Box Score LITTLE ROCK - UALR's Adam Champion and Louisiana's Zach Osborne each delivered strong performances in Friday night's series opener at Gary Hogan Field, but Chad Keefer hit a solo homer in the top of the eighth to break a 3-all tie and lead the Ragin' Cajuns (20-14, 8-8) to a 4-3 victory.
Osborne struck out 10 over 7.2 innings to improve to 5-2 on the year, scattering five hits while holding the Trojans (21-15, 4-9) to three runs (two earned). Champion (4-3) allowed eight hits and four runs to the Ragin' Cajuns over 7.1 innings, and matched his career high by racking up nine strikeouts against just one walk.
UALR had opportunities to tie things up in the eighth and ninth, but came away empty handed each frame. The Trojans loaded the bases with two outs on the board in the bottom of the eighth, thanks to back-to-back singles by seniors Tyson Parks and Landis Wilson, but UL reliever Joey Satriano struck out the next batter he faced to preserve the 4-3 lead. The Ragin' Cajuns actually had four strikeouts in the frame, as a wild pitch on the team's third strikeout extended the inning and allowed UALR to load the bases.
Junior Bryce Killingsworth reached base to open the ninth after being hit by a pitch, and moved into scoring position off a sacrifice bunt by junior Casey McCollum. With the tying run on second, junior Jake Rowell grounded out to first, and Killingsworth was caught between third and home as he tried to score on the play for the final out (3-2-5).
Satriano held the Trojans without a hit over the final 1.1 innings to pick up his second save of the year. UL had three players tally multiple hits in the win, led by Keefer's 2-for-4, two-run, two-RBI performance.
Parks staked the Trojans to an early 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first, battling through a nine-pitch at-bat to hit a three-run homer to the opposite field. After issuing a one-out walk to Rowell, Osborne induced a ground ball from junior Jason Houston, but a throwing error on the play allowed both runners to reach safely. Parks followed with a three-run homer to left field, his fifth of the year, to make it a 3-0 contest.
Champion blanked Louisiana over the first two frames, but the Ragin' Cajuns manufactured four runs with two outs on the board in the top of the third by picking up four of their eight hits off of the 6-7 lefty. UL had one runner on with two outs on the board, but received back-to-back run-scoring singles from Matt Goulas and Keefer - the last of which came on a misplayed ball in left which could have ended the inning. Jordan Pourrier followed with a RBI triple down the right field line to plate Keefer from first and tie things up at 3-all.
The two pitchers matched zeroes over the next four innings, as Champion followed up a walk to Lance Marvel in the third by retiring eight-consecutive batters - five of which went down on strikes. Osborne followed up Parks' homer by retiring 12 of the next 13 batters he faced. He issued back-to-back walks in the bottom of the sixth, but struck out the next two batters he faced to keep things tied at 3-all.
UL finally broke the tie in the top of the eighth, as Keefer led off the frame with a solo homer to left - his seventh of the year. Junior Travis Henke closed out the game with 1.2 scoreless innings, retiring all five batters he faced, but the Trojans were unable to push across the tying run.
The two teams return to action tomorrow afternoon at 4 p.m.
