MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (5-29-2010) - The Arkansas State baseball team (30-27) suffered its first loss of the Sun Belt Conference Championships Saturday morning, but is still alive in the double-elimination tournament after falling 12-5 to Troy (35-24) in this morning's semifinal game.
Despite dropping its first game of the day against the Trojans, the Red Wolves remain one victory away from playing in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship game for the first time since 1996. Following the Florida Atlantic-Florida International game, ASU and Troy will play again today in another semifinal game that is also an elimination game for both teams. The winners of the FAU-FIU and ASU-Troy games will play in the title game Sunday at 10:00 a.m. The championship game will be televised live on CSS and CST.
This afternoon's game will be the third meeting between ASU and Troy during the tournament. The Red Wolves run-ruled the Trojans, 12-2, on Thursday in the second round of the tournament.
Troy struck first with a two-out homerun by Chase Whitley in the top of the first inning, but A-State came back with four runs in the third and tacked on another in its next at-bat to take a 5-1 advantage after four innings. However, the Trojans blasted a pair of three-run home runs and tacked on a seventh run off a three-base error in the fifth inning to regain the lead at 8-5. Troy added three more runs to its lead in the sixth with its third three-run dinger of the game, and hit its fifth home run in the eighth to set the final score at 12-5.
"That fifth inning happened in a hurry and Troy did a great job," said ASU head coach Tommy Raffo. "Give them credit for their at-bats, they can score in a hurry. It is survival of the fittest, so we have to go back, regroup and come back for another game."
Offensively, ASU was led by Michael Faulkner with a 4-for-5 performance at the plate and a run scored. Faulkner is now 10-for-15 in three games at the tournament. Tyler Smith was the only other ASU player to record multiple hits with two, while Murray Watts, Ryan Emery, Jordan Castaldo and Kyle DeGrace all had an RBI. ASU used three pitchers, including starter Brad Allen, while Drew Benes pitched a team-high five innings.
ASU loaded the bases with no outs to start its big third inning after Faulkner hit a lead-off single, Giovanni Garcia walked and Todd Baumgartner singled, which brought All-Sun Belt Conference first baseman Watts to the plate. Watts was issued first base on a catcher's interference that allowed Faulkner to cross the plate for the Red Wolves' first run. Emery was then hit by a pitch and Castaldo followed with an RBI single to make the score 3-1. DeGrace drove home ASU's final run of the inning on a sacrifice fly, but Troy then turned a double play to stop the damage.
Smith doubled down the left field line to begin the bottom of the fourth inning and Faulkner recorded his third straight hit of the game to move him to third. ASU's next batter flew out, but Smith then came home on a wild pitch to push ASU's lead to 5-1. A groundout and strikeout, however, ended the inning for ASU.
Troy saw its first nine batters reach base and scored six runs in the fifth inning before ASU was able to record its first out. Adam Bryant hit a three-run home run over the right field fence and three batters later, Ryan Ditthardt hit another three-run shot to put the Trojans up 7-5. Troy's next batter, Miles Hoyle, reached first after being hit by a pitch and then advanced all the way home on a three-base error after ASU tried to pick him off at first base. ASU used three pitchers in the at-bat, including Benes, who gave up just one unearned run and ended the inning by getting a double-play ball.
Hoyle was responsible for the Trojan's fourth home run of the game, taking a pitch over the right-center field wall that sent three more runs across the plate in the sixth inning and gave Troy an 11-5 lead. Bryant hit his second homer, Troy's fifth, to lead off the eighth inning to end the scoring.
Troy had five players record multiple hits, including Bryant and J.R. Myers with a team-high three. Bryant was responsible for a team-high four RBI, while Ditthardt and Hoyle both drove in three runs.
