Little Rock Splits Saturday at No. 16 Louisiana

LAFAYETTE, La. – Little Rock baseball (7-11, 1-4 Sun Belt) split Saturday's doubleheader at No. 16 Louisiana (12-7, 3-2) as it took a 15-4 loss in the first game and earned a 10-5 victory in the second game of the day at M.L. Tigue Moore Field.
 
Ryan Scott was on fire in the second game as he went 4 for 5 with seven RBIs and two home runs. His seven RBIs tied for the third-most in a single game in program history. For the day, Scott went 5 for 9 and extended the nation's best batting average to .500.
 
Dalton Thomas extended his hitting streak to 14 games as he went 2 for 3 with an RBI in the first game and 3 for 4 with an RBI and a walk in the second game.
 
The win in the second game gave Little Rock its first Sun Belt victory of the year. It was also the Trojans' first win over a ranked opponent since defeating No. 14 Missouri last year on the road.
 
GAME 2 RECAP
 
Little Rock got off to a hot start to begin the second game as they scored three runs in the first. After Hunter Owens walked to lead off the inning, Ryan Scott earned his sixth home run of the season with a two-run shot off the right field foul pole. With one out, Nik Gifford singled up the middle, and then Ty Gunter singled through the right side as Gifford advanced to third. Cameron Knight hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Gifford and give Little Rock a 3-0 lead. For Louisiana, it was the first time this season that it gave up a three-run inning at home.
 
The Cajuns answered back in the bottom of the inning with a pair of runs. With one out, Brenn Conrad double to left center. Joe Robbins hit his fifth home run of the season with a two-run blast to right to cut Little Rock's lead to 3-2.
 
After giving up a hit to Zach Baker and walking Owens for the second time, Louisiana starter Wyatt Marks' day came to an early end with one out in the second inning. Replacing Marks was Jevin Huval with runners on first and second. Scott welcomed Huval to the game and earned his fourth RBI of the game with a two-run double to right as Baker and Owens scored to put Little Rock up 5-2.
 
The Trojans continued their hot hitting in the fourth. Owens got on with a leadoff single to third base. Ryan Scott earned his third hit of the game with a single to right as Owens advanced to third. Scott then stole second, but an errant throw allowed him to take third as Owens scored. Dalton Thomas extended his hitting streak to 14 games with an RBI double to right to score Scott and give the Trojans a 7-2 lead.
 
The offensive assault carried over to the fifth inning for Little Rock. Kyle Kirk singled to center before Baker got on with a bunt single. After a fly out and strike out, Ryan Scott belted his second home run of the game and seventh of the season to right field, giving Little Rock a 10-2 lead. Scott's three-run shot gave him seven RBIs for the game, tying for the third-most in a single game in program history.
 
Cory Malcom (1-3) put in his best performance of the year so far as he picked up the win after going 5.0 innings with three strikeouts while allowing six hits, two earned runs and one walk. Keenan Wingfield came on and pitched for 2.0 innings as he struck out two and gave up just two hits.
 
"It was absolutely awesome to feel like you had Cory Malcom back," head coach Chris Curry said. "Maybe Saturday is his day, and he just feels better."
 
Cody Daylor replaced Wingfield to begin the eighth and quickly took care of the Cajun hitters with a fly out and two strikeouts. However, things got a little tricky in the ninth. With one out, Daylor issued a walk to Nick Thurman on a full count. Hunter Kasuls singled to left as Thurman moved to third to put runners on the corners. As Kennon Fontenot pinch hit for Brian Mills, a wild pitch scored Thurman and allowed Kasuls to move to second. With a full count, Fontenot hit a two-run blast to right to cut into Little Rock's lead at 10-5. That was all Louisiana had left in the tank as a fly out and line out ended it.
 
Louisiana gave up 13 hits in total, their most in a game this season. For Little Rock, their hit total tied for the second-most this season.
 
"It was very simple," head coach Chris Curry said. "When we get a good start on the mound and throw strikes, we're in the game, and our offense can do some things."
 
GAME 1 RECAP
 
It didn't take the Trojans very long to get a run on the board. With one out in the first, Ryan Scott singled to second base, increasing his reached base streak to 13 games. Dalton Thomas came up and hit an RBI double to left to increase his hitting streak to 13 games while also scoring Scott from first to put Little Rock up 1-0.
 
The Cajuns struck back in the bottom of the inning. Brian Mills singled to short to lead off the frame before Brenn Conrad connected on a two-run homer to right to put Louisiana up 2-1.
 
Louisiana had a similar result in the bottom of the third. Derek Herrington singled up the middle to get the inning going before Brian Mills hit a two-run blast to left center to increase the Cajuns' lead to 4-1.
 
Trojan starter Dylan Slayton (0-1) recorded his third strikeout of the game to begin the bottom of the fourth inning, but Alex Pinero singled to left with one out. Ishmael Edwads doubled down the left field line as Pinero held up at third to put runners in scoring position. Nick Thurman came through for the Cajuns with two-run single to left. Herrington was hit by pitch before Mills flied out to center. Conrad was then hit by a pitch to load the bases before Louisiana's biggest hit of the game. With a 1-0 count, Joe Robbins hit a grand slam off the scoreboard to put the Cajuns up 10-1. After Stefan Trosclair walked and Steven Sensley doubled to center, Reed Willenborg came on Slayton. With a 2-2 count, Willenborg got the Trojans out of the inning with a strikeout.
 
Louisiana kept the runs coming in the bottom of the sixth. With two outs, Robbins was walked and Trosclair was hit by a pitch. Sensley doubled for the second time as Robbins and Trosclair scored to give the Cajuns a 12-1 lead.
 
Cajuns' starter Gunner Leger (2-1) exited the game after the sixth inning. Leger struck out seven while giving up three hits, one run and a hit-by-pitch. He was replaced with right-hander Will Bacon to begin the seventh. Ty Gunter got the inning started by reaching base on throwing error to first. Zach Baker singled through the right side to put runners on first and second with no outs. Keegan Meyn then walked on five pitches to load the bases for the Trojans. Christian Reyes pinch hit for Hayden Martin and reached on a fielder's choice as Gunter was out at the plate. Reyes advanced to second on the throwing error to first, allowing Baker to score. Hunter Owens then hit an RBI ground out to second as Meyn scored to cut into the deficit at 12-3.
 
Edwards singled to left to begin the bottom of the seventh. Thurman reached base on a throwing error by new pitcher Zach Ours to put runners on first and second. Edwards was caught at third stealing on the double steal, but Thurman made his way to second. Herrington doubled down the right field line to score Thurman. Mills reached on a throwing error to first before Conrad doubled to center to score Herrington. Robbins flew out to right field, Mills scored on the sacrifice fly before Conrad was thrown out at third trying to advance. Louisiana ended the inning with a 15-3 lead.
 
With two outs in the third, Cameron Knight singled to short and was followed with a Gunter single to right. Kyle Kirk earned his second hit of the game with an RBI double to left as Knight scored to make it 15-4 in Louisiana's favor.
 
After holding the Cajuns scoreless in the bottom of the eighth, the Trojans had no answers in the ninth as they left the bases loaded to end the game.
 
Little Rock and Louisiana will play the rubber game of the series tomorrow at 1 p.m.