JONESBORO, Ark. (4/8/23) – Eleven runs crossed the plate in the eighth inning as the Arkansas State baseball team rallied for a 17-7 run-rule triumph over Troy Saturday afternoon at Tomlinson Stadium-Kell Field.
A-State (10-18, 2-8 SBC) trailed 7-6 entering the bottom of the eighth, but the Trojans (22-11, 6-6) surrendered four hits and five walks while hitting two batsmen and committing a pair of errors in the frame. Six of the Red Wolves' 11 runs in the inning came with two outs.
The 11-run frenzy is the program's first inning of 10-plus runs scored since the Scarlet and Black pushed across 12 in the first inning on May 4, 2019, versus Appalachian State.
A-State's 17 runs came on 13 hits, highlighted by Daedrick Cail's 3-for-4 performance. The Marion, Ark., native scored twice and drove in four runs, homering and reaching base four times. Allen Grier scored four times on a pair of hits and a walk, while Blake Burris went 2-for-5 with three runs.
Brayden Caskey scored twice in the eighth and drove in three with a double, while Brandon Hager and Cross Jumper also scored two runs apiece.
Kyler Carmack allowed just one earned run in 6 1/3 innings on four hits, striking out five. Jacob Conover (1-0) earned his first career win, pitching a scoreless inning.
Troy pitching allowed 10 walks, with Kristian Asbury (2-1) taking the loss in one-third of an inning of relief to start the eighth.
The visitors took an early 1-0 lead on a sac fly by William Sullivan, but A-State tied it in the third when Grier crossed home on a balk. Troy reclaimed a 3-1 lead with runs in the fourth and fifth on an RBI groundout and a single by Brooks Bryan, who went 2-for-4.
A-State struck for four unanswered to lead 5-3 after six. Cason Tollett doubled home Burris in the fifth, before three more crossed in the sixth on a two-run homer by Cail followed by Grier scoring on an error.
Kole Myers singled in the seventh to plate Donovan Whibbs, pulling the Trojans within a run. Myers ended the day 2-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI. Cail answered with an RBI single in the bottom of the inning, scoring Hager to make it 6-4.
A two-run blast to right-center by Shane Lewis tied the contest at 6-all, but Caleb Bartolero followed it four pitches later with a solo shot to left center, putting the Trojans on top 7-6. Conover entered with no men out and worked around two base runners, forcing a 6-4-3-2 double play to end the inning.
Grier coaxed a four-pitch walk to lead off the bottom of the eighth before advancing to second on a successful sacrifice by Wil French. An infield single by Burris moved the game-tying runner Grier to third, but an errant throw allowed the Atlanta native to scamper home and tie up the ballgame.
Tollett hit an opposite-field single to move Burris to third, and then was lifted for the pinch-runner Caskey. After Hager was hit by a pitch, loading the bases, Jumper also was plunked to plate Burris. Back-to-back bases-loaded walks to Cail and Dylan DeButy scored Caskey and Hager, while Cail and Jumper scored on a fielder's choice and an error.
Burris then continued the inning, forcing a bases-loaded walk in a 10-pitch plate appearance to drive in DeButy before Caskey roped an 0-2 pitch into right-center field to unload the bases with a three-run double. Hager singled up the middle to drive in Caskey, forcing the run rule and clinching the win.
NEXT UP
A-State concludes its four-game home stand Tuesday night, hosting Murray State. First pitch at Tomlinson Stadium-Kell Field is slated for 6 p.m. on ESPN+. 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.
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