Matthew Lee home run celebration 2022 SBC Championship
AJ Henderson / Sun Belt
8
Winner Louisiana Monroe ULM 20-34-1
5
Georgia State GSU 30-27
Winner
Louisiana Monroe ULM
20-34-1
8
Final
5
Georgia State GSU
30-27
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Louisiana Monroe ULM 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 5 0 8 10 2
Georgia State GSU 0 0 0 3 0 1 1 0 0 5 9 0

W: Orton, Carson (2-1) L: Watson, Ryan (1-4)

Game Recap: Baseball |

ULM Rallies Late to Defeat Georgia State in Sun Belt Championship First Round, 8-5

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Chase DeJean drove in three runs, including the go-ahead run on a squeeze bunt in the eighth inning, as No. 10-seed ULM rallied from deficits of 3-0 and 5-3 for an 8-5 victory over No. 7-seed Georgia State in a single-elimination first-round game on Tuesday, May 24 in the 2022 Guardian Credit Union Sun Belt Conference Baseball Championship.
 
With its opening-game win over Georgia State, ULM (20-34-1) advances to face Sun Belt regular-season champion and No. 1 seed Texas State (44-11, 26-4) on Wednesday, May 25 at 7:30 p.m. at Riverwalk Stadium.
 
"I'm just really excited about this victory and getting into tournament tomorrow," ULM coach Michael Federico said. "I feel like our guys were really resilient today. We've been battling the last couple of weeks just to at least get here, and now we're in the big tournament, so I'm super excited.
 
"A lot of guys stepped up, this guy (Chase DeJean) included, a couple of pitchers combined together to do damage control, and had a couple of really big hits, a couple of them from our seniors. And then a safety squeeze kind of thing that he'll talk about. Overall, we overcame some of our adversities with the walks and a couple of errors that we made, but we found a way to get the victory and I'm super excited for our guys."
 
ULM starter Cole Cressend allowed one hit and two walks through the first three innings. After recording his third strikeout to open the bottom of the fourth, Cressend surrendered a solo home run to left-center field by Luke Boynton, who gave Georgia State a 1-0 lead on his 12th blast of the season. Dylan Strickland followed with a single up the middle and advanced to third on Josh Smith's double down the right-field line. Will Mize sent Strickland home on a sacrifice fly that was misplayed in center field. Smith went to third on the fielding error and scored an unearned run two batters later on a wild pitch as the Panthers jumped out to a 3-0 lead.
 
Georgia State starter Trey Horton allowed no hits and issued two walks through the first four innings. ULM's Michelle Artzberger led off the fifth inning with a double to right-center field and DeJean deposited the first pitch he saw over the left-field wall for a two-run homer, his first since April 4 and his third of the season, as the Warhawks cut their deficit to 3-2. After issuing a pair of walks and recording a strikeout, Ryan Cupit delivered a game-tying RBI single up the middle that scored Matthew Lee from second base.
 
"DeJean's home run definitely gave us energy," Federico said. "One of the things we've been talking about the last couple of weeks to get to the tournament was just emptying the tank, leave nothing, whether you're on the bench or you pitch or you're playing, just give us every ounce of energy that you could. That bolt right there just kind of electrified us a little bit, got us going."
 
"I knew right when they went up 3-0, I was like, all right, guys, we've gotta get something going," DeJean said. "The last three weeks all I've been getting is sliders, so I sat on one, got it up in the zone and put a good swing on it. That gave us life. It's happened all year, we'd give up a few runs, the dugout gets quiet, that kind of gave us a little energy that we needed, and it kept on building the whole game."  
 
ULM threatened again in the top of the sixth against reliever Seth Clark. With two outs, Artzberger doubled to left field and DeJean walked. Lee followed with a sharp single to right field, but Cameron Jones' throw cut down Artzberger at home plate.
 
Georgia State regained the lead in the bottom of the sixth inning, 4-3, off reliever Nicholas Judice as Kyle Hilton came through with a two-out RBI single up the middle that scored Smith, who walked and stole second.
 
In the bottom of the seventh, the Panthers got back-to-back doubles from Jones and Max Ryerson, off Carson Orton, to extend their lead to 5-3.
 
Georgia State reliever Ryan Watson, who retired ULM in order in the top of the seventh, failed to record an out in the eighth, allowing three-straight hits. Mason Holt jumped on the first pitch he saw and opened the frame with a double down the left-field line. Grant Schulz also swung at Watson's first offering and tied the game at 5-all on his sixth home run of the season, a two-run blast to left field. Colby Deaville reached on a bunt single to third base. Jones came in from right field to become the Panthers' fourth pitcher of the game. Deaville advanced to second on a passed ball and moved to third on a groundout. ULM took its first lead of the game at 6-5 as DeJean reached on a perfectly executed squeeze bunt to the pitcher that scored Deaville.
 
"You've got a super competitor in (Georgia State outfielder-pitcher Cameron) Jones on the mound, I mean, he's a dude, to me he's one of the best two-way guys that I've ever coached against," Federico said. "He's one of those guys that you're not always going to get a great swing off, Chase is a swing-and-miss guy, if you look at his numbers he's got a bunch of strikeouts. We gave him a swing, tried to get the sac fly in that moment, it was one of those things, the infield's in, we knew he's actually one of our best bunters, which is ironic, he's a really good bunter and I think it kind of shocked Jones a little bit in that regard."
 
Facing an 0-2 count, Lee provided some cushion with a two-run homer to left field as the Warhawks built an 8-5 advantage in the eighth. It marked Lee's second home run of the season. His first came in the series opener against Arkansas State last Thursday.
 
Orton (2-1), who worked three innings in relief and allowed one earned run on four hits with two walks and three strikeouts, picked up the win. He worked around a fielding error and a single in the bottom of the eighth to strand two base runners. Orton also pitched out of trouble in the ninth after permitting a one-out walk and a two-out single. He ended the game by striking out Chase Wullenweber, who came to the plate representing the potential game-tying run.
 
Cressend went 3.2 innings and allowed three runs, two earned, on four hits with three walks and three strikeouts.
 
Judice and Orton combined to pitch 5.1 innings and allowed two earned runs on five hits with three walks and six strikeouts.
 
Horton went 4.1 innings in his start and allowed three earned runs on three hits with four walks and five strikeouts.
 
Watson (1-4), who took the loss, worked one inning and surrendered three earned runs on three hits with no walks and two strikeouts.
 
ULM outhit Georgia State, 10-9, as Artzberger (2-for-4 with two doubles) and Lee (2-for-3) recorded multi-hit games. The Panthers stranded 13 base runners while the Warhawks left six.
 
Wednesday's game against Texas State will be streamed live on ESPN+ and broadcast on KMLB Radio (105.7 FM / 540 AM). Right-hander Tylor Jans (2-4, 4.50 ERA) is expected to get the start on the mound for the Warhawks.

 
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