Box Score LITTLE
ROCK
- UALR (14-9, 1-4 SBC) scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh to cut the
deficit to one, but Troy (11-10, 2-3 SBC) held the Trojans scoreless over the
final two frames to take game two and even the series with an 8-7 win at Gary
Hogan Field on Saturday. Sunday's rubber match is set for 1 p.m.
Troy outhit UALR, 13-12, on the day, and had six
players end the game with multiple hits. Junior Myles Parma led the Trojans with a 3-for-4 effort that included a
run and an RBI. Seniors Nick Rountree
and Cameron Bentley each picked up a
pair of hits, while junior Chris Burk
and senior Sean Bignall both hit two
run-homers. Bignall's blast was his Sun Belt-leading tenth of the year, and
Burk's bomb was his third of the season.
Reliever Thomas Austin picked up the win for Troy to
improve to 1-1 on the season. Austin went 3.1 innings and gave up no runs on
three hits after coming on for starter Jimmy Hodgskin. Reliever Austin Pfeiffer was dealt the loss, as
the sophomore gave up three runs on four hits after coming on for starter Blake Huffman in the fifth. Tyson Workman was credited with the save for
Troy after working a perfect ninth inning.
Troy gained a quick 1-0 lead in the top half of the
first, but UALR went up four with a five-run outburst in the bottom of the
third. Troy responded by scoring runs in each of their next four sets of at
bats, eventually going up 8-5 after a two-run seventh. UALR answered with a
pair of runs in the bottom half of the frame to cut the lead to 8-7, but would
get no closer as Troy relievers Nate Hill and Workman combined to hold the
Trojans scoreless over the final two frames.
Troy took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first
thanks to three-straight two-out singles by Logan Pierce, Danny Collins and
Boone Shear. Pierce got things started with a blooper to left, and Collins gave
Troy runners at the corners with a liner to right. Shear then hit a spinner
down the first-base line that hit the turf and shot back to the inside of first
baseman John Clark, rolling into
right field and allowing Pierce to come home for the first run of the game.
Shear tried to turn it into a double, but was thrown out at second by right
fielder Ben Crumpton for the final
out of the inning.
After both teams went scoreless in the second and
Huffman retired the top half of the third in order, UALR took a 5-1 lead in the
bottom half of the frame thanks to an RBI triple by Parma and a pair of two-run
homers by Burk and Bignall. Bentley led off the inning with a single to right,
then stole and third to put himself 90 feet from home plate with just one out.
Parma's triple off the right field wall brought home Bentley, and Burk's
two-run blast over the right field fence in the next at bat made it a 3-1 game.
With the bases now clear, Rountree drew and walk, and the next batter, Bignall,
blasted a 2-2 pitch over the left field fence to push the UALR advantage to
four at 5-1.
Troy came up with a quick answer, putting up three runs
on three hits in the top half of the fourth to shrink the UALR lead to one.
Huffman issued a walk to Pierce to start the frame, and Collins then singled to
right center to give Troy runners at the corners with no outs. Huffman then hit
Boone Shear with a pitch to load the bases, and a single off the bat of Chase
Mathis brought home the first two Troy runs of the frame. Shear scored the
third run of the frame on a throwing error by UALR catcher Blake Johnson to make it a 5-4 game. Another single by Tyler Vaughn
gave Troy runners at the corners with no outs, but Huffman escaped with no
further damage after getting Jo-El Bennett out on a shallow pop up to center
before inducing a 4-6-3 inning-ending double play off the bat of Brandon Brown.
After Hannah tied the game at 5-all with a solo shot in
the top of the fifth, Troy retook the lead on an RBI groundout by to make it a
6-5 game. The visiting Trojans tacked on two more runs in the top of the seventh
to push their lead to three, as Hannah led off the inning with a single up the
middle and then scored on an RBI double to center by Pierce. Pierce then scored
Troy's second run of the frame off another double by Shear to give Troy an 8-5
lead.
UALR bounced back with two runs on three hits in the
bottom of the seventh to cut Troy's lead to one. A two-RBI single by Johnson
plated Bignall and Burk to make it an 8-7 ballgame. But the Troy pitching staff
would let it get no closer than that, as UALR would only get one baserunner on
over their final two sets of at bats.
