SAN MARCOS, TX – The Arkansas State baseball team overcame a 10-4 deficit and scored six runs in the seventh inning as the Red Wolves registered a season-high 19 hits in a 12-10 victory over Texas State Saturday afternoon at Bobcat Ballpark in San Marcos, Texas.
The Red Wolves (22-26, 9-16 SBC) entered the seventh inning trailing 10-6, but Ty White got things started with a bunt single before Stuart Levy doubled down the left-field line off Texas State (20-28-1, 12-14 SBC) reliever Blake Whitter to put runners at second and third with no outs. Jeremy Brown smashed a double down the left-field line as well to score White and Levy to make the score 10-8 and Brown was bunted over to third by Lucas Feddersen. Zach George stepped up to the plate and grounded out to shortstop to bring A-State within one run at 10-9.
Joe Schrimpf drew a walk and scored the tying run on a triple to left-center field by Austin Baker. Matt Burgess brought Baker home with a double over the right fielder’s head to give the Red Wolves an 11-10 lead and chase Whitter from the game. Cory Geisler came to the mound after playing center field up to that point and walked pinch-hitter Daltan Lovell before White singled home Burgess for a 12-10 lead. Levy popped up to end the frame, which saw A-State send 11 batters to the dish.
Coulton Lee entered the game after the inning for Cody Jackson and went the next two innings before leaving the game after giving up a lead-off single in the bottom of the ninth. Colton Kibler entered the contest with the tying run at the plate and got pinch-hitter Teddy Hoffman to pop up to second base before Geisler grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to end the game. The scoreless ninth for Kibler gave the senior right-hander his team-leading fifth save of the season.
Jackson earned the win for the Red Wolves as he improved to 4-0 on the year after tossing four strong innings out of the bullpen. He gave up two runs (both earned) on five hits on a season-high 81 pitches. Starter Adam Grantham struggled as he gave up seven earned runs on six hits, while Chandler Hawkins came in to get the final two outs of the second inning. The Bobcats scored all 10 of their runs in the first three innings with the bullpen holding them scoreless for the final six.
Offensively, White led the offense with a 5-for-5 effort, the team’s first five-hit game all season, and drove in two runs. Feddersen had three hits and extended his team-best hit streak to 13 games, tying the squad’s best this year. George had a hit and walked twice to extend his nation-leading on-base streak to 65 games. Brown had a couple of double and drove in a team-high three runs, while A-State’s 1-4 hitters all had at least one hit and one RBI.
The Bobcats got three-hit performance by Zach Sullivan and Granger Studdard, while Cedric Vallieres hit a three-run homer and drove in four runs altogether. Starter Scott Grist went five innings and gave up six runs (all earned) on nine hits with three walks and three strikeouts. Whitter allowed A-State’s other six runs (all earned) on five hits in one inning of work.
Texas State started the scoring early with the second batter of the game, Vallieres, doubling down the left-field line to plate Geisler for a 1-0 lead. Vallieres scored later in the inning on a sacrifice fly that allowed the Bobcats to take a 2-0 edge to the second inning. A-State responded quickly with two singles to lead off the frame and Burgess scored on a Levy ground out to put the score at 2-1. The Red Wolves tied the game at 2-2 on a Brown double to right-center and loaded the bases with two outs, but couldn’t plate any more runs.
However, the tie wouldn’t last long as Texas State’s Geisler singled home a run for a 3-2 advantage and then Vallieres hit a three-run homer to left-center field to give the home team a 6-2 lead. A double by the next hitter would end Grantham’s day and the Bobcats added two more runs later in the inning on bases-loaded singles off Hawkins. Hawkins was able to limit the damage with a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning with A-State down 8-2.
A-State struck back with a pair of runs in the third inning with the first coming on a wild pitch to plate Baker. White singled to left field to score Tanner Ring to make the score 8-4, but White slid past second base trying to advance and was tagged out. The four-run deficit turned into six runs quickly the next inning when Studdard homered off Jackson to score two runs and put Texas State back on top by a count of 10-4.
Feddersen singled with one out in the top of the fourth and stole second with two outs. He scored to bring A-State within 10-5 on a Schrimpf single to left field that took a bad hop over the third baseman’s glove. The Red Wolves added another run in the top of the fifth on Levy’s second RBI ground out to shortstop that plated Burgess to put the deficit at 10-6.
The Red Wolves and Bobcats play the series finale at Bobcat Ballpark Sunday at 11 a.m. as A-State goes for its first conference series sweep of the season. For the latest on A-State baseball follow the team by logging onto the team’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/astatebaseball and following them on Twitter (@ASTATEBaseball).
