JONESBORO, AR ? The Arkansas State baseball team rallied for three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to take home a 6-5 victory over regional foe Murray State on Wednesday night at Tomlinson Stadium. The win was head coach Keith Kessinger's 100th career victory at the helm of the Tribe and the victory snapped a three-game losing streak for the Indians.
“It is great to get back in the win column tonight,” Kessinger said. “I am proud of our guys for battling back and scoring three runs in the bottom of the ninth as we never gave up. We also got some clutch hits off of the bench from Lyons (Jeremy) and Boucher (Todd).”
The Indians (14-15) headed into the bottom of the ninth inning trailing the Thoroughbreds by two runs. Senior second baseman Michael Williams Jr. started the rally off as he battled through a 10-pitch at-bat to draw a lead off walk. After a strikeout by reliever Andrew Bishop, redshirt freshman Jeremy Lyons came off the bench and laced a pinch hit single through the right side to put the tying run on base.
Freshman Guy Brown followed as he drew a walk to load the bases for Todd Boucher who had just entered the game an inning earlier. Boucher, in his first at-bat of the evening, ripped a one out single to left center field that scored Williams with the first run of the inning and kept the bases loaded.
Senior first baseman Elliot Jacobs followed with a clutch play as he laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt with the bases loaded to plate Lyons with the game-tying run. Senior shortstop Brett Kinning capped off the three-run rally as he smashed a single into the hole at short to plate Boucher and give the Tribe the much needed victory.
Freshman reliever Brandon Eller (2-0) picked up the victory as he worked two innings and allowed two runs, both unearned, on two hits. Bishop (1-4), a former Indian, picked up the loss as he worked two-thirds of an inning and was charged with two runs on three hits.
Murray State (7-22) opened the scoring against ASU starter Nicholas Lambert in the top of the first inning as the ?Breds put together a two-out outburst. Tyler Pittman started things off with a single and came home to score on Jason Payton's triple to right center field. The ?Breds added another two-out run in the top of the third inning as Pittman drove in the run with a run scoring double to put Murray State up, 2-0.
The Indians tied the game in the bottom of the fourth inning as they scored two runs off of Murray State starter Daniel Calhoun. Kinning started things off with a one-out walk and moved to second on a ground out. After a stolen base by Kinning, junior designated hitter Josh Yates singled in Kinning for ASU's first run of the game. The Tribe put the pressure on Murray State as Yates stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error. Yates was able to come home on the ?Breds second error of the inning on a Williams ground ball to third base which tied the score at two apiece.
Murray State re-took the lead in the top of the fifth inning as it ran Lambert from the game with another two-out run. The Indians though answered right back and knotted the score up at, 3-3, in the bottom half of the fifth. Junior right fielder Tyler Doke tripled down the right field line and came home to score as Kinning lifted a sacrifice fly to center field. The ?Breds again regained the lead in the top of the eighth inning as they took advantage of two ASU fielding errors to score the two unearned runs to set the stage for the Tribe comeback in the bottom of the ninth.
Lambert worked 4.1 innings in his first career start as he was charged with three runs on six hits as he walked just one batter. Senior left-hander Brian Schuck tossed 2.2 innings of scoreless relief as he allowed just two hits in his time on the mound.
Calhoun lasted five innings in his start for Murray State which has now dropped 11 straight games. He was charged with three runs, two earned, as he allowed four hits and walked two batters. Reliever Jon Newton came in and worked three innings of one run baseball before giving way to Bishop in the ninth.
Seven different Indians posted a hit in the victory including two by Yates to lead the way. Kinning drove in a pair of runs including the game winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning.
The Tribe will be back in action this weekend as it hosts instate rival Arkansas-Little Rock in a pivotal three-game Sun Belt Conference series at Tomlinson Stadium. The series is set to open Friday night at 6:30 p.m., followed by the middle game on Saturday night at 6:30 p.m. and then concluding on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.
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