SAN MARCOS, Texas – Two games, two victories. That's what Little Rock baseball (17-17, 10-7 Sun Belt) finished Friday with as it took wins by scores of 8-7 and 10-2 in a doubleheader at Texas State (21-15, 9-5). Friday's wins gave the Trojans their fourth Sun Belt series victory of the season.
Little Rock's 10-7 Sun Belt record to start the season is tied for the best in program history.
The Trojans two wins upped their overall win total to 17 for the season, bypassing last year's 16.
For the entire day,
Cameron Knight and
Ryan Scott each picked up five hits and an RBI each.
Hayden Martin went 4 for 8 with five RBIs and a run.
Dalton Thomas also had four hits in addition to two RBIs, a home run and a double.
Zach Baker,
Kyle Kirk and
Nik Gifford each had three hits while Gifford had a home run.
GAME 1 The Trojans took an early lead in the top of the second inning. With runners on the corners and two outs,
Hayden Martin was clutch with an RBI single into left as
Zach Baker scored to put Little Rock up 1-0.
The Bobcats didn't take long to respond as they took a 2-1 lead with two runs on three hits. After two singles, Luke Sherley put the first runner across the plate with an RBI double to left center. Jared Huber then hit an RBI ground to second to score the second run of the inning.
Little Rock knotted it back up in the top of the third.
Ryan Scott led off the inning with his 10th double of the season to right field. With
Dalton Thomas at the plate, a failed pickoff attempt allowed Scott to take third, but then an errant fielding attempt in center permitted Scott to score and tie the game at 2-2.
After the Trojans threatened in the top of the fourth inning, the Bobcats took the lead once again in the bottom frame. With runners on the corners, Sherley singled through the left side to score Tanner Hill, who led off the inning with a double.
Little Rock punched back in the top of the fifth with two run on three hits to retake the lead at 5-4. After Thomas earned his ninth double of the year to lead off the inning,
Cameron Knight earned his third hit of the game with an RBI single up the middle. After Baker laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Knight to second,
Kyle Kirk hit an RBI single to left to plate Knight.
The lead exchanged hands once again in the bottom of the inning. After a single, a walk and a passed ball put runners in scoring position, the Bobcats' Granger Studdard hit a two-run double to give Texas State a 5-4 lead.
Little Rock starter
Matt McDowell gave way to reliever
Keenan Wingfield to begin the bottom of the seventh inning. Things didn't exactly go Wingfield's after walking Hill and allowing him to advance on a wild pitch. With two outs, a Jaylen Hubbard single to left scored Hill and put Texas State up by two at 6-4.
Jarrid Garcia replaced Wingfield to begin the bottom of the eighth inning. After a double and a two-out walk,
Cody McGill (1-3) made his way into the game. McGill then gave up an RBI single to Hill as Jonathan Ortega scored the Bobcats' seventh run.
With an 0-15 record when trailing after the eighth inning this season, Little Rock had much to accomplish in the top of the ninth if it wanted to pull out a win. Texas State made things tougher as it brought on the Sun Belt Conference's saves leader Pasquale Mazzoccoli. Scott got the inning started on good note with a leadoff single up the middle. Things got even better as Thomas hit a two-run blast to right to cut the deficit to 7-6. With one out, Knight earned his fourth hit of the game with a single up the middle.
Christian Reyes came on to pinch run for night and got into scoring position on a wild pitch. After
Kyle Kirk walked,
Riley Pittman came on to pinch hit. With a 2-2 count, Pittman hit an RBI single through the right side as Reyes scored the tying run. Martin delivered the biggest hit of the afternoon with an RBI single left as Kirk scored the go-ahead run to put Little Rock up 8-7.
Cody Daylor came on to close it out, and he didn't disappoint as two ground outs and a strikeout earned Daylor his first save and gave Little Rock the series opening win.
"I love coaching these guys because of their fight," head coach
Chris Curry said. "We're coming together as a team, and we can feel it as brothers. We talk a lot about not caring who gets the at-bat or who gets the base hit. Texas State is really good club who can swing it, and I feel like we kept them contained. They're going to get their hits. We're learning to become an unselfish team and play together. That's why they're fun to coach."
GAME 2 Texas State got the first run of the game in the bottom of the second inning with a solo shot to left center by Hill.
After a scoreless third inning, Little Rock's bats burst into flames in the fourth. Two hits and an error loaded the bases, but a double play quickly gave the Trojans two outs as Gifford scored to tie the game. After
Keegan Meyn walked, Martin hit an RBI single to right to score Knight.
Hunter Owens then hit a two-run triple down the right field line, his second of the year, as Meyn and Martin scored. The Trojans weren't done just yet as Scott hit an RBI single to right to score Owens and give Little Rock a 5-1 lead.
Little Rock had another big inning in the fifth as they took a 9-1 lead with four runs on four hits and an error. With runners in scoring position, Kirk hit an RBI single to left to score Knight. With a 2-2 count, Meyn was hit by a pitch to load the bases. A wild pitch scored Baker and allowed all the other runners to move up 90 feet. Martin then hit a two-run single up the middle to score Meyn and Kirk as Little Rock took a 9-1 lead.
The Trojans' lone run in the sixth came on leadoff homer by
Nik Gifford that hit the top of Texas State's scoreboard in right field. His fourth home run of the year gave Little Rock a commanding 10-1 lead.
Starter
Dylan Slayton (2-1) had his longest outing of the season and picked up the win as he went 5.1 innings with two strikeouts and allowed just two hits, four walks and a run on 84 pitches. After loading the bases with one out for Texas State,
Preston Oberling came on for Slayton and quickly defused the situation with a strikeout and an out at the plate on a near-wild pitch.
With two outs in the bottom of the eighth, Texas State's Jonathan Ortega hit a solo shot to left to put a chip in Little Rock's 10-2 lead.
Oberling stayed in the game for the ninth inning and shut the door on the Bobcats to earn his first save.
"We showed a lot of toughness in the second game," Curry said. "It could have been very easy to rest on our laurels and feel good about ourselves getting the win in the first game. We challenged them to keep going and not be happy with just getting that first game, and they answered. That's really good to see."
Little Rock will go for the series sweep over Texas State tomorrow at 1 p.m., in San Marcos. A win in the series finale on Saturday would give the Trojans their best conference start in program history.
