Box Score JONESBORO,
Ark.
- An RBI single by Alex Potts in the bottom of the tenth inning scored the game-winning
run for Arkansas State, as the Red Wolves (10-8, 2-0) picked up a 3-2 win over
UALR (13-7. 0-2) at Tomlinson Stadium and Kell Field on Saturday. The victory
secured the series win for the Red Wolves, who were also helped by one run on
three hits over 7.0 innings from starter Daniel Wright.
Junior Bubba
Cooper was handed the loss for the Trojans after giving up one run on two
hits in 2.0 innings on the hill. Junior Blake
Huffman started the game for UALR and threw 7.0 innings while surrendering
two runs on six hits.
Three of UALR's five hits on the day came off the bat
of senior Cameron Bentley. Bentley
finished the game 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Junior Myles Parma added a single, while
sophomore Kaleb Jobe picked up a
triple for the Trojans' remaining two base hits.
ASU took an early lead when it got on the board with a
pair of runs on four hits in the bottom of the third. A leadoff double by Stuart
Levy was followed by a single through the right by Dustin Jones that scored
Levy from second and gave the Red Wolves a 1-0 lead. A two-out RBI single by Zach
George later in the frame plated Jones to give ASU a 2-0 advantage.
The Trojans pulled within one in the top of the fifth, when
an RBI single by Bentley plated UALR's first run of the day day. Junior Blake Johnson drew a walk to lead off
the inning, then advanced to second on an infield groundout before moving to
third on a deep fly to center field. Bentley's two-out single plated Johnson to
make it 2-1 heading into the bottom of the fifth.
The Trojans tied it at 2-all on an RBI groundout by senior Greg Garcia in the top of the eighth. Bentley singled to lead off the inning, and
the next batter, Parma, hit a potential double-play ball that the Red Wolves
not only couldn't turn, but ended up throwing away. Bentley to move to third on
the throw and Parma went to second, and Garcia's groundout in the next at-bat plated
Bentley to knot the score at two.
The Red Wolves threatened to retake the lead in the
bottom of the ninth, putting runners on first and third with no outs on the
board. Claude Johnson doubled to lead off the inning, and Collin Massanelli
reached on a fielder's choice that resulted in no outs to give ASU runners at
the corners. But Cooper was able to get the Trojans out of the jam. After
getting Levy to ground into a fielder's choice that held Johnson at third, Cooper
got Jones to hit a grounder to third, which sophomore Bryson Thionnet fired
home to throw out Johnson at the plate for the inning's second out. Another
groundout ball off the bat of Michael Faulkner led to the third out and sent
the game to extra innings.
After UALR went scoreless in its first set of
extra-inning at bats, ASU score the game-winning run in the bottom half of the tenth.
A two-out single by Zach George got things started for the Red Wolves. Cooper
was then replaced by junior Elliot
Velasquez, who balked to allow George to advance to second. Velasquez then issued
an intentional walk to Logan Uxa and was replaced on the mound by Thionnet. The
first batter Thionnet faced, Potts, ripped the game-winning RBI up the middle
to give ASU the series win with a 3-2 victory.
UALR and ASU will face off in game three of their
series on Sunday at 1 p.m. Starters for both teams are TBA.
