Big Hits Allow Trojans to Even Series at UTA

ARLINGTON, Texas – Little Rock baseball (14-21, 6-8 Sun Belt) showed off its offensive muscle as it evened the series against UT Arlington (18-17, 9-5) with a 9-4 victory on Friday night at Clay Gould Ballpark.
 
The Trojans' win was their first in Arlington since 2004 and was just their second-ever victory on the road at UT Arlington. The victory was also Little Rock's fourth in its last five games.
 
"This team is growing up," head coach Chris Curry said. "The first half of the season, this club had to get a lot of hard coaching and hard truths. Now, they're taking good coaching and executing instead of being an individual player. They're being part of an offense and part of a pitching staff. These guys are becoming unselfish and are playing team baseball. I think that's why some things are starting to go their way."
 
Hunter Owens earned his 16th multiple-hit game of the season as the senior went 3 for 5 with two doubles, a home run, an RBI and two runs. Ty Gunter went 3 for 4 with an RBI and a run while Riley Pittman had a home run with two RBIs in one at-bat. Cameron Knight was 1 for 3 with two runs and a walk as he upped his reached-base streak to 10 games. Nik Gifford advanced his reached-base streak to 12 games with a single, an RBI and a run. Dalton Thomas moved his reached-base streak to 11 games as he tallied an RBI, a run and a walk.
 
Trojan reliever Justin Garcia (1-0) earned his first win as a Trojan and third Division I win with 2.2 innings of relief work. Garcia struck out two and allowed one run on one hit and a walk. Trojan starter Ryan LeMoine took the no-decision as he threw 4.1 innings, struck out one and allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits, a walk and two hit-by-pitches. Reliever Dylan Slayton threw two innings, struck out one and allowed one unearned run on two hits.
 
UTA starter Trae Patterson (3-3) picked up the loss as he threw four innings, struck out two and allowed five runs on eight hits and a walk.
 
After a scoreless first inning, UTA put up the game's first run in the bottom of the second. After Will Olson was hit by a pitch to begin the bottom frame, Quintin Rohrbaugh singled to left. A passed ball allowed both runners to move into scoring position before an RBI single by Phil Berthiaume plated Olson.
 
Little Rock's huge offensive inning occurred in the top of the fourth with five runs on six hits and a UTA error. After a one-out double by Owens and a walk by Thomas, Gifford hit an RBI single through the left side to score Owens. Knight then hit an infield single to third and advanced to second on a throwing error while Thomas scored. A sacrifice fly by Cale Ridling to left allowed Gifford to trot home for the Trojans' third run of the inning. Gunter and Kale Emshoff then tallied a couple of back-to-back RBI singles to give Little Rock a 5-1 lead.
 
UTA cut the deficit to three in the bottom of the fifth. With runners on the corners, Aaron Funk scored from third on a sacrifice fly to left by Brady Cox.
 
The Trojans went up by four runs once again in the top of the seventh inning as Owens belted his team-leading sixth home run of the season to right.
 
In the bottom of the inning, UT Arlington cut the deficit to three as Berthiaume scored from third on a fielder's choice.
 
After Knight walked to begin the eighth inning, Pittman came on to pinch-hit for Ridling. Pittman drilled the first pitch he saw over the right field wall for his third homer of the season and put Little Rock up 8-3.
 
The Mavericks cut the Trojans' lead to four runs once again in the bottom of the eighth. With a runner on first and one out, Rohrbaugh hit an RBI double down the left field line.
 
Little Rock plated the game's final run in the top of the ninth. Zach Baker hit a leadoff double down the left field line before advancing to third on a wild pitch. Thomas then hit a one-out sacrifice fly to right to bring Baker home.
 
"It's a huge win for our program," Curry said. "It's very tough to come down here and win a game. I'm really proud of the guys for picking themselves up off the mat after a hard-fought loss on Thursday night."
 
Little Rock will look to score its second consecutive Sun Belt series win on Saturday at 1 p.m.