NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Central Arkansas topped Little Rock by a 7-6 final score Tuesday night at Dickey-Stephens Park to win the third and final game of the first Rock 'n' Roar Rivalry.
With the score tied at 6-all through eight complete, the Bears scored what proved to be the winning run in the top of the ninth inning.
Chris Townsend singled to lead off the frame before stealing second base and advancing to third on a deep fly ball off the bat of Brandon Montalvo. The next batter, Matt Anderson, struck out swinging, but the third strike was in the dirt and got away from catcher
Cameron Knight. As Knight made the throw to first to record the out, Townsend broke for home. Anderson was out at first, but first baseman
Nik Gifford's throw to the plate was off the mark as Townsend slid into home for what proved to be the winning run.
The Trojans went down in order in their final set of at-bats.
Both teams finished the game with 10 hits. Little Rock was led by Gifford's 2-for-3 effort that included a homer and three RBI.
Dalton Thomas and Knight finished with two hits each.
Riley Echols earned the win for UCA, surrendering no runs on one hit over the final 3.0 innings.
Keenan Wingfield took the loss for the Trojans after allowing two runs on two hits in 1.1 innings of work.
UCA plated two runs on two hits in its first set of at-bats. Tyler Langley led off the inning with a double to center field and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Brooks Balisterri. Chris Townsend's ground out to second scored Langley for the first Bears run of the inning. After Montalvo drew a two-out walk, Anderson dropped in a RBI double to right field to put UCA up 2-0.
Little Rock evened the score with two runs on three hits in the bottom of the first.
Ryan Scott's single through the right side was followed by a single from Thomas, and a throwing error led to Scott scoring the Trojans' first run of the game. Thomas advanced all the way to third on the error and scored on a sacrifice fly by Gifford to tie the score at 2-all.
Central Arkansas scored its third run in the second inning. Ty Tice drew a one-out walk and moved to third on Langley's second double of the game. Tice scored on a ground out to short by Balisterri. An RBI single by Balisterri in the top of the fourth put the Bears up 4-2. Montalvo led off the fifth with a triple and scored on a ground out to increase the lead to 5-2.
Little Rock plated four runs on five hits to take its first lead in the bottom of the fifth.
Hayden Martin's sac fly to center scored the inning's first run, and
Dalton Thomas' double down the left field line played the second. Finally, Gifford's two-run homer to right center field put the Trojans up 6-5.
UCA tied the score at 6-all on a sacrifice fly by Langley in the top of the eighth.
"We scored enough runs to win with six runs on 10 hits, but I wish mistakes on our end didn't lead to the loss," head coach
Chris Curry said. "I thought we had good intensity, but the thing I like about playing at Dickey-Stephens is that it's a neutral site like the Sun Belt Tournament. It was a different feel for us, and our guys like that. I thought we played hard with all the other factors being there. I feel like this was a preparation game for the tournament, and I enjoyed it."
Little Rock closes its regular season with a three-game series against Arkansas State at
Gary Hogan Field beginning Thursday. First pitch for game one is set for 6 p.m.
