STILLWATER, Okla. – In a rain-shortened game, Little Rock baseball fell 9-2 to Oklahoma State on Tuesday at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium.
In six innings of action, the Trojans (4-4) had a rough go of it on the mound as they gave up nine walks and two hit-by-pitches. Starter
McKinley Moore took his second loss of the year after two innings on the mound as he gave up five runs (four earned) on two hits and four walks.
Justin Garcia followed him in relief with the bases loaded and no outs. After striking out the first batter, Garcia walked in the next one to give the Cowboys (5-1) another run. On a would-be inning-ending double play, shortstop
Matt Merino made a throwing error to first on the relay. This scored two Oklahoma State runs and broke the game open at 6-1.
Marcus Ragan,
Riley Pittman, Merino and
Nick Perez all went 1-for-3 at the plate while
Kale Emshoff went 1-for-1 with a walk.
Perez tallied the first run of the game in the top of the second inning with a monster solo shot over the left-center wall — his second on the year.
Little Rock tried to gain momentum in the fifth with a two-out liner from Ragan that bounced off the pitcher's glove. His hustle beat out the throw to first to put a man on with two outs. Pittman then stepped into the box and ripped a shot into the left-center gap to score Ragan from first. Pittman tried to turn it into a triple, but he was tagged out to end the inning.
The Cowboys put the game away in the bottom of the sixth with two more runs to take a 9-2 lead. With the bases loaded and two outs, Little Rock walked in an Oklahoma State run before the second run scored on a passed ball.
Little Rock will look to even the two-game midweek series on Wednesday at 4 p.m.
