Trojans Win Series in Twin Bill Sweep of Fort Wayne

LITTLE ROCK – With wins of 3-2 and 9-5, Little Rock baseball picked up the series win against Fort Wayne in Saturday's doubleheader at Gary Hogan Field.
 
Saturday's wins over the Mastodons (3-8) put the Trojans (5-6) on a three-game winning streak and gave them five straight wins at Gary Hogan Field. Little Rock now has two consecutive series wins and has earned its first series win over Fort Wayne since 2010.
 
"There were mental mistakes made on our part all day, however, it's extremely difficult to sweep a doubleheader in Division I baseball," head coach Chris Curry said. "I told the team I'm proud of their perseverance and playing through some runs Fort Wayne had off us. Fort Wayne jumped out at us like you'd probably expect in the second game of a doubleheader, but we didn't panic. We have a lot to clean up, but I'm proud of the guys for battling through today and picking up two wins."
 
GAME 1 RECAP
 
A walk-off hit by Danny Mitchell Jr. in the bottom of the ninth inning gave Little Rock its first win of the afternoon over Fort Wayne.
 
Hunter Owens went 2 for 4 to advance his hitting streak to 10 games while Riley Pittman was a perfect 2 for 2. Bryce Dimitroff had two RBIs and went 1 for 4.
 
Joe Corbett (1-0) earned his fourth career win as he pitched 1.2 innings out of the bullpen with four strikeouts and allowed only one hit. Starter Cory Malcom went 5.1 innings with seven strikeouts while allowing two runs (one earned) on five hits. Fort Wayne's Cameron Boyd (0-1) earned the loss after giving up the walk-off hit.
 
Scoreless through three innings, Fort Wayne finally broke the tie in the top of the fourth. With a runner on third, Travis Upp hit an infield single to short and picked up the RBI as the runner scored.
 
Little Rock took its first lead in the bottom of the fourth with two runs on three hits. With the bases juiced, Dimitroff hit a two-RBI single to right as Kale Emshoff and Ty Gunter scored to put Little Rock ahead 2-1.
 
Fort Wayne knotted it up at two in the bottom of the sixth with an RBI single to center by Brandon Yoho as Jackson Boyce scored the tying run.
 
After Jonathan Davis walked on four pitches for the Trojans, Christian Reyes came on to pinch run and advanced to second on a wild pitch. With two outs and Reyes on third, Mitchell Jr. was clutch as he hit a 2-2 pitch through the right side to give Little Rock the win.
 
GAME 2 RECAP
 
Down 4-0 entering the bottom of the fourth inning, Little Rock scored in five consecutive innings to pick up the win in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader.
 
Hunter Owens went 2 for 4 with two RBIs, one run and a walk as he advanced his hitting streak to 11 games. Owens has recorded at least two hits in each of the last five games. Going 3 for 4 and coming up a home run shy of the cycle was Nik Gifford as he tallied one RBI, a run, a double and a triple. Jonathan Davis was a perfect 2 for 2 with his first career home run, two RBIs and a walk. Bryce Dimitroff put up his second home run of the season while tallying three RBIs. Dalton Thomas scored three runs and went 1 for 3 with an RBI and a walk.
 
Reliever Dylan Slayton (1-0) earned the win for Little Rock with just two-thirds of inning on the mound as he struck out one and allowed just one hit. Starter Chandler Fidel went 5.2 innings and picked up six strikeouts while allowing four runs (two earned) on eight hits and a walk. Little Rock's bullpen allowed just one run to score the entire afternoon.
 
With a 4-0 deficit entering the bottom of the fourth inning, Davis hit his first career home run and the first home run of the season at Gary Hogan Field on a solo shot with two outs.
 
Little Rock trimmed Fort Wayne's lead to 4-3 in the bottom of the fifth with two runs on two hits. After Mitchell Jr. doubled to lead off the frame, he advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Zach Baker. Dalton Thomas reached on a fielder's choice to short and picked up the RBI as the throw to the plate was not in time. Owens scored Thomas with an RBI double to right center.
 
The Trojans pulled ahead of the Mastodons in the bottom of the sixth. After Gifford tripled, Dimitroff hit the game's second home run to left to give Little Rock a 5-4 lead.
 
Fort Wayne knotted it up at five in the top of the seventh. Shannon Baker came on to pinch hit and hit an RBI double down the left field line to score Brandon Yoho.
 
With bases loaded for Little Rock in the bottom of the seventh, Davis was hit by a pitch and scored Thomas. A Gifford single to right scored Owens before a sacrifice fly to center by Dimitroff plated Ty Gunter.
 
An RBI single by Owens in the bottom of the eighth scored Thomas to put Little Rock up 9-5. Preston Oberling came on to begin the top of the ninth and struck out three while surrendering just one hit to clinch the victory for the Trojans.
 
Little Rock will look for its first four-game series sweep since 2005 in tomorrow's series finale against Fort Wayne. First pitch is set for 1 p.m., at Gary Hogan Field.