning of the game.
The Bulldogs got a leadoff single from Jacob Derouen before Thomas Simoneaux laid down a sacrifice bunt that turned into an infield single. Chandler Hall then squared to bunt and was hit by a pitch to load the bases.
After Bryce Stark drew a bases-loaded walk to establish a three-run lead, Colby Johnson jumped the first pitch from Josh Morris and turned it into Louisiana Tech’s second grand slam of the game, riding it out to right field to put the Bulldogs up 13-6.
Northwestern State answered with a single run in the sixth, as Chase Daughdrill drew a bases-loaded walk, but left the bases loaded.
The 13 runs allowed were a season high for the Demons, who surrendered double-figure runs for the first time this season.
Brinson and Heath had multi-hit games for the Demons. Brinson went 2-for-4 with an RBI, while Heath had the first home run of his career and a career-best four RBIs, capped by a run-scoring, two-out double in the ninth inning.
The Demons return home for the first time in nearly a month when they host Nicholls on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. in the opener of the three-game, regular-season series finale. Northwestern State has not played a game in Natchitoches since defeating Central Arkansas on April 19.
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LSU 9, New Orleans 1
NEW ORLEANS, La. – The New Orleans Privateers baseball team (14-37) committed a couple of early errors and allowed the #1 ranked LSU Tigers (44-8) to steal four bases in a 9-1 loss on Tuesday night at Maestri Field at First NBC Ballpark in front of a crowd of 2,380 in a game presented by the Allstate Sugar Bowl.
The Tigers got the scoring started in the second inning in part on the first of three Privateers errors in the field. A two-base fielding error allowed Conner Hale to get into scoring position. After a ground out moved Hale to third, he scored on an RBI single by Grayson Byrd to put the Tigers on the board.
LSU scored at least a run in four consecutive innings to draw to a 5-0 lead after 4 ½ frames. New Orleans got their first and biggest threat in the bottom of the fifth. A one-out double by Jonathan Santana was followed by two walks to the next three batters to load the bases. Collin Strall recovered to get a ground ball to end the frame and keep New Orleans off the board.
LSU’s biggest inning came in the seventh. Byrd drove in two of his four runs on the night with a single to left. Byrd came into the night with five RBI on the year in 26 at-bats. Michael Papierski came up next and hit a two-run homer, his first of the season that squeezed over the right field fence to cap off the Tigers’ scoring.
New Orleans would crack the scoreboard in the ninth after the first two runners reached. Cameron Hoffman’s check swing ground out moved runners to second and third. Parker Jones followed with an RBI ground out to first that scored Sam Carriere. The game was ended on a strikeout recorded by Alden Cartwright who was the seventh Tigers pitcher of the night.
Carriere extended his hitting streak to 15 games with a single in the first inning, one of four Privateers hits on the night. Santana, Jay Robinson, and Hezekiah Randolph provided the other hits for New Orleans. Kevin Kelleher went three innings and allowed two runs (one earned) while striking out two batters. Six Privateer pitchers were used and Mitchell Cohen and Seth Laigast each fired a scoreless inning.
The Tigers were led by Byrd’s four RBIs on a 2-for-5 night. Byrd, Hale, and Jake Fraley each scored twice and Andrew Stevenson went 2-for-5. The Tigers recorded six strikeouts and issued four walks. Hunter Devall picked up the win, throwing three innings and allowing two hits while striking out three.
New Orleans starts their final series of the season against Southeastern on Thursday at Maestri Field at First NBC Ballpark. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m.
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