Box Score LITTLE ROCK ? UALR junior Brock Feldmann delivered a two-out, RBI walk-off single in the bottom of the 12th inning to lead the Trojans (15-9, 2-5) to a 5-4 victory over the FIU Golden Panthers (15-8, 2-2) at Gary Hogan Field on Friday night.
The Trojans led 4-3 after seven innings, but FIU's Tim Jobe hit a solo homer in the top of the eighth to help the Golden Panthers force extra innings. The two teams went scoreless in the ninth, 10th and 11th frames before the Trojans finally pushed across the game-winning run after loading the bases with no outs in the 12th.
“I think it was an overall great game by two teams tonight. I'm proud of our guys for hanging in there and battling. Hopefully this was a sign of our team growing up a little bit,” said UALR head coach Scott Norwood. “Brock certainly came through with a big hit for us in the twelfth. Now we just need to come out and repeat this effort tomorrow afternoon.”
UALR starter Adam Champion gave the Trojans an outstanding effort on Friday night, holding the Sun Belt's top-hitting team to four hits and three runs (two earned) over 7.1 innings of work. The Evansville, Ind.-native racked up eight strikeouts against five walks, but earned a no decision despite leaving the game with a 4-3 lead.
Senior JR Boling took the mound in the eighth inning and managed to hold the Golden Panthers to three hits over 3.1 shutout innings. Junior Garret Graziano came on for Boling at the start of the 12th inning and got the win in relief after blanking FIU in the 12th.
FIU's R.J. Fondon (1-1) was the hard-luck loser on Friday night, taking the loss despite allowing just two hits and one run, with nine strikeouts, over 5.1 innings pitched. The Golden Panthers outhit UALR 11-to-8 on Friday night, but FIU's staff issued eight walks on the night, including two in the 12th inning.
UALR seniors Tyson Parks and Nate Brown each hit their first home runs of the 2010 season in the win, while Feldmann finished with a team-high two hits. Three different players enjoyed multi-hit efforts for FIU, which left 13 men on base in the loss.
Champion opened the game with a pair of scoreless frames after retiring the first five batters he faced, but ran into trouble in the third after FIU loaded the bases with one out on the board. The Golden Panthers broke into the scoring column when Jeremy Patton drew a bases-loaded walk, and extended their lead to 2-0 off a RBI sacrifice fly by Mike Martinez. FIU loaded the bases for the second time with two outs on the board after Champion issued his third walk of the frame, but the 6-7 lefty fanned Jobe to escape the jam without further damage.
UALR cut into FIU's 2-0 lead in the bottom half, manufacturing a run without a hit to make it a 2-1 contest. Junior Casey McCollum was hit by a pitch to open the frame, and worked his way over to third on a walk by junior Jake Rowell and a fielder's choice by junior Jason Houston. With runners on the corners, McCollum scored from third on a throwing error as Rembisz tried to pickoff Houston at first.
After striking out Jobe in the third, Champion went on to strike out the side in the fourth and then fanned the first batter he faced in the fifth for his fifth-consecutive strike out.
Down 2-1 in the bottom of the fifth, Parks followed up a single by Rowell with a two-out, two-run homer to left center (his first of the year) to give the Trojans a 3-2 lead.
Trailing for the first time in the game, FIU answered in the bottom half, loading the bases with no outs on the board off a single, a walk and a catcher's interference call. T.J. Shantz plated the tying run with a RBI groundout, but FIU left the bases loaded again as Champion ended the threat by inducing an inning-ending groundout from Pablo Bermudez.
UALR reclaimed the lead in the bottom half of the sixth when Brown opened the frame with a solo homer to right ? his first of the year. Both teams squandered scoring opportunities in the seventh, as each squad left the bags full.
Champion retired the first batter he faced in the eighth before giving way to junior Travis Henke with the Trojans holding a 4-3 lead. UALR's advantage was short-lived however, as Henke surrendered a game-tying solo homer to the first batter he faced (Jobe).
After FIU put two runners on base with two outs on the board, the Trojans called on Boling to escape the jam and the 6-1 reliever got a fly out from the first batter he faced to preserve the 4-4 score.
The Golden Panthers threatened in the top of the 10th, as Shantz singled through the right side then advanced all the way to third off a stolen base and a Trojan throwing error. With Shantz on third and one out, Boling buckled down and struck out the next two batters he faced to keep things knotted up at 4-all.
After a rocky seventh inning in which the Trojans managed to load the bases against him, Fondon settled in and retired 11 in-a-row from the end of the seventh inning to the start of the 11th ? minus a catcher's interference call.
The Trojans finally got to Fondon in the bottom of the 12th, loading the bases with one out off walks by Parks and Brown and a single by senior Landis Wilson. With the bags full and one out, the Golden Panthers brought on reliever Eric Berkowitz, while the Trojans called on pinch hitter Tommie Johnson. FIU was able to get a force out at the plate as Berkowitz got a grounder back to the mound from Johnson, but Feldmann followed with a two-out, walk-off RBI single to right to give UALR the 5-4 win.
The two teams return to action tomorrow afternoon at 4 p.m.
