Red Wolves defeat Omaha 14-4 in season opener
Arkansas State baseball (1-0, 0-0 SBC) opened the 2024 season in dominant fashion against Omaha (0-1, 0-0 Summit), taking a 14-4 victory on Friday night at Tomlinson Stadium.
Jelle van der Lelie recorded his first career start for A-State and pitched four scoreless innings before being relieved in the fifth. The righty finished with two earned runs allowed off three hits while striking out four in 4.1 innings pitched.
Austen Jaslove finished 4-for-5 in his first game as a Red Wolf, bringing in a pair of RBIs and crossing the plate twice. Cason Tollett also brought in two RBIs and drew three walks while going 3-for-3 during the contest.
Allen Grier opened the bottom of the third with a 369-foot home run, which is his second at the Division I level. A-State would hold a 1-0 advantage going into the fifth, but it would not last for much longer.
An RBI-double for Haiden Hunt put Omaha on the scoreboard while Drew Lechnir pushed the Mavericks ahead with an RBI-single. Coby Greiner (1-0) entered the game and forced a double-play to send the Red Wolves into the bottom frame.
Down 2-1, the Scarlet and Black responded with five runs of their own to reclaim the lead. Tollett, Jaslove, and Allen Grier recorded an RBI while Brayden Caskey scored on a wild pitch as A-State took a 6-2 lead into the sixth.
Omaha scored one run during a bases-loaded situation with one out in the sixth, but Blaine Harpenau entered the game and retired the next two batters to prevent the lead from shrinking further.
Tollett got the run back in the next frame with a 428-foot solo-shot that extended the lead back to four runs. However, Trent Burkhalter recorded a solo-homer of his own to keep the Mavericks within three going into the final stretch.
Jaslove fired a solo-homer to left field and scored the first of seven runs in the eighth inning. Blake Burris brought in a pair of runs with a double and Caskey brought in another with a single. Wil French scored on a passed ball before two more runs crossed the plate on errors, sealing a 10-run victory for A-State.
Greiner earned the win while Reed Scott (0-1) recorded the loss as the Red Wolves win their 13thhome-opener in the last 16 seasons. French finished the game with three stolen bases, falling one shy of the team record last matched by Michael Faulkner during the 2012 season.
NEXT UP
Arkansas State looks to claim the series against the Mavericks on Saturday, February 17 at Tomlinson Stadium. First pitch is set for 3:05 p.m. on ESPN+,