JONESBORO, Ark. – UALR baseball took an 11-7 loss in the first game of the series with Arkansas State on Thursday night.
Ultimately, fielding errors and pitching mistakes were what cost UALR the series opener as Trojans' bats were alive and well with 13 hits.
"If we had played with clean defense and eliminated the walks and mistakes we would have been happy with the outcome, and we did the exact opposite of that," head coach Chris Curry said. "We gave them seven free runs, so the game could have been 7-4 in our favor."
UALR took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning. Petr Sila reached on an error by the shortstop before stealing second on a wild pitch. Sila then moved over to third on a ground out to first base for the first out of the inning. Tanner Rockwell earned his 38th RBI of the year as Sila scored on a ground out to third base.
Arkansas State evened the game in the bottom of the inning. Zach George doubled down the right field line to begin the inning and moved to third after a sacrifice bunt by Joe Schrimpf. George scored the tying run after Austin Baker grounded out to first base.
The Trojans struck again in the top of the fourth inning. With two outs, Justin Steelmon walked with a full count. Sam Vogel came through with an RBI double to deep right center as Steelmon scored to give UALR a 2-1 lead.
In the top of the fifth inning, Rockwell got on base with a leadoff walk and advanced to second on a ground out. Joseph Paulino singled through the right side as Rockwell crossed the plate to give the Trojans a 3-1 lead over the Red Wolves.
The Red Wolves tied the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the fifth inning. Matt Burgess doubled down the left field line to begin the frame before moving over to third on sacrifice bunt throwing error. Arkansas State grounded into a fielder's choice as Burgess crossed the plate for the Red Wolves' second run of the game. With two outs, Jeremy Brown doubled down the left field line as Collin Massanelli scored to tie the game.
The Trojans had a big sixth inning as they took a 5-3 lead. Steelmon led the inning off by reaching first on an error by the third baseman. Vogel struck again with another RBI double to left center as Steelmon scored from first base. After Vogel's hit, Arkansas State went to the bullpen for the first time. Sila welcomed the new pitcher with a bunt single to put runners on the corners with no outs. Ryan Scott punched an RBI single into shallow center as Sila crossed the plate to give UALR a two-run lead.
ASU tied the game at 5-5 in the bottom of the seventh inning. Baker reached on an error by the Trojans' infield and advanced to second after Burgess was hit by a 2-2 pitch. Ty White laid down a sacrifice bunt, advancing the runners to second and third with one out. Collin Massanelli hit an RBI single into left field and advanced to second on the throw home as Baker and Burgess scored to tie the game.
The Red Wolves jumped out to a 7-5 lead with a two-run homer by Zach George in the bottom of the eighth inning. After loading the bases, UALR walked home a run to give Arkansas State the 8-5 advantage. A wild pitch with bases loaded brought home the Red Wolves fourth run of the inning, giving ASU a 9-5 lead. A bloop single by Stuart Levy into left scored two more runs to give Arkansas State a six-run lead.
The Trojans began the top of the ninth inning with a single by Kyle Kirk. Kirk made his way to third after Drew Merten doubled to right center. Hayden Martin sent an RBI single down the left field line as Kirk made his way in for the Trojans' sixth run. Steelmon once again reached base on an error by the third baseman while Merten scored from second to cut the Red Wolves's lead to 11-7. However, the Trojans' late rally wouldn't be enough as a strikeout and ground out ended the game.
UALR's Sun Belt Tournament hopes are still alive as ULM and Texas State took losses on Thursday. If the Trojans can win both games against the Red Wolves on Friday and get a loss from ULM or Texas State, UALR would advance to the tournament. If the Trojans split Friday's doubleheader, UALR would need ULM and Texas State to take losses on Friday and Saturday to advance.
"The amazing thing that gives you hope is that we're not dead, and we still have an opportunity to accomplish our goal," Curry said. "We're looking forward to playing as hard as we can for 18 innings tomorrow."
UALR and Arkansas State will play a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. on Friday with the second game starting 90 minutes after.
