April 3 at GSU Baseball Complex in Decatur, GA
It was a wild series opener in the Sun Belt Conference, which Georgia State won 13-8 after trailing by six runs in the middle innings.
Little Rock led 7-1 after having its way with GSU ace Nathan Bates (Tanner Rockwell laced a two-run double to cap the scoring in the fourth, one of four hits for the senior third baseman). But the host Panthers, who came into the night leading the conference with a 6-2 record, chipped at the deficit.
* Sam Few, who resembles Jose Canseco in batting stance and hitting approach, but hopefully absolutely nothing else, clubbed a solo home run in the fourth and it was 7-2. In the fifth, David Levy led off with the first of his three singles and scored on a ground out. 7-3.
* Nice job by Bates to throw a pair of scoreless innings in the fifth and sixth before exiting. That allowed GSU to continue its come back and facing reliever Cameron Allen, the Panthers strung together four consecutive singles in the sixth with Ryan Blanton, a .377 hitter coming into the weekend, singling in a run and Levy also singling in a run and scoring on the back end of a double steal. 7-6.
* Nifty work by GSU southpaw Wayne Wages in the eighth. The junior got into a bases loaded jam (James Gillean double, walk to Sam Vogel, hit Mitchell Scheuler with a pitch), but fanned Ryan Scott on a nasty breaking ball to end the threat.
* Allen started the bottom of the eighth by catching Will Johnson looking for the first out, though there was very little that went well for the visiting Trojans after that. Allen gave up a pair of singles and was lifted for bullpen ace Dyllon Brownmiller, but it just wasn't the senior's night. Blanton stroked a tying single and Justin Jones followed with one of GSU's 14 singles to load the bases. Brownmiller kept it tied when first baseman Joseph Paulino (more on his night in a moment) made a nice play on Caden Bailey's chopper and got the force at the plate. Matt Rose followed with the go-ahead, two-run single to put GSU up 9-7 and they scored four more times, sending 12 batters to the plate in the marathon frame.
Paulino
Strange night for the sophomore. He singled in his second and third trips to the plate, but was picked off at first base each time. He was also caught stealing in the eighth after being hit by a pitch, and besides the nice play on the grounder in the eighth, also made a diving stab on a ground ball Joey Roach hit leading off the sixth. To cap a bizarre Friday night for Paulino, right-hander Logan Barnette got him to pop out to third base to end the game.
Little Rock head coach Chris Curry
Before the top of the ninth and with his team trailing 13-7, Curry said to his players: "I don't need a home run, I need you to get on base."
1. Now, it's understandable that you wouldn't want your players swinging for the fences in a six-run game. You need more than one run. That's fine. THEN JUST SAY THAT. To hear a coach tell his players he didn't need them to hit a home run and just "get on base" made my stomach hurt (At first I thought it was the stale Milky Way I got from the concession stand, but no: it was what Curry said).
A home run is the best possible thing a hitter can do. 100% of the time, it is the best possible outcome. Don't tell your players you don't need a home run. EVERYONE NEEDS A HOME RUN.
Nicknames that really aren't nicknames: Arkansas-Little Rock Edition
The pleasures of standing a few feet from a college baseball dugout. Take it away Trojans:
Rockwell - "Rock", "Rocky", "Trock"
Paulino - "Jo-Pau", "Jo Jo"
Scheuler - "Shoe"
Scott - "Ryno", "Scotty"
Brownmiller - "Brownie"
Drew Merten - "Merty", "Mo", "Squirt"
Vogel - "Sam-Vo", "Voges"
Kyle Kirk - "Kirky", "Kirko"
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