Little Rock Claims Third Sun Belt Series in 9-7 Win

LITTLE ROCK – Looking to clinch its third Sun Belt series of the season, Little Rock baseball (15-16, 8-7 Sun Belt) succeeded with a 9-7 win over Georgia State (15-16, 8-7) on Sunday afternoon at Gary Hogan Field.
 
Ryan Scott led the way for the Trojans as he went 2 for 5 with four RBIs and a double.
 
Zach Baker and Kyle Kirk scored multiple runs for Little Rock with three and two, respectively.
 
Scoreless heading into the bottom of the fourth, Nik Gifford changed that with a two-out solo home run to left, his third of the season.
 
The Panthers punched back hard in the top of the fifth with five runs on eight hits. After the Trojans gave up two doubles and a single, Justin Jones hit a two-run double to left center to give Georgia State the lead. After a balk advanced Jones to third, Joey Roach hit an RBI single to right. A single and a wild pitch later, John Thompson hit an RBI single to left to score Roach from third. That RBI single would be all for Trojan starter Joe Corbett as Cody Daylor (3-0) came on in relief. After giving up an RBI single for the Panthers' fifth run of the inning, Daylor went into cruise control as he eventually picked up the win in 3.2 innings with three strikeouts while only allowing three hits.
 
Down 5-1 entering the bottom half of the fifth, Little Rock's offense cranked up the bats and put runs on the board in three of the remaining four innings. With three runners on due to walks and two outs, Scott cleared the bases with a three-run double off the wall in center.
 
The sixth inning was more of the same for the Trojans. After Cameron Knight was hit by a pitch and Kirk walked, Baker put down a beautiful bunt single to load the bases. Matt McDowell hit a sacrifice fly to right to score Knight and tie the game at 5-5. With conditions ripe for a safety squeeze, Hayden Martin laid down a sacrifice bunt to score Kirk. Hunter Owens hit an RBI single up the middle to plate Baker and give Little Rock a two-run lead at 7-5.
 
The Trojans added some insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth. After Baker was hit by a pitch and advanced to second on a balk, Ty Gunter came through with an RBI single to right. Georgia State made the call to the bullpen for the third time before Gunter stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. After Owens walked, Ryan Scott earned his fourth RBI of the day with an infield single to short as Gunter scored to put Little Rock up 9-5.
 
Cody McGill came on for Daylor to begin the ninth, but things went awry as he gave up a single and a two-run homer to Joey Roach. After walking the next batter, Keenan Wingfield made his way into the game for McGill to try and protect the Trojans' two-run lead. A fly out and a strikeout put the Panthers on their final leg before a walk put runners on first and second. A foul out to Gifford at first put the game and series to rest as Wingfield earned his third save of the year.
                                                                                                                                        
"We're starting to come together," head coach Chris Curry said. "Last night was one of the most complete and pretty wins we've seen. Today was an ugly win, but there's no bad win. Makeup and character are going to be what decide it at the end of the year, and we've got that."
 
Little Rock will return to non-conference action on Wednesday as it makes the 30-mile trip to Conway to face Central Arkansas in the second game of the Rock 'n' Roar Rivalry.