Trojans Stumble in Series Finale at UTA

ARLINGTON, Texas – Despite leading the game with 13 hits, Little Rock baseball (14-22, 6-9 Sun Belt) took a 10-5 loss to UT Arlington (19-17, 10-5) in Saturday's series finale at Clay Gould Ballaprk.
 
Riley Pittman had the Trojans' best bat of the afternoon as he went 3 for 5 with three RBIs and a double. Kale Emshoff was 2 for 3 with a walk, and Hunter Owens recorded his 17th multiple-hit game of the season as he went 2 for 4 with two runs and a walk. Ty Gunter went 2 for 4 while Cameron Knight went 2 for 5 and advanced his reached-base streak to 11 games. Nik Gifford upped his reached-base streak to 13 games with a hit and an RBI, and Dalton Thomas moved his reached-base streak to 12 games with a hit, a run and a walk.
 
UTA's Phil Berthiaume was 2 for 3 with two RBIs and a run. Brady Cox was the other Maverick with multiple hits as he went 2 for 4 with an RBI and two runs.
 
The scoring started right out of the gate as Little Rock put up two runs in the first inning on back-to-back RBI singles by Knight and Pittman.
 
UTA doubled the Trojans' first inning runs with four of their own on five hits in the bottom of the first. Omar Salinas hit an RBI single down the left field line to plate the Mavericks' first run. With the bases loaded, Noah Vaughan hit a two-out RBI single to short. Berthiaume then put a two-run single up the middle to give UTA a 4-2 lead.
 
The Mavs scored three more runs in the bottom of the fourth. Cox put a bases-loaded single down the right field line before Quintin Rohrbaugh picked up two RBIs on a one-out single to left. Little Rock got out of the inning by turning a 4-6-3 double play.
 
Little Rock cut the deficit in the top of the fifth with three runs on five hits. The first run came on an RBI fielder's choice by Gifford as Owens scored from third. After a Knight double put runners in scoring position with one out, Pittman hit a two-run single down the left field line to put the Trojans within two runs at 7-5.
 
The Trojans got themselves into a jam in the bottom of the sixth inning with three consecutive walks to begin the inning. A two-run single by Will Olson and a sacrifice fly by Christian Hollie ended up being the final scoring plays of the game as UTA went up 10-5.
 
UTA's Austin Gardner (1-1) picked up the win as he threw four innings of relief, struck out six and allowed just two hits. Little Rock starter Chandler Fidel (2-4) took the loss as he struck out five and allowed seven runs (six earned) on eight hits and two walks in 3.1 innings. Joe Corbett threw 2.2 perfect innings of relief as he struck out two and allowed nothing as the Trojans' final reliever of the day.
 
"There was an all-around lack of mental focus, and if we eliminate those things and get out of our own way, I believe that game is pretty close," head coach Chris Curry said. "The guys came out aggressively and were engaged, but as we always talk about, that's only a part of it. There has to be execution and smart baseball being played on the field, and we can't beat ourselves."
 
Little Rock will return to non-conference action against Louisiana Tech on Wednesday at 6 p.m., at Gary Hogan Field.