Malcom Throws Complete Game as LR Tops ULM

MONROE, La. – Little Rock baseball (9-13, 2-2 Sun Belt) opened its three-game series at ULM (6-17, 1-3 Sun Belt) with a 5-1 victory on Friday night at Warhawk Field.
 
Trojan starter Cory Malcom (2-1) earned the win as he threw his second consecutive complete game in Monroe. He struck out four and allowed just one run on seven hits and a walk while throwing 106 pitches. Last season, Malcom threw a complete-game shutout on exactly 100 pitches at ULM.
 
"What can you say about Cory Malcom?" head coach Chris Curry said. "He's the bulldog, and that's why he's earned the right to pitch on Friday night. When we need a big game from a pitcher, Cory always turns it in. He filled up the zone early and had great defense behind him. There were two times where he had some traffic, and he made big pitches to pitch out of it and minimize the damage."
 
Hunter Owens was the Trojans' offensive powerhouse as he went 2 for 4 with four RBIs, a home run and a double. Riley Pittman went 1 for 4 with a solo home run to extend his hitting streak to six games. Dalton Thomas advanced his reached-base streak to 21 games as he scored a run, walked once and got on base twice due to two ULM errors.
 
With the second at-bat of the game, Pittman launched a 1-2 pitch to left for his second home run of the year and gave the Trojans an early 1-0 lead.
 
Little Rock struck pay dirt again in the top of the fourth. After Thomas got on base with a ULM fielding error, Owens hit a two-run shot to left for his fourth home run of the season.
 
Down 3-0, ULM finally put a run across in the bottom of the sixth inning. With runners on the corners and one out, Spencer Hemphill hit an RBI double to right to score Cade Stone.
 
With Little Rock up 3-1 entering the eighth inning, ULM brought on reliever Chase Cater for starter Josh Leone (1-2). Leone eventually took the loss after throwing 7.0 innings, striking out seven and allowing three runs (two earned) on four hits. The Trojans' Zach Baker was hit by a pitch with one out and took second on a failed pickoff attempt by Cater. Baker moved over to third on a ground out before Thomas was intentionally walked to put runners on the corners. As Nik Gifford came on to pinch run for Thomas, Owens struck again with a two-run double to left center to score Baker and Gifford.
 
Up 5-1 in the bottom of the eighth, Malcom cruised through ULM's batting order as he allowed just one hit for the rest of the game.
 
Malcom's win was the 13th of his career — tying for the seventh-most victories in program history.
 
"That's how we can play, and that's what we're capable of," Curry said. "I'm very curious to see if we'll play with consistency moving forward, and I'm really proud of the guys tonight."
 
Little Rock will look to win the series at ULM on Saturday at 2 p.m.