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Box Score 2 LITTLE ROCK, Ark. ? The UALR baseball team (14-27) established a season-high with its 19-9 victory in game one of Tuesday's doubleheader with Alcorn State (22-16), and completed the sweep with a 12-6 win in the nightcap.
Senior Matt Apfel went 6-for-8 with eight RBI in the doubleheader and hit his team-leading ninth home run in game two's 12-6 victory.
The Trojans return to action this weekend (May 1-3) when they head to Bowling Green, Ky. for a three-game series with WKU.
UALR 19, Alcorn State 9 (8 innings)
UALR banged out 19 hits on its way to a 19-9 eight-inning victory over Alcorn State in the first installment of Tuesday's doubleheader. Apfel went 4-for-5 with six RBI to lead the way for the Trojans, while leadoff hitter Kody Kroll added a 3-for-4 effort with two RBI and four runs scored.
The Trojans scored at least three runs in each of the first three frames to jump out to an 11-2 lead, and plated six runs in the bottom of the eighth to bring the run rule into effect.
Alcorn starter Nicholas Carson (4-4) lasted just 1.1 innings and took the loss after allowing five hits, three walks and seven runs (all earned) to the Trojans. UALR freshman Carlos Brizuela (1-0) picked up his first collegiate victory with 2.1 innings in relief of starter Andrew Loe. Brizuela did not allow a hit over 2.1 innings, though the Braves were able to score four unearned runs during his outing.
Alcorn State capitalized on four walks by Loe to take a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, but UALR answered with a four-spot in the bottom half to go ahead 3-1. Apfel followed up consecutive walks to Kroll and Nate Brown with a RBI single to left to tie the game at 1-all. Parks came to the plate next and ripped a three-run homer over the wall in center ? his fifth of the year.
The Trojans scratched across three more runs in the bottom of the second, as Kroll and Apfel each delivered RBI singles to make it a 7-1 contest. Apfel struck again in the bottom of the third, capping off the four-run frame with a two-out, three-run double to center.
Alcorn State used RBI singles from Kenneth Rowan and David Reed to cut its deficit to six runs, 11-5, in the top of the fifth. Reed's single chased Loe from the game and UALR turned to Brizuela with two runners on and one out. The 6-5 righty escaped the jam without further damage as catcher Landis Wilson threw out a runner trying to steal third, before Edgar Alvarez grounded out to end the inning.
Leading 11-5, UALR added two more runs in the bottom of the fifth as Brown hit a two-run double to center. Facing a 13-5 deficit, the Braves took advantage of two Trojan errors to score four unearned runs in the seventh and make it a 13-9 ballgame. Adrian Bowens capped off the four-run rally when he sent an 0-2 offering into center field to score a pair of runners.
Up 13-9, the Trojans manufactured six runs in the bottom of the eighth as UALR's first eight batters reached safely ? off three walks and five-straight singles. Apfel ended the game when his fielder's choice groundout with the bases loaded scored senior Eric Hanlon for his sixth RBI of the game.
Parks and Brown both drove in three runs in the win, with Parks hitting his fifth home run of the season in the first. Apfel added to his big day at the plate by accounting for two of the Trojans' five stolen bases in the win.
UALR 12, Alcorn State 6 (Game Two)
Alcorn State pushed across six runs in the top of the third to take a 6-3 lead, but the Trojan pitchers blanked the Braves over the final six frames on the way to a 12-6 victory. Junior Adam Champion (3-5) got the win with 1.1 innings of scoreless relief, including three strikeouts, and junior JR Boling closed out the game with 2.0 shutout frames.
Junior Tim Emmons went 4-for-5 with two runs scored, two RBI and two triples to lead the Trojan offense, while the Braves were paced by Rodney Warren's 4-for-5, three-RBI performance.
Alcorn starter Josha Brumfield worked a solid 4.0 innings and left with a 6-4 lead, but the Braves' bullpen couldn't hold the lead as Darryl Jordan (4-4) allowed seven hits and six runs (four earned) over 3.0 innings.
Apfel staked the Trojans to an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first with a two-run homer to left ? his team-leading ninth of the year. Junior Josh Marazzito made it a 3-0 contest the following inning when he took third on a wild pitch and came around to score on a throwing error by catcher Joel Del Grande. The Trojans had a chance to pad their lead in the second after loading the bases with two outs on the board, but were unable to push across any more runs.
UALR starter Brandon Welch got through the first two frames unscathed, but ran into trouble in the third after the Braves loaded the bases with no outs on the board. Alcorn scored its first run of the frame when Welch plunked Jabari Graham with the bags full. Warren put the Braves on top 4-3 with a bases-clearing, three-run double to left center, and Del Grande capped off the six-run outburst with a two-run homer to center ? his eighth of the year.
Down 6-4, the Trojans pulled within a run when freshman Buster Gean followed up a single by Emmons with a RBI double off the wall in right. Gean came around to score the tying run moments later on a two-out, bloop single to center by Hanlon.
The Braves squandered a prime scoring opportunity in the top of the sixth, coming up empty handed after loading the bases with no outs off junior Sean Potter. Alcorn used an infield single, a botched fielder's choice and a Trojan error to load the bases. Potter buckled down and got the first out of the inning at the plate (1-2), then fanned Bowens looking for the second out.
Champion took the mound with three runners on and two outs, and the 6-7 lefty promptly struck out Graham swinging to end the threat and preserve the 6-6 tie.
UALR's momentum carried over to the bottom half as the Trojans plated three runs to take a 9-6 lead after Brown reached base on a fielding error to start things off. Apfel followed Brown with the first of UALR's three extra-base hits in the inning ? a double down the left field line. Brown scored the go-ahead run from third on a RBI groundout by Parks, and Wilson (double) and Emmons (triple) each drove in a run to make it a 9-6 contest.
Alcorn State threatened again in the seventh after putting runners on the corners with no outs, but Champion escaped the jam once again with a 5-3 groundout and back-to-back strikeouts.
The Trojans tacked on three insurance runs over the next two frames, and Boling closed out the game with 2.0 shutout innings to bring the contest to its 12-6 finale.
