MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (5-26-2010) - The seventh-seeded Arkansas State Red Wolves (29-26) used a five-run fourth inning wipe out a 3-0 Louisiana-Lafayette (37-19) lead, and went on to defeat the second-seeded Ragin' Cajuns 8-6 Wednesday night in the opening round of the Sun Belt Conference Baseball Tournament.
Junior Andy Ferguson went seven and two-thirds innings to get the win on the mound, while seniors Giovanni Garcia and Kyle DeGrace went 2-for-4 to lead the Red Wolves at the plate. Garcia homered and drove in a pair of runs and DeGrace added one RBI on the evening.
With the victory, Arkansas State picked up its first win in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament since 2002 and ended an eight-game losing streak in SBC Tournament play.
The Ragin' Cajuns used a two-out solo home run from designated hitter Jordan Poirrier to take a 1-0 lead in the first, and RBI hits from second baseman Kyle Bostick and center fielder Kyle Olasin in the second saddled the Red Wolves with an early 3-0 deficit.
Arkansas State sent 11 men to the plate in the fourth, coming away with five runs on six hits to go on top 5-3. RBI singles from third baseman Jordan Castaldo, DeGrace and shortstop Zach Maggio pulled the Red Wolves even, and Castaldo scored on a ULL error to put A-State on top. A run-scoring single from center fielder Michael Faulkner sent home the final run of the inning to give the Red Wolves the two-run advantage.
An opposite-field single from left fielder Alex Fuselier drove in a run for the Cajuns in the fifth, but a two-out solo home run from Garcia in the sixth pushed the Red Wolves' lead back to a pair of runs at 6-4.
A leadoff home run from first baseman Murray Watts extended the Arkansas State lead to 7-4 in the seventh.
Fuselier's RBI fielder's choice in the bottom of the seventh pulled ULL back to within two runs at 7-5, but the Red Wolves answered again in the eighth when Faulkner singled, stole second and scored on a base hit from Garcia.
Shortstop Greg Fontenot tripled and scored on a groundout from Bostick in the bottom of the eighth to cut the Red Wolves' lead to 8-6, but senior Ross Humes came on to retire the final four batters, striking out two to earn his second save of the year.
Ferguson gave up six runs on 13 hits, with no walks and one strikeout in the winning effort, while Dayton Marze (5-4) took the loss for ULL, giving up five runs on six hits with a walk and a strikeout.
The Red Wolves will now face the winner of Wednesday's late game between third-seeded Middle Tennessee and sixth-seeded Troy. Arkansas State's second round game is scheduled for Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
