JONESBORO, Ark. (4/9/22) – A two-run single by Daedrick Cail tied up the contest in the seventh for the Arkansas State baseball team, but Louisiana pushed across two unearned runs in the ninth inning to earn a 5-3 series-clinching win Saturday night at Tomlinson Stadium-Kell Field.
Cail's two-out single to right-center field helped A-State (5-23, 0-11 SBC) overcome a 3-1 deficit, but a pair of errors proved costly in the ninth as the Ragin' Cajuns (17-14, 6-5) took advantage of those miscues to plate its winning runs. All three of the Red Wolves' runs on Saturday night came with two outs.
Both starting pitchers hurled quality starts, as Will Nash struck out six in six innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits. Louisiana's Jacob Schultz also fired six frames, allowing one run on three hits and striking out four Red Wolves.
Brandon Anderson pitched 1 2/3 innings before handing off to Austin Brock, who recorded the final out in the eighth. Kevin Wiseman (0-2) pitched the ninth, allowing two runs – both unearned – and striking out a pair.
Chipper Menard (3-1) earned the win in relief for the Cajuns, pitching the final 2 2/3 innings behind Schultz and Bo Bonds, who recorded one out in the seventh.
Louisiana struck first in the opening frame on a sacrifice fly by Kyle DeBarge that drove in Max Marusak, who went 2-for-4 with a game-high three runs scored. Marusak also scored in the sixth when Carson Roccaforte reached on an error.
A-State got a run back in the bottom of the sixth when Brandon Hager singled home Mickey Coyne to make it 2-1 after six.
The Ragin' Cajuns responded in the top of the seventh on an RBI single by Julian Brock to plate Heath Hood. The Red Wolves would battle back to tie it with Cail's two-run single that drove in French and pinch-hitter Jacob Hager, who slapped a double down the left field line in his lone plate appearance.
With two outs in the eighth, Anderson was lifted for Brock, who pitched around trouble and stranded the bases full. Two errors were critical in the top of the ninth, however, allowing two Ragin' Cajuns to score and make it 5-3 with the bottom third of the order due up for A-State.
French lined a one-out single into center field, but a pair of flyouts ended the threat.
NEXT UP
A-State takes on Louisiana in the series finale, with first pitch set for 1 p.m. at Tomlinson Stadium-Kell Field. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+, while the radio broadcast can be heard on The Ticket Radio Network stations 95.3, 96.9, 104.1 and 970 AM.
SOCIAL MEDIA
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