MILLINGTON, Tenn. (4/9/14) — The Arkansas State baseball suffered a 5-4 setback Sunday afternoon in the second game of a three-game series against Creighton at USA Baseball Stadium.
The Red Wolves (6-8) trailed by one run going into the bottom of the ninth inning and loaded the bases with one out, but a strikeout and groundout to first base ended A-State's comeback attempt and left the bases loaded.
The Red Wolves and Bluejays were tied at 3-3 after 6 ½ innings but Joe Schrimpf put A-State ahead with a 2-out single through the left side the plated Lucas Feddersen and the Arkansas State bullpen combined to finish out the game.
The inning began with a single by Feddersen and then he stole second base to move himself into scoring position. After a fly out and a strikeout, Stuart Levy was intentionally walked and Schrimpf delivered with the RBI hit.
Arkansas State took advantage of two Bluejays' miscues in the bottom of the fourth inning to take its first lead of the afternoon. Burgess started the inning by reaching on an error by the Creighton shortstop and Stuart Levy followed with double down the left field line to extend his on-base streak to 13 straight games.
The Red Wolves tied the game when Burgess scored on the second error of the inning by Creighton's shortstop, which also allowed Schrimpf to reach safely at first base and Levy advanced to third on the play.
Austin Groth, who had been efficient with the Arkansas State batters until the inning began, struggled to find his command and threw a wild pitch that allowed Levy to score the go-ahead run from third. Groth then hit Collin Massanelli and Dustin Jones singled up the middle to put runners on first and second.
Zach Maggio singled through the left side to drive in the inning's third run and forced a pitching by the Bluejays. Nick Highberger came in, in relief and immediately issued a walk to Feddersen to load the bases, but Austin Baker flew out to left to end the inning and leave the bases loaded.
The lead would not last however as Mike Gerber tied the game in the top of the sixth inning with a two-run home run to right field. It was one of just two mistakes that Chandler Hawkins made on the afternoon. The sophomore also gave up a solo home run to Landon Lucansky in the second inning.
Hawkins turned in the second quality start of the season for an A-State pitcher, tossing six innings and giving up just three run on three hits while striking out four.
Levy finished the game 2-for-3 with a run scored, while Schrimpf added a hit and two RBIs. Maggio also had an RBI on the afternoon and had two hits.
The series will conclude Monday afternoon at 5 p.m. in Millington, Tenn., at USA Baseball Stadium. The game can be heard on 95.3FM The Ticket/970AM KNEA and on AStateRedWolves.com For in-game updates follow @AStateGameDay on Twitter and stay up to date with A-State baseball by following the team on Twitter (@AStateBaseball) and Facebook (Facebook.com/RedWolvesbaseball).
