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Box Score 2 MONROE, La. ? The UALR baseball team split a doubleheader with first-place ULM (19-9, 11-3 Sun Belt) on Saturday in Monroe, bouncing back from a 7-1 defeat in the first game to take a 9-8 decision in the second installment. The Trojans (7-20, 3-9) held an 8-2 lead after six innings in game two, and fought off a late rally by the Warhawks by turning a game-ending double play in the bottom of the ninth.
UALR senior Levi Laughlin improved to 4-1 on the season, holding ULM to two runs over the first six innings before the ULM offense got on track in the seventh. Laughlin went 7.0 innings on the night, allowing six runs (four earned), six hits and five walks, while striking out seven.
Laughlin took the mound at the start of the eighth with UALR leading 8-4, but exited after ULM's first two hitters reached base on a throwing error and a single. Junior Clay Rominger came on in relief of Laughlin with runners on the corners and no outs.
Rominger walked the first batter he faced to load the bases. After striking out Matt Collins for the first out, Rominger gave up a run-scoring single to Nick Maragas. ULM pushed across another run on a fielder's choice by Matt Laird, and then made it an 8-7 contest when Jon Prevost singled to left.
Leading 8-7, sophomore Ashur Tolliver came on for Rominger with two men on and two outs. Tolliver walked the first batter he faced to load the bases, but fanned Kyle Suire to end the inning and preserve the Trojans' lead.
With its lead down to a single run, UALR tacked on an insurance run in the top of the ninth after junior Greg McCarthy sparked the team with a leadoff single. Junior Jared Powell pinch ran for McCarthy, and quickly moved up to third base after a sacrifice bunt by junior Daniel Guffey and a single by junior T.J. King.
With runners on the corners and one out, Powell scored from third on a grounder by freshman Zach Rowles to give UALR a 9-7 lead. Powell's run would prove to be the deciding factor, as ULM tacked on a run in the bottom half.
Tolliver got off to a rocky start in the ninth, as Dexter Fontenot drew a leadoff walk and A.J. Siggers followed with a single through the right side to put runners on the corners with no outs. Fontenot came around to score moments later on a passed ball to make it a 9-8 ballgame.
Tolliver got Ryan McMillan to fly out to center for the first out of the frame, then issued a free pass to pinch hitter Kelvin York. With two on and one out, Tolliver induced a game-ending 4-6-3 double play from Maragas to end the game and pick up his first save of the year.
UALR racked up 14 hits in the win, with five players enjoying multi-hit efforts. Junior Nick DeSanctis led the Trojans with a 3-for-4 day at the plate, and tied Rowles for the team lead with two RBI a piece.
ULM starter Drew Graham (1-2) took the loss after allowing five hits, four walks and five runs over 3.1 innings. Prevost led the Warhawks with a 2-for-4 effort, two runs scored and three RBI, and belted his second home run of the year in the bottom of the seventh to spark ULM's comeback.
The Warhawks downed the Trojans 7-1 in the first game, as Jared Jennings threw a complete game and carried a shutout into the ninth inning. Jennings blanked the Trojans for eight innings, before junior Eric Hanlon broke up the shutout with a leadoff homer in the top of the ninth ? his second of the year. Hanlon and DeSanctis accounted for six of the team's eight hits in the losing effort, tallying three hits a piece.
Jennings went all 9.0 innings in the win, allowing eight hits and two walks, with six strikeouts. Maragas went 2-for-3 at the plate with a team-high five RBI and hit his second home run of the season in the second inning.
The two teams return to action at 1 p.m. on Sunday for the final game of the three-game Sun Belt Conference series.
