| BASEBALL RESULTS |
Auburn 7, Alcorn State 1
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Georgia 4, Georgia State 1
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LSU 11, McNeese State 4
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Arkansas 6, Northwestern State 2
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Vanderbilt 11, Oakland 4
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Florida 8, UCF 0
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Tigers Steal Eight Bases In 7-1 Win Over Alcorn State
AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn stole eight bases and Garrett Copper delivered a big three-run double in the third as the Auburn baseball team completed a two-game series sweep of Alcorn State with a 7-1 win at Plainsman Park on Wednesday afternoon. The victory upped Auburn’s record to 3-2 on the year as it prepares to play on the road for the first time this season this weekend at No. 8 Arizona.
“The top three guys (Bobby Andrews, Jay Gonzalez and Ryan Tella) in our order were on base 10 times today and you get those three guys on base with that type of speed and steal some bases, you create some opportunities,” Auburn Head Coach John Pawlowski said.
The SEC team leader with 12 stolen bases coming in, Auburn ran on the Alcorn State battery from the get-go, stealing a base in the first, two in the third and one in the fifth off of starting pitcher Mike Peters (0-1), who allowed four runs on five hits and four walks in five innings to take the loss. The stolen bases helped Auburn jump out to a 4-0 lead after three, with Andrews (1-for-2, BB, 3 RBI) stealing a base each of the first two times he reached base.
Gonzalez (2-for-3, 2 BB, 2 R, RBI) also had two steals on the night, stealing second in the third and the eighth and coming around to score both times.
Auburn’s running was not limited to the top three in the order as Creede Simpson, who went 1-for-4 with a double from the five-hole to extend his hitting streak to nine games dating to last season, also had two steals, taking second in the fifth and third in the seventh.
“This is a whole different ballgame,” Simpson said. “We have to do different things to put pressure on teams and what we call ‘Speedball’ is our game this year with the bunting and stolen bases. It is a more up-tempo game.”
Auburn was held to just eight hits in the game but drew five walks and was hit by a pitch seven times.
“The guys know that for us to be successful and for our offense to work we are going to have to do the short game. We are going to have to steal bases. The biggest thing is putting pressure on the other team,” Pawlowski said.
Jay Wade (1-0) picked up the win out of the bullpen, allowing three hits while throwing 2 2/3 innings of scoreless ball behind starter Rocky McCord. McCord had allowed one run on five hits and two walks in 4 1/3 innings in his first career appearance.
Up 1-0 after Simpson drove in Andrews with a sacrifice fly in the first, Auburn extended the lead to four, 4-0, in the third when Cooper lined a double down the left field line with Andrews, Gonzalez and Tella (0-for-2, BB, R) all on base.
Alcorn State (1-3) got a run back in the fourth on an Eduardo Gonzalez (2-for-4) RBI single.
The game stayed that way until the seventh when Dan Glevenyak (0-for-3, RBI) laid down a perfect bunt on a suicide squeeze attempt to score Simpson from home to make it 5-1.
A Gonzalez RBI single and an error by the Alcorn State left fielder on a Cooper single to left in the eighth inning capped the scoring in the game.
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#9 Georgia Defeats Georgia State 4-1
ATHENS, Ga. ---- Ninth-ranked Georgia defeated Georgia State 4-1 at Foley Field Wednesday in front of a crowd of 1,658 that included former Bulldog All-American and current Chicago White Sox star Gordon Beckham.
Georgia (4-0) was led early by freshmen pitcher Pete Nagel who made his first career start and tossed five shutout innings. Nagel was incredibly effective, allowing just one hit with a walk and three strikeouts.
Freshman left fielder Hunter Cole was the first player to reach base in the game, leading off the bottom of the second inning with a single. GSU freshman Max Schmitz held the Bulldogs through the first three frames. Cole recorded the first stolen base of his career during the next at bat. After Colby May was walked, Peter Verdin grounded out to short to end the inning and strand runners at the corners as Schmitz got out of the jam.
The Bulldogs were able to get on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning as Jared Walsh scored on a bases loaded walk to Verdin. Walsh recorded the first hit of his career on a hard hit grounder to first. Schmitz walked May to load the bases, then walked Peter Verdin two batters later to bring in the run, ending Schmitz's day. Hunter Cash came in relief for Georgia State, and was able to hold the Bulldog lead until the seventh inning.
