Box Score DALLAS, Texas ? The UALR baseball team (0-2) suffered a 12-7 loss to Dallas Baptist University (1-1) on Saturday afternoon at Patriot Field. The Trojans held a 6-4 lead going into the bottom of the fifth, but the Patriots scored eight runs over the final three innings to pick up their first victory of the year.
Dallas Baptist's Austin Knight, a 2007 Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American, led the Patriots with a 3-for-4 day at the plate and five RBI in the win. Both teams racked up 13 hits on the day, but the Trojans left 12 men on base and managed just one hit over the final two innings.
UALR junior T.J. King was one of four Trojans to record a multi-hit game on Saturday, going 2-for-3 at the plate with a team-high three RBI. Junior Greg McCarthy went 2-for-4 with a RBI and two runs scored, while junior Matt Apfel and senior Nick DeSanctis added two hits a piece.
Sophomore starter Ashur Tolliver (0-1) was credited with the loss after allowing four runs, seven hits and a walk to the Patriots over 3.2 innings. DBU's Ryan Millard (1-0) earned the win in relief, while Brett Lester picked up a save by closing out the game with three strikeouts over 2.0 scoreless innings.
King gave the Trojans an early 2-0 lead with a two-run single to center in the top of the second. DBU answered by plating two runs in both the second and fourth innings to take a 4-3 lead into the fifth. Trailing by a run, the Trojans opened the fifth inning with three-consecutive singles to spark a three-run frame. King caped off UALR's inning with a run-scoring single to give the Trojans a 6-4 lead.
After going scoreless in the bottom of the fifth, the Patriots would plate multiple runs in each of the final three frames. Knight delivered a two-run single in the bottom of the sixth as part of a three-run inning which saw DBU reclaim the lead, 7-6.
UALR tied the game at 7-all off a sacrifice fly from Zach Rowles, but Dallas Baptist plated three more runs in the bottom of the eighth and added a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth off a two-run homer from Ryan Goins.
The Trojans close out their stay at the UTA-Dallas Baptist Invitational on Sunday with a game against Missouri State at 11 a.m., and a 3 p.m. bout against UT Arlington.
