MONROE, La. ? Kyle DeGrace hit a bases loaded
single in the top of the 11th inning to lift Arkansas State past ULM
6-4 in game two of the Sun Belt Conference series Saturday afternoon at Warhawk
Field.
The Warhawks tied the game 4-4 in the
seventh inning and had runners on second and third with just one out in the
bottom of the 10th inning, but Nick Lambert got back-to-back
strikeouts to end the threat.
Todd Baumgartner and Murray Watts led off the
Arkansas State (9-10, 4-4 Sun Belt) half of the 11th with back-to-back
singles. Following a walk to Brandon Eller, DeGrace poked one through the
Warhawks' drawn in infield for winning runs.
Lambert (3-0) closed the door for Arkansas
State pitching 1 2/3 inning of work, striking out three Warhawk batters in the
process to earn his third victory of the season.
Ben Soignier, Matt Laird and Matt Collins
each recorded three hits and scored a run to lead ULM (10-10, 3-5). Perry Smith
also recorded two hits in the contest, including leading off the two-run
seventh inning with a single.
Arkansas State was led by Guy Brown's three
hits and two runs, while Baumgartner and Watts each added two hits and combined
to score three runs.
The Red Wolves struck in the top of the first
inning via a wild pitch that allowed Brown to score and a Watts RBI single to
right field.
ULM fought right back with a pair in the
bottom of the second. Laird led off the inning with a double down the line in
left field and came home to score on a Ryan McMillan groundout. Nick Wade drove in
Matt Collins, who reached on a single, with ULM's second double of the inning
down the left field line.
After a pair of scoreless frames, Eller broke
the two-all tie with a RBI ground-rule double down the left field line in the
top of the fifth inning. With Arkansas State threatening, ULM's Josh Miller entered
from the bullpen and struck out Giovanni Garcia with the bases loaded to end
the inning.
The Red Wolves took advantage of the game's
lone error in the top of the sixth as Brown singled back up the middle to score
Josh DeMoney pushing the lead out to 4-2.
The Warhawks answered in the seventh frame
with a pair runs to tie the game. Soignier and Collins both delivered two-out run-scoring singles in the inning.
Despite pitching well Corey Brown (1-1) took
the loss for ULM as he allowed two runs and three hits. He entered the game
with a pair of runners on in the eighth inning and recorded back-to-back outs
to end the threat.
The teams combined for 28 hits, but struggled
to bring runners across the plate when given the opportunity. The Red Wolves
stranded 16 runners on the game, including leaving the bases loaded four times,
while the Warhawks stranded 13 bases runners.
ULM and Arkansas State finish the three-game
series at Warhawk Field on Sunday at 1 p.m. Sunday is Kids' Day at Warhawk
Field as all children 12 and under will be admitted free to the game and will
have an opportunity to run on the field with their favorite player for the
National Anthem.
The game will be broadcast live on 1680 AM in
the Monroe area and worldwide on the internet at ULMAthletics.com.
