Box Score PINE BLUFF, Ark. ? The Arkansas-Little Rock baseball team went hitless over the first five innings on Wednesday afternoon, as UAPB capitalized on four errors to steal a 6-4 win in Pine Bluff. The Trojans (13-9) stranded three runners in the eighth then went down in order in the top of the ninth, as the Golden Lions snapped UALR's three-game win streak.
The Trojans took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, when a passed ball by Zac Varnell allowed senior Jacob Stover to score from third. The Golden Lions answered by dropping a four spot in the bottom half, compliments of a two-run triple by Russell Malcolm and a two-out, two-run single by Rashaad Billingsley.
UAPB pushed its lead to 6-1 by plating a run in each of the next two innings. Malcolm made it a 5-1 contest with a run-scoring single in the second, before Varnell added a RBI triple of his own in the third.
UALR manufactured two runs in the top of the fourth to cut its deficit to three runs, 6-3, UAPB gave the Trojans an opportunity by walking the first three batters off the frame, but UALR was unable to come through with a big hit. The Trojans' two runs came off a RBI groundout by Grant Gatlin and a passed ball, which scored junior Matt King.
Junior Brett Lawler recorded UALR's first hit of the game in the sixth, but the Trojans were unable to put any more runs on the board until the eighth. After loading the bases with one out, sophomore Mitchell Webb delivered a two-out, RBI single to make it a 6-4 ballgame. But UALR was unable to do any more damage in the eighth, then went down 1-2-3 against Justin Moring in the ninth.
Junior Scott Yant (1-1) took the loss for the Trojans after surrendering all six runs (only one of which was earned) over 4.2 innings. The UALR bullpen held the Golden Lions to zero runs and two hits over the final 3.1 frames.
The Trojans return to action this weekend with a four-game series against Texas-Pan American, beginning at 5 p.m. Thursday night. The two teams will then play a doubleheader on Friday, beginning at 2 p.m., before closing out the series on Saturday.
