Trojans Win First Rock 'n' Roar Rivalry Game Vs. UCA

LITTLE ROCK – Little Rock baseball (6-10) took a 6-5 win over Central Arkansas (9-7) in the newly established Rock 'n' Roar Rivalry at Gary Hogan Field on Wednesday night.
 
Senior outfielder Ryan Scott almost hit for the cycle as he went 3 for 4 with solo home run, a triple and a double. Junior Dalton Thomas had the biggest hit of the night with a two-run bomb to left in what eventually put the Trojans past the Bears.
 
Things looked glum early on as the Bears scored two runs on one hit and three Trojan errors in the very first inning. Tyler Langley reached on an error to begin the game. Chris Townsend got on with bunt single but a wide throw to first allowed Langley to move over to third and put runners on the corners. Brandon Montalvo then reached on another infield error as Langley scored the first run of the night. After a wild pitch moved Townsend to third, Logan Preston reached on a fielder's choice as Townsend scored to put UCA up 2-0.
 
Little Rock started its comeback in the bottom of the third as Keegan Meyn doubled to right center to get the inning underway. Hayden Martin put down a sacrifice bunt to move Meyn over to third. Zach Baker earned an RBI on a groundout to second base as Meyn scored to cut the deficit to 2-1.
 
With one out in the fourth, Cameron Knight singled up the middle and advanced to second as Ty Gunter walked. The two runners then moved into scoring position on a wild pitch with two outs. Martin came through with a two-run double down the left field line to give Little Rock a 3-2 lead.
 
After giving up three unanswered runs, UCA countered with three of their own in the top of the fifth. Langley led the inning off by getting hit by a pitch before moving over to second on a sacrifice bunt. After Montalvo walked, Preston hit an RBI single through the left side as Langley scored to tie the game. Little Rock starter Matt McDowell was then relieved by senior lefty Jarrid Garcia after pitching 4.1 innings. Garcia earned the punch out with the first batter he faced, but Justin McCarty doubled down the left field line to score both Montalvo and Preston and give the Bears a 5-3 lead.
 
Little Rock responded quickly in the bottom of the fifth as Scott hit his fifth home run of the season with a solo shot to center. Down 5-4 entering the bottom of the seventh, UCA's Chris Durham (2-1) came on for reliever Derek Beier after Beier pitched 1.2 innings. Beier replaced starter Tyler Gray to begin the sixth inning after Gray went 5.0 innings with seven strikeouts and allowed seven hits, four runs and a walk. Scott welcomed Durham with a two-out triple down the right field line. With an 0-1 count, Thomas sent his moonshot to left to put Little Rock up 6-5.
 
Cody Daylor (1-0) pitched a great seventh inning as he struck out two and allowed no hits. Preston Oberling came on in the eighth and held the Bears down with two strikeouts while allowing one hit. Cody McGill closed out the game in the top of the ninth with two strikeouts and a walk to earn his second save of the year.
 
"Tonight we got better, and I think the key was getting a good start on the mound to keep us in the game," head coach Chris Curry said. "It allowed us to scratch and claw our way back into the game. I'm so proud of our bullpen. I loved how they worked all the way through the end. That's what we wanted."
 
Little Rock will now return to conference action beginning on Friday as it makes its way down to Lafayette, La., for a three-game series with No. 16 Louisiana. Friday night's game will be aired on ESPN3.