LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (4/15/22) – A ninth-inning wild pitch allowed Jaylon Deshazier to slide safely across home plate, lifting the Arkansas State baseball team to a 7-6 series-clinching victory over in-state rival Little Rock Friday at Gary Hogan Field.

A-State (7-24, 2-12 SBC) weathered a late game-tying push by the Trojans (16-15, 6-8) in the eighth, but reliever Tyler Jeans (1-4) finished the game for the second straight night to seal the win.

Jeans pitched the final 1 2/3 innings, striking out two and working around a pair of hits. Will Nash fired six complete for the Scarlet and Black in the start, allowing four runs on eight hits while striking out five and walking none.

Hitting leadoff for the second consecutive game, Jared Toler went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and two driven in, including a homer. Deshazier also tallied a pair of hits while Brandon Hager reached base four times in five plate appearances – three times via walk.

Garrett Olson registered another two-hit day, while Ben Klutts’ lone hit was a towering two-run home run to left in the second.

A-State thundered ahead with five runs on five hits in the second, capped off by Klutts’ emphatic two-run shot to left. An RBI groundout by Brandon Ulmer plated Cooper Tremmel for the game’s first run, and then an RBI double by Wil French scored Olson and flipped the order back to the top.

Toler kept the inning going with an RBI single to plate French, making it 3-0. After a strikeout to put it to two outs, Klutts lifted the first pitch he saw well over the left-field wall to make it 5-0. After Hager singled, Little Rock starter Erik McKnight was lifted after just 1 2/3 innings for Jacob Weatherly, who recorded a strikeout to end the inning.

Nash continued to keep the Trojans off the board until the bottom of the fourth, when a one-out, two-run homer by Jake Wright made it 5-2. The A-State starter retired the next two batters to end the inning.

In the fifth, Little Rock got another run as Eldrige Figueroa scored Jorden Hussein with a single after Hussein led off the inning with a triple. However, Nash worked out of the jam, stranding two runners in scoring position.

Toler sent his seventh homer of the year over the centerfield wall to lead off the sixth, making it 6-3. It marked the second time this season he led off an inning with a homer. The Trojans responded with a homer of their own off the bat of Miguel Soto to cut the deficit to 6-4.

Chance Vaught (2-4) retired the side in the seventh and eighth and kept the Red Wolves off the board. The reliever worked three innings, allowing just one run – the eventual game-winner in the ninth.

Little Rock then tied up the contest with two runs in the bottom of the eighth on an RBI single by Wright and a run-scoring double by Hussein. That double also moved Nathan Lyons to third, but he was tagged out at the plate for the final out to keep the score tied entering the ninth.

Deshazier worked a leadoff walk, then moved to second on a wild pitch. After a successful sacrifice bunt by Tremmel to move Deshazier to third with one out, a strikeout put two outs on the board. Pinch-hitter Mickey Coyne then drew a two-out walk, but the fourth ball got away from catcher Jack Stroth, allowing Deshazier to slide across home for the go-ahead run.

Jeans worked two quick outs in the bottom of the ninth before Noah Dickerson doubled to right. After an intentional walk to Canyon McWilliams, Jeans closed out the series-clinching victory with a strikeout of Stroth.

NEXT UP

A-State looks to sweep the series against the Trojans on Saturday, with first pitch at Gary Hogan Field is slated for 1 p.m. on ESPN+. The radio broadcast can be heard on The Ticket Radio Network stations 95.3, 96.9, 104.1 and 970 AM.

SOCIAL MEDIA

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Original article source: https://astateredwolves.com/news/2022/4/15/baseball-deshaziers-ninth-inning-run-lifts-a-state-to-series-clinching-win.aspx | Article may or may not reflect the views of KLEK 102.5 FM or The Voice of Arkansas Minority Advocacy Council