Meanwhile, junior Brian Benzor followed Nagel but the Panthers managed to tie the contest. He surrendered a leadoff single to Caden Bailey who then went to second on a Kyle Farmer throwing error. Bailey took third on a sacrifice bunt and scored on an RBI- single by Kody Adams to tie the game at 1-1.
The Bulldogs regained the lead in the bottom of the seventh inning on a fielder's choice groundout by Conor Welton that scored Brandon Stephens to make it 2-1. Stephens led off the inning by reaching second on an error by left fielder Landon Bennett. Stephens advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Peter Verdin. Second basemen Levi Hyams smashed a two-run homer to put Georgia up 4-1.
"When you have big innings, and pitch the way we did tonight then you're going to win ball games," said Bulldog coach David Perno. "Our pitchers were on a roll, and we got a big swing from Levi (Hyams) which helped to erase some mistakes we made. It's still early and we have plenty of time and a lot to work on, but I like where we're headed."
Benzor, Ross Ripple and Blake Dieterich closed out the game swiftly for Georgia out of the bullpen, collectively retiring the last 11 batters faced. Benzor was credited with his first win of the season, allowing one run on two hits in two innings pitched. Ross Ripple pitched a perfect eighth inning, striking out two to set up Blake Dieterich for his first save of the season. Dieterich made short work of the ninth inning, striking out two and retiring the side in order to seal the 4-1 victory. The Panthers dropped to 3-2.
"(Ross) Ripple was the best arm that we had at the time and he did a great job for us," Perno added. "He delivered a lot of hard stuff off the mound which contrasted well with (Brian) Benzor who doesn't quite have as much velocity. Our bullpen was really on their game tonight and so was Pete (Nagel). We had great pitching all around."
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No. 7 Baseball Pounds McNeese St., 11-4
BATON ROUGE -- Seventh-ranked LSU (4-0) battled McNeese State (1-2) from start to finish and pulled away in a five-run sixth inning to defeat the Cowboys 11-4 in a Wednesday afternoon matinee at Alex Box Stadium.
The 44 runs for LSU over the opening four games is the most for the Tigers since the 2005 team tallied 46 to start its campaign. The Tigers return to action on Friday at 7 p.m. to begin a three-game series with Appalachian State at Alex Box Stadium.
Six LSU pitchers combined to work the game for the Tigers. The hurlers struck out nine and forced the Cowboys to strand 11 runners.
Freshman left-hander Cody Glenn (1-0) recorded his first career victory as a Tiger. Glenn pitched three innings, allowed three hits, two runs, two earned, two walks and struck out four.
Joe Broussard started the game for LSU, permitted three hits and one run and struck out one in two innings of work.
Five Tigers collected two hits - Austin Nola drove in three and had a double, Grant Dozar hit a solo home run, and Jackson Slaid had a single and a triple to lead LSU.
Nola and Mason Katz are now tied for the team lead with six RBI.
"We started out a little slow at the plate in the first inning, but I was very pleased with the way we swung the bats today," said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. "We had seven extra-base hits, which was great to see from our offense."
The Cowboys struck first and got on the board in the top of the second. Broussard hit Nick Eubanks after registering the first out of the frame. Taylor Drake knocked a single up the middle and advanced Eubanks to second. Collin Todd ripped a single between the shortstop and third to load the bags.
Tyler Klouser's dribbler to the pitcher brought home Eubanks on a fielder's choice. Broussard forced Andrew Guillotte to fly out to right to strand two runners in scoring position and contain the damage.
The Tigers responded in the bottom of the second. Back to back opposite field singles by Katz and Slaid put runners on first and second. Jones blasted a shot to deep right center that was tracked down, but permitted the both runners to tag up and advance.
Nola stepped up with two runners in scoring position and brought them home on a single up the middle to give LSU its first lead of the game.
Glenn walked the first batter he faced to lead off the third. The Tigers' defense made a clutch play behind him, turning the team's first double play on the season. Casey Yocom scooped up the hard hit grounder, flipped it to Nola on second and he tossed it to Katz on first to complete the bang-bang play.
"I thought both Austin Nola and Casey Yocom played great games today, both at the plate and of defense," Mainieri said. "The double play in the third inning really sparked us early in the game."
However, Michael Sullivan hit a two-out single under Yocom's glove at second and Glenn hit Skylar Barrentine to put two on. Eubanks drilled a line drive into the left center gap to plate the runners and put McNeese ahead 3-2. Glenn pitched his way out of the jam and struck out Drake on four pitches.
