Oklahoma Snaps Trojans' Winning Streak

LITTLE ROCK – With a six-game winning streak entering the evening, Little Rock baseball (12-12) saw its streak snapped as Oklahoma (12-13-1) took a 5-2 win over the Trojans on Tuesday night at Gary Hogan Field.
 
The nation's leading hitter and reigning Sun Belt Student-Athlete of the Week, Ryan Scott, did plenty as he went 3 for 4 with a walk. Scott came into the game hitting .489, but his performance put him back up to .500 for the year.
 
Dalton Thomas saw his hitting streak jump to 20 games as he went 1 for 4 with a run and a walk.
 
Besides Scott, second baseman Hayden Martin was the only other Trojan to have multiple hits for the night as he went 2 for 4.
 
Despite outhitting Oklahoma 10-7 and committing two fewer errors, Little Rock could only muster two runs. This was due in part to leaving 11 runners on base, tied for the second-most this season.
 
The Trojans took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning. Nik Gifford got the frame started with his eighth double of season to left center. After a pop up and ground out that moved Gifford to third, Keegan Meyn reached on a fielding error by Oklahoma's Cade Harris at third. Gifford took advantage and scored the opening run.
 
The Sooners came out swinging in the top of the third as Alex Wise hit a leadoff double to center. Kyle Mendenhall moved Wise to third on a sacrifice bunt before Wise scored on a wild pitch with one out. Back-to-back singles by Hunter Southerland and Harris forced Little Rock's first of five pitching changes for the evening as Dylan Slayton made his way out of the bullpen to relieve Will Hazen (1-3). Slayton gave up a walk to Sheldon Neuse to load the bases for Oklahoma. Jack Flansburg came up with the big hit for the Sooners as he knocked a two-run single to right, giving Oklahoma a 3-1 lead.
 
Oklahoma took a 4-1 lead in the top of the fourth. Austin O'Brien singled to get the inning going before a one-out double to left by Wise knocked him in on a Trojan fielding error. The Sooners didn't stop there as they pushed the lead to 5-1 in the fifth. Cody Daylor came on for Slayton, but was welcomed with a Southerland single up the middle. Southerland made his way over to second on a sacrifice bunt by Harris before taking third on a wild pitch. One walk and a hit-by-pitch later, Oklahoma had the bases loaded. With a full count, Steele Walked drew the walk to bring home Southerland.
 
Little Rock scored its final run of the game in the bottom of the fifth. Oklahoma's Kenny Saenz came on for starter Kyle Tyler (1-0) to begin the frame. Scott welcomed Saenz to the game with a leadoff single to center. After Thomas walked, Gifford bunted into a fielder's choice as Scott was forced out at third. Austin Hansen then came on to relieve Saenz, before Cameron Knight hit a single to right and earned Little Rock's only RBI of the night as Thomas scored.
Following Daylor, Matt McDowell, Preston Oberling and Cody McGill made appearances for the Trojans as they held the Sooners in check with no hits and four strikeouts while walking three. On the offensive side, Little Rock had four more hits after the fifth, but couldn't a big hit to put any runners across.
 
"Offensively, I thought we were tentative and not aggressive to the fast ball at the plate," head coach Chris Curry said. "On the mound, I thought we pitched away from their barrels, and maybe we were a little afraid of contact tonight. Overall, the mood in the dugout for me was a little down and flat, and we addressed that. We also didn't get the executed pitch or at-bat at the right time during the game."
 
Little Rock will look to win its third Sun Belt series in a row as it travels to Appalachian State for a three-game series beginning on Friday.