(Courtesy: ASU Sports Information)
The Red Wolves (22-26, 9-16 SBC) entered the seventh inning trailing 10-6, but Ty White got things started with a bunt single before Stuart Levy doubled down the left-field line off Texas State (20-28-1, 12-14 SBC) reliever Blake Whitter to put runners at second and third with no outs. Jeremy Brown smashed a double down the left-field line as well to score White and Levy to make the score 10-8 and Brown was bunted over to third by Lucas Feddersen. Zach George stepped up to the plate and grounded out to shortstop to bring A-State within one run at 10-9.
Joe Schrimpf drew a walk and scored the tying run on a triple to left-center field by Austin Baker. Matt Burgess brought Baker home with a double over the right fielder’s head to give the Red Wolves an 11-10 lead and chase Whitter from the game. Cory Geisler came to the mound after playing center field up to that point and walked pinch-hitter Daltan Lovell before White singled home Burgess for a 12-10 lead. Levy popped up to end the frame, which saw A-State send 11 batters to the dish.
Coulton Lee entered the game after the inning for Cody Jackson and went the next two innings before leaving the game after giving up a lead-off single in the bottom of the ninth. Colton Kibler entered the contest with the tying run at the plate and got pinch-hitter Teddy Hoffman to pop up to second base before Geisler grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to end the game. The scoreless ninth for Kibler gave the senior right-hander his team-leading fifth save of the season.
Jackson earned the win for the Red Wolves as he improved to 4-0 on the year after tossing four strong innings out of the bullpen. He gave up two runs (both earned) on five hits on a season-high 81 pitches. Starter Adam Grantham struggled as he gave up seven earned runs on six hits, while Chandler Hawkins came in to get the final two outs of the second inning. The Bobcats scored all 10 of their runs in the first three innings with the bullpen holding them scoreless for the final six.
Offensively, White led the offense with a 5-for-5 effort, the team’s first five-hit game all season, and drove in two runs. Feddersen had three hits and extended his team-best hit streak to 13 games, tying the squad’s best this year. George had a hit and walked twice to extend his nation-leading on-base streak to 65 games. Brown had a couple of double and drove in a team-high three runs, while A-State’s 1-4 hitters all had at least one hit and one RBI.
The Bobcats got three-hit performance by Zach Sullivan and Granger Studdard, while Cedric Vallieres hit a three-run homer and drove in four runs altogether. Starter Scott Grist went five innings and gave up six runs (all earned) on nine hits with three walks and three strikeouts. Whitter allowed A-State’s other six runs (all earned) on five hits in one inning of work.
Texas State started the scoring early with the second batter of the game, Vallieres, doubling down the left-field line to plate Geisler for a 1-0 lead. Vallieres scored later in the inning on a sacrifice fly that allowed the Bobcats to take a 2-0 edge to the second inning. A-State responded quickly with two singles to lead off the frame and Burgess scored on a Levy ground out to put the score at 2-1. The Red Wolves tied the game at 2-2 on a Brown double to right-center and loaded the bases with two outs, but couldn’t plate any more runs.
However, the tie wouldn’t last long as Texas State’s Geisler singled home a run for a 3-2 advantage and then Vallieres hit a three-run homer to left-center field to give the home team a 6-2 lead. A double by the next hitter would end Grantham’s day and the Bobcats added two more runs later in the inning on bases-loaded singles off Hawkins. Hawkins was able to limit the damage with a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning with A-State down 8-2.
A-State struck back with a pair of runs in the third inning with the first coming on a wild pitch to plate Baker. White singled to left field to score Tanner Ring to make the score 8-4, but White slid past second base trying to advance and was tagged out. The four-run deficit turned into six runs quickly the next inning when Studdard homered off Jackson to score two runs and put Texas State back on top by a count of 10-4.
Feddersen singled with one out in the top of the fourth and stole second with two outs. He scored to bring A-State within 10-5 on a Schrimpf single to left field that took a bad hop over the third baseman’s glove. The Red Wolves added another run in the top of the fifth on Levy’s second RBI ground out to shortstop that plated Burgess to put the deficit at 10-6.
The Red Wolves and Bobcats play the series finale at Bobcat Ballpark Sunday at 11 a.m. as A-State goes for its first conference series sweep of the season. For the latest on A-State baseball follow the team by logging onto the team’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/astatebaseball and following them on Twitter (@ASTATEBaseball).
(Courtesy: ASU Sports Information)
