Box Score LITTLE ROCK, Ark. ? Missed opportunities proved costly on Saturday night as the UALR baseball team (7-16, 3-7) dropped an 8-5 decision to Middle Tennessee (18-4, 9-1) in the opener of a three-game Sun Belt Conference series at Gary Hogan Field.
UALR loaded the bases in the eighth and ninth innings, but managed only one run against the Blue Raider bullpen. MT closer Coty Woods took the mound with one out and the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth and induced a 6-4-3 double play from the first batter he faced to end the game and pick up his fifth save.
Bryce Brentz worked 7.2 innings to improve to 3-0 on the year for the Blue Raiders. Brentz allowed two runs to UALR in the first, but followed up his rocky start with six solid frames before running into trouble in the eighth. Brentz's final line featured eight hits and five runs allowed with four strikeouts.
Ben Darlington went 2-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI to lead the MT offense, while Drew Robertson went 2-for-4 with three runs scored.
UALR junior Adam Champion (1-2) took the loss despite holding the first-place Blue Raiders to eight hits and five runs, with six strikeouts, over 7.0 innings of work.
The Trojans took advantage of Middle Tennessee miscues in the bottom of the first to jump out to a quick 2-0 lead. Brentz hit two batters in the frame and the Blue Raiders committed a throwing error to help set the stage for consecutive RBI singles by juniors Tyson Parks and Landis Wilson. UALR nearly scored three runs in the first, but senior Kody Kroll was tagged out at the plate as he tried to score from third on a wild pitch.
Junior Tim Emmons put the Trojans ahead 3-0 in the bottom of the third when he belted a solo homer (his sixth of the year) over the fence in right center. After going quietly in the first three innings, MT finally got on the board in the top of the fourth after opening the frame with three-straight hits. Robertson stroked a leadoff double and Darlington followed with a double of his own to make it a 3-1 contest. After a single by Rawley Bishop, Champion induced a 4-3 double play from Stuart Meinhart, but Darlington scored on the play to pull MT within a run, 3-2.
UALR extended its lead back to two runs, 4-2, in the bottom of the fourth as Wilson came around to score on a groundout by senior Eric Hanlon. The two-run lead was short lived, however, as Taylor Dennis brought MT within a run, 4-3, with a solo homer in the fifth, and the Blue Raiders pushed across two more runs in the sixth to take their first lead of the night.
Trailing 4-3 at the start of the sixth, MT once again opened an inning with back-to-back doubles, the second of which came compliments of Darlington and tied the game at 4-all. Nathan Hines followed three batters later with a sacrifice fly to left to score Darlington and put MT ahead 5-4.
After forcing the Trojans to strand a runner at third in the seventh, the Blue Raiders manufactured three runs in the top of the eighth off reliever JR Boling to build an 8-4 lead. MT needed just one hit to score its three insurance runs, capitalizing on four walks from Boling (one intentional).
Having bounced back from a rocky first inning with six solid frames, Brentz finally ran out of steam in the eighth. The sophomore hurler allowed two hits in the first, but held UALR to just three hits over the next six innings before the Trojan bats came to life in the eighth.
Parks gave the Trojans a spark with a double to right-center, and junior Josh Marazzito and Hanlon followed with consecutive two-out singles. Marazzito's single scored Parks and made it an 8-5 contest, but UALR squandered an opportunity to do more damage, as Brett Wilson took the mound with the bags full and two outs and fanned the first batter he faced to end the inning.
UALR threatened again in the ninth, loading the bases with one out off Wilson, but Woods came on in relief and got a game-ending double play from the first batter he faced.
The two teams will close out the series with a doubleheader on Sunday beginning at noon.
