MONROE, La. – A 17-0 shutout by Little Rock baseball (24-23, 15-11 Sun Belt) over ULM (20-31, 10-16 Sun Belt) clinched the Trojans a spot in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament for the first time since 2013 on Saturday night at Warhawk Field in Monroe.
"That was no doubt our best-played game of the year, and it could not have come at a better time," head coach
Chris Curry said. "We met with the team before the game and challenged them to get back to being who we are, which is playing with an edge and playing angry. It's so rewarding as a coach to see your team respond."
Along with the tournament-clinching win, Little Rock starting pitcher
Cory Malcom (5-4) threw a complete-game shutout as he tied a career-high nine strikeouts. Malcom allowed just three hits and two walks as he threw exactly 100 pitches. He became the first Trojan pitcher to throw a complete-game shutout since Calvin Drinnen threw one against Oklahoma in 2011.
"When a guy is throwing like that on a Saturday, he can put the series away for you or turn it around, and that's what we asked him to do," Curry said.
At the plate,
Dalton Thomas had a huge game as he went 3 for 6 with four RBIs, a home run, two doubles and two runs scored.
Kyle Kirk went 3 for 5 with two RBIs and two runs while
Ty Gunter had the other three-hit game as he went 3 for 4 with two walks and two runs.
Zach Baker went 2 for 6 with a home run, a double, two RBIs and three runs while
Jonathan Davis went 2 for 5 with an RBI, a walk and a run.
Hunter Owens was a perfect 2 for 2 as he doubled, walked twice and scored twice.
The game went scoreless through three innings, but Little Rock was sure to change that in the fourth as the Trojans scored six runs on four hits. After
Ty Gunter walked and
Jonathan Davis singled through the left side,
Zach Baker hit an RBI double to left to score Gunter.
Kyle Kirk followed that up with an RBI single to left center, scoring Davis. After
Hunter Owens walked to load the bases,
Hayden Martin cleared the bases with his first-career triple. An RBI ground out by
Ryan Scott scored Martin and gave Little Rock a 6-0 lead.
The Trojans had an even better inning in the fifth.
Nik Gifford got on with a leadoff walk before advancing to third on a single by Gunter. A wild pitch scored Gifford and allowed Gunter to move to second. After Davis walked, Baker reached on a fielder's choice to put runners on the corners. Kirk once again hit an RBI single and scored Gunter. Owens was then hit by pitch to load the bases for Little Rock. With two outs, a runner scored on a fielding error and allowed Scott to reach safely at first, but that wouldn't be all as a throwing error to first allowed another run to score as Scott reached second.
Dalton Thomas capped the inning off with a three-run bomb to left to give Little Rock a 13-0 lead.
With two outs in the sixth, Baker hit his first homer as a Trojan on a solo shot to left. Even with a massive 14-0 lead, Little Rock kept up the momentum in the seventh. After Scott reached on a muffed throw at first, Thomas hit his second double of the game and 16th of the season to score Scott. With one out and a runner on, Davis hit an RBI single through the left side to score Thomas and give Little Rock a 16-0 lead.
After the Trojans were held scoreless for the first time since the third inning in the eighth, Little Rock topped the game off with one more run. Gifford singled through the left side to begin the inning and advanced to second on a single through the right side by Gunter. Gifford advanced to third as the Trojans grounded into their first double play of the night. With Baker at the plate, a wild pitch hit the dirt and bounced to the backstop, allowing Gifford to score Little Rock's 17th run.
Malcom stayed on the mound to begin the bottom of the ninth inning. After he struck out the first batter, Malcom set a new career-high for innings pitched at 8.1, but he wasn't finished yet. Malcom finished off the Warhawks with a ground out to first and a foul out behind the plate to end the game.
"To earn a spot in the conference tournament and do something that hasn't been done in three years means we're getting this program back to where we expect it to be," Curry said. "That accomplished our first goal, and we just feel like we're not done yet. We have some things in the regular season that we can do. Getting to the postseason is something we've talked about since the beginning, and it's all about the players. It reaffirms the way we're building this program and where we're headed. It's a step towards being a contender at the top of the league every year."
Little Rock can clinch its sixth Sun Belt series of the season and tie the program record for conference wins in tomorrow's 1 p.m., series finale at ULM.
