Trojans Fall in Regular-Season Finale to A-State

LITTLE ROCK – After taking a loss in the ninth-inning on Friday night, Little Rock baseball (26-26, 17-13 Sun Belt) suffered another ninth-inning loss to Arkansas State (27-27, 13-17 Sun Belt) by a score of 15-11 in the regular-season finale at Gary Hogan Field on Saturday afternoon.
 
Offensviely, Little Rock put together another great performance with 17 hits, tying for the second-most hits this season. Six Trojans put together multiple hits for the day.
 
Ty Gunter continued his hot weekend as he went 3 for 4 with a home run, three RBIs and three runs. All three of Gunter's of home runs for the season have come this weekend. Nik Gifford put in a 4 for 6 day with a double, an RBI and two runs.
 
Hayden Martin, Ryan Scott, Zach Baker and Kyle Kirk came up with two hits each. Martin had two RBIs, a run and walked twice while Scott ended the regular season with 90 hits as he put up a double, an RBI, a run and two walks.  Baker had a double while Kirk ended up with two RBIs and a walk.
 
Little Rock started the game hot as it scored four runs on four hits. With two on and one out, Gifford hit an RBI single through the right side to score Martin. With two outs, Gunter launched a three-run homer to right to give Little Rock a 4-0 lead.
 
The Trojans went up 5-0 in the second. With Owens on second after getting hit by a pitch and stealing, Scott hit an RBI double to right.
 
Arkansas State cut the deficit to three runs in the top of the third inning. With runners on the corners, Tyler Ring hit an RBI single to third to score Ty White. As Matt Burgess singled, Joe Schrimpf advanced to third and scored on a Trojan throwing error to first.
 
Little Rock countered with three runs in the bottom of the inning. With runners on second and third, Kirk picked up the RBI on a ground out to first. A Hunter Owens single up the middle scored Gunter for the second run of the inning. After Owens stole second, Martin put an RBI single up the middle.
 
After a scoreless fourth inning, the Red Wolves put another run across as Jeremy earned the RBI on a ground out to short to plate Ring. A-State kept the runs coming in the sixth with four runs on six hits. With bases loaded, Schrimpf grounded into a double play  as Daltan Lovell scored. A double to left by Garrett Rucker scored Tony Ortiz before another double to left by Ring scored Rucker. Burgess knocked Ring in with an RBI single up the middle. That would be all for Trojan starter Joe Corbett as Reed Willenborg made his way into the game. After allowing a walk and a wild pitch, Willenborg got the Trojans out of the inning with a pop up to short.
 
With an 8-7 lead entering the bottom of the eighth inning, Little Rock upped their lead to three with two runs on two hits. With bases loaded for the Trojans, Kirk hit an RBI single to center to score Christian Reyes, who came on to pinch run after Cameron Knight walked with one out. With bases still juiced, Martin walked and picked up the RBI as Gunter trotted home.
The ninth-inning is where the Trojans' pitching faltered as Little Rock gave up eight runs on five hits, three walks and one hit by pitch. After Arkansas State tied the game at 10-10, a grand slam by Burgess put the Red Wolves up by four. Once Jake Bakamus was hit by a pitch, he scored on a double to right by Tim Seldomridge to put the Red Wolves up 15-10.
 
Little Rock tried to fight back in the bottom of the ninth. With runners on the corners, the Trojans grounded into a fielder's choice, but an errant A-State throw at short allowed Gifford to score. With bases loaded, a strikeout ended the Trojans' regular season.
 
"We hate for what was a great regular season to be dampened by a finish that was so disappointing," head coach Chris Curry said. "We gave up a few walks from the eighth inning on, and that has to get corrected if we expect to have a chance in the tournament. Overall, I'm proud of these guys for a great regular season. They'll do what they do best, which is forget about what happened today and be back to their normal selves on Wednesday."
 
Little Rock's third-place finish in the Sun Belt to end the regular season is the best in program history.
 
The Trojans will return to the Sun Belt Conference Tournament for the first time since 2013 and will face No. 6-seed Georgia Southern on Wednesday at 9 a.m., in San Marcos, Texas.