The top of the order for LSU got things going in the bottom half of the third and sparked the Tigers to grab the lead for good. Hanover smacked a leadoff double to left and scored on Yocom's double to left.
Rhymes kept the rally going and moved Yocom to third on a base knock to right center. Katz blasted a line drive to the deepest part of the park in straight away center. Yocom reached home safely on the hit, but Rhymes was thrown out at the plate and Katz moved to third on the throw.
Grant Dozar extended the lead for LSU to 5-3 in the bottom half of the fourth when he pulled a two-out dinger into the right field seats.
In the top of the fifth, Nola made a great play at short to register the first out of the frame. He fielded the ball behind the bag at second, spun around and fired a throw to first to beat the runner. Glenn allowed a two-out walk, but struck out two more and posted his second scoreless inning in the process.
Joey Bourgeois stepped into the game in the top of the sixth and kept McNeese off the board. The righty set the Cowboys down in order and recorded the last two outs via strike out to preserve the 5-3 lead.
LSU added insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth. Jones drew a one-out walk, stole second and moved to third on a throwing error. Nola beamed a double to right center, which extended the lead to 6-3. The hit chased McNeese's Michael Clemmons in the process.
McNeese inserted lefty Tyler Erickson to matchup against Moore, but Moore smacked a single up the middle to move Nola to third. The Cowboys pulled Erickson and replaced him with Caleb Miller after Jared Foster was selected to pinch hit for Dozar.
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No. 4 Arkansas improves to 5-0 with 6-2 win
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Matt Reynolds went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBI, while seven Razorback pitchers combined to allow just two runs as No. 4 Arkansas defeated Northwestern State 6-2 on Wednesday afternoon at Baum Stadium.
Arkansas improves to 5-0 on the season, while Northwestern State is now 1-2 on the year.
Reynolds continued his hot start to the 2012 season on Wednesday, recording his fourth multi-hit game of the season, going 2-for-4 with his first home run of the season, two RBI and two runs scored. For the season, Reynolds is hitting .625 (10-for-16) with five RBI and eight runs scored.
Bo Bigham also recorded his first home run of the season in the victory, while Jimmy Bosco, Tim Carver and Dominic Ficociello each added a RBI.
Nick Hinojos and Todd Wallace each had a hit and a RBI to lead Northwestern State at the plate.
Mark Reyes earned his first collegiate win, throwing an inning of relief and allowing a run on two hits with two strikeouts.
Chris Oliver, Ty Wright, Colby Suggs, Michael Gunn and Nolan Sanburn also pitched well out of the Razorback bullpen.
Arkansas starter Greg Milhorn made the first appearance of his collegiate career and pitched well, finishing with three shutout innings and giving up just one hit.
Northwestern State starter Andrew Adams took the loss, allowing four runs on four hits in four innings of action.
For the second straight game, Northwestern State struck first, scoring a run in the top of the fourth. With one out, Nick Doughty tripled off the right-center field wall and came in to score on a single to center by Hinojos.
Arkansas quickly erased the deficit in the bottom of the fourth, tallying four runs to take its first lead of the game. Bigham led off the inning with his first home run of the season, a line drive over the left field wall. Jacob Mahan then chopped a single over the first baseman’s head and into right field. A wild pitch moved Mahan to second and he came around to score on a single to left field by Ficociello. Reynolds then hit the second home run of the inning, his first of the season, over the left field wall to put Arkansas in front 4-1.
Northwestern State cut into the lead in the top of the sixth, scoring a run on Wallace’s lead off home run to left field to trim the lead to 4-2.
The Razorbacks regained a three-run lead in the bottom of the seventh inning. Joe Serrano led off the inning with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Jacob Morris. A fly out to deep center field by Sam Bates advanced Serrano to third and he came in to score on a double to left-center field by Carver.
Northwestern State looked like they would cut into the lead in the top of the eighth after the first two runners reached to start the inning. However, solid relief work by Suggs and Gunn got the Razorbacks out of the inning without any damage. Suggs induced a groundout to short and to the mound for the first two outs and Gunn struck out pinch hitter Ryan Westbrook to end the inning.
Arkansas added another insurance run in the bottom of the eighth. With two out, Reynolds doubled down the left field line and crossed home plate after Bosco’s single into right field.
Sanburn closed the door on Northwestern State in the ninth, throwing a perfect inning with a strikeout.
Arkansas is back in action this weekend as it hosts Valparaiso in a three-game series. Game times are set for 3:05 p.m. on Friday and 1:05 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Single-game tickets for all three games this weekend are $10 for reserved seats.
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Commodores cruise by Grizzlies in opener
Nashville, Tenn. - Mike Yastrzemski hit a three-run home run and the No. 17 Commodores (1-3) won their home opener 11-4 against the Oakland Golden Grizzlies in front of a crowd of 2,031 that stuck out two weather delays.
Yastrzemski capped a five-run third inning with a three-run home run over the US Bank sign in right field to give the Dores a decisive 5-1 lead after the second weather delay. Freshman Chris Harvey notched two hits and two runs, while Anthony Gomez led the Commodores' offense with three hits.
A 32-minute rain delay in the first inning did little to settle down pitcher Drew VerHagen, who gave up a base hit on his first pitch of the game. He balked with runners on the corners to give the Golden Grizzlies a 1-0 lead. VerHagen earned the win in three innings of work, allowing three hits, one run, and striking out three.
The Commodores evened things up quickly in the bottom of the first, as Conrad Gregor hat a base hit to plate Tony Kemp. Gomez put the Commodores ahead in the third with a two-run single, plating Spencer Navin and Kemp before Yastrzemski hit the decisive bomb.
Brian Miller had a scoreless two innings of relief for the Commodores, fanning five and allowing no hits and no walks. Closer Will Clinard capped the game with a scoreless ninth as the Commodores earned their first win of the season.
Robby Enslen led the offensive effort for the Grizzlies with two RBI on two hits. Oakland used 11 pitchers in the loss.
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No. 1 Florida Blanks No. 19 UCF, 8-0
Gainesville, Fla. -- Florida sophomore right-hander Jonathon Crawford (Okeechobee, Fla.) held No. 19 UCF (3-1) hitless for 4.1 innings in his collegiate starting debut and senior Preston Tucker (Tampa, Fla.) tied the school’s career RBI record as the No. 1 Gators (4-1) had four pitchers combine on a six-hit, 8-0 victory on Wednesday night at McKethan Stadium. UF’s first shutout of the season marked the first time that it held the Knights scoreless since a 10-0 win on April 12, 1977, and for only the second time in school history.
After pitching 3.2 innings as a freshman, Crawford (1-1) limited the Knights to a pair of singles over five shutout innings. He was followed to the mound by sophomore Daniel Gibson (Lutz, Fla.) (2.0 IP, 1 H), freshman Bobby Poyner (Wellington, Fla.) (1.0 IP, 1 H) and freshman Ryan Harris (Jupiter, Fla.) (1.0 IP, 2 H). Tucker (2-for-4) began the fifth inning with a solo homer, his team-leading third of the season, to match the standard of 214 RBI held by Brad Wilkerson (1996-98).
“I think overall, from offensively to a pitching standpoint, this was our best game so far,” head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “I thought we swung the bats really well. We came out of the gates, we had good approaches and, needless to say, Jonathon Crawford was really, really good tonight in his first career start. I thought our bullpen was really good – it’s good to get those young guys out there as much as we can.”
“UCF has a tough lineup to throw to,” O’Sullivan continued. “You look up and the first six hitters are left-handed and then obviously they go right, left, right all the way down. So, seven left-handers with a couple of switch hitters in the middle there – it’s not an easy lineup to pitch to if you’re right-handed. I thought Jonathon did a great job. He threw quality change-ups and breaking balls early in the count.”
“I just tried to throw strikes, keep the ball low and keep ahead of the hitters,” Crawford said. “Sunday, I didn’t have too much luck. They hit one ball hard off me, so it wasn’t too hard it get it out of my mind. I thought that I had everything working tonight. Early on, I did really well with the slider. Last year, I didn’t have good command with it, but once I got to the fall and I changed my arm slot, then command came. It feels great and it gives me a load of confidence to go into the next outing.”
Senior Daniel Pigott (Ormond Beach, Fla.) (2-for-3, two RBI) opened the scoring in the first inning with a solo homer into the left-field bleachers off UCF senior right-hander Matt Collins (0-1). It was Pigott’s first big fly since hitting a pair in the NCAA Super Regional against Mississippi State on June 12, 2011, and all six of UF’s homers this year have been of the solo variety. Junior Mike Zunino (Cape Coral, Fla.) (2-for-4, two runs) extended his hitting streak to nine games dating back to last season with a two-out double before Collins had junior Brian Johnson (Cocoa Beach, Fla.) fly out.
The Gators added another run in the second on an RBI grounder by junior Cody Dent (Boynton Beach, Fla.) for a 2-0 lead. Freshman Taylor Gushue (Boca Raton, Fla.) (0-for-1, three walks) started the inning with a walk and freshman Casey Turgeon (Palm Harbor, Fla.) (2-for-4) singled into left field to raise his hitting streak to five games. A fly out to center field by freshman Justin Shafer (Lake Wales, Fla.) advanced Gushue to third base and an RBI grounder by Dent brought across Gushue. Junior Nolan Fontana (Winter Springs, Fla.) hit a liner into left field that junior Nick Carrillo made a sprawling catch on to close the frame.
Freshman James Vasquez (2-for-3) drew a leadoff walk in the third and was sacrificed to second by senior Travis Shreve. Crawford struck out junior Darnell Sweeney, issued a free pass to junior Ronnie Richardson and then had redshirt junior D.J. Hicks, the 2012 Preseason Conference USA Player of the Year, fly out to center field.
Freshman Eric Skoglund replaced Collins (2.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R) prior to the third and Pigott started the inning with a walk and Tucker followed with a double off the wall in left center. Soon after, Zunino’s grounder was misplayed by Sweeney at shortstop for an error that brought across Pigott for a 3-0 lead and a wild pitch from Skoglund brought in Tucker with the fourth run. Turgeon collected his second hit of the night with a two-out RBI single into right field that scored Zunino to expand the Gators’ lead to 5-0.
Junior Ryan Breen walked with one down in the fourth and Crawford induced an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play on a grounder by Carrillo. Crawford held the Knights without a hit until Vasquez legged out an infield single up the third-base line with one down in the fifth. The righty erased the runner at second base on a fielder’s choice by Shreve and Sweeney singled into left center field for runners on the corners and two out. Crawford kept UCF off the board by retiring Richardson on infield pop-up.
Florida plated two more runs in the fifth to build a 7-0 lead, highlighted by a leadoff homer by Tucker to right field that equaled Wilkerson’s RBI total. Zunino roped his second double of the contest to left field, went to third on a wild pitch by freshman Garrett Nuss and Johnson increased the Gators’ advantage to seven runs with an RBI single through the left side. Shafer loaded the bases with one down on his first career hit, a single into right field, and Nuss prevented further trouble by having a grounder by Dent force Johnson at home and Fontana fly out to leave the sacks full.
“It was just a fastball, down in the zone, but it cut hard to the plate so I got a pretty good swing on it,” Tucker said about his homer. “It barreled up and I hit it just about as hard as I could.”
Crawford departed after five scoreless innings in which he gave up two hits, with four strikeouts and three walks, and Gibson retired the Knights on five pitches in the sixth. In the home part of the frame, Pigott and Tucker drew consecutive walks and moved into scoring position on a grounder by Zunino. Junior Jimmy Reed replaced Nuss (1.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R) and permitted a two-out walk to Gushue that filled the bases. However, Turgeon grounded out to complete the stanza.
The Knights had a couple of runners aboard with one down in the seventh when Tucker made a highlight reel catch in the driving rain to rob Shreve of potential extra bases. Gibson ended the threat by having Sweeney line out to center field.
“At first, I didn’t think I was going to get to that ball, but it hung up there just enough where I realized that I could get to it,” Tucker said. “I don’t get a whole lot of diving plays out there.”
Freshman Josh Tobias (Greensboro, N.C.) was hit by a pitch from Reed and Fontana reached on an error by Shreve for two Gators on with one out in the seventh. Pigott launched a double into the left-field corner that scored Tobias and Zunino drew a two-out walk to prompt another pitching change. Redshirt sophomore Gregg Cooke had junior Vickash Ramjit (Miami, Fla.) ground out to end the inning.
After Poyner threw a scoreless eighth, Harris made his collegiate debut in the ninth and walked the leadoff batter, Carrillo, before yielding a flare into left field by senior Alex Friedrich. Harris had Vasquez fly out and Shreve had a base-hit into right field to load the bases with one down. Harris preserved the shutout with back-to-back strikeouts of Sweeney and Richardson.