ATLANTA (4/15/23) – Early success at the plate and on the mound helped the Arkansas State baseball team start and finish strong in an 11-3 victory Saturday night at Georgia State.
All nine batters scored at least once for A-State (12-19, 3-9 SBC), which spotted starting pitcher Kyler Carmack an early 4-0 lead after three innings and did not look back to even the series against the Panthers (17-18, 6-8).
Carmack (3-1) allowed just one run on four hits in five innings before handing off to Arlon Butts, who earned the four-inning save, striking out five and walking none in the final four frames. Butts allowed one earned run on five hits in his second save of the week.
Allen Grier went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored, while Wil French plated a pair on two hits. Cason Tollett and Kody Darcy each went 2-for-5 with an RBI, and Daedrick Cail drove in a run as part of a 2-for-4 day. Cross Jumper did not record a hit, but reached twice via walk and scored two times.
The Red Wolves surged ahead with two-run innings in the second and third against GSU starter Joseph Brandon (2-3), who allowed four runs on six hits in five innings. Grier drove in one of his two runs on the day with a sacrifice fly to plate Cail, and then French singled home Jumper to make it 2-0.
In the third, RBI singles by Cail and Dylan DeButy tacked on two more, scoring Brandon Hager and Darcy. Georgia State ended the shutout in the fifth when Luke Boynton hit an RBI double to right, scoring Dylan Strickland, who led the Panthers with two hits.
Neither side added a run until A-State added to its lead with six runs in the eighth. Jumper scored on Grier's RBI single, and then a bases-loaded walk to Brayden Caskey allowed DeButy to touch home plate. Tollett then singled home Grier and French before Caskey scored on a wild pitch for A-State's ninth run. Darcy then recorded his team-leading 15th double of the season to drive in Tollett.
The Panthers countered with two runs in the bottom of the eighth when a throwing error allowed Michael Maginnis to score, followed by an RBI single by Colin Hynek that plated JoJo Jackson to make it 10-3.
A-State added to its total in the ninth when French roped a two-out triple, scoring Grier. Butts then quickly retired the side to conclude the series-tying victory.
NEXT UP
Arkansas State looks to win the series Sunday against the Panthers, with first pitch against the Panthers slated for Noon CT at the GSU Baseball Complex. The game will be broadcasted live on ESPN+, while the radio broadcast can be heard on The Ticket Radio Network stations 95.3, 96.9 and 970 AM in Jonesboro, as well as online at 953theticket.com.
SOCIAL MEDIA
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