JONESBORO, Ark. (4/10/09) ? Arkansas State
pitchers Chase Ware, Jett Jones and Ryan Blackburn combined to strike out 16
Chicago State batters and ASU pounded out 18 hits as the Red Wolves (14-18) blanked
the Cougars 15-0 Friday night at Tomlinson Stadium and Kell Field.
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Ware (4-1) finished the night with six
strikeouts in six innings to pick up the win, while Jones and Blackburn
combined to fan seven consecutive batters in the seventh and eighth innings.? Blackburn also finished with six strikeouts
in two innings of work, and Jones struck out four in one inning after Chicago
State (3-30) right fielder Kasey Lewandowski reached on a dropped third strike.
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Ware, Jones and Blackburn combined to allow
just four Chicago State hits on the night.
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“Chase was in the strike zone early and I
thought that was real important to set the tone for the game,” said ASU Head
Coach Tommy Raffo.? “It carried us all
the way through nine innings and that was very important for our club.”
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After three scoreless innings, Arkansas State
got to Chicago State starter Gregory Day for seven runs in the fourth
inning.? An RBI single through the left
side from catcher Lawson Hipps put the first run on the board and a ground-out
from shortstop Jordan Kimball gave the Red Wolves a 2-0 advantage.? A two-out bunt single from left fielder Cody
Pace and a single from third baseman Guy Brown drove in two more runs to double
the ASU lead to 4-0.? A two-run double
from center fielder Todd Baumgartner made it 6-0, Arkansas State, and an RBI
single from first baseman Brandon Eller sent home the final run of the inning
for the 7-0 Red Wolves lead.
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Second baseman Giovanni Garcia doubled to drive
home another run in the fifth and three more runs in the sixth stretched the
Arkansas State lead to 11-0.? A double
down the right field line from right fielder Derrick Coleman sent home the
first run in the seventh, an RBI single from Hipps scored the second run and a
sacrifice fly from Garcia drove in the final run of the inning.
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The Red Wolves tacked on four runs in the
seventh to go up 15-0.? A bases-loaded
triple from Coleman plated the first three runs and an RBI single from backup
catcher Kevin Burgi scored Coleman for the fourth run of the frame.
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Baumgartner had four hits and a pair of RBI,
Hipps had three hits and two RBI and Coleman had a pair of hits and drove in
four runs to lead ASU at the plate.
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The Red Wolves and Cougars will resume the series
Saturday at 2:00 p.m.? The series finale
is scheduled for Sunday at 1:00 p.m., with a children's' Easter Egg hunt
preceding the game at 12:30.
