BOONE, N.C. – Trailing by four runs after five innings, Little Rock made a late game comeback to tie its game against Appalachian State at 6-6 in the eight. But a home run in the bottom of the eight lifted the Mountaineers over the Trojans to even the weekend series at one game a piece Saturday afternoon at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium.
Little Rock still holds on to the first place spot in the Sun Belt's West Division with an 11-8 conference record and is now 22-19 overall. Appalachian State gets its 12th win of the year and its fourth in conference play.
Kale Emshoff reached base four times for the Trojans, going 3-for-4 with a pair of singles, a double and walking once all while making around to score twice.
Riley Pittman and
Nick Perez each had a pair of hits in the contest while Perez was able to get an RBI on the day.
Christian Reyes was a nuisance at the plate only going 1-for-2 in the stat book, but walked twice to reach base three times on the day.
Hayden Arnold had a solid outing in his second start of the year, throwing four and a third innings. He held the Mountaineers scoreless through the first two innings, but gave up a one-run third inning and a two-run fourth, but only two of the runs given up were earned. He ended the day with six hits and one walk while adding six strikeouts to his season total.
The comeback started in the sixth inning with Little Rock down 6-2 when Emshoff gave the Trojans a runner by getting hit by the pitch. Pittman then proceeded to knock a double to left field and Emshoff put on the jets, scoring from first to make it 6-3 after six.
After a scoreless seventh, Emshoff found himself at the plate and hit a double to left field. Perez then followed with a single to right field to bring around Emshoff and start the scoring rally.
Pinch hitter
Ryan Benavidez then did his job and singled to right field to give Little Rock two runners on. Both advanced into scoring position from a wild pitch and then
Christian Reyes walked to load the bases for
Chase Coker.
Coker hit a dribbler down the right line that proved too difficult to handle for a charging Mountaineers first baseman, allowing Perez and Benavidez to score off the error and tie the game at 6-6 after eight.
Justin Garcia took the mound in the eighth looking to keep the Mountaineers at bay, but a leadoff home run to Appalachian State's Joel McDaniel put the home team on top for good.
Emshoff gave life for the Trojans in the ninth with a two-out single, but Pittman lined shot to the left fielder to end the rally and push Garcia's record to 3-3 on the year.
The Trojans did strike first in the top of the third as
Danny Mitchell Jr. hit into a fielder's choice with Coker on second and
Marcus Ragan on first. A throwing error by the shortstop trying to make the double play allowed Coker to score and give Little Rock the 1-0 lead.
That lead for the Little Rock did not hold for long as Appalachian State answered with three straight innings of scoring starting with one in the bottom of the third and following it with a two-run fourth and three-run fifth.
Little Rock's second run came in the top of the fifth as Reyes led the inning off with a double to the left-center wall. After advancing to third off a double from Coker, Ragan notched an RBI grounder to the shortstop to score Reyes from third and bring the Trojans within one run.
The series will conclude with tomorrow's rubber game as both teams seek a series victory, getting underway in an early matchup with first pitch at 10 a.m. Central Time.
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