Trojans Set Program Record With 17th Sun Belt Win

LITTLE ROCK – On a rainy Thursday night at Gary Hogan Field, Little Rock baseball (26-24, 17-11 Sun Belt) broke the program record for Sun Belt wins in a season at 17 with a 9-4 win against Arkansas State (25-27, 11-17 Sun Belt).
 
Little Rock broke the old record of 16 set in 2000 as the Trojans went 16-13 in Sun Belt play that year.
 
"I'm excited for these players," head coach Chris Curry said. "Two years ago when we as coaches took a chance coming to Little Rock, a lot of people said that it was going to be a tough job. Now you're starting to see what this program can do and where it's headed. We haven't won a championship or went to a regional yet, but I think it's really easy to see where we're headed. It's easy to see that we didn't just get hot in the middle of the season and that we have a consistent team."
 
Ty Gunter was Little Rock's offensive leader as he went 3 for 4 with home run, a double, two RBIs and three runs.
 
Ryan Scott broke the all-time doubles record with his 42nd-career double as he went 2 for 4 with two RBIs and a run. With his 86th hit of the season, Scott tied the Little Rock single-season record set in 1996 by former Trojan Greg Taylor.
 
Arkansas State got on the board first with a one-out RBI single by Jeremy Brown in the top of the second inning.
 
Little Rock responded with two run in the bottom of the second. Gunter and Kyle Kirk singled, and then Gunter advanced to third to put runners on the corners with two outs. After Hayden Martin walked, Scott hit a two-run single back up the middle to give the Trojans a 2-1 lead.
 
The Red Wolves retook the lead at 3-2 in the top of the third. Tony Ortiz walked to begin the inning and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Ty White. An RBI single by Garrett Rucker scored Ortiz from second and knotted the game at 2-all, but an error in center allowed Rucker to score on a three-base error to give A-State the lead.
 
After Cameron Knight singled through the right side with one out, Gunter cleared the trees with his first-career home run at Little Rock. Gunter's homer once again gave the Trojans the lead at 4-3.
 
The Red Wolves got the sixth inning started with a leadoff triple by Rucker. With one out, an RBI ground out by Matt Burgess scored the tying run to knot the game at 4-4.
 
Little Rock put the game away in the bottom of the eighth. Gunter got on with a leadoff double before moving over to third on a sacrifice bunt by Zach Baker. After Kirk walked, Little Rock pulled off the safety squeeze as Owens put down a sac bunt to score Gunter for the go-ahead run. Once Martin singled to left to put runners on the corners, Scott was intentionally walked to load the bases. It was a bad decision on A-State's part as Dalton Thomas hit a three-run triple to center.
 
With a 9-4 lead entering the ninth, Little Rock's Cody Daylor closed out the game with back-to-back strikeouts and a fly out to left. Daylor earned his sixth save of the season while starter Matt McDowell (4-2) picked up the win after throwing 7.0 innings and striking out two while allowing six hits, four runs, three earned runs and two walks.
 
Little Rock will now go for the series win against Arkansas State on Friday night at 6 p.m., at Gary Hogan Field.