Trojans Lose Tight Series Opener at Georgia Southern

STATESBORO, Ga. – A walk-off infield single with two outs was the difference as Little Rock baseball (18-18, 11-8 Sun Belt) took a narrow 3-2 loss to Georgia Southern (24-15, 10-9 Sun Belt) in the three-game series opener at J.I. Clements Stadium on Friday night in Statesboro.
 
Little Rock's offense was unusually held in check as it tied a season-low for hits with four.
 
What offense the Trojans mustered came from Cameron Knight as he finished 1 for 3 with a walk and the team's only two RBIs.
 
"It was a classic Friday night matchup of two pitching staffs battling it out," head coach Chris Curry said. "I give a lot of credit to Georgia Southern's Evan Challenger and Landon Hughes (1-1). They've pitched well all year, and they pitched us tough tonight.
 
After a scoreless first inning, Georgia Southern broke the tie in the bottom of the second. Ryan Cleveland led the inning off with a double left center before scoring on a single to left center by Jordan Wren.
 
Down 1-0 entering the sixth inning, Little Rock finally got itself on the scoreboard. Hunter Owens got on with a leadoff walk before advancing to second on a sacrifice bunt by Ryan Scott. Dalton Thomas hit a single to left and advanced to second on the throw to third to put Trojans in scoring position. With two outs, Cameron Knight hit a two-run double to center as Owens and Thomas scored to give Little Rock a 2-1 lead.
 
Trojan starter Matt McDowell remained on the mound to begin the bottom of the sixth inning, but after giving up a one-out infield single, his night came to an end as Dylan Slayton made his way out of the bullpen. Things looked gloomy after Slayton gave up a single and a walk to load the bases, but the Trojans pulled off the 4-6-3 double play to end the inning. It was Little Rock's fourth double play of the game and set a new season-high.
 
Preston Oberling came for the Trojans to begin the bottom of the seventh. With one out, Oberling issued two consecutive walks and had a wild pitch to put runners on the corners. Georgia Southern then pulled off the safety squeeze as a runner scored on the play and tied the game at 2-2.
 
Jarrid Garcia (1-2) came on to start the bottom of the eighth inning and worked efficiently as he earned back-to-back strikeouts before a fly out to center ended the inning.
 
Still knotted at 2-2 in the bottom of the ninth, Garcia gave up a leadoff walk to trigger the pitching change. Cody Daylor came on, but the sacrifice bunt moved the winning run into scoring position. A ground out to third allowed the runner to move up 90 feet and threaten with two outs. An infield single by C.J. Ballard ended the game as Will Hudgins scored the winning run for the Eagles.
 
"I told the team that it was a tough, well-played game," Curry said. "Georgia Southern batted last, and to their credit, they got the base hit when they needed it. We'll move forward and not feel sorry for ourselves. We'll be ready to get after it tomorrow."
 
Little Rock will look to even the series on Saturday at 7 p.m.