LAFAYETTE, La. – Chandler Fidel did everything he could for Little Rock Friday evening at Louisiana, pitching eight innings and allowing just one run on three hits with five strikeouts. But the Trojan bats weren't able to give him any support, falling 1-0 to the Ragin' Cajuns in a pitching duel at Russo Park.
The loss drops Little Rock to 20-16 on the year and 9-6 in Sun Belt Conference play, but the Trojans maintain a half game lead on both UT Arlington and Louisiana in the Sun Belt West Division as the two sit at 9-7 in league play.
"It was an outstanding pitching performance by
Chandler Fidel, who pitched his heart out and gave us every chance to win the game," said head coach
Chris Curry. "The key to the game for us was just execution. The approach was there, the intensity and effort were there. Our guys were in it for all nine innings, but it came down to a couple plays, and on a Friday night game where both pitchers are on their game, it comes down to those one or two plays and we didn't execute."
Fidel and Louisiana starter Colten Schmidt put on one of the best pitching duels of the conference season to date as each allowed just three hits and combined to strike out 11 with just two walks on the night.
The lone blemish on Fidel's scoresheet came in the second inning when Louisiana rattled off back-to-back doubles with two outs in the inning, plating the lone run of the game.
Fidel would then retire 13 of the next 14 Cajuns he faced until Louisiana got a runner on third with one out in the seventh. But a strikeout, followed by a fly out to
Troy Alexander ended the threat as Fidel would retire Louisiana in order in the eighth.
With the effort Friday night, Fidel lowered his ERA to 3.39 and is now 5-3 in 10 starts on the year. He moves into a tie with
Justin Garcia for the team lead in strikeouts (58) and has now pitched in 66.1 innings on the year, 28.1 innings more than Garcia's 38.0 innings pitched, ranking second. The 8.0 innings pitched marks Fidel's second-longest outing of the season, just shy of his complete game against Fort Wayne on February 25.
Little Rock's first hit wouldn't come until the fifth inning when
Nick Perez knocked a single to center, but a 5-4-3 double play ended the Trojan scoring chance. Little Rock threatened again in the sixth when
Marcus Ragan knocked a leadoff single to third, followed immediately by
Danny Mitchell Jr. getting hit by a pitch to put two runners on with no outs. But a 6-3 double play and a ground out to short helped Louisiana escape the inning.
The Trojans had one final chance to at least tie the game in the top of the ninth when Mitchell Jr. hit a leadoff single and was advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by
Chase Coker, giving Little Rock a runner in scoring position with just one out. But once again, the Trojans came up short as back-to-back ground outs to third and shortstop preserved the win for the Ragin' Cajuns.
Little Rock will look to rebound and even the three-game series Saturday with a 6 p.m. first pitch at Russo Park.
Pablo Ortiz is scheduled to get the start for the Trojans, boasting a team-low 2.28 ERA with 16 strikeouts in 23.2 innings pitched.
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