JONESBORO, Ark. (3/15/24) – Arkansas State baseball (12-7, 1-0 SBC) opened conference play with an explosive performance at the plate to take down Louisiana (9-8, 0-1 SBC) 11-8 on Friday night at Tomlinson Stadium.
 
Jelle van der Lelie made his fifth start of the season, surrendering three runs (two earned) on four hits and three walks while striking out eight over 4.2 innings pitched. The righty set a new career high for strikeouts along with a new team high for the season.
 
Wil French had a career day at the plate, going 3-for-4 with two home runs, seven RBIs, and four runs scored. The Second Baseman matches Dylan DeButy for the most RBIs in a game this season and set a new season high for runs scored.
 
The first two innings belonged to the Red Wolves, beginning with three consecutive strikeouts from van der Lelie in the opening frame. Austen Jaslove put the first run on the board with an RBI-knock in the first before French added three more in the second with a 365-foot home run to right field.
 
After recording only one hit in the first four scoreless innings, the Ragin’ Cajuns began to rally in the fifth. Trey LaFluer brought in the first run with a groundout and Kyle DeBarge followed with an RBI-single before scoring on a passed ball to make the score 4-3.
 
French knocked in a run with a double down the right-field line while another scored on a throwing error from the right fielder in the sixth. Louisiana tied the game at 6-6 in the next frame with a solo-home run from John Taylor and a two-run double from Jose Torres.
 
The Red Wolves reclaimed the lead when Cason Campbell crossed the plate on a bases-loaded walk before French blew the game open with a grand slam over the right-field wall. DeBarge got two of those runs back for Louisiana with a home run, but A-State held on to an 11-8 lead going into the ninth.
 
With the bases loaded and the go-ahead run at the plate for Louisiana, Max Charlton forced a pop-out to secure the victory and snap a two-game losing skid.
 
Charlton earned the win while Blake McGehee (1-1) recorded the loss as Arkansas State wins its first conference opener since 2019 at Troy and breaks a six-game losing streak to the Ragin’ Cajuns.
 
Prior to the first matchup against Eastern Illinois on March 9, Jaylon Deshazier was the last batter to record seven-or-more RBIs in a game, doing so on March 3, 2018 at New Orleans. An A-State batter has now accomplished this feat twice over the last six days.

NEXT UP
Arkansas State looks to clinch the series against Louisiana on Saturday, March 16 at Tomlinson Stadium. First pitch is set for 3:00 p.m. on ESPN+ and can be heard on 95.3/96.9 The Ticket Radio Network along with the A-State Red Wolves mobile app.
 
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