Trojans Fall in Season Opener

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. — Little Rock baseball went up early but was not able to hold onto its lead as it fell 7-3 in the season opener at Tennessee Tech (1-0) on Friday night.
 
Troy Alexander and Kale Emshoff led the Trojans with multiple hits each, both going 2-4 at the plate and Alexander getting an RBI. Riley Pittman was able to pick up a run and an RBI while Ryan Benavidez grabbed an RBI.
 
"We were disappointed in the outcome of the game," head coach Chris Curry said," We were very pleased with the intensity, the attitude, the effort and the way our guys didn't panic when they made their run at us in the third. I thought that was the key to the night, we're running 23 new guys who haven't had a Division I appearance and there were some jitters."
 
Chandler Fidel picked up the loss after giving up six earned runs off of nine hits and two home runs in just three innings pitched. He also struck out four batters in his season debut.
 
"I thought Chandler wasn't at his best, and he will tell you that," Curry said. "He was up in the zone a bit, but when he made good pitches with two strikes down in the zone, he got some swings and misses. He left some balls up and tried to go in and didn't get it in there on a very good hitting team, maybe the best in the country, and they made him pay."
 
Little Rock (0-1) started off the game with a Pittman first-inning double to center, scoring Marcus Ragan from second. Ryan Benavidez would then bring in Pittman with a single to right field and putting the Trojans up 2-0. The Golden Eagles answered with a home run in the bottom of the first to make it 2-1.
 
Chase Coker led off the second inning with a triple to center and brought the top of the order to the plate, but the Trojans could not capitalize as the next three batters went down on strikeouts.
 
The promising start at the plate for the Trojans quickly went dry for most of the game. From the triple by Coker up to the ninth inning, Little Rock only tallied four hits in that span while striking out 13 times — seven of those coming from the top of the order.
 
Tennessee Tech broke open the game with a five-run third inning including a three-run home run from John Ham who went 2-4 on the day with three RBIs.
 
Little Rock mustered up a little rally in the ninth inning as Alexander ripped a shot down the right-field line brining in James Gann from second. Alexander advanced to third and freshman Eldrige Figueroa reached first on a walk bringing Chase Coker to the plate with two outs. Coker had a leadoff triple back in the third inning but could not do it again, hitting a ground ball back to the pitcher for the final out of the game.
 
The Trojans were promising in the bullpen as the combination of Donavin Buck (2.1 IP), Justin Garcia (0.2 IP), Carter Brown (1.0 IP) and Aaron Funk (1.0 IP) combined for eight strikeouts, zero earned-runs and only five hits in five innings pitched.
 
Game two of the series will begin Saturday at 2 p.m. as the Trojans will try to even the series and earn their first win of the season.