JONESBORO, AR ? The Arkansas State baseball team notched its second shutout of the season as the Indians took home an 8-0 victory over Freed-Hardeman in non-conference action on Sunday afternoon at Tomlinson Stadium. The Tribe has now won five of its last six games to improve to 18-16 on the year while the Lions drop to 22-21 on the season.
“I am extremely pleased with the way that we played all-around this afternoon,” head coach Keith Kessinger said. “Nathan (Gates) was fantastic on the mound today, our defense was solid all game long and we had some timely hitting early on which opened up the game for us.”
Junior right-hander Nathan Gates (3-2) picked up the victory as he worked a career-high eight scoreless innings and combined with junior left-hander Doug Gunderson for the shutout. Gates limited the Lions to just six hits as he struck out eight batters while walking just two. This is the second straight start that Gates has worked seven-plus innings for the Tribe.
The Indians jumped out of the gate early in the top of the first inning on the windy afternoon against FHU starter Nick McClary. Junior right fielder Tyler Doke got the ball rolling as he led off with a triple down the left field line. Senior first baseman Elliot Jacobs continued his stellar play of late as he followed with a double to right field to plate Doke with the first run of the game.
Senior Brett Kinning ripped a single to right center field to put two aboard for junior designated hitter Josh Yates. Yates came through as he crushed a two-run double down the left field line as the first four Indians tallied a hit against McClary. After two outs, senior second baseman Michael Williams Jr. brought home Yates as he laid down a perfect bunt single to give the Tribe a 4-0 lead.
Freed-Hardeman tried to manufacture a run against Gates in the top of the second inning as they put a runner on third base with nobody out. Gates battled through the jam as he induced a pop fly to the catcher and back-to-back strikeouts to get out of the inning unscathed.
The Tribe produced another run in the bottom of the second inning as Doke drew a one-out walk. He moved to third as he stole second and advanced on a wild pitch. Jacobs drove home his second run of the afternoon as he lifted a sacrifice fly to center field to put ASU up, 5-0.
The Indians closed out the scoring and ran McClary from the game in the bottom of the sixth inning. Senior center fielder Josh Allison got things going with his speed. He reached base on a bunt single and advanced all the way to third on a high infield chopper as he was running on the play. Freshman third baseman Guy Brown drove him in with a run scoring infield hit to put ASU up by six runs. Sophomore catcher Drew Rogers capped off the afternoon as he ripped a two-run home run over the left field wall on an afternoon when the wind was blowing straight in from center field.
The Lions only had one other inning where they put a runner into scoring position as they put two aboard in the top of the eighth. Gates was able to work out of the jam as he struck out his eighth batter of the game to put a stamp on his solid outing.
McClary (1-1) picked up the loss for the Lions as he was charged with eight runs on 10 hits in 5.2 innings of work. Reliever John Hoezler worked the final 2.1 innings as he held the Tribe off of the board.
The Indian attack pounded out 11 hits on the afternoon as nine different players tallied a hit. Jacobs and Allison each posted a multiple hit game while Doke extended his hitting streak to nine straight games with his first inning triple. The Indians have now won six straight home games at Tomlinson Stadium.
The Indians and Lions will wrap up their two-game series on Monday evening as they meet at 6:30 p.m. at Tomlinson Stadium. Freshman right-hander Nicholas Lambert will go to the hill for the Tribe on Monday night.
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