LITTLE ROCK- Troy Alexander and
Ryan Benavidez each homered, but Evansville used a hot start at the plate to take the series finale by the score of 10-5 Monday afternoon at Gary Hogan Field.
"We have good players," said Head Coach
Chris Curry. "But the problem with our team is that we are tip-toeing our way through the first part of the game with a fear of failure. It's not an effort issue, it's an issue of concentration and confidence within themselves. We'll continue to find the right recipe and the right group of guys that want to be out there and play fearlessly."
Josh Nowak,
Garrett Scott and Benavidez led the way offensively, each tallying two hits on the day.
Evansville wasted no time to get their offense started, launching a three-run home run in the first inning to set the tone. In the second inning, a grand slam gave the Purple Aces a 7-0 lead going into the bottom half.
The Trojans managed to push a run across in the second when
James Gann drove a ball off the center field wall to score Alexander who reached on a hit-by-pitch.
Benavidez blasted his third home run of the season with an opposite-field line drive that snuck over the left center wall to make the score 7-2.
Evansville would respond, however, with a three spot in the top of the fourth inning. The Purple Aces strung together four singles and a sacrifice fly to regain a commanding 10-2 lead.
Little Rock would not go away and in the bottom half of the inning, Alexander hit a deep fly that caromed off the scoreboard in right center for his second home run of the season.
Another run was brought to the plate in the fifth inning when Nowak doubled and Benavidez grounded out to bring him home following a
Christian Reyes sacrifice bunt. Nowak was not done, however, and singled in the sixth inning to plate Eldridge Figueroa and make the score 10-5.
That would be the final result as the teams would go scoreless for the final three frames.
Pablo Ortiz was charged with the loss and the Trojans would fall to 1-6 on the year.
The homestand comes to an end tomorrow at 4 p.m. when the Trojans host Louisiana Tech for a single game at Gary Hogan Field.
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