JONESBORO, Ark. (4/21/23) – ULM rallied for three two-out runs in the ninth inning to take the first game of a three-game series against the Arkansas State baseball team, winning 8-6 Friday at Tomlinson Stadium-Kell Field.
The Red Wolves (12-22, 3-11 SBC) took a 6-5 lead into the top of the ninth and recorded two outs in the frame, but a passed ball allowed the Warhawks (15-23, 5-10) to score the game-tying run followed by a pair of RBI singles later in the inning to give the visitors the lead.
Three players recorded two-hit outings for A-State, which tallied 11 hits as a squad. Cason Tollett went 2-for-5 with a homer, two runs and two RBIs, while Daedrick Cail went 2-for-5 with a run scored. Kody Darcy drove in his team-leading 35th run of the year, going 2-for-4.
Arlon Butts (2-3) took the loss on the mound, pitching 3 2/3 innings of relief with four strikeouts while allowing four runs (two earned) on three hits.
Kade Dupont (3-for-6) and Carson Jones (3-for-5, 2 RBIs) led the Warhawks at the plate, accounting for six of the team's 12 hits.
Carson Orton finished the game on the mound for ULM, tossing 2 1/3 innings and allowing a run on two hits, along with a pair of walks.
ULM struck first in the top of the second on an RBI single by Jones, but a double by Cross Jumper scored Cail in the bottom of the inning to pull the teams even at a run apiece.
The Warhawks then plated three unanswered runs to build a 4-1 lead. Shawn Dalton Weatherbee scored on one of four A-State errors in the third, and then ULM added two more in the fifth on a sac fly and an RBI single.
Tollett's two-run blast to left in the bottom of the fifth pulled the Scarlet and Black within a run, but Jones later singled home Jake Haggard in the seventh to make it a 5-3 affair.
The Red Wolves scratched back for three runs in the next two innings to take a 6-5 lead. Darcy's sac fly scored French, and then Jumper was later hit by pitch to drive in Tollett, who represented the game-tying run. Grier scored for the second time on the night in the bottom of the eighth when he scampered home on a ground-ball fielder's choice.
After Butts opened the ninth with a swinging strikeout, Zack Floyd was hit by pitch and replaced by pinch-runner Travis Washburn, who swiped second and then later advanced to third on a wild pitch. A passed ball then allowed Washburn to cross home plate, tying up the ballgame.
Jayson Zmejkoski continued the inning with a full-count walk, and then later scored from second on a single by Dupont to put the Warhawks ahead. Weatherbee then singled home Jones before a lineout ended the inning.
Pinch-hitter Kyler Carmack worked a four-pitch walk with one out in the bottom of the ninth, but a double play ended things to hand the visitors the win.
NEXT UP
A-State looks to even the series against the Warhawks Saturday, with first pitch set for 3 p.m. on ESPN+. The radio broadcast carried on The Ticket Radio Network stations 95.3, 96.9 and 970 AM in Jonesboro, as well as online at 953theticket.com.
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