Little Rock Drops Game Two to Coastal Carolina

CONWAY, S.C. - Three home runs were not enough to lift Little Rock baseball to a win as it fell 6-4 to Coastal Carolina on Saturday at Springs Brooks Stadium.
 
James Gann had a huge presence at the plate for the Trojans (26-22, 14-11 SBC) as he launched two solo home runs while going 3-for-4 on the day. Those home runs were numbers four and five for him on the year.
 
Ryan Benavidez was able to reach base three times as he went 1-for-3 with a solo home run and got on from a walk and a hit-by-pitch.
 
Little Rock got aggressive early at the plate to avoid a repeat from yesterday, and it paid off. Marcus Ragan hit a single through the left side on the first pitch of the game, and Chase Coker hit it in the exact same spot to give the Trojans runners on first and second.
 
Kale Emshoff tallied the first RBI of the series for Little Rock with a single to left field and scored Ragan from second to put the Trojans up 1-0.
 
The lead wasn't held for long as the Chanticleers (35-16, 20-6 SBC) answered with a two-run home run from Kevin Woodall Jr. in the bottom of the inning to take a 2-1 lead.
 
Coastal grew its lead in the second inning to 3-1. After a single gave the Chanticleers a runner, Little Rock starter Cole Townsend (3-2) balked him over into scoring position. A double to left-center scored the runner from second.
 
Little Rock scored in three consecutive innings in the sixth, seventh and eighth with the three home runs from Gann and Benavidez.
 
Coastal put up runs in the fifth and sixth innings and went into the ninth inning with a 6-4 lead.
 
Trying to spark a rally, Coker began things with a walk and was followed by a Matt Merino single to put the tying run on base. Kale Emshoff stepped up to the plate and hit a chopper to short for a deadly double play. With the Trojans down to their final out, Benavidez struck out to end the game.
 
Townsend took the loss in three innings of work as he gave up four runs on six hits and two walks. Coastal's Zack Hopeck (5-4) earned the win while Jay Causey picked up his third save of the season.
 
Little Rock will try to avoid the sweep on Sunday as the series finale will get underway at 11 a.m. (CT) at Springs Brooks Stadium.