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Box Score 2 TROY, Ala. – UALR baseball (7-11, 4-4) split Saturday's doubleheader with Troy (11-12, 4-5) by winning the first game of the day 14-4 and taking a 6-1 loss in the final game of the series.
Tanner Rockwell and Drew Merten had huge days at the plate. Rockwell went 4 for 8 with two runs, two doubles and three RBIs while Merten went 4 for 9 with a homerun, a double, two runs and six RBIs.
“It was another tough series on the road that could have gone either way,” head coach Chris Curry said. “We were right there in it all weekend.”
Rockwell picked up the first hit of the day with a liner to center in the second inning and advanced to second after UALR grounded out to third. Freshman Ryan McSwain hit a grounder to short, but a low throw to first allowed him to advance to second while Rockwell scored the game's first run on an error. With two outs, Drew Merten ripped an RBI double to the right center gap, scoring McSwain to make it a 2-0 game. James Gillean then hit a shallow single to right, but Merten was thrown out at the plate as he tried to score from second.
Troy evened the game in the bottom of the second. Troy singled and then hit an RBI-triple off the center field wall to score its first run. Troy then hit an infield single to short to score the second run of the inning. UALR stopped Troy's charge as it turned a 3-6-1 double play to end the inning.
In the bottom of the third with runners on first and third, Troy pulled off a double steal to give them a one-run advantage heading to the fourth.
In the fourth, Kyle Kirk singled to right with one out, and then Kyle Barret walked on four straight pitches with two outs. With a 1-2 count, Merten blasted his first home run of the season with a three-run shot over the left field wall to give UALR a 5-3 lead.
UALR kept the hits coming in the fifth as Ryan Scott extended his hitting and reached base streak to 14 games with a single to right. Rockwell then hit a laser to the right-center gap for an RBI-double, increasing UALR's lead to 6-3.
The UALR bats continued to smolder in the sixth inning as McSwain and Barret earned back-to-back base hits to begin the inning. Merten then hit a deep fly out to right, but Troy doubled up UALR at second as McSwain was called out for leaving early.
UALR's hitters caught fire in the seventh as Petr Sila and Jason Prevatt began the inning with pair of singles. Scott then doubled down the left field line to score Sila while Prevatt advanced to third. Kyle Kirk grounded out to short but Prevatt was able to score from third to take an 8-3 lead.
Troy got one run back in the bottom of the seventh. Troy singled and doubled, but it was a balk by UALR that brought home Troy's fourth run of the game.
Cameron Allen took over on the mound to begin the bottom of the eighth inning. Starter Cory Malcom had a good day on the mound in seven innings of work. He struck out three while giving up eight hits, four runs and three walks on 102 pitches. Allen pitched the rest of the way, striking out three and giving up just one hit.
UALR had a huge ninth inning to put the game out of reach. Sam Vogel singled through the left side but was called out at second after Scott reached on a fielder's choice. Rockwell then doubled to left to score Scott. Kyle Kirk singled to right field and advanced to second as Rockwell scored from second. McSwain then singled to left center, scoring Kirk. Joseph Paulino singled to center field to bring Kirk around for another run while McSwain advanced to second. Paulino and McSwain advanced to second and third after a wild pitch. Merten singled up the middle to score Paulino and McSwain and advanced to second on a wild pitch. After James Gillean walked, Troy finally put a new reliever on the mound. With Petr Sila at the plate, UALR had successfully batted around for the first time this season. Sila then belted a double down the left field line to score Merten. After all was said and done, UALR had scored six runs on seven hits.
UALR's 19 hits were the most in a single game since playing Western Kentucky in 2013.
“In the first game today, we got another great start from Cory Malcom,” Curry said. “He held them down for seven innings, and our offense came alive. Merten had a big day with a home run and six RBIs. Ryan Scott put the nail in the coffin late. We played really well and answered to get the series even.”
UALR started the second game where it left off in the first. Jason Prevatt hit an infield single to the pitcher with one out. With two outs, Tanner Rockwell continued down the war path with an RBI-single to center, scoring Prevatt from second to take an early 1-0 lead.
Troy fought back in the bottom of the inning by scoring two runs off of two doubles to take a 2-1 lead.
No more runs were scored until the bottom of the seventh when Troy doubled off the left field wall, scoring two more to take a 4-1 lead.
Prevatt walked with two outs in the top of the eighth to put a runner on. Ryan Scott extended his hitting and reached base streaks to 15 games with a double off the right field wall, advancing Prevatt to third. Tanner Rockwell was then hit by a pitch to load the bases for UALR. With a ground out to short, UALR left three on base to end the top of the eighth.
Troy put the game away in the bottom of the eighth after scoring two more runs to take a 6-1 lead. UALR tried to rally in the bottom of the ninth, but a game-ending double play prevented it from doing so.
“In game two, we did not get a good start,” Curry said. “We had to go to Cameron Allen in the third inning. He came in and got a bases load double play, which was huge in a 2-1 game. We did not solve their right-hander. We needed to do a better job of getting the ball up in the zone and driving the ball back up the middle. To his credit, we did not. Late in the game, we had a couple of calls not go our way, and then they hit the double to go up 4-1. Then they added two runs there at the end.”
Ryan Scott finished the day 3 for 9 with two doubles, two runs and one RBI.
Every UALR batter had at least one hit for the day.
“I'm proud of our teams fight and effort,” Curry said. “This is a tradition-rich program in Troy. To learn to beat these guys, we told them when you're on the road and walk in the gate, it's going to be a battle. It's going to be a much harder battle than at home, but we see improvement. We played a couple of freshmen, and they produced. You feel like the bats are starting to come alive. The first three weekends have been really tough. We came away at .500, but that's not our end goal. I think we're right there in the middle of the hunt.”
UALR will now face Oral Roberts at home on Tuesday in the first of two midweek non-conference games.
