Arkansas State baseball falls to Memphis

Memphis rallied for four runs in the bottom of the seventh to overtake the Arkansas State baseball team 7-6 Wednesday night at FedEx Park.

The Red Wolves (7-13) held a 6-3 lead through six and a half, but the Tigers (13-9) strung together four of their 10 hits in the frame. A-State had the tying run on base in both the eighth and ninth innings but was unable to push across the run.

Wil French and Cross Jumper combined for four of A-State’s six hits in the contest, with French homering and reaching base three times, scoring twice. Blake Burris reached base on a pair of walks and scored both times.

A-State spotted starter Aaron Evers a 2-0 lead in the first, with French and Burris coming around to score on a single by Kody Darcy followed by a wild pitch, chasing UM starter Hudson Ross after one-third of an inning.

The Tigers evened it in the second with a pair of runs on an RBI single by Shane Cox and a sac fly by Cameron Benson. Memphis then took a one-run lead when Cox scored on a wild pitch after leading off the fourth inning with a double.

Arkansas State roared back with a four-run fifth, sparked by French’s one-out homer to dead center. A-State plated three more runs with two outs in the stanza on a base hit by Nathan VerMaas before Jumper roped the next pitch to the left-center field wall for a two-run double.

Memphis threatened in the bottom of the inning with the bases loaded, but Jacob Conover entered and worked out of the jam with a strikeout to preserve the lead.

The hosts struck with a four-run seventh to retake a 7-6 lead on an RBI single by Jonah Sutton followed by a two-run homer by Jake Curtis. Josh Russell then scored with two outs in the inning when a fielding error allowed the inning to continue. Junior right-hander Arlon Butts (1-1) took the loss, working 1 2/3 innings.

Jumper singled with one out in the top of the eighth, but Jackson Lyons worked around him for a scoreless inning before handing off to Dalton Kendrick, who allowed a French single, but nothing more in the ninth for his seventh save of the season.

Tyler Jeans tossed the final 1 1/3 innings, striking out three and not allowing a base runner.

NEXT UP

A-State opens its home conference slate with a three-game set against new Sun Belt member James Madison beginning at 6 p.m. Friday at Tomlinson Stadium-Kell Field. Saturday’s contest is slated for 3 p.m. while Sunday’s tilt is set for an 11 a.m. first pitch, with all three games broadcasted on ESPN+. The radio broadcast of all three games will be carried on The Ticket Radio Network stations 95.3, 96.9 and 970 AM in Jonesboro, as well as online at 953theticket.com.