NEW ORLEANS - Giovanni Garcia went 4-for-6 and Ryan Emery tallied four
RBIs as Arkansas State won the Sun Belt Conference series opener 14-7
over the University of New Orleans on Friday night at Maestri Field.
Three other players had two hits apiece as ASU (13-9, 4-3 SBC) totaled
15 hits while jumped out to a 14-2 lead after three innings against UNO
(6-13, 1-6 SBC)
Red Wolves right-hander Andy Ferguson went 4 1/3 inning, allowing five
runs - three earned - on 10 hits. Ferguson was relieved by Daniel
Wright, who picked up the win by pitching the remainder of the game.
Wright allowed just two runs on four hits over his share of the
contest, striking out eight. The eight strikeouts were one more than
Wright's season total of seven over eight previous appearances.
UNO starter
John Pivach (0-2) gave up 10 runs - eight earned - on nine
hits over two innings. Pivach faced four batters during the third
inning without retiring a batter before handing the ball over to the
bullpen.
The Red Wolves scored four runs in the first inning and added two in
the second to take a 6-0 lead. The Privateers scored a single run in
each of the innings before ASU responded with an eight-run third inning.
The visiting squad would be held off the scoreboard going forward by
the combination of
Tyler Sanders,
Randy Verdin,
Justin Cromartie and
Kevin DeGrouttola. Verdin pitched two innings while the others pitched
a single inning, limiting the Red Wolves to just three hits during the
last five innings
The Privateers totaled 14 hits in the game picking up late runs on solo
home runs by
Nick Schwaner and
Ryan Eden in the seventh and ninth
innings, respectively.
Eden, along with
Kevin Berry, led the team's hitting efforts with
3-for-5 performances at the plate.
John Thomas and Schwaner had two
RBIs apiece with Eden scoring two runs.
The two teams will continue the three-game series at 4 p.m. on Saturday.
