Trojans Fall in Series Finale to Mavericks

LITTLE ROCK – Little Rock baseball (23-22, 14-10 Sun Belt) fell short in the series finale against UT Arlington (25-24, 11-13 Sun Belt) as it took a 6-4 loss on Sunday afternoon at Gary Hogan Field.
 
Ryan Scott went 2 for 4 with two doubles, a run and was intentionally walked twice. Cameron Knight went 2 for 4 with a couple of RBIs while Hayden Martin went 3 for 4 with an RBI and a run. Ty Gunter went a perfect 3 for 3 and scored a run after he came in to play off the bench.
 
Little Rock's pitching staff struggled to execute on the mound as it walked eight batters and hit two.
 
UT Arlington put the first run across on an RBI triple by Cody Farrell with two outs after Noah Vaughan struck out and reached first on a wild pitch.
 
Pitching got the Trojans in trouble in the top of the fourth as the Mavericks scored two runs on no hits. After two quick outs to begin the inning, UTA walked four times and was hit by a pitch once.
 
Down 3-0, Little Rock's offense got its act together in the bottom of the fourth. After back-to-back doubles by Scott and Dalton Thomas to begin the frame, Cameron Knight hit a one-out, two-run double to right center as cut UTA's lead to one.
 
The Mavericks went on to score a single run in the fifth, sixth and ninth innings to take a 6-2 lead into the bottom of the ninth.
 
The Trojans made a final rally as Gunter got the frame started with a double to left center. After Gunter advanced to third on a ground out, Martin hit an RBI single through the left side. Scott hit his second double of the afternoon down the right field line to put runners in scoring position with one out. Thomas hit a sacrifice fly to right and allowed Martin to score from third. That would be all for the Trojans as a ground out to short ended the series.
 
"I'm proud of our club for battling back like we've done all year," head coach Chris Curry said. "They're still playing with heart and getting the tying-run at the plate, which is the key to a comeback. This weekend can be summed up by a lack of execution overall. It happened today on the mound with eight walks, which created some innings. We did a great job of pitching out of those innings, but we created our own jams. At the plate, we had some opportunities to split the game open, but we didn't do it. That's the key against a good offensive club like UTA."
 
Little Rock will now go on its final road trip of the regular season to ULM for a three-game series beginning on Friday night in Monroe, La.