Red Wolves Baseball Notes (at UALR)

Courtesy Arkansas State University Athletics Department

Arkansas State (11-6) at UALR (10-7)

 

GAMES 18-20

Dates: March 15-17

First Pitch: Friday, 6:00 p.m.

Saturday, 4:00 p.m.

Sunday, 1:00 p.m.

Location: Little Rock, Ark.

Stadium: Gary Hogan Field (1,000)

Radio: East Arkansas Broadcasters

95.3 FM The Ticket

970 AM KNEA

Radio Talent: Matt Stolz

 

SERIES

ASU vs UALR.: 62-39 (ASU Leads)

Raffo Record vs UALR: 13-5

Last Meeting: 2012

Current Streak: ASU 9 Wins

 

MULTIMEDIA

Online Audio: AStateRedWolves.com

Live Stats: AStateRedWolves.com

 

LEADING OFF: Arkansas State will open Sun Belt Conference play this weekend when they travel to Little Rock to play in-state rival UALR in a three-game series at Gary Hogan Field. ASU will bring a nine game winning streak against the Trojans into the series. The Red Wolves swept UALR two times last season, including the final series of the regular season in Little Rock. ASU will start senior right-hander Daniel Wright on Friday, while Chandley Hawkins will get his second straight start of the season on Saturday. Junior right-hander Bradley Wallace is scheduled to take the mound for Sunday’s finale. UALR will counter with SBC Preseason Picther of the Year Chance Cleveland on Firday, while Blake Huffman will get the call Saturday afternoon. Right-hander Ethan Schlechte will take the hill on Sunday for the Trojans. 

THE TEAMS: Arkansas State split a pair of midweek games against Missouri State over the past week to move its overall record to 11-6 on the year. Arkansas State leads the Sun Belt Conference with a .981 fielding percentage and also ranks among the nation’s leaders in sacrifice bunts. The Red Wolves have won all but one of their weekend series this season.

UALR enters the series with a 10-7 overall record and is coming off a win against UT-Arlington on Tuesday, but have lost three of their previous four games. UALR leads the SBC in SAC flies allowed, but has also managed to pickoff seven baserunners on the year.

 

ASU/UALR SERIES HISTORY

• This will be the 102nd, 103rd and 104th meetings all-time between ASU and UALR.

• The first meeting occurred during the 1975 season with ASU taking two games from the UALR.

• Arkansas State leads the all-time series 62-39.

• ASU has a record of 24-16 all time against the Trojans in games played in Little Rock.

• The Red Wolves have won the last nine games in the series and have won 12 out of the last 15 matchups with the Trojans.

 

SCOUTING THE TROJANS

• UALR is 10-7 this season, with all 10 of their wins coming at Gary Hogan Fileld.

• UALR has won all 10 of their games at home this season.

• The Trojans have given up an average of 4.0 runs a game this season, while scoring an average of 5.6 runs per contest this season.

• UALR have given up the most sacrifice flies of any team in the Sun Belt this season at 11.

• The Trojans have hit 13 home runs this season, which ranks 13th in the nation.

• Ben Crumpton ranks fifth in the nation with nine doubles on the year.

• As a team, UALR has recorded 31 doubles on the year, which ranks 41st in the nation.

• Friday night starter Chance Cleveland is 2-2 on the year with a 1.67 ERA and 25 strikeouts. He was also named the SBC Preseason Player of the Year.

 

SUN BELT CONFERENCE OPENERS

• ASU is 33-27 all-time in Sun Belt Conference opening games.

• In the opening series, ASU is 9-9-2 with five series sweeps.

 

UXA DOES IT ALL

• Logan Uxa enjoyed one of his best two-game stretches on the base paths against Missouri State March 12-13.

• Uxa tied a career high with two stolen bases on March 12 and the notched just the third triple of his career on March 13.

 

A MIDWEEK OF FIRSTS

• Freshman Derek Birginske made his first career state on March 12 against Missouri State. He gave up just one run on five hits and struck out six, but did not factor into the decision.

• Freshman Adam Grantham earned his first career save on March 13 against Missouri State when he pitched the final two innings in relief in a 7-5 victory.

 

UNEARNED RUNS

• Arkansas State and Missouri State combined to score eight unearned runs in ASU’s 7-5 victory over the Bears on March 13.

 

POTTS STREAK COMES TO AN END

• Alex Potta saw his 15 game on-base streak come to an end on March 12. He had reached base in A-State’s first games before the streak came to an end.

 

JUST ANOTHER WALK-OFF SINGLE

• Alex Potts lifted A-State to a walk-off single in the bottom of the 11th inning on March 8 to give ASU a 2-1 victory over UAB.

• It was the third walk-off single of Pott’s career. He recorded two walk-off singles during his junior season.

• The first was a walk-off single in the bottom of the 10th inning against UALR on March 17, 2012 to give ASU a 3-2 win.

• The second was a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth against South Alabama to give ASU 1-0 on May 6, 2011.

 

HAWKINS SHINES IN FIRST START

• Sophomore Chandler Hawkins shined in his first start of the season on March 9 against UAB.

• He pitched a career-high seven innings, faced a career-high 28 batters and allowed just one run on seven and tied a career-high with three strikeouts.

 

BAKER’S HITS EQUAL RUNS

• Freshman outfielder Austin Baker drove in four runs on three hits on Saturday March 9 against UAB in a doubleheader.

• Baker drove in a run on every hit he had across both games on the day.

 

HAWKINS KEEPING EM’ DOWN

• Sophomore Chandler Hawins has a league leading 0.57 ERA on the season.

• He has has six apperances on the season, five of which have been in relief.

• He has allowed just one run on nine hits, with 12 strikeouts and just six walks in 15.2 innings.

 

FITZPATRICK FIRST START

• Freshman Kevin Fitzpatrick made his first career start on March 3.

• The true freshman made a start in left field and batted in the leadoff position. He went 1- for-4 with two runs scored.

• He recorded his first career RBI on Tuesday, March 5 against UT-Martin.

 

ASU IN EXTRA INNINGS

• ASU is 2-1 on the year in extra inning games.

• Alex Potts helped ASU to a 2-1 victory over UAB on March 8 when he drove in the winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning.

• The Red Wolves were down to their last out, but rallied from a 2-0 deficit to defeat Memphis 3-2 on Feb. 19.

• Collin Massanelli drove in two runs in the top of the ninth inning to tie the game at 2-2.

• Ryan Emery followed with a game winning RBI single in the top of the 10th inning and Tanner Ring closed out the game in the bottom of the 10th to give A-State the win.

 

GETTING THE SHUTOUT

• Arkansas State recorded its first shutout of the season on Tuesday, March 5 against UT- Martin. The Red Wolves picked up a 9-0 victory over the Skyhawks and faced just one batter of the mininum.

•The last time ASU shutout an opponent was April 13 of last year when A-State picked up a 5-0 win over Western Kentucky.

• The last time ASU recorded a shutout against a non-conference opponent was against Portland in 2010 in a 7-0 victory.

• It was the first shutout for ASU during a midweek game since 2006 when the team defeated Murray State 11-0 on a Wednesday (The team also defeated Freed-Hardeman 8-0 on Sun, April 16 of that year. ASU played Freed-Hardeman in a Sunday-Monday two game series.)

 

IN THE POLLS

• Arkansas State received votes in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Top 30 poll earlier this season.

• Records indicate that the last time an A-State baseball team was ranked was during the the 1970 season when Arkansas State finished the season ranked 24th in the nation in the final Collegiate Baseball poll.

 

UXA’S HOT START

• Senior Logan Uxa is tied for seventh in the Sun Belt Conference 22 hits on the year.

• He has had a hit in all but three games this year.

 

WALLACE TIES CAREER HIGH

• Junior Bradley Wallace tied a career-high with seven strikeouts in 4.2 inning of work on Feb. 26 against Vanderbilt.

• Wallace is leading the Sun Belt with 24 strikeouts in 16.2 innings pitched this year.

• Wallace has struckout 10 batters looking this season, which leads the SBC.

 

PROTECTING HOME FIELD

• ASU currently has a 8-2 record at home.

• ASU’s best start to a season was 10-0 which happened twice. The first time was in 1993 and the team matched the performance in 1994.

• ASU has a .291 batting average at home this season and has a 2.35 ERA, compared to just a .240 batting average and a 5.65 ERA on the road.

 

MCWILLIAMS SHUTS THEM DOWN

• Senior Seth McWilliams earned two wins in relief action out of the bullpen during the week of Feb. 18-24.

• The right-hander threw 2.2 innings of relief against Memphis on Feb. 19 and earned the victory in ASU’s 3-2 comeback victory.

• McWilliams also earned the victory after pitching 2.1 innings in the Red Wolves 14-6 win over Western Illinois on Feb. 24.

• For the week, McWilliams tossed five innings in relief, struck out seven and did not give up a run.

 

RING GETS FIRST SAVE

• Freshman Tanner Ring picked up his first career save at Memphis on Feb. 19.

• Ring entered the game in bottom of the ninth inning as a defensive replacement at second base and then moved to the mound in the bottom of the 10th inning.

 

KOCH SETS CAREER HIGH

• In his first career start, senior John Koch struck out a career-high 11 batters on Feb. 15.

• Koch pitched five innings, gave up three runs on nine hits to earn his first win as a starter.

 

PITCHING STAFF SHINES

• The A-State pitching staff recorded a school record 19 strike outs in the 10-5 victory over Bradley on Opening night on Feb. 15.

• The previous record was 18 strikeouts, which ASU did twice. The first was in 1995 against Memphis and the second was against Kansas State in 1960.

• On opening weekend, A-State recorded 37 strikeouts and allowed just eight runs and walked 7 batters in 27 innings.

 

OPENING SERIES SWEEP

• ASU recorded a three-game series sweep for the first time since 1971 and for only the second time in school history.

 

GRANTHAM MAKES MOST OF FIRST START

• True freshman Adam Grantham earned his first career win on Feb. 17 in a 12-2 victory over Bradley.

• Grantham threw four innings, struck out five and did not allow any runs in his first career start.

• Grantham was a 32nd round draft selection of the Atlanta Braves coming out of high school.

 

BAKER GOES DEEP

• True freshman Austin Baker hit a home run on the first pitch he saw in his collegiate career on Feb. 16

• Baker went 3-for-3 on the day and was a triple from the cycle. He had three RBIs on the day and was walked once.

 

4-K INNING

• Arkansas State senior right-hander John Koch notched a rare four strike out inning in the Red Wolves 10-5 victory over Bradley Feb. 15. After Bradley’s David Compitello reached on a dropped third strike out in the fourth inning with one out, Koch proceeded to strike out two more batters to end the inning.

 

GOING TO THE SHOW

• A-State had three players drafted from last year’s squad, led by Jacob Lee who was drafted in the ninth round by the Cleveland Indians.

• Lee was the highest player ever drafted from the ASU baseball program.

• Michael Faulkner was taken in the 12th round by Seattle, making him the second highest selection ever in program history.

• Brandon Farley was taken in the 33rd round by the San Francisco Giants, while

incoming freshman Adam Grantham was a 32nd round pick of the Atlanta Braves.

 

SUN BELT NETWORK TO AIR ASU-UALR GAME

• The Sun Belt Conference has announced that the Arkansas State baseball game against UALR on May 18 will be televised by the Sun Belt Network through its partnership with Comcast/Charter Sports Southeast (CSS) and Cox Sports Television (CST). An official start time for the game will be announced at a later date.

 

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