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A-State still in the hunt for an SBC tournament berth

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Red Wolves need a stong finish to make postseason play

Paxton Media Group JONESBORO — Arkansas State has work to do to reach the Sun Belt Conference baseball tournament.

Ten of the league’s 12 teams will participate in the conference tournament, which begins May 24 in Montgomery, Ala. ASU begins this weekend’s home series against Georgia State in last place, but the Red Wolves aren’t out of contention for a berth in the tournament.

“A lot of teams are in different spots, whether you’re Texas State trying to win the overall or trying to be in the top seeding,” ASU head coach Tommy Raffo said Thursday.

“Everybody has something to play for right now. It’s all up for grabs with six games left.”

ASU (11-32, 5-18 Sun Belt) trails Texas-Arlington (14-34, 6-18 SBC) and Louisiana-Monroe (16-31-1, 6-17-1 Sun Belt) for 10th place at present. UTA hosts Appalachian State this weekend, while ULM travels to South Alabama.

The Red Wolves and Georgia State (27-23, 12– 12 Sun Belt) open the series today at 6 p.m.

Saturday’s game also set for 6 p.m., followed by Sunday’s game at 1 p.m.

ASU tuned up for its final homestand with Tuesday’s 14-8 victory at Memphis, a game where the Red Wolves recorded a seasonhigh 18 hits. Everyone in ASU’s lineup had a hit by the third inning.

The Red Wolves also had 12 hits Sunday in a 9-7 loss at South Alabama.

“We swung the bats well, actually swung them well on Sunday and it kind of carried over into Tuesday,” Raffo said. “South Alabama is a very good offensive club, top couple in the Sun Belt and we knew that, but we were really good on Tuesday. We jumped them right away and we kept it on for a couple more innings, really provided some confidence.”

Sophomore catcher Brandon Hager was 5-for-6 on Tuesday with his seventh home run of the season and four runs batted in.

Hager is 10-for-16 over the last four games, boosting his season average to .293.

Redshirt freshman Cason Tollett, ASU’s No. 1 catcher going into the season, has been out more than a month because of concussions.

“He has basically done a really good job for us as far as being the go-to catcher in the lineup, batting cleanup, and also catching every game,” Raffo said of Hager. “He’s done a wonderful job. I’m really proud of that young man, how much he’s improved. He’s put us in a position to win some games.”

Outfielder Jaylon Deshazier leads ASU with a .294 batting average.

First baseman Jared Toler leads the Red Wolves in home runs (nine) and runs batted in (34).

Also, third baseman Ben Klutts has eight homers and 31 RBIs.

The Red Wolves’ starting pitching rotation includes Justin Medlin (1-5, 4.67 ERA) tonight, Will Nash (1-5, 5.88 ERA) on Saturday and Carter Holt (0-2, 5.94 ERA) on Sunday.

Georgia State has the Sun Belt’s top two home run hitters in Max Ryerson and Griffin Cheney with 19 and 15, respectively. The Panthers have belted 69 home runs as a team, 45 of which have come at the GSU Baseball Complex.

They’ve hit 38 home runs in Sun Belt games, including 27 at home.

Of the 40 home runs yielded by ASU pitchers this season, only eight have been hit at Tomlinson Stadium.

“Their park is one of the smaller parks in the league, it’s actually smaller than Little Rock, I think,” Raffo said of Georgia State.

“Don’t get me wrong, they have plenty of pop in their bats and they can really hit the ball, but obviously the Tom is different.

“I do think the Tom plays better in warmer weather in that regard, so I don’t know how the ball will play this weekend. There is a difference in the two parks, but again, they do have some quality hitters who can hit it out anywhere.”

ASU has four home games remaining. The Red Wolves close their home slate Tuesday night against Ole Miss, then travel to ULM for the final regular-season series May 19-21.

Photo by Kevin Turbeville

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