Baseball: May 5 Scoreboard
Texas Southern 8, Houston Baptist 4
Arkansas State 8, Central Arkansas 6
Houston 9, McNeese State 2
Texas Southern 8, Houston Baptist 4
HOUSTON, Texas – After Houston Baptist scored twice in the sixth to tie the game, Texas Southern reclaimed the lead in the seventh, then tacked on a four-run eighth for an 8-4 victory in the Huskies’ final non-conference game of the season Tuesday afternoon at Husky Field.
Senior third baseman Curtis Jones went 2-for-4 with a run, while senior centerfielder Thomas Clay went 2-for-4 with an RBI for HBU (22-24). Senior first baseman Josh Martinez was 2-for-4, and junior leftfielder Brandon Morones singled, scored and drove in a run.
Christopher Scroggins was 3-for-4 with two RBIs, while Javier Valdez was 2-for-4 with a double and two runs for TSU (26-16). Robert Garza doubled, scored twice and drove in a run, and Zach Howell had a triple and a pair of RBIs.
Robert Pearson (4-3) earned the win for the Tigers, allowing three runs, two earned on eight hits with three strikeouts and two walks in eight innings.
Matt Harding (1-1) took the loss for the Huskies, allowing two runs, one earned, on three hits with two walks in four innings. HBU starter Brandon Hammerly walked threw three shutout innings, giving up a hit and walking four, but picking off two.
The Huskies got on the board first in the second inning. Greg Espinosa was on second when Clay beat out an infield single and the throw was high to first, allowing Espinosa to score.
The Tigers scored two in the fourth when Valdez and Garza led off with back-to-back doubles. Scroggins blooped a single to shallow right, allowing Garza to score and give TSU a 2-1 lead. TSU scored again in the fifth on a sacrifice fly by Ryan Lazo.
Jones singled with one out in the sixth and went to second on a groundout by Espinosa. Morones followed with an RBI single, then stole second. Clay smashed a single through the left side to tie the game, 3-3.
TSU reclaimed the lead when Horace Leblanc walked, went to third on a single by Kamren Dukes and scored on a sacrifice fly by Zach Welz.
The Tigers broke the game open with four in the eighth, which included a two-run triple by Howell and an RBI single by Scroggins.
The Huskies finish the season with six-straight Southland Conference games, beginning at home at Sam Houston State Friday through Sunday at Husky Field. The Huskies will celebrate Senior Day on Saturday, when they will honor the 13 senior members of the team.
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Arkansas State 8, Central Arkansas 6
CONWAY, Ark. _ The Arkansas State Red Wolves scored twice in the top of the 13th inning Tuesday night to down the University of Central Arkansas Bears 8-6 in non-conference action at Bear Stadium.
The Red Wolves (20-26) had tied the game with a single run in the top of the ninth, and neither team scored again until the 13th. UCA (23-19) left two runners on base in the 10th inning but could not muster any more offense the rest of the way.
UCA freshman reliever Chris Durham was stellar out of the bullpen, going 5 2/3 innings, allowing just three hits and one run while striking out five. Junior Brandon Hagerla, one of the Bears’ weekend starters, allowed the two runs in the 13th.
The teams combined for six errors and 22 hits. Senior left fielder Wesley Hoover went 2-for-5 with two runs scored for the Bears, while senior catcher Charles Deckard was 2-for-5 and freshman right fielder Ty Tice was 2-for-4. Designated hitter Travis Hull had a game-high three RBI for UCA.
ASU took a 1-0 lead in the second but UCA matched it with Brad Dillenberger scoring on a passed ball. The Red Wolves pushed the lead to 3-1 in the third but the Bears got one back in the bottom of the inning on Hull’s sacrifice fly that scored Hoover.
The teams both got a run in the fifth, with UCA’s coming on Chris Townsend’s sacrifice fly. After ASU made it a 5-3 lead in the seventh but the Bears tied it in the bottom of the frame on Hull’s two-run single up the middle. The Bears then took their first lead of the game in the eighth when Tyler Langley grounded out, scoring Deckard for a 6-5 lead.
That lasted until the ninth when ASU’s Austin Baker singled to left center to score Zach George to tie the game. In the 13th, catcher Stuart Levy opened with an infield single and went to second on Lucas Fedderson’s sacrifice bunt. George’s base hit brought in the first run and Joe Schrimpf followed with another RBI single to left field.
UCA starter Chris Caudle went 6 1/3 innings, allowing six hits and four earned runs. ASU starter Derek Birginske went seven innings, allowing six hits and 3 earned runs. Bo Ritter got the win out of the bullpen for the Red Wolves, allowing just one hit over three innings.
UCA returns to Southland Conference action this weekend at Southeastern Louisiana in Hammond, La. Game 1 is set for 6 p.m.
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Houston 9, McNeese State 2
HOUSTON, Texas – The McNeese State baseball team attempted a late-game rally but was unable to produce enough runs needed to overcome the nationally-ranked Houston Cougars Tuesday evening in the final mid-week game of the season with a 9-2 decision at Cougar Field.
With the loss, McNeese’s five game winning streak was snapped as it fell to a 28-21 overall mark on the year while No. 21 Houston improved to 33-16 this season.
Senior CLASS Award finalist Andrew Guillotte knocked in the first run of the night for the Pokes after sending a base-hit into left field to cut the UH lead to three runs. The RBI was Guillotte’s 21st on the season while the hit was the 241st of his career, which stands just four away from the all-time hits record.
Senior Connor Lloyd drove in the second run of the inning after singling to the outfield to help minimize the lead to a two-run score in favor of UH. Following a double-steal, the Cowboys had runners standing in scoring position but were unable to get anything going.
Guillotte inched closer to another record on the evening with a steal in the eighth frame and now needs just two more to pass Jace Peterson for the all-time stolen base record.
UH’s starting pitcher David Longville picked up the victory and was instrumental in limiting the Pokes at the plate after having tossed 7.1 innings and scattered just four hits and gave up no earned runs.
Senior Steven O’Bryant (1-1) was charged with the loss in his first start back on the mound since early March. The right-hander worked the first inning of the ballgame and surrendered a run despite keeping the Cougars hitless during the session.
Relieving pitcher Tyler Day had the best night on the mound for the Pokes, tossing 3.2 innings against UH and kept any runs from scoring and allowed only three hits during the appearance.
McNeese was able to manufacture five hits in the game by five different batters. The Pokes left five runners stranded on base.
The Cougars wasted no time getting on the board with a hitless one-run session in the bottom of the first inning to take a 1-0 lead over McNeese.
UH extended its lead with three runs in the next frame that was highlighted by a leadoff home run from leftfielder Corey Julks that gave Houston a 4-0 lead.
Houston scraped across four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning that stretched its lead out to an 8-2 score that would hold for the remainder of the contest.
McNeese will return home to Cowboy Diamond for its final homestand of the season when they host Grambling in a three-game weekend series. The weekend will be full of festivities including Senior Recognition on Saturday along with the raffle drawing for a chance to win one of three vehicles donated by Lake Area dealerships